March 31, 2011
Game 7 – Saturday, April 2 – 1:00 p.m. (ET)
Arlotta Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
#8 VILLANOVA (7-2, 0-1)
vs.
#2 NOTRE DAME (6-0, 1-0)
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SETTING THE STAGE
– A top-10 showdown will take place on Saturday at Arlotta Stadium as No. 2 Notre Dame (6-0, 1-0) will play host to No. 8 Villanova (7-2, 0-1). Opening faceoff for the BIG EAST clash is slated for 1:00 p.m. (ET). – This will be the 15th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Villanova. The Irish lead the series 9-5. Notre Dame had won nine straight over Villanova before the Wildcats topped the Irish 9-8 last season in Villanova, Pa. The Wildcats are 1-4 all-time at Notre Dame. The Irish won the last meeting at Notre Dame, 9-7, during the 2009 campaign. This will be the first encounter between the Irish and Wildcats with both teams ranked in the top 10 nationally. – The Irish are off to a 6-0 start for the third time in program history (31 seasons). The other 6-0 starts occurred in 1993 and 2009. – Notre Dame’s defense ranks first nationally by allowing just 5.83 goals per game, which is on pace to snap the school-record mark of 6.19 from the 2009 season.
A LOOK AT VILLANOVA
– Villanova will bring a 7-2 record into Saturday’s contest. The Wildcats are 0-1 in BIG EAST play. The Wildcats are coming off a 5-4 setback to Syracuse on Saturday. Their wins have come against Lehigh (9-8), Drexel (10-6), Fairfield (14-13), Penn State (17-5), Penn (9-8 OT), Princeton (10-9) and Manhattan (10-6). The other loss was to Bucknell (10-8). – The Wildcats average 10.11 goals per game on offense and surrender 7.78 goals per game defensively. – Junior attackman Kevin Cunningham leads the team in goals (21) and assists (13). Cunningham and senior long-stick midfielder Brian Karalunas both were all-BIG EAST preseason selections. Sophomore Billy Hurley has started all nine games in goal and carries a 7.80 goals-against average and a .504 save percentage. – Villanova went 10-5 last season, which included a 4-2 mark in BIG EAST play. The Wildcats returned seven starters and 29 letterwinners from last season’s squad. – Head coach Michael Corrado is in his sixth season at the helm of the Wildcat program. He has a 40-29 record at Villanova.
THE LAST MEETING
– Notre Dame fell at Villanova, 9-8, last season. The Fighting Irish were ranked 15th at the time of the game, while the Wildcats were 13th. Zach Brenneman tallied two goals and two assists for the Irish. John Kemp played all 60 minutes in goal and made 10 saves. After Notre Dame grabbed an 8-5 lead with just over nine minutes remaining, Villanova scored the game’s final four goals.
SCORELESS STRETCHES
– Notre Dame has held an opponent scoreless for an entire quarter seven times this season. The Irish defense has put together a scoreless stretch of 20 minutes or longer seven times this season. The longest such stretch was 32:30 against Drexel. The Dragons did not score from the 9:27 mark of the first quarter until the 6:57 mark of the third quarter. Notre Dame out scored Drexel 5-0 during that time en route to the 11-7 victory. – The Fighting Irish held both Penn State and Rutgers scoreless during two quarters. The Nittany Lions and Scarlet Knight both were held without a goal during the second on fourth quarters.
STOPPING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS
– Rutgers, who entered Sunday’s game against the Irish averaging 10.14 goals per game this season, scored just one goal in the final 45:02 of the contest. Notre Dame kept Rutgers off the scoreboard for the final 23:50 of the game.
OFFENSIVE DISTRIBUTION
– Notre Dame had eight assists on its eight goals in the victory at Rutgers. Four different Fighting Irish attackmen combined to score five of Notre Dame’s eight goals against the Scarlet Knights.
