Feb. 25, 2007
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Junior midfielder Michael Podgajny (Ridley Park, Pa./Ridley Park) tallied four goals and two assists to lead the 11th-ranked Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team to an 11-8 victory over Penn State on Sunday afternoon in Holuba Hall. The four goals and six total points were both career-high marks for Podgajny. Freshman Will Yeatman (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo) chipped in two goals and an assist for the Fighting Irish, who are now 2-0 on the season. Penn State falls to 0-2 with the loss.
Notre Dame negated an early 2-0 Penn State lead by running off five straight goals. Podgajny started the surge with 7:27 left in the first quarter as he scored off a feed from Ryan Hoff (Baldwin, Md./Dulaney). Yeatman would then connect on back-to-back unassisted tallies to give Notre Dame its first lead of the game at 3-2 with 12:49 left in the second period.
Junior Alex Wharton (Baltimore, Md./Gilman) gave the Irish a two-goal advantage as he took a pass from Podgajny and scored. Wharton then assisted on a Lucius Polk (Washington, D.C./St. Albans) goal that put Notre Dame up 5-2 with 6:40 remaining in the second quarter.
Following a Nittany Lion tally, the Fighting Irish would account for the game’s next five goals to take a 10-3 lead by the 2:21 mark of the third quarter.
A Brian Hubschmann (Short Hills, N.J./Delbarton) goal gave Notre Dame a 6-3 lead at halftime. Podgajny began the second-half scoring for the Irish as he deposited a man-up goal with just 36 seconds elapsed in the half. Hubschmann, a senior, then notched his second score to make it an 8-3 contest.
Notre Dame kept the momentum going as Podgajny collected the hat trick off a feed from Yeatman. Less than a minute later, Hoff scored with the assist going to Podgajny and the Irish would lead 10-3.
The Nittany Lions did not go away as they went on a 5-0 run of their own to close the deficit to two at 10-8 by the 6:23 mark of the fourth quarter. Midfielder Pat Heim accounted for two of the goals, while Gil Pearsall, Matt Loy and Chris Hogan also scored during the stretch. Heim led Penn State with three goals on the day, while Pearsall had two.
Podgajny stopped the Irish bleeding by netting his fourth goal of the afternoon to secure the Notre Dame victory. His classmate Taylor Clagett (Chesapeake Beach, Md./DeMatha) went 14-21 in faceoffs to aid the Irish effort. Notre Dame held a 37-35 advantage in shots.
Junior goaltender Joey Kemp (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep) played 57:33 and made 11 saves for Notre Dame, while allowing seven goals to collect the win. Sophomore Scott Rodgers (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) made one save and gave up one goal for the Irish. Drew Adams stopped 12 shots and allowed 11 goals for Penn State.
The Irish return to the field when they face Cornell next Saturday (March 3) in Hewlett, N.Y. Game time against the Big Red is slated for 1:00 p.m. (ET).
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#11 Notre Dame (2-0) – 1 5 4 1 – 11
Penn State (0-2) – 2 1 1 4 – 8
Notre Dame Scoring (goals-assists):
Michael Podgajny 4-2, Will Yeatman 2-1, Brian Hubschmann 2-0, Ryan Hoff 1-1, Alex Wharton 1-1, Lucius Polk 1-0; Goaltenders: Joey Kemp (57:33, 11 saves, 7 GA), Scott Rodgers (2:27, 1 save, 1 GA)
Penn State Scoring (goals-assists):
Pat Heim 3-0, Gil Pearsall 2-0, Chris Hogan 1-0, Rob Forster 1-0, Matt Loy 1-0, Adam Kenney 0-1, Max VanArsdale 0-1; Goaltender: Drew Adams (60:00, 12 saves, 11 GA)