This will be the second No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown at Arlotta Stadium in the last three weeks. No. 2 Notre Dame knocked off No. 1 Syracuse 13-12 in double-overtime on March 28.

#1 Notre Dame Hosts #2 North Carolina On Saturday

April 15, 2015

Notre Dame Game Notes Get Acrobat Reader

#2 NORTH CAROLINA (12-1, 3-0 ACC)
vs.
#1 NOTRE DAME (8-1, 3-0 ACC)

Saturday, April 18, 2015 – 4 p.m. (ET)
Arlotta Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.

TV/INTERNET
ESPNU
WatchESPN

LIVE STATS

SETTING THE STAGE
– The Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title will be on the line Saturday when No. 1 Notre Dame (8-1, 3-0) plays host to No. 2 North Carolina (12-1, 3-0) at a sold-out Arlotta Stadium. Faceoff is slated for 4 p.m. (ET).
– The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and WatchESPN with Anish Shroff (play-by-play) and Ryan Flanagan (analyst) on the call. Live stats will be available on UND.com.
– Notre Dame has not played since a 14-7 victory over Marquette on April 7. North Carolina is coming off a 17-15 win over Syracuse on Saturday.
– The Tar Heels are the seventh straight ranked opponent Notre Dame has faced.

ANOTHER NO. 1 VS. NO. 2 AFFAIR AT ARLOTTA
– This will be the second No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown at Arlotta Stadium in the last three weeks. No. 2 Notre Dame knocked off No. 1 Syracuse 13-12 in double-overtime on March 28.

TAKING ON THE TAR HEELS
– Saturday will be the 13th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and North Carolina. The series is tied 6-6 and the Fighting Irish have won the last two encounters, including last season’s 11-10 come-from-behind victory in Chapel Hill. That was Notre Dame’s first-ever ACC contest.
– The last three meetings all have been decided by a single goal, with two of those games going to overtime.
– All 12 showdowns in the series have been decided by three goals or less.
– North Carolina is 2-3 all-time at Notre Dame. The Irish have won three straight at home over the Tar Heels. The last meeting in South Bend was a 10-9 triple-overtime Irish victory during the 2013 campaign.

THE LAST TIME
– Notre Dame opened its ACC era on March 1, 2014, with an 11-10 comeback win at North Carolina. The Tar Heels scored the first four goals of the game and led 7-3 at halftime before extending the lead to five (8-3) early in the second half. The Fighting Irish responded with a 5-0 run to tie the contest, 8-8, 29 seconds into the fourth quarter. After North Carolina reclaimed the lead (9-8), Notre Dame scored three straight goals en route to the victory.
Matt Kavanagh registered three goals and two assists for the Irish, while Sergio Perkovic netted a pair of goals. Notre Dame goalie Shane Doss played the final 51:06 in cage and made 10 saves while allowing six goals.

NOTRE DAME NOT USED TO TRAILING
– Notre Dame has only trailed for 19:29 the entire season.
– Entering last Tuesday’s showdown against Marquette, the Fighting Irish had only trailed for 1:10 in the last six games. The Golden Eagles jumped on top 2-0 and held a lead for 8:23 during that time.

STRONG STARTS
– The Fighting Irish have outscored their opponents 36-11 in the first quarter and 69-29 in the first half this season.
– Notre Dame has led after the first, second and third quarters in every game this season.

STOUT SLATE
– Nine of Notre Dame’s 11 regular-season opponents currently appear in both the USILA (coaches) and Cascade/Maverik (media) polls, including five in the top 10.
– The Fighting Irish are 6-1 against those ranked teams so far this season.