ROGERS AND KEMP EARN BIG EAST HONORS
– Sean Rogers (Jr./A) and John Kemp (So./G) received honors from the BIGâ⒬ˆEASTâ⒬ˆConference for their efforts in two Irish wins last week. Rogers was named the BIGâ⒬ˆEASTâ⒬ˆOffensive Player of the Week, while Kemp was selected to the league’s weekly honor roll. – Rogers tallied four goals and three assists over the course of the two Irish victories. He matched a career-high total with three goals in an 8-7 win over No. 20 Ohio State. Rogers’ first goal tied the game 1-1, while his second tally gave Notre Dame a 3-2 lead. His final goal proved to be the game winner. Rogers dished out a career-high three assists in addition to scoring a goal in Sunday’s 8-3 victory at Rutgers. – Kemp made 15 saves and allowed just 10 goals while playing every minute in the two victories. He had five saves in the victory over Ohio State and followed that up with a 10-save performance against Rutgers. Kemp and the Notre Dame defense stifled a Rutgers offense that entered the game averaging over 10 goals per game. The Irish held the Scarlet Knights to one goal in the final 45:02 of the game and scoreless for the final 23:50. Kemp boasts a 5.83 goals-against average this season.
BEATING THE BUCKEYES
– A goal from Sean Rogers with 33 seconds left was the difference as Notre Dame topped Ohio State 8-7 on March 23 at Arlotta Stadium. Rogers, a junior attackman, scored a game-high three goals. The three goals matched a career-high total that he achieved twice last season. – Senior long-stick midfielder Andrew Irving had a career-high two assists. – Notre Dame owned the faceoff circle by winning 16 of 19 attempts. Freshman Liam O’Connor went 13-16, while senior Jake Marmul was 3-3. – The Fighting Irish held a 34-20 advantage in shots. Sophomore goalie John Kemp made five saves, including one in the final seconds to negate Ohio State’s final scoring chance, for the Irish.
ROGERS RACKING UP THE POINTS
– Junior attackman Sean Rogers leads the Fighting Irish in goals (10) and assists (6) this season. He has tallied 13 points on eight goals and five assists over the past four games. Rogers matched a career-high total with three goals against Ohio State and followed that performance up with a career-high three assists versus Rutgers. – Rogers has a team-best eight-game point streak.
AND THEN THERE WERE TWO
– BIG EAST rivals Notre Dame (6-0) and Syracuse (7-0) are the only two undefeated teams remaining in all of NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse.
BEATING THE BEST
– Four of Notre Dame’s six wins have come against opponents that were ranked at the time of the meetings. The Irish bested #5 Duke 12-7 in the season opener. Notre Dame also topped #16 Drexel (11-7), #14 Denver (10-9) and #20 Ohio State 8-7.
PERFORMING BETWEEN THE PIPES
– Sophomore goalie John Kemp is off to a solid start this season. He boasts a 6-0 record with a 5.83 goals-against average and a .628 save percentage. He ranks third nationally in goals-against average and fourth in save percentage. Kemp has played every minute in goal this season for the Irish.
IT’S NOT HOW YOU START, IT’S HOW YOU FINISH
– Notre Dame has surrendered the first goal in four of its six games this season yet the Irish have gone on to win each contest. – The Irish have led at halftime during all six games this season.
QUALITY QUARTERS
– Notre Dame has out-scored its opponents 14-4 in the second quarter and 18-9 in the fourth quarter.
RUNNING AWAY TO VICTORY
– In the win over Drexel on March 6, Notre Dame trailed 6-5 after three quarters, but finished the game on a 6-1 run to capture the 11-7 victory. – Against Denver on March 12, Notre Dame broke open a 7-7 tie with three straight goals to claim a 10-7 lead by the end of the third quarter. The Irish held on to win 10-9.
QUITE A CROWD
– The Notre Dame-Drexel game on March 6 drew 1,626 fans to the Loftus Sports Center. That is a men’s lacrosse record crowd for the Loftus Center. The previous mark was 1,437 from the 2009 showdown against North Carolina.
HOME SWEET HOME
– Notre Dame boasts an all-time home record of 133-38 (.778).
HONORS ALL AROUND
– Six Notre Dame players have earned weekly accolades from the BIG EAST Conference so far this season. Zach Brenneman was named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week on Feb. 21, while Kevin Ridgway garnered defensive player of the week honors on Feb. 28. Sean Rogers copped offensive player-of-the-week accolades on March 28. David Earl (March 7), Ryan Foley (March 14) and John Kemp (March 14 & March 28) all have been named to the league’s weekly honor roll.
