Feb. 21, 2015
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – A 9-0 run that spanned portions of the first and second quarters helped the No. 2 University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team produce a 17-8 win over Michigan on Saturday afternoon inside the Oosterbaan Field House.
Freshman Mikey Wynne registered four goals and one assist for the Fighting Irish (2-0), while junior Matt Kavanagh notched three goals and three assists. Notre Dame had 10 different players score a goal in the victory. Sophomore goalie Shane Doss picked up the win as he made a career-high 13 saves.
After falling behind 1-0, Notre Dame rattled off nine straight goals, including seven in the second quarter, en route to a 9-2 halftime advantage. Freshman Brendan Collins opened the scoring for the Irish with the first goal of his young career and Kavanagh put the Irish up 2-1 with eight seconds left in the first quarter.
Notre Dame took control of the game early in the second quarter with four goals in a span of 2:19. Cole Riccardi and Kavanagh scored 36 seconds apart, and tallies from Wynne and Jim Marlatt were separated by 58 seconds.
Eddy Lubowicki pushed the Irish advantage to six (7-1) with 8:20 left in the opening half, while Wynne netted a man-up goal less than a minute later. Fighting Irish midfielder Sergio Perkovic, who was playing near his hometown of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, completed the 9-0 spurt as he scored with 4:31 remaining in the first half.
Doss and the Fighting Irish defense kept the Wolverines off the scoreboard for 23:36 before Michigan’s Mike Francia stopped the surge when he scored with 47 seconds left in the first half.
“We played very well in the second quarter to get some separation,” Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan said. “That (having multiple scorers) is going to be important for us all season long. There are no reasons not to get contributions from a lot of guys if we play unselfishly, smart and execute and not force things.”
Wynne opened the second-half scoring, but the Wolverines responded with two quick goals from Ian King, who paced Michigan with four goals and two assists on the day. Wynne had an answer of his own as he scored to make it 11-4 less than seven minutes into the stanza.
Following a goal from Michigan’s Mike Hernandez, Conor Doyle increased the Irish advantage back to seven (12-5). The two teams continued to trade goals as Will Meter scored for the Wolverines and Kavanagh followed with his third tally of the day to make it 13-6 at the end of the third quarter.
Goals from Doyle, Trevor Brosco and Perkovic in a span of 49 seconds upped the Irish lead to 10 (16-6) with 6:27 left to play. Notre Dame wasn’t finished as sophomore Anthony Marini scored the first goal of his career with just over four minutes remaining. Michigan (2-1) used goals from Meter and King to produce the final outcome.
Notre Dame won the faceoff battle, 17-12. Fighting Irish sophomore P.J. Finley was 6-of-8, while senior Nick Ossello was 10-of-19 in addition to dishing out two assists.
The Fighting Irish outshot the Wolverines 44-36. Michigan goalie Gerald Logan earned the start and made 16 saves, while surrendering 16 goals in 53:33 between the pipes. Robbie Zonino played 6:27 and made one save and gave up one goal. The Irish were 1-of-1 in man-up opportunities and the Wolverines were 1-of-3.
“Shane (Doss) made some big saves for us in the second quarter that allowed us to get that separation, but he didn’t have to stand on his head today,” Corrigan added.
Notre Dame’s 31 goals are the most for the Irish through the first two games of a season since the 1992 squad posted 33 through two contests. Wynne has a team-high 10 goals for Notre Dame.
The Fighting Irish are back in action next Saturday when they play host to Dartmouth at 1 p.m. (ET).
February 21, 2015
Oosterbaan Field House – Ann Arbor, Mich.
#2 Notre Dame (2-0) – 2 7 4 4 – 17
Michigan (2-1) – 1 1 4 2 – 8