March 1, 2013
#9 NORTH CAROLINA (2-1)
vs.
#2 NOTRE DAME (2-0)
Saturday, March 2 – Noon (ET)
Arlotta Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
LIVE VIDEO BROADCAST:
UND.com (free)
LIVE STATS:
SCORE UPDATES:
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SETTING THE STAGE
– No. 2 Notre Dame (2-0) will open its home slate Saturday against No. 9 North Carolina (2-1). Face-off is scheduled for noon (ET) at Arlotta Stadium.
– A free live video broadcast of the contest will be available on UND.com, which will also feature live stats via Gametracker.
– North Carolina will be the third straight top-10 team the Irish have faced this season. Notre Dame won at No. 4 Duke, 13-5, in the season opener and then captured a 10-9 overtime victory at No. 8 Penn State on Sunday.
– The Irish are 2-0 for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. Notre Dame has opened a campaign with three straight wins four times in the last five seasons.
HOME SWEET HOME
– Notre Dame is 29-3 all-time in home openers. The Irish have won 10 straight home openers. The last time the Irish dropped their first home contest of the season was in 2002 when they fell in overtime to Penn State, 10-9.
– Last season, the Irish bested Duke, 7-3, in the home opener, which also was the season opener.
– Notre Dame is 40-4 (.909) at home since the beginning of the 2006 season.
TAKING ON THE TAR HEELS
– Saturday will be the 11th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and North Carolina. The Tar Heels have a 6-4 edge in the series. North Carolina won the last meeting, 9-8 in overtime, on May 6, 2011, in Chapel Hill, N.C.
– The two teams have split the four all-time meetings at Notre Dame. The Irish took the last showdown in South Bend, 9-7, during the 2009 campaign.
– Fighting Irish head coach Kevin Corrigan is 4-6 all-time versus North Carolina.
A LOOK AT NORTH CAROLINA
– North Carolina will bring a 2-1 record into Saturday’s showdown. The Tar Heels have defeated Air Force (16-8) and Fairfield (10-9) and fell to Massachusetts (12-11).
– The Tar Heels are averaging 12.33 goals per game, while allowing 9.67 per contest.
– Senior attackman Marcus Holman leads North Carolina in goals (9), assists (8) and points (17). Sophomore attackman Jimmy Bitter has eight goals.
– Freshman Kieran Burke has started all three games in goal and has a 10.4 goals-against average and a .509 save percentage.
– North Carolina is 45-of-76 (.592) in faceoff attempts.
FIGHTING IRISH AGAINST THE ACC
– Notre Dame has won three straight games against Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) competition. The Fighting Irish are 12-21 all-time against ACC teams. The Irish are 6-3 versus ACC competition since the beginning of the 2010 season.
– North Carolina will be the second ACC foe Notre Dame has played this season. The Irish opened the campaign with a 13-5 win at Duke.
IRISH TAME NITTANY LIONS IN OVERTIME
– A goal from freshman attackman Matt Kavanagh with 1:34 left in the first overtime period gave Notre Dame a 10-9 win at Penn State on Sunday.
– The game featured seven ties and four lead changes.
– A late flurry from both teams sent the game into the extra session. Notre Dame tied the contest (8-8) with 24 seconds left on a Conor Doyle goal. The Irish took a 9-8 lead with just 18 seconds remaining when Liam O’Connor won the faceoff and scored. A tally from Penn State’s Tom LaCrosse with one second left knotted the contest at nine.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
– Notre Dame has won its last three overtime contests and the Irish are 5-1 in their last six one-goal games.
CAREER DAY FOR Conor Doyle
– Sophomore attackman Conor Doyle posted career-high totals in goals (3) and points (4) in the win at Penn State.
– He was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for his performance against the Nittany Lions.
FACEOFF FIREPOWER
– Junior midfielder/faceoff specialist Liam O’Connor scored two goals immediately after faceoff wins in Sunday’s victory at Penn State. Both goals occurred in the fourth quarter after an Irish goal. The first tally evened the contest (7-7) with 9:28 remaining in regulation. The second score put the Irish up 9-8 with 18 seconds left in the period.
– The two goals were a career-high total for O’Connor, who has five tallies during his Irish career.
MAKING IT HAPPEN IN MARCH
– Notre Dame has won nine straight games in the month of March.
FANTASTIC FEBRUARYS FOR THE FIGHTING IRISH
– Notre Dame is 17-1 in its last 18 games in February. Fighting Irish head coach Kevin Corrigan is 22-4 in the month of February during his Notre Dame tenure.
MARLATT HELPS IRISH DOWN DUKE
– Junior midfielder Jim Marlatt notched career-high totals in goals (5), points (6) and ground balls (5) in the season opener at Duke.
– The five goals were the most for a Notre Dame player since David Earl scored five times at Princeton in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Championship. Marlatt is the first Irish player with at least six points in a game since the 2009 season.
ROOKIE ON A ROLL
– Freshman attackman Matt Kavanagh deposited the game winner in Sunday’s overtime victory at Penn State.
– Kavanagh had four goals and an assist in his collegiate debut versus Duke. He was named the Cascade Rookie of the Week for his performance against the Blue Devils.
IRISH HAVE THREE ON TEWAARATON WATCH LIST
– John Kemp (Sr./G), Jim Marlatt (Jr./M) and Sean Rogers (Sr./A) all have been named to the 92-man Tewaaraton Award watch list. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top player.
– The list will be narrowed to 25 nominees in late April. Five finalists will be announced in mid-May. Kemp was a Tewaaraton Award nominee last season.