IRISH PLACE THREE ON TEWAARATON TROPHY WATCH LIST
– Notre Dame seniors Zach Brenneman (M), David Earl (M) and Kevin Ridgway (D) have been named to the 58-man watch list for the 2011 Tewaaraton Trophy. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top collegiate lacrosse player.
STINGY DEFENSE
– The Fighting Irish rank first nationally in team defense by allowing just 5.83 goals per game. Notre Dame’s 35 goals allowed through this season’s first six games are the fewest in program history for the first six contests of a season. The previous low was 36 goals in 1996. – Since the beginning of the 2007 season (a span of 71 games), Notre Dame has surrendered 10 goals or more in a game just nine times and the Irish defense has limited opponents to seven goals or fewer 49 times. – The two goals surrendered to Penn State in the 6-2 victory on Feb. 27 were the fewest since a 12-2 victory over St. John’s during the 2009 campaign. Notre Dame has limited foes to four goals or fewer 12 times since the beginning of the 2007 campaign.
IRISH DEFENSE ANNUALLY AMONG THE NATION’S BEST
– Notre Dame boasted the nation’s second-best defense in 2010 by producing a 7.53 goals-against average. Notre Dame limited foes to seven goals or fewer 10 times (out of 17 games). – The Irish produced the nation’s sixth-best man-down defense (.750) in 2010. – Goalie Scott Rodgers in 2010 led all NCAA Division I goalies with a .605 save percentage and ranked third in goals-against with a 7.56 average. – Notre Dame had the nation’s top defense in 2009 by producing a school-record 6.19 goals-against average. – The Irish had the nation’s fifth-best scoring defense in 2008 by allowing 7.04 goals per game. In 2007, Notre Dame ranked fourth nationally with a then school record 6.66 mark.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
– Notre Dame has had at least six different goal scorers in every game this season. The Irish used a season-high eight different goal scorers in the 11-7 win over Drexel (March 6). – The Fighting Irish have had 13 players tally a goal this season. – Notre Dame had a different player score all six goals in the 6-2 win at Penn State (Feb. 27).
FACING OFF
– The Fighting Irish boast a 55.4% (62-112) faceoff winning percentage this season. That mark ranks 19th nationally. Freshman Liam O’Connor is 39-70 (.557) in the faceoff circle, while senior Jake Marmul is 23-42 (.548). Against Ohio State on March 23, the duo combined to go 16-19 (.842). – Notre Dame has produced one of the nation’s top faceoff units over the past few seasons. The Irish won 54.3% (185-341) of their attempts last season to rank 17th nationally. Departed senior Trever Sipperly ranked 21st nationally with a 55.7% (181-325) winning percentage in 2010. – The Irish produced the nation’s ninth-best faceoff winning percentage (.556) in 2009. Notre Dame ranked second nationally in 2008 (.628) and 15th (.546) in 2007.
SHOOTING DOWN THE COMPETITION
– Notre Dame has out shot its opponents 203-164 this season. That includes a 119-94 advantage in shots on goal. The Irish average 33.8 shots per game, while allowing just 27.3.
ROOKIE ON A ROLL
– Freshman attackman Westy Hopkins’ seven goals rank second among all Fighting Irish players. Hopkins has scored at least one goal in five of six games this season. – Hopkins netted two goals in his collegiate debut, a 12-7 season-opening win over Duke. He also scored twice in his home debut versus Drexel, an 11-7 victory.
BIG START FOR BRENNEMAN
– Senior midfielder Zach Brenneman opened the season with a career-high five-point effort (3 goals, 2 assists) against Duke. That was the ninth hat trick of his career.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
– The Fighting Irish will appear on the ESPN family of networks five times during the 2011 campaign. Notre Dame’s Champion Challenge contest versus the U.S. National Team was aired on ESPNU, while the season opener versus Duke (Feb. 20) was on ESPN. ESPNU will broadcast Notre Dame’s home BIG EAST tilt versus Georgetown (April 10) along with road games against Syracuse (April 30) and North Carolina (May 6).
