March 21, 2015

Box Score

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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 3 University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team’s stifling defense and outstanding goaltending play combined to post the second shutout in program history with Saturday’s 9-0 blanking of No. 15 Ohio State at Arlotta Stadium.

Notre Dame sophomore Shane Doss started between the pipes and stopped 11 Buckeye shots, while senior Conor Kelly came off the bench to play the final 4:25 of the game and made two saves to preserve the shutout. Notre Dame’s only other clean sheet in program history came in a 15-0 win over Mt. Union on April 10, 1984.

The Fighting Irish defense forced 22 Ohio State turnovers, including a game-high four caused turnovers from sophomore defenseman Garrett Epple. Notre Dame’s man-down defensive unit halted all five of Ohio State’s man-up chances.

Offensively, senior midfielder Nick Ossello paced the Fighting Irish with three goals, which matched a career-high total. Senior attackman Conor Doyle had two goals and one assist for the Irish.

“It was a really solid all-around game for us,” Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan said. “We rode well and we cleared well. They tried some 10-man (ride) and we handled that. Offensively I thought we played well, but their goalie (Tom Carey) was terrific. We kept the pressure on him and didn’t let him off the hook because they have a good defensive team.

“Defensively, when we weren’t up to the task, Shane Doss was. He was terrific and our whole defense played well.”

Ossello put Notre Dame (5-1) up 1-0 less than two minutes into the contest and a Matt Kavanagh goal at the 5:55 mark of the opening quarter gave the Irish a two-goal edge. A man-up tally from Doyle with 4:09 left in the first half gave Notre Dame a 3-0 lead at the intermission. The Irish were one-of-three on man-advantage opportunities in the game.

“I’m not naïve, they (Ohio State) had a midweek game in Baltimore (a 7-6 win at Towson) after a tough game a week ago (a 13-11 win over Denver),” Corrigan added. “That’s a tough week for them. Our guys did a great job of not giving them anything that could give them the energy to stay in a game like that.”

Ossello won the opening faceoff of the second half on an Ohio State violation and raced down the field to score seven seconds into the stanza. The senior completed his hat trick less than two minutes later. The Fighting Irish went up 6-0 late in the third quarter when Carey deflected a Jim Marlatt shot and Doyle collected the rebound and scored.

Goals from Sergio Perkovic and Cole Riccardi pushed the lead to eight in the early portion of the fourth quarter. Brendan Collins deposited Notre Dame’s final goal of the day with seven minutes left in the contest.

Notre Dame outshot the Buckeyes, 37-24, while Ohio State (7-3) won the faceoff battle, 9-4. Carey finished with 10 saves for the Buckeyes.

The Fighting Irish return to action next Saturday when they play host to No. 1 Syracuse. The Atlantic Coast Conference tilt is slated for noon (ET) at Arlotta Stadium and it will be aired live on ESPNU.

March 21, 2015
Arlotta Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.

#15 Ohio State (7-3) – 0 0 0 0 – 0
#3 Notre Dame (5-1) – 2 1 3 3 – 9

— Sean Carroll, Assistant Athletic Media Relations Director

–ND–