April 2, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – It was a back-and-forth affair on Sunday afternoon at Moose Krause Stadium with the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team claiming an 8-7 victory over Dartmouth. Senior attackman Pat Walsh (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) led the 11th-ranked Fighting Irish with five points on one goal and four assists, while sophomore goaltender Joey Kemp (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep) matched a season-high with 14 saves. With the win, Notre Dame improves to 6-2 on the season, while the loss drops Dartmouth to 4-4.
The Irish trailed 4-2 following the first quarter of play, despite getting two goals from freshman Ryan Hoff (Baldwin, Md./Dulaney). Hoff, who notched his first career hat trick on Wednesday against Brown, scored his tallies on passes from Walsh and Matt Ryan (Ridley Park, Pa./Ridley).
The senior duo of Brian Hubschmann (Short Hills, N.J./Delbarton) and Walsh connected twice during the second quarter to even the contest at four apiece heading into halftime. The first tally came with 9:20 remaining as Hubschmann took a Walsh pass and sent it in to make it 4-3. The same combination made it 4-4 less than three minutes later as Hubschmann tallied his team-leading 16th goal of the season.
Dartmouth grabbed the lead early in the third quarter as Brad Heritage notched a man-up goal on a Ryan Danehy assist. The Irish countered with Walsh depositing an impressive unassisted tally to even the contest at five with 8:25 remaining in the period. Heritage struck again, this time with a man-down score, on a pass from Nick Bonacci less than a minute later to make it 6-5 Big Green.
The Irish battled back with a 3-0 run that would give them the lead for good. Walsh registered his team-leading 13th assist of the season as he sent a pass to senior midfielder Matt Karweck (Penn Yan, N.Y./Penn Yan Academy), who sent it in for his 11th goal of the campaign. Freshman Peter Christman (Simsbury, Conn./Westminster School) then took a pass from senior co-captain Drew Peters (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon) and scored to put the Irish up 7-6 following three quarters of play.
Notre Dame produced its largest lead of the day early in the fourth quarter when sophomore Michael Podgajny (Ridley Park, Pa./Ridley Park) tallied a score off a feed from Hubschmann to make it 8-6. The Big Green did not go away as Alec Hufnagel notched an unassisted goal with 11:37 left in the contest. However, that would be the final goal of the game as the Irish defense, behind Kemp, held Dartmouth scoreless the rest of the way.
The Fighting Irish return to action next Saturday (April 8) as they open up GWLL play with a trip to Indianapolis to take on Butler. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. (ET) and the contest will be aired on Comcast Local.
Stay up-to-date on the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team by logging onto und.com or by calling the Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000. You can also sign up to receive text message score updates through Irish Alert. Log onto und.com for more details.
Dartmouth (4-4) – 4 0 2 1 – 7
#11 Notre Dame (6-2) – 2 2 3 1 – 8
Dartmouth Scoring:
Goals: Brad Heritage 2, Nick Bonacci 1, Jamie Coffin 1, Brian Koch 1, Alec Hufnagel 1, Sean Anthony 1.
Assists: Nick Bonacci 2, Jamie Coffin 1, Ryan Danehy 1.
Notre Dame Scoring:
Goals: Brian Hubschmann 2, Ryan Hoff 2, Pat Walsh 1, Matt Karweck 1, Michael Podgajny 1, Peter Christman 1.
Assists: Pat Walsh 4, Brian Hubschmann 1, Drew Peters 1, Matt Ryan 1.
— ND —