QUALITY COMPETITION
– The Fighting Irish have seven teams on their 2011 slate that appear in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) coaches’ poll. The Irish currently are ranked second and three of their 2011 opponents join them in the top four of the poll. Notre Dame opened the season with a 12-7 win over current #3 Duke and followed that up with a 6-2 triumph of current #20 Penn State. The Irish won at #12 Denver 10-9 and claimed an 8-7 home victory over #17 Ohio State. The Fighting Irish also will face #8 Villanova (April 2), top-ranked Syracuse (April 30) and #4 North Carolina (May 6).
IRISH COME FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY
– Notre Dame’s 49-man roster hails from 15 different states. The states most represented are Maryland with 12 and New York with eight.
IRVING IGNITES IRISH
– Senior long-stick midfielder Andrew Irving scored a career-high two goals in the season opener against Duke. Irving gave the Irish their first lead of the contest (3-2) with 5:17 left in the first half. Notre Dame would never relinquish that lead. Irving deposited the final goal of the game to make it a 12-7 victory. – Irving dished out a career-high two assists in the 8-7 win over Ohio State. He also picked up a game-high four ground balls against the Buckeyes. Irving ranks second on the team this season with 14 ground balls.
CHALLENGING THE CHAMPS
– Notre Dame’s 12-7 win over Duke in the season opener marked the first time the Fighting Irish have ever defeated the defending national champion. The Irish had been 0-3 against defending national champs. Notre Dame’s first crack at defeating the defending national champion came in 1994 as Princeton topped the Irish 6-4. The other two occurrences came against Syracuse. The Orange bested the Irish 12-5 during the 2000 NCAA Tournament. Last season, the defending NCAA Champion Orange defeated Notre Dame 12-6.
ANOTHER KEMP IN CAGE
– Fighting Irish sophomore goalie John Kemp is the younger brother of former Notre Dame All-America goalie Joey Kemp. The older Kemp starred in goal for the Irish from 2005-08 and earned All-America honors three times. He notched a 40-14 record to establish the Irish record for wins in goal. In 2008, he became just the second student-athlete, and the first goalie, in program history to earn first team All-America honors. He also received the 2008 Kelly Award for Outstanding Goalie in NCAA Division I. – John and Joey’s older brother C.J. was an All-America goalie at Fairfield from 2000-03.
BLOOD BROTHERS
– The 2011 Notre Dame roster features two sets of brothers. Twins Billy and Patrick Maloney are senior midfielders. Freshman midfielder Tyler Brenneman joins his older brother Zach, a senior midfielder, on the Irish roster.
CHAMPION CHALLENGE
– Notre Dame fell to the United States National Team, 12-7, on Jan. 30 during the Champion Challenge in Orlando, Fla. Team USA scored the game’s first seven goals, yet the Fighting Irish responded with four straight tallies to slice the deficit to three (7-4) by the end of the third quarter. The U.S. National Team out scored the Irish 5-3 in the final quarter. – Irish senior attackman Colin Igoe had a team-high two goals in the game. Sophomore goalie John Kemp played the entire contest and made 10 saves. – Former Notre Dame All-American Scott Rodgers (2006-10) played the entire second half in goal for Team USA and made nine saves.
IRISH CAPTAINS
– Seniors Zach Brenneman (M), David Earl (M), Andrew Irving (LSM) and Kevin Ridgway (D) are first-time captains for the Fighting Irish.
SUSTAINED SUCCESS
– Notre Dame has earned five straight appearances to the NCAA Championship and the Irish have made 15 tournament appearances since 1990. – The Fighting Irish were national finalists in 2010 and national semifinalists in 2001. Notre Dame has three other NCAA quarterfinal appearances (1995, 2000, 2008). – Notre Dame is competing in its 31st season of varsity lacrosse. The Fighting Irish have an all-time record of 276-145 (.656). Kevin Corrigan is in his 23rd season as the head coach of the Fighting Irish. He has a record of 212-103 (.673) during his Notre Dame tenure.
FIVE IRISH PLAYERS EARN PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA HONORS
– Five Fighting Irish seniors garnered preseason All-America honors from Inside Lacrosse. Zach Brenneman (M) and Kevin Ridgway (D) were named to the first team, while Sam Barnes (D) was a second-team pick. David Earl (M) was selected to the third team and Andrew Irving (LSM) was an honorable mention selection.