Matt Miller A SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE
– Defenseman Matt Miller has been named one of 20 candidates for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award in the men’s lacrosse division.
– An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
– The candidate class will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those names will be placed on the official ballot.
– Miller has started every contest over the past two seasons on Notre Dame’s stellar defensive unit. He earned honorable mention All-America honors last season in addition to being named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team.
A PERFORMER BETWEEN THE PIPES
– Senior goalie John Kemp boasts a 27-8 (.771) career record to go along with a 6.54 goals-against average and a .614 save percentage.
– Last season, Kemp led the nation in goals-against average (6.27) and save percentage (.637) and was named to the USILA All-America First Team.
– He finished the 2011 campaign ranked second nationally in goals-against average (6.61) and fourth in save percentage (.602) and received honorable mention All-America accolades.
CONSISTENCY IN THE CAGE
– John Kemp is the third straight Notre Dame goalie to receive All-America honors. Kemp was named to the USILA All-America First Team last season after earning an honorable mention citation in 2011.
– Scott Rodgers earned third-team All-America honors in 2009 and was an honorable mention pick in 2010. He also was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2010 NCAA Championship.
– Joey Kemp, John’s older brother, was a three-time All-America honoree at Notre Dame. He copped first-team honors in 2008 in addition to honorable mention accolades in 2006 and 2007.
A SUCCESSFUL STRETCH
– Notre Dame is 65-17 (.793) since the beginning of the 2008 season. That percentage is the third-best nationally.
– The Fighting Irish have been to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship four times in the last five seasons, including the program’s first-ever NCAA title game appearance in 2010 and a semifinalist finish in 2012.
– Since the beginning of the 2010 NCAA Championship, Notre Dame has gone 29-7 (.806), with three of those losses coming in overtime.
BROTHERLY BOND
– Senior defenseman Matt Miller is joined by his older brother David Miller on this season’s roster. David, a short-stick defensive midfielder, spent four seasons at Maryland and is using his final year of eligibility with the Irish. David played in 30 games with the Terrapins.
IRISH PICKED AS FAVORITE TO WIN BIG EAST
– With five first-place votes, Notre Dame was selected as the favorite to win the 2013 BIG EAST championship in a poll by the league’s seven head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own programs.
– Fighting Irish senior goalie John Kemp was tapped as the league’s preseason co-defensive player of the year.
– Kemp was one of five Notre Dame players selected to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team. Joining Kemp as a unanimous choice were his teammates Jim Marlatt (Jr./M) and Matt Miller (Sr./D). Sean Rogers (Sr./A) and Westy Hopkins (Jr./A) also appeared on the 15-man squad. Notre Dame’s five selections were the most of any school.
NOTRE DAME TO PLAY IN TWO INSIDE LACROSSE EVENTS
– Notre Dame will face Denver March 16 in the second annual Whitman’s Samper Mile High Classic at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo. The event’s first game will feature Loyola versus Air Force followed by the Irish and Pioneers.
– The Fighting Irish will play BIG EAST rival Syracuse April 27 at the Konica Minolta Big City Classic at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Princeton and Cornell will meet in the day’s first game.
– Notre Dame topped St. John’s, 13-6, in last season’s Big City Classic.
ESPN EXPOSURE
– Notre Dame will appear on the ESPN family of networks four times during the 2013 regular season. The Fighting Irish will have three games broadcast on ESPNU/WatchESPN and one contest on ESPN3.
– The Notre Dame-Denver showdown on March 16 at the Whitman’s Sampler Mile High Classic can be seen on ESPN3.
– Notre Dame will appear on ESPNU three consecutive weekends in April. The first two games are home dates with BIG EAST opponents Georgetown (April 14) and Villanova (April 20). ESPNU also will air the Notre Dame-Syracuse clash at the Konica Minolta Big City Classic (April 27).
THREE IRISH PLAYERS EARN PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA ACCOLADES
– Notre Dame’s John Kemp (Sr./G), Jim Marlatt (Jr./M) and Matt Miller (Sr./D) were selected as preseason All-Americans by Inside Lacrosse. Kemp was named to the first team, while Marlatt and Miller were selected to the second and third teams, respectively.
FOUR CAPTAINS NAMED FOR 2013 CAMPAIGN
– Seniors Quinn Cully (M), Ryan Foley (M), Matt Miller (D) and Sean Rogers (A) have been named Notre Dame team captains for the 2013 season. All four student-athletes are first-time captains for the Fighting Irish.
FOUR PLAYERS PICKED IN MLL DRAFT
– Four Fighting Irish players were selected in the 2013 Major League Lacrosse (MLL) Collegiate Draft. Seniors John Kemp (G), Matt Miller (D), Steve Murphy (M) and Quinn Cully (M) were picked in the draft, which was held Jan. 11 in Philadelphia.
– The Rochester Rattlers picked Kemp with the first selection of the fourth round (25th overall). Kemp was the first goalie nabbed in the draft. Rochester later selected Miller in the sixth round (44th overall). The New York Lizards picked Murphy in the seventh round (53rd overall), while Cully went to the Boston Cannons in the eighth round (62nd overall).
IRISH IN THE BIG EAST
– Notre Dame has a 13-5 (.722) record all-time in BIG EAST regular-season play. The 2010 campaign marked the first season of BIG EAST men’s lacrosse and the Irish posted a 2-4 record. Notre Dame finished second in the league in 2011 with a 5-1 mark. The Fighting Irish won the league’s 2012 regular-season title with a perfect 6-0 record.