April 8, 2016
#1/#2 Irish Lacrosse Continues ACC Warfare, Faces #13/#12 Duke
— #13/#12/#9 DUKE (7-5, 1-1 ACC) at #1/#2/#1 NOTRE DAME (7-1, 2-0 ACC)
— Sunday, April 10, 2016 – Noon EDT
— Arlotta Stadium – Notre Dame, Indiana
Rankings are Inside Lacrosse (media)/USILA (coaches)/Lacrosse magazine
TV
Live on ESPNU (Eamon McAnaney, Matt Ward, Quint Kessenich)
LIVE STATS
UND.com (Gametracker)
2016 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE AND SCORES (7-1, 2-0 ACC)
| Sat. 2/20: #13 Georgetown in Cobb County Classic | W 12-7 |
| — (Fifth Third Bank Stadium @Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia) | |
| Wed. 2/24: BELLARMINE | W 11-6 |
| Sat. 2/27: DETROIT | W 14-5 |
| Sat. 3/5: #9 Maryland in Pacific Coast Shootout | |
| — (LeBard Stadium @Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, California) | W 9-4 |
| Sun. 3/13: #1 DENVER | L 8-9 (OT) |
| Sat. 3/19: VIRGINIA | W 8-7 (OT) |
| Sat. 3/26: Ohio State | W 9-8 |
| Sat. 4/2: @#7 Syracuse | W 17-7 |
| Sun. 4/10: #12 DUKE (noon EDT on ESPNU) | |
| Wed. 4/13: #19 MARQUETTE (4 p.m. EDT on ESPN3) | |
| Sat. 4/23: @#11 North Carolina (noon EDT on ESPNU) | |
| Fri. 4/29: Atlantic Coast Conference Championship semifinals | |
| — (6 and 8:30 p.m. EDT @Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia, on ESPNU) | |
| Sun. 5/1: ACC Championship title game | |
| — (noon EDT @Kennesaw State on ESPNU) | |
| Sun. 5/8: ARMY (noon EDT on ESPN3) |
Rankings for future games based on April 4 USILA poll
Bold indicates home games at Arlotta Stadium/Loftus Sports Center
Italics indicate Atlantic Coast Conference games
2016 RANKINGS
Notre Dame began the 2016 season rated first in both the Nike/Lacrosse magazine and Cascade/Maverik/Inside Lacrosse media preseason polls, while the Irish were second (behind 2015 NCAA champion Denver) in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association preseason poll of coaches.
— Notre Dame moved to the top spot in the Feb. 15 USILA poll, then went back to second in the Feb. 22 and 29 and March 7 USILA listings. — The Irish regained the top spot in Lacrosse magazine in its March 28 rankings and then ranked number one in the Inside Lacrosse and Lacrosse magazine polls issued April 4.
Here are the April 4 polls (italics indicate 2016 Notre Dame opponent):
— USILA (coaches): 1.Yale, 2.Notre Dame, 3.Brown, 4.Denver, 5.Maryland, 6.Albany, 7.Towson, 8.Stony Brook, 9.Navy, 10.Syracuse, 11.North Carolina, 12.Duke, 13.Loyola, 14.Penn State, 15.Air Force, 16.Villanova, 17.Johns Hopkins, 18.Rutgers, 19.Marquette, 20.Virginia.
— Cascade/Maverik/Inside Lacrosse (media): 1.Notre Dame, 2.Brown, 3.Yale, 4.Denver, 5.Maryland, 6.Towson, 7.Albany, 8.Stony Brook, 9.Syracuse, 10.Navy, 11.North Carolina, 12.Air Force, 13.Duke, 14.Penn State, 15.Loyola, 16.Johns Hopkins, 17.Marquette, 18.Villanova, 19.Rutgers, 20.Virginia.
— Nike/Lacrosse magazine: 1.Notre Dame, 2.Yale, 3.Brown, 4.Denver, 5.Maryland, 6.Towson, 7.Albany, 8.North Carolina, 9.Duke, 10.Syracuse, 11.Navy, 12.Loyola, 13.Penn State, 14.Virginia, 15.Johns Hopkins, 16.Stony Brook, 17.Marquette, 18.Villanova, 19.Rutgers, 20.Air Force.
