Dec. 5, 2013
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – One of the most highly-competitive rivalries in collegiate men’s lacrosse will take its show to the West Coast this spring as Notre Dame will face Denver in the inaugural Pacific Coast Shootout. The game is slated for March 8 at LeBard Stadium on the campus of Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Calif.
The Fighting Irish and Pioneers will square off at noon (PT) and the event’s second game will pit Loyola Marymount and UC Santa Barbara at 3 p.m. Tickets are $35.00 for reserved sections and $25.00 for general admission and are currently on sale at pclaxshootout.com.
Notre Dame is coming off an 11-5 campaign in 2013. The Fighting Irish earned the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Championship and advanced to the quarterfinals before falling to eventual national champion Duke, 12-11, in a back-and-forth affair. Denver posted a 14-5 mark last season and the Pioneers made it to Championship Weekend where they fell to Syracuse, 9-8, in the national semifinals.
The former Great Western Lacrosse League rivals have met 17 times with Notre Dame holding a 14-3 advantage in the series. The last three contests all have been decided by a single goal with the Fighting Irish claiming victory each time, including overtime triumphs the last two seasons.
Notre Dame will be making its third regular-season appearance in Southern California and the first since a 9-7 victory over North Carolina at The Home Depot Center in Carson during the 2005 season. The Fighting Irish defeated Air Force, 12-11, in San Diego during the 1990 campaign. Notre Dame also ventured to the Golden State in 2010 to face Johns Hopkins in the San Francisco Fall Classic.
“We are thrilled to be playing in Southern California again this spring,” says Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan. “The Pacific Coast Shootout will be a great experience for all our guys, particularly the California kids on our roster. If the great Notre Dame/Denver games of the past few years are any indication, California lacrosse fans are in for a real treat.”
Denver returns to California for the second time, having met Harvard in the San Francisco Fall Classic in 2011.
“We are extremely excited to be a part of the inaugural Pacific Coast Shootout, especially against such a great opponent as Notre Dame,” says Denver head coach Bill Tierney. “Each year, more and more western lacrosse players are appearing on Division I rosters, and California has become a hot-bed for that growth. The Denver Pioneers look forward with great anticipation, to the opportunity for us to demonstrate to the Pacific Coast area, what college lacrosse at its finest can be like for young players, their families, and our west coast fans.”
“It’s no secret, West Coast lacrosse is booming,” says the event’s Executive Director, G.W. Mix. “Each year, more and more players from California are appearing on the rosters of traditional college lacrosse powerhouses. The ultimate goal of the Shootout is to promote the high quality of lacrosse being played in California and the West, while exposing these developing players and programs to the best collegiate programs in the game. With this match-up between Denver and Notre Dame we are well on our way.”
Notre Dame’s entire 2014 schedule will be announced at a later date.
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