March 31, 2007
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Freshman Will Yeatman (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo) notched his second straight hat trick to help lead No. 17 Notre Dame to an 11-3 victory over Brown in non-conference men’s lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon at Brown Stadium. Senior midfielder Lucius Polk (Washington, D.C./St. Albans) also registered three points on one goal and two assists, while junior goaltender Joey Kemp (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep) made 11 saves to earn the win for the Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame (5-3) jumped out in front early as Polk scored a man-up goal on an assist from Brett Vecchio (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor) less than two minutes into the game. Brown (5-3) evened the contest on an Alex Buckley goal with 10:41 left in the first quarter.
A 5-0 Fighting Irish run broke the game open and sent Notre Dame on its way to the victory. Junior Michael Podgajny (Ridley Park, Pa./Ridley) began the surge with an unassisted goal with 10:03 remaining in the opening period. Yeatman, sophomore Peter Christman (Simsbury, Conn./Westminster School) and freshman Grant Krebs (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary’s) then scored to give the Irish a 5-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. Krebs’ goal was the first of the season and was assisted by Ryan Cunn (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip).
Yeatman opened up the second-quarter scoring with his second tally of the day with the assist going to Alex Wharton (Baltimore, Md./Gilman School) with 3:51 left on the clock. The Bears ended the run with a man-up goal from Jack Walsh. Notre Dame responded as Ryan Hoff (Baldwin, Md./Dulaney) found the back of the net off a pass from Polk with eight seconds remaining in the half. The Fighting Irish led 7-2 at the intermission.
Goals from Wharton and Yeatman early in the second half put Notre Dame up 9-2. Yeatman’s third score was assisted by Regis McDermott (Amityville, N.Y./Chaminade). Will Davis would register Brown’s final tally of the contest to make it a six-point Irish cushion with 4:10 left in the third period. Kemp and the Fighting Irish defense held the Bears scoreless over the final 19:10 of the game.
Notre Dame junior Sean Dougherty (Malvern, Pa./Malvern Prep) notched his first-career goal to up the Irish lead back to seven with 3:12 left in the third quarter. Senior Brian Hubschmann (Short Hills, N.J./Delbarton) became the ninth Irish player to score on the day as he took a feed from Polk and tallied a man-up goal with 3:20 remaining in the contest.
The Fighting Irish out shot the Bears 39-35. Notre Dame’s Taylor Clagett (Chesapeake Beach, Md./DeMatha), a junior, won 14-of-18 faceoffs on the afternoon. Brown goaltender Jordan Burke picked up the loss as he played 32:09 and allowed nine goals and made five saves. Chandler Clark surrendered two goals and made six saves in 27:51 of action.
Yeatman leads the Irish with 26 points on 15 goals and a team-best 11 assists. Hoff has a team-high 17 goals.
The Irish will return to action when they host Villanova on Tuesday, April 3 at Moose Krause Stadium. Game time against the Wildcats is slated for 4:00 p.m. (ET).
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#17 Notre Dame (5-3) – 5 2 3 1 – 11
Brown (5-3) – 1 1 1 0 – 3
Notre Dame Scoring (goals-assists):
Will Yeatman 3-0, Lucius Polk 1-2, Alex Wharton 1-1, Brian Hubschmann 1-0, Michael Podgajny 1-0, Ryan Hoff 1-0, Sean Dougherty 1-0, Grant Krebs 1-0, Peter Christman 1-0, Ryan Cunn 0-1, Regis McDermott 0-1, Brett Vecchio 0-1; Goaltender: Joey Kemp (60:00, 11 saves, 3 GA)
Brown Scoring (goals-assists):
Alex Buckley 1-1, Will Davis 1-0, Jack Walsh 1-0; Goaltenders: Jordan Burke (L, 32:09, 5 saves, 9 GA), Chandler Clarke (27:51, 6 saves, 2 GA)