April 4, 2015
DURHAM, N.C. – A quartet of hat tricks propelled the top-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team to a 15-10 win over No. 7 Duke on Saturday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium.
Conor Doyle, Matt Kavanagh, Nick Ossello and Mikey Wynne all netted three goals for the Fighting Irish, who captured their third win over a top-10 opponent this season. Doyle also had a career-best four assists, while Kavanagh had two. Sophomore goalie Shane Doss made a career-high 17 saves in the win.
The Irish victory snapped Duke’s 21-game home winning streak, which was the longest active streak in the nation. The Blue Devils are 22-3 in their last 25 home games and Notre Dame has provided two of those losses.
“We had to make plays with how they were playing us and we were able to make those plays,” Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan said. “Shane Doss was absolutely terrific. Conor Doyle was also terrific. He did a great job of breaking them down.”
The Fighting Irish (7-1, 3-0) led 4-1 at the end of the first quarter, which continued their season-long trend of jumping on opponents early. Notre Dame has outscored its competition 32-9 in the first quarter this season.
“It’s important to play with a lead especially when you’re not winning faceoffs early on,” Corrigan added. “If you’re down and not winning faceoffs that’s a whole other level of pressure. When you’re up and losing faceoffs it’s not the same effect.”
Kavanagh and Doyle netted the first two goals of the game before Duke cracked the scoring column on a Tanner Scott tally at the 9:25 mark of the opening period. The Irish answered with goals from Kavanagh and Doyle.
Duke’s Jack Bruckner opened the second-quarter scoring, yet a 3-0 Fighting Irish run made it 7-2 with 6:50 left in the first half. Ossello, Wynne and Doyle tallied goals during that stretch. The Blue Devils trimmed the Irish lead back to three (7-4) on scores from Scott and Deemer Class, but Kavanagh found Eddy Lubowicki who scored with four seconds left in the stanza to make it 8-4 at the intermission. Doss made nine saves in the first half.
Wynne put the Irish up 9-4 just over two minutes into the second half, but Duke’s Myles Jones responded to make it a four-goal affair with 11:11 left in the third quarter. The two teams continued to alternate scores as a Notre Dame goal from Jim Marlatt was followed by a Blue Devil deposit from Justin Guterding.
Another Duke goal from Bruckner cut Notre Dame’s advantage to three (10-7) with just under six minutes left in the third period. The Fighting Irish used a Ben Pridemore goal to claim an 11-7 edge by the end of the third quarter.
Ossello and Kavanagh (man-up) scored 40 seconds apart to up Notre Dame’s lead to six (13-7) in the early stages of the fourth quarter. Guterding and Ossello exchanged goals and the score stood at 14-8 with exactly 11 minutes left to play. Blue Devil goals from Scott and Kyle Keenan (man-up) cut the Irish lead to four (14-10) with 3:27 showing on the clock, but those would be the final scores of the day for Duke. Wynne’s third goal produced the final outcome.
Notre Dame won the faceoff battle, 16-13. Fighting Irish sophomore P.J. Finley took every attempt. Duke outshot the Irish 46-34. Blue Devil goalie Danny Fowler finished with six saves. Both teams were 1-of-3 in man-advantage opportunities.
The Notre Dame defense limited Jones to just one goal and one assist. The Blue Devil midfielder entered the game with 26 goals and 23 assists this season.
The Fighting Irish are back in action Tuesday when they play host to No. 12 Marquette. Opening faceoff is slated for 4 p.m. (ET) at Arlotta Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
April 4, 2015
Koskinen Stadium – Durham, N.C.
#1 Notre Dame (7-1, 3-0) – 4 4 3 4 – 15
#7 Duke (7-4, 0-3) – 1 3 3 3 – 10
— Sean Carroll, Assistant Athletic Media Relations Director
–ND–