April 5, 2013
#4 NOTRE DAME (7-2, 1-1)
vs.
PROVIDENCE (7-4, 1-2)
Sunday, April 7 – 1 p.m. (ET)
Lennon Family Field
Providence, R.I.
INTERNET BROADCAST
Friars.com
LIVE STATS
SCORE UPDATES
Irish Alert! text messaging
SETTING THE STAGE
– No. 4 Notre Dame (7-2, 1-1) returns to BIG EAST play Sunday at Providence (7-4, 1-2). The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. (ET) at Lennon Family Field.
– A video broadcast will be available on Friars.com. Live stats via Gametracker can be found on UND.com.
– The Fighting Irish are coming off a 17-5 win over Marquette on Tuesday at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Ill.
IRISH ITEMS
– The Notre Dame offense is averaging 10.67 goals per game this season and the Irish defense is surrendering 7.78 goals per contest.
– Freshman attackman Matt Kavanagh leads the Fighting Irish in goals (18) and assists (10). Senior attackman Sean Rogers (14 G, 7 A) and junior midfielder Jim Marlatt (15 G, 6 A) both have 21 points.
– Senior John Kemp has all nine decisions in goal and boasts a 7.57 goals-against average and a .537 save percentage.
– The Irish have won 50.3% of their faceoff attempts.
– Notre Dame has a .892 clearing percentage.
– The Fighting Irish are 7-of-24 (.292) in man-up opportunities, while holding opponents to a .240 mark (6-25).
FACING THE FRIARS
– Notre Dame is 3-0 all-time against Providence. The Irish topped the Friars 9-1 last season at Arlotta Stadium. Notre Dame’s only other visit to Providence occurred in 2011 and the Irish won that contest 14-3.
A LOOK AT PROVIDENCE
– Providence is 7-4 this season (1-2 BIG EAST). The Friars have a 3-2 home record. The Providence offense is averaging 11.0 goals per game, while the defense is allowing 10.9 per contest.
– Junior attackman Sean Wright has team-high totals in goals (30) and points (39). Junior midfielder Andrew Barton has a team-best 16 assists.
– Freshman Jack Connelly has every decision in goal and carries a 10.9 goals-against average and a .498 save percentage.
– Head coach Chris Gabrielli is in his first season at Providence.
– The Friars went 2-12 last season (1-5 BIG EAST).
THE LAST TIME
– Notre Dame posted a 9-1 home victory over Providence last season. The Irish defense held the Friars without a goal for the final 41:57 of the contest. Westy Hopkins tallied three goals and one assist, while Conor Doyle added two goals. Jim Marlatt had a goal and an assist.
– Irish goalie John Kemp played 52:44 in the cage and made seven saves.
OFFENSIVE OUTBURST
– Notre Dame’s 17 goals in Tuesday’s win over Marquette were the most for the Fighting Irish since a 19-7 win over Dartmouth in 2009.
– Junior attackman John Scioscia tallied six goals and one assist against the Golden Eagles. The six goals were the most for a Notre Dame player since Ryan Hoff had six against Ohio State during the 2009 campaign. Scioscia entered Tuesday’s game with two career goals.
FIRST TIMERS
– Senior midfielder Andy Will and sophomore attackman Kyle Runyon both netted their first career goal in Tuesday’s 17-5 victory over Marquette.
– Sophomore goalie Conor Kelly saw his first career action between the pipes. He made one save and allowed two goals in 12:35 of play.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
– Seventeen Notre Dame players have scored a goal this season. Matt Kavanagh (18), Jim Marlatt (15), Sean Rogers (14) and Conor Doyle (10) all have a double-digit goal total.
– Five Irish players (Doyle, Kavanagh, Marlatt, Rogers and John Scioscia) all have scored three or more goals in a game this season.
FINISHING STRONG
– Notre Dame has outscored its opponents 35-22 in the fourth quarter and overtime this season.
TAKING DOWN TOP-10 TEAMS
– Five of Notre Dame’s seven wins this season have come against a team ranked in the top 10 of the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) poll at the time of the contest.
– The Irish have defeated (in chronological order) #6 Duke (13-5), #8 Penn State (10-9 OT), #9 North Carolina (10-9 3OT), #5 Denver (13-12 OT) and #8 Ohio State (9-4).