NOTRE DAME AT NO. 1
– After beating No. 1 Syracuse on March 28, Notre Dame moved to the top of the USILA (coaches) and Cascade/Maverik (media) polls.
– The Irish have been in the top spot each of the last three weeks, which is the program’s longest run at No. 1.
– This is the seventh week in the history of the Fighting Irish program that they have been No. 1 in both polls.
Here are Notre Dame’s previous appearances at No. 1:
April 18 – May 2, 2011 (USILA & media polls – 2 weeks)
March 25 – April 1, 2013 (USILA & media polls – 1 week)
April 22 – April 29, 2013 (USILA & media polls – 1 week)

DOSS GETTING IT DONE
– Sophomore goalie Shane Doss is sixth nationally in save percentage (.587) and 11th in goals-against average (7.90). Doss leads the ACC in both of those categories.
– Doss made a career-high 17 saves in the win at Duke (April 4). He has made 10 or more saves in six of his eight starts this season.
– He was named the USILA Division I Defensive Player of the Week and the ACC Defensive Player of the Week after the Irish shut out Ohio State, 9-0. He earned the ACC honor once again along with being the NCAA.com Defensive Player of the Week for his career-high 17 save effort in the 15-10 win at Duke.
– Doss has a 7-1 record this season and a 12-4 career mark.

GETTING OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE
– Notre Dame ranks seventh nationally in scoring offense (13.67 gpg.) and 12th in scoring defense (8.22 gpg.).

KAVANAGH PRODUCING POINTS
Matt Kavanagh has compiled three or more points in eight of nine games this season. He ranks eighth nationally in assists per game (2.44) and 18th in points per game (4.33).
– The junior attackman has notched six or more points in three games this season and in 11 games during his career.
– Kavanagh’s career 3.77 points-per-game average is fourth among all active Division I players.
– Kavanagh had his career-best 17-game goal streak snapped against Marquette, but he did have three assists versus the Golden Eagles.

MANNING UP
– Notre Dame boasts the nation’s third-best man-up offense (.577). The Fighting Irish are 15-of-26 in extra-man opportunities this season. Mikey Wynne has a team-best five man-advantage goals, while Matt Kavanagh and Sergio Perkovic both have three man-up tallies.

HOT SHOTS
– The Fighting Irish rank second nationally in shooting percentage (.364). Individually, Mikey Wynne is third in the nation in shooting percentage (.520), while Nick Ossello is 10th (.483) and Conor Doyle is 11th (.474).

CONSISTENCY FROM Conor Doyle
– Senior attackman Conor Doyle has a 30-game point streak, which ranks 13th nationally and is the longest on the team.
– Doyle has produced 85 points (54g, 31a) during the streak.
– Doyle has notched seven goals and four assists in the last two games. He tied a career-high mark of four goals in the win over Marquette after producing seven points on three goals and four assists in the victory at Duke. The point and assist totals against the Blue Devils were career highs.

FIGHTING IRISH SPURTS
– Notre Dame has produced significant scoring runs in each of the last eight games.
– Marquette claimed a 2-0 lead over Notre Dame before the Fighting Irish scored seven straight goals en route to the 14-7 win.
– The Irish netted seven of the game’s first nine goals in the 15-10 victory at Duke. – The Fighting Irish extended their 5-3 halftime lead against Syracuse with four straight second-half scores to claim a six-goal advantage (9-3) before going on to win 13-12 in double-overtime.
– Notre Dame scored every goal in the 9-0 win over Ohio State on March 21.
– The Fighting Irish scored the first seven goals in the 11-9 victory at Virginia.
– Notre Dame surrendered the first goal to Denver before scoring five straight times, but the Irish would suffer an 11-10 overtime setback.
– After Dartmouth tied Notre Dame, 2-2, the Fighting Irish rattled off 14 consecutive tallies in the 20-5 victory.
– The Irish overturned a 1-0 deficit at Michigan with nine straight goals en route to the 17-8 victory.

SPREADING THE WEALTH
– Notre Dame has had at least six different goal scorers in seven of nine games this season.
– Notre Dame had a season-high 10 goal scorers in wins over Dartmouth and Michigan. The Irish had a season-low four goal scorers in the win at Virginia.

WHAT A START FOR WYNNE
– Freshman attackman Mikey Wynne has a team-high 26 goals this season.
– Wynne ranks 13th nationally in goals per game (2.89). He has posted two or more goals in seven of nine games this season.
– Wynne scored six goals versus Georgetown in his collegiate debut.

