April 20, 2016

Complete Game Notes | Season Statistics

— #1/#1/#1 NOTRE DAME (9-1, 3-0 ACC) at #13/#16/#9 NORTH CAROLINA (7-5, 2-1 ACC)
— Saturday, April 23, 2016 – Noon EDT
— Kenan Stadium – Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Rankings are Inside Lacrosse (media)/USILA (coaches)/Lacrosse magazine

THE STORYLINE
A win over North Carolina would provide Notre Dame with its second consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference unbeaten regular season and resulting regular-season crown-and also give the Irish the number one seed in the ACC Championship the following week in Kennesaw, Georgia.

TV
Live on ESPNU (Anish Shroff, Paul Carcaterra)

LIVE STATS
UND.com (Gametracker)

2016 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE AND SCORES (9-1, 3-0 ACC)

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 has ranked either first or second in all three major polls every week in 2016. — The Irish regained the top spot in the Feb. 15 USILA rankings and did it again this week and so for the second time this season ranked first in all three major polls.

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 10 weeks, including this week’s polls.

— 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)
* April 18, 2016 (USILA and media polls) – 1 week)

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
April 11: Sergio Perkovic, Notre Dame
April 18: Deemer Class, Duke

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/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/Stephen Kelly, North Carolina
March 28: Kyle Rowe, Duke
April 4: Matt Barrett, Virginia
April 11: John Sexton, Notre Dame/Brian Balkam, North Carolina
April 18: Danny Fowler, Duke

THE NORTH CAROLINA SERIES: TAKING ON THE TAR HEELS
Saturday will be the 14th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and North Carolina. Notre Dame leads the series 7-6, and the Irish have won the last three encounters–including last season’s 15-14 victory in South Bend. Notre Dame’s first-ever ACC contest came in a win in Chapel Hill in 2014.
— The last four meetings all have been decided by a single goal, with two of those games going to overtime-and the previous two were decided by two goals each.
— All 13 showdowns in the series have been decided by three goals or less.
— North Carolina is 4-2 all-time at home versus Notre Dame.
Notre Dame leads series 7-6 (4-2 at Notre Dame, 2-4 at Chapel Hill, 1-0 at neutral site)

CHECK OUT THAT IRISH DEFENSE
Can Notre Dame keep up the defensive prowess it has shown through the first 10 games of the season?
— Notre Dame held Denver to a season low in goals, despite the Pioneers having their second most offensive possessions of the season.
— The Irish held Denver off the scoreboard for a 28:54 period, including the entire third quarter- and then held Virginia without a goal for the first 22:20 of the game.
— Notre Dame shut out Ohio State in the third period (while scoring four goals), holding the Buckeyes off the scoreboard for 20:32 overall.
— The Irish shut out Syracuse in the fourth period at the Carrier Dome, holding the Orange off the scoreboard for the final 19:55 of the contest and limiting Syracuse to its lowest offensive output (seven goals) of 2016.
— Notre Dame held #12 Duke to six goals (three fewer than its previous low in 2016) against a Blue Devil offense that ranked second nationally in scoring at 14.5 goals per game.
— The Irish held #19 Marquette to seven goals, tied for its lowest output of 2016.
— Meanwhile, junior goalie Shane Doss has continued his glossy play-he ranks first in the country in goals-against average (6.45) and fourth in save percentage (.599). The Irish as a team rate second in the nation in defense at 6.6 goals allowed per contest.

THE LAST TIME THIS HAPPENED
An unbeaten 2016 Notre Dame team lost a March 13 overtime game to Denver and then defeated Virginia, Ohio State, Syracuse and Marquette in its next four games. A year ago, it was a 3-0 Notre Dame team that lost an overtime game to Denver. From there the Irish played at seventh-rated Virginia the next weekend, defeated the Cavaliers 11-9 and went on a six-game winning streak. That six-game streak also included victories over 15th-rated Ohio State, #1 Syracuse, #7 Duke, #15 Marquette and #2 North Carolina.

IRISH BOAST ACTIVE NCAA CAREER LEADERS
Notre Dame senior attack Matt Kavanagh heads into play this week with 207 career points to rank third nationally among active players (Duke’s Myles Jones has 219, Syracuse’s Dylan Donahue is at 211). — Kavanagh also is seventh in career assists among active players with 92 (Harvard’s Devin Dwyer leads with 116), 12th in points per game (3.57), 12th in assists per game (1.59) and 12th in career goals with 115.

For more information, see the Complete Game Notes