April 7, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – In a matchup between the two teams chosen by Inside Lacrosse to finish atop the Great Western Lacrosse League this season, Denver (6-2, 1-0 GWLL) used outstanding defense to defeat Notre Dame (5-3, 1-1 GWLL) 9-6 in men’s lacrosse action Thursday afternoon at Moose Krause Stadium. The Irish will play their final home game of the season on Sunday, playing host to Air Force in another conference tilt.
The Pioneers held Notre Dame – which ranks tied for fourth in Division I in scoring offense (after being #1 earlier this spring) – to exactly half of its season goal average, as well as its lowest output since the finale of the 2003 season. The teams played a scoreless first quarter, and Denver held a 3-2 goal edge in each of the final three periods, building a lead of as many as four (9-5) and never allowing the Irish to score back-to-back goals.
For the second game in a row, Notre Dame freshman G Joey Kemp (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep School) turned in a strong performance in defeat. He stopped two-thirds of the shots he faced, making 18 saves, including a number on point-blank efforts from a Pioneers unit that had been tied for fourth in the nation in scoring, at 12.00 goals per game. Denver outshot the Irish 39-32 and also held a 27-15 edge in shots on goal.
Denver’s Ryan Zordani – who finished with three points (2 G, 1 A) – finally opened the scoring, 16:02 into the game. The Pioneers led 3-2 at halftime, but senior co-captain A Jim Morrison (Fulton, Md./Mount St. Joseph H.S.) knotted the score for the third time with a goal off an assist by senior M Brian Giordano (Princeton, N.J./Hun School) just 2:24 into the second half. Denver senior M Scott Davidson won the ensuing faceoff, picked up the ground ball and passed to freshman A Brett Koll who found Zordani right in front for his second goal, just seven seconds after Morrison’s tally. That would put DU up for good, but Davidson then won the next faceoff to set up another Pioneer tally, coming just 15 seconds later from senior A Matt Brown – the GWLL’s top goal scorer – off another assist from Kroll.
Morrison scored again with 8:12 left in the third quarter off a pass from junior M Matt Karweck (Penn Yan, N.Y./Penn Yan Academy), but the Irish could never get closer than one the rest of the way.
Morrison, who is tied for fourth in Division I in goals per game, improved his team-leading total to 22, and he also added his third assist of the season. Junior M Drew Peters (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon H.S.) turned in the second multiple-goal game of his career (two goals), while Karweck and sophomore M Lucius Polk (Washington, D.C./St. Albans H.S.) also scored for Notre Dame. Karweck also had a pair of assists to end with three points.
Freshman M Taylor Clagett (Chesapeake Beach, Md./DeMatha Catholic H.S.) won a majority of the faceoffs for the eighth time in as many collegiate games, coming through on 10 of 19 draws.
The teams collected 49 ground balls apiece, with junior D D.J. Driscoll (Downingtown, Pa./Malvern Prep School) and M Matt Ryan (Ridley Park, Pa./Ridley H.S.) each picking up five. Kemp, Karweck, Morrison, junior A Pat Walsh (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh H.S.), and freshman M Michael Podgajny (Ridley Park, Pa./Ridley H.S.) had four ground balls apiece.
The win was the first for Denver in nine all-time matchups with the Irish, though they lost by just a 9-8 margin in their last trip to Notre Dame and fell 14-12 against ND at home in 2004.
SCORE BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot-------------------------------------Denver.............. 0 3 3 3 - 9Notre Dame.......... 0 2 2 2 - 6
Denver SCORING: GOALS: Brown, Matt 3; Zordani, Ryan 2; Goltra, Michael 1;Davidson, Scott 1; Swain, Adam 1; Snider, Geoff 1.ASSISTS: Koll, Brett 2; Goltra, Michael 1; Hanlon, Greer 1; Miller, Adam 1;Zordani, Ryan 1.
Notre Dame SCORING: GOALS: Morrison, Jim 2; Peters, Drew 2; Karweck, Matt 1;Polk, Lucius 1.ASSISTS: Karweck, Matt 2; Giordano, Brian 1; Morrison, Jim 1.