– This is the first time ever the Irish have five wins over top-10 teams during the same regular season. Notre Dame downed five top-10 opponents during the 2010 campaign (including postseason).
SCORELESS STREAKS
– The Fighting Irish defense has posted a scoreless streak of over 20 minutes in three of the last four games.
– Notre Dame held Ohio State scoreless from the 12:14 mark of the first quarter until there was 10:47 left in the game, a span of 46:27. – The Fighting Irish held Rutgers without a goal from the 11:07 mark of the second quarter until there was 13:45 left in the contest, a stretch of 27:32.
– On Tuesday, the Irish held Marquette without a goal for a span of 21:45. The Golden Eagles scored with 40 seconds remaining in the first quarter and did not score again until the 8:55 mark of the third quarter.
Matt Miller A SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST
– Defenseman Matt Miller has been named one of 10 finalists 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 finalists were chosen by a media committee from the list of 20 candidates announced in February. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner. Fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website or on the Senior CLASS Award Facebook fan page through May 13. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches’ votes to determine the winner.
– The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2013 NCAA Lacrosse Championships in Philadelphia May 25-27.
– 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.
BIG EAST BEASTS
– Notre Dame has a 14-6 (.700) 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.
CAPTURING THE CLOSE ONES
– Notre Dame has played five one-goal games, including three overtime affairs, this season. The Irish are 4-1 in those contests and have won all three overtime games.
– Over the last two seasons, the Fighting Irish have played in 11 games that have been decided by a single goal. The Irish are 8-3 in those games.
– Notre Dame has won its last five overtime contests.
KAVANAGH IN THE CLUTCH
– Freshman attackman Matt Kavanagh has scored an overtime game winner twice this season. He scored 15 seconds into the third overtime period in a 10-9 victory over North Carolina (March 2). Kavanagh scored with 1:34 remaining in the first extra period in the 10-9 win at Penn State (Feb. 24).
– Kavanagh assisted on Sean Rogers’ goal that tied the Denver game (12-12) with 47 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.
– He has tallied four or more points in five games this season.
– The rookie notched four goals and one assist in his debut at Duke. He had four goals, including the overtime game winner, and two assists versus North Carolina.
– He has had two goals and two assists in three of the last four games (Ohio State, St. John’s, Rutgers).
HOME SWEET HOME
– Notre Dame is 42-6 (.875) at home since the beginning of the 2006 season.
PLAYING ON THE BIG STAGE
– The game at Denver on March 16 was Notre Dame’s ninth game in an NFL stadium in the last five seasons. The Irish are 6-3 all-time in NFL venues.
– Notre Dame is 2-0 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High (Broncos). The Irish have posted a 2-1 record at Baltimore (Ravens), while going 1-0 at both Jacksonville (Jaguars) and East Rutherford, N.J. (Giants & Jets). Notre Dame is 0-2 in Foxborough, Mass. (Patriots).
IRISH PLACE FOUR ON TEWAARATON WATCH LIST
– John Kemp (Sr./G), Jim Marlatt (Jr./M) and Sean Rogers (Sr./A) were named to the initial 92-man Tewaaraton Award watch list. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top player. Freshman attackman Matt Kavanagh recently was added to the list.
– The watch 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.
A PERFORMER BETWEEN THE PIPES
– Senior goalie John Kemp boasts a 32-10 (.762) career record to go along with a 6.75 goals-against average and a .599 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 70-19 (.787) since the beginning of the 2008 season. That percentage is the second-best nationally during that time.
– The Fighting Irish have been to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship four times in the last five seasons. Notre Dame made the program’s first-ever NCAA title game appearance in 2010 and the Irish were a semifinalist in 2012.
– Since the beginning of the 2010 NCAA Championship, Notre Dame has gone 34-9 (.791), with three of those losses coming in overtime.
NOTRE DAME TO PLAY IN TWO INSIDE LACROSSE EVENTS
– Notre Dame faced Denver on March 16 in the second annual Whitman’s Samper Mile High Classic at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo. It was Notre Dame’s first appearance in the event.
– 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.
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).