Dec. 14, 2015

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame has been selected as the preseason favorite in the 2016 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Lacrosse Preseason Poll, the conference office announced Monday. The announcement comes in conjunction with Inside Lacrosse’s release of its annual Face-Off Yearbook.

Head coach Kevin Corrigan’s Fighting Irish received 25 points in balloting among the ACC’s five head coaches. Duke followed with 15 points and was selected second. Syracuse (13) and Virginia (13) tied for third, and North Carolina (9) was selected fifth.

All five ACC teams are ranked in the top eight in Inside Lacrosse’s Face-Off Yearbook Top 20 poll. Notre Dame led the way at No. 1 followed by Duke (No. 3), North Carolina (No. 5), Virginia (No. 7) and Syracuse (No. 8).

Representing Notre Dame, senior attackman Matt Kavanagh (Rockville Centre, New York/Chaminade/Hotchkiss), senior defenseman Matt Landis (Pelham, New York/Pelham Memorial) and junior midfielder Sergio Perkovic (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan/Brother Rice) were selected to the Preseason All-ACC Team. Kavanagh, a two-time All-ACC selection, registered a team-high 52 points last season on 27 goals and 25 assists en route to first-team All America honors. Landis, the 2015 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, anchored a Notre Dame defense that ranked ninth nationally in ground balls (33.07 per game), 12th in caused turnovers (7.80 per game) and 19th in scoring defense (9.33 goals allowed). Joining Kavanagh and Landis as a first team All-American following his sophomore campaign, Perkovic was Notre Dame’s top scoring midfielder last season with 34 goals and seven assists.

As a unit, Notre Dame captured the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title in 2015 in just its second season as a conference member. Corrigan and his Fighting Irish captured the title with a thrilling come-from-behind 15-14 win over then second-ranked North Carolina. Notre Dame concluded the season with an undefeated 4-0 conference standing.

The Fighting Irish appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the 10th straight year and they advanced to Championship Weekend for the fourth time in the last six seasons and fifth time overall in program history. Notre Dame fell to Denver, 11-10, in the national semifinal game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia to finish with a 12-3 overall record.

The 2016 men’s lacrosse ACC season gets underway in early February. The ACC Men’s Lacrosse Championship will be played April 29 – May 1 at Fifth Third Bank Stadium at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia. The semifinals are set for Friday, April 29, and the championship for Sunday, May 1. The fifth-place ACC team that does not qualify for the championship will play Brown at Fifth Third Bank Stadium on Saturday, April 30.

ACC MEN’S LACROSSE COACHES POLL
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Notre Dame – 25 Points
2. Duke – 15
T3. Syracuse – 13
T3. Virginia – 13
5. North Carolina – 9

PRESEASON ALL-ACC TEAM
A – Luke Goldstock, Jr., North Carolina
A – Matt Kavanagh, Sr., Notre Dame
A – Dylan Donahue, R-Sr., Syracuse
M – Deemer Class, Sr., Duke
M – Myles Jones, Sr., Duke
M – Sergio Perkovic, Jr., Notre Dame
D – Austin Pifani, Jr., North Carolina
D – Matt Landis, Sr., Notre Dame
D – Brandon Mullins, R-Sr., Syracuse

Goalkeeper – Matt Barrett, Jr., Virginia
Face-off – Ben Williams, Jr., Syracuse
Long-stick Midfielder – Michael Howard, Jr., Virginia
Short-Stick Midfielder – Tate Jozokos, Jr., North Carolina

The University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team pursues excellence on and off the field through the three pillars in which the program is built: Character, Culture & Community. These three foundational values guide the promise of the program, which is to provide its student-athletes with the most compelling and enriching experience in all of college athletics. Through academics, competition, service and travel, the program aims to immerse its players in situations that enhance their student-athlete experience to help them become the people, students and teammates they aspire to be.

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