PERKOVIC A PLAYMAKER
– Sophomore Sergio Perkovic is Notre Dame’s leading midfield scorer this season with 17 goals and six assists.
– Perkovic has 15 multiple-goal games during his career (six this season), including four games of three-plus tallies.
– He tied a career-high mark of five points with three goals and two assists last Tuesday versus Marquette. He had a hand in four straight Fighting Irish goals (2g, 2a) during the second quarter of that contest.
– Perkovic netted 28 goals last season, including five in the national title game. The 28 goals were the most ever for a freshman midfielder at Notre Dame.

KAVANAGH IN THE IRISH RECORD BOOK
– Junior attackman Matt Kavanagh’s 162 career points (91g, 71a) rank sixth in the Notre Dame record book.
– Kavanagh’s 91 goals are the eighth-most in school history and the 71 assists are the fifth most.
– Kavanagh produced Fighting Irish single-season records for points (75) and assists (33) in 2014.
– Kavanagh’s 42 goals last season were the most for a Notre Dame player since Randy Colley netted a school-record 49 goals in 1995.
– Kavanagh is the only player in Notre Dame history to register 30 goals and 30 assists in the same season (42g, 33a in 2014).
– He has 28 multiple-goal games during his career (15 with three-plus goals).
– Kavanagh matched a school record with seven goals in last season’s win at Ohio State.

OSSELLO ON A ROLL
– Senior midfielder Nick Ossello has registered a career-high three points in each of the last four games. He scored three goals against Ohio State and then tallied two goals and one assist versus Syracuse. Ossello deposited three goals against Duke and Marquette.

NOTRE DAME BLANKS THE BUCKEYES
– Notre Dame posted the second shutout in program history with the 9-0 blanking of No. 15 Ohio State on March 21 at Arlotta Stadium.
– Notre Dame sophomore Shane Doss started between the pipes and stopped 11 Buckeye shots, while senior Conor Kelly came off the bench to play the final 4:25 of the game and made two saves to preserve the shutout. Notre Dame’s only other clean sheet in program history came in a 15-0 win over Mt. Union on April 10, 1984.
– Notre Dame’s man-down defensive unit halted all five of Ohio State’s man-up chances.

FOUR ON TEWAARATON WATCH LIST
Matt Kavanagh (Jr./A), Matt Landis (Jr./D), Jack Near (Sr./M) and Sergio Perkovic (So./M) are among 50 players who recently were named to the 2015 Tewaaraton Award Watch List.
– Kavanagh was a Tewaaraton Award nominee last season.

KAVANAGH IS CLUTCH
Matt Kavanagh has three overtime game-winning goals during his career. He netted the deciding goal in last season’s triumph over Albany in the NCAA quarterfinals. During his freshman campaign, he scored in overtime against Penn State and North Carolina (3ot).

GAME CHANGERS AWARD
– Members of the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team have been recognized as Atlantic Coast Conference/United Way “Game Changers” and were honored during the 2015 New York Life ACC Tournament. The “Game Changers” initiative was introduced this year as part of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s unique and longstanding partnership with United Way. It seeks to recognize and highlight specific ACC team involvement with its local United Way chapter.

ELITE COMPANY
– Notre Dame and Duke are the only two schools to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship in each of the last five campaigns.
– Notre Dame and Maryland are the only two programs to earn a spot in the NCAA Championship field in each of the last nine seasons.
– The Fighting Irish are 10-5 in the NCAA tournament over the last five seasons.

IRISH ATHLETICS TO HONOR FATHER HESBURGH
– The University of Notre Dame athletics department will commemorate the legacy of long-time University president Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., in a number of ways. Father Hesburgh died February 26 at age 97. He served as University president from 1952-87.
– Notre Dame athletic teams will wear “Fr. Ted” patches or stickers on some combination of their uniforms, warm-ups or helmets.
– Moments of silence will be observed prior to home events in each of Notre Dame’s 26 varsity sports.
– In the near future, there will be commemorative signage created for each Notre Dame home athletic venue–to be featured either on the field or court itself or displayed elsewhere at the facility.