Here’s where the Irish have ranked week by week in 2016 in the three polls:
| Date | USILA (coaches) | Inside Lacrosse (media) | Lacrosse magazine |
| Preseason | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Feb. 15 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Feb. 22 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Feb. 29 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| March 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| March 14 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| March 21 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| March 28 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| April 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
NOTRE DAME AND THE NUMBER-ONE SPOT
Since the program’s inception in 1981, Notre Dame has been ranked #1 in both the USILA (coaches) and Inside Lacrosse (media) polls for nine weeks.
— Here are Notre Dame’s appearances at #1: * April 18/May 2, 2011 (USILA and media polls — 2 weeks) * March 25/April 1, 2013 (USILA and media polls — 1 week) * April 22/April 29, 2013 (USILA and media polls — 1 week) * March 30/April 20, 2015 (USILA and media polls — 4 weeks) * February 15, 2016 (USILA and media polls – 1 week)
THE ACC IN 2016
| Team | ACC | Overall | Next |
| #2 Notre Dame | 2-0 | 7-1 | 4/10 #12 DUKE; 4/13 #19 MARQUETTE |
| #10 Syracuse | 1-2 | 6-3 | 4/12 @Cornell; 4/16 #11 NORTH CAROLINA |
| #12 Duke | 1-1 | 7-5 | 4/10 @#2 Notre Dame; 4/17 @#20 Virginia |
| #11 North Carolina | 1-0 | 6-4 | 4/10 #20 VIRGINIA; 4/16 @#10 Syracuse |
| #20 Virginia | 0-2 | 6-5 | 4/10 @#11 North Carolina; 4/17 #12 DUKE |
Rankings based on April 4 USILA poll
ACC Offensive Player of the Week
Feb. 8: Steve Pontrello, North Carolina
Feb. 15: Dylan Donahue, Syracuse
Feb. 22: Sergio Perkovic, Notre Dame
Feb. 29: Shane Simpson, North Carolina
March 7: Tim Barber, Syracuse
March 14: Myles Jones, Duke
March 21: Sergio Perkovic, Notre Dame
March 28: Deemer Class, Duke
April 4: Steve Pontrello, North Carolina
ACC Defensive Player of the Week
Feb. 8: Jake Matthai, North Carolina
Feb. 15: Nick Mellen, Syracuse/Kyle Rowe, Duke
Feb. 22: Shane Doss, Notre Dame, and Ben Williams, Syracuse
Feb. 29: Stephen Kelley, North Carolina
March 7: Matt Landis, Notre Dame
March 14: Kyle Rowe, Duke
March 21: Shane Doss, Notre Dame, and Stephen Kelly, North Carolina
March 28: Kyle Rowe, Duke
April 4: Matt Barrett, Virginia
THE DUKE SERIES
- Duke leads 10-6 (Notre Dame is 1-1 at Notre Dame, 4-4 at Durham, 1-5 at neutral sites).
- — The teams have meet five times in the NCAA Championship (1995, 2011,2011, 2013, 2014), twice in the NCAA title game (2010, 2014) and once in the ACC Championship (2015).
- — Duke has played twice in South Bend, losing at Arlotta Stadium in 2012 (7-3) and winning in 2014 (15-7).
- — Sunday’s game marks the 17th meeting between the Irish and the Blue Devils and the 12th in the last seven seasons.
- — Duke had won three straight matchups before the 15-10 Irish regular-season win in Durham in 2015.
- — The Irish are 5-6 against the Blue Devils since the beginning of the 2010 season and are 5-1 in the regular-season matchup during that time. Duke has won the four NCAA Championship matchups during that period and the one ACC Championship matchup in 2015.
- — Notre Dame has been victorious in its last four trips to play the Blue Devils in Durham (the Irish have not lost there since 1993).
For the full release, please view the Complete Game Notes 