PROGRAM-RECORD FIVE IRISH PLAYERS SELECTED IN MLL DRAFT
– A school-record five Notre Dame players were selected in January’s Major League Lacrosse (MLL) Collegiate Draft. Midfielder Zach Brenneman became the highest pick in program history as he went fifth overall to the Long Island Lizards. – Syracuse led all schools with seven players selected while Notre Dame and Maryland were next with five players drafted. – The Hamilton Nationals selected Fighting Irish midfielder David Earl in the third round (13th overall selection), while defenseman Kevin Ridgway also went to Hamilton five picks later. Long Island tabbed defenseman Sam Barnes in the fifth round (29th overall) and the Denver Outlaws picked long-stick midfielder Andrew Irving in the sixth round (33rd overall).
IRISH PICKED SECOND IN BIG EAST PRESEASON POLL
– Notre Dame was picked to finish second in the BIG EAST according to the league’s 2011 preseason coaches poll. – Syracuse was selected to win the league with six first-place votes, while Notre Dame received one first-place nod. Rounding out the order of finish was Georgetown, Villanova, St. John’s, Rutgers and Providence. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams. – Fighting Irish senior midfielder Zach Brenneman was tabbed as the BIG EAST Preseason Attack Player of the Year. – Four Notre Dame student-athletes were named to the 2011 All-BIG EAST Preseason Team. Joining Brenneman were fellow seniors David Earl (M), a unanimous selection, Sam Barnes (D) and Kevin Ridgway (D).
BIG EAST BOYS
– The 2011 campaign marks the second season of BIG EAST men’s lacrosse. The seven conference schools that participate in the league are Georgetown, Notre Dame, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s, Syracuse and Villanova. The teams play a six-game single round-robin regular-season schedule. – Syracuse won the conference title last year with a 6-0 league record. – In 2012, Marquette will be the eighth program to join the BIG EAST in men’s lacrosse. – Men’s lacrosse is the BIG EAST’s 11th men’s sport while the Conference conducts 13 women’s sports. Notre Dame already is a member of the BIG EAST in 23 other sports. – Notre Dame was a member of the Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) from 1994-2009. The Fighting Irish captured 12 GWLL regular-season titles in addition to winning the only two GWLL Tournaments (2008 & 2009).
FALL BALL IN SAN FRANCISCO
– More than 6,000 Northern California lacrosse fans were treated to a 10-7 Notre Dame victory over Johns Hopkins on Oct 16. The exhibition contest, which was part of the second annual San Francisco Fall Lacrosse Classic, was played at Kezar Stadium. All the proceeds from the game benefitted the BAYS Foundation.
LOOKING BACK
– Notre Dame went 10-7 overall and 2-4 in BIG EAST play one season ago. – The Fighting Irish became just the fifth unseeded team to reach the title game of the NCAA Championship and the first since Massachusetts in 2006. The others were Cornell (1988), Towson (1991) and Maryland (1997). – Notre Dame’s 5.75 goals-against average during the 2010 NCAA Championship ranked second all-time behind only North Carolina in 1982 for an entire NCAA Tournament. That Tar Heel squad allowed 15 goals (5.0 per game) during their three games of the tournament en route to winning the title. The 2010 Irish surrendered 23 goals in their four games of the tournament.
KEEPING UP WITH FIGHTING IRISH MEN’S LACROSSE
– Log onto UND.com for the latest information on the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse program. UND.com, the official athletics web site for the University of Notre Dame, features press releases, game stories, feature stories, video interviews, stats, rosters and more. Fans also can sign up for Irish ALERT, a text messaging service designed to give fans game updates for all 26 varsity sports at Notre Dame. Irish men’s lacrosse fans can sign up to receive scores following each quarter. Updates and results can also be found on Twitter at UND_com. – Media members and fans may be added to the athletics media relations e-mail release list by contacting assistant media relations director Sean Carroll at Carroll.64@nd.edu or (574) 631-2664. All requests for story ideas, interview access, match credentials and further information on Irish men’s lacrosse should similarly be directed to Carroll. Credential and interview requests should be made at least 24 hours in advance.