March 11, 2015
#4 NOTRE DAME (3-1, 0-0 ACC)
vs.
#7 VIRGINIA (5-1, 0-1 ACC)
Saturday, March 14, 2015 – Noon (ET)
Klöckner Stadium – Charlottesville, Virginia
TV/INTERNET
ESPNU
WatchESPN
LIVE STATS
SETTING THE STAGE
– No. 4 Notre Dame (3-1, 0-0) will open its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule Saturday with a trip to No. 7 Virginia (5-1, 0-1). Faceoff is slated for noon (ET) at Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va.
– The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and WatchESPN with Eamon McAnaney (play-by-play) and Matt Ward (analyst) on the call. Live stats will be available via Gametracker on UND.com.
– Notre Dame is coming off an 11-10 overtime setback at Denver. Virginia won its last outing, a 15-14 decision over Saint Joseph’s on Tuesday.
– After Saturday’s contest Notre Dame will play four of its next five games at home.
NOTRE DAME-VIRGINIA SERIES
– Saturday will be the ninth meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Virginia. The Cavaliers hold a 5-3 advantage in the series, but the Fighting Irish have won the last two showdowns.
– Notre Dame topped Virginia, 18-9, last season at home. That was Virginia’s first-ever trip to Notre Dame.
– The Fighting Irish are making their first appearance in Charlottesville since the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Virginia won that encounter, 14-10, en route to capturing the national title.
– Notre Dame is 1-5 all-time at Virginia. The lone victory was an 11-8 triumph during the 2001 campaign.
A LOOK AT VIRGINIA
– The Cavaliers are 5-1 overall and 0-1 in ACC play. Virginia opened conference action with a 15-9 setback at Syracuse. The Cavaliers are 3-0 at home this season.
– Virginia’s victories have come against Loyola (13-12), Drexel (14-10), Rutgers (14-5), Cornell (15-14) and Saint Joseph’s (15-14).
– Virginia is averaging 13.3 goals per game, while allowing 11.7 per contest. Junior midfielder Greg Coholan has a team-high 14 goals, while sophomore attackman Ryan Lukacovic leads the Cavaliers in assists (11) and points (23). Sophomore Matt Barrett has all six decisions in goal. He carries an 11.79 goals-against average and a .554 save percentage.
– Last season, Virginia posted a 10-6 record (1-4 ACC) and fell to Johns Hopkins, 14-8, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
– Head coach Dom Starsia is in his 23rd season at the helm of the Cavalier program.
THE LAST TIME
– Notre Dame topped Virginia 18-9 last season inside the Loftus Sports Center. The Cavaliers went up 1-0 before the Irish responded with an 8-1 run en route to an 8-3 halftime lead. Notre Dame led 9-6 after three quarters and outscored Virginia 9-3 in the final period.
– The Fighting Irish used 11 different goal scorers in the win and the offense was spearheaded by a four-goal, two-assist effort from Matt Kavanagh, while Nick Ossello chipped in with his first career hat trick. Mark Cockerton led Virginia with three goals and one assist.
– Irish goalie Shane Doss made nine saves in the victory, while Matt Barrett had 10 stops for the Cavaliers.
– Notre Dame’s Liam O’Connor won 14-of-23 faceoff attempts.
CORRIGAN CONNECTION
– Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan was a midfielder for Virginia from 1979-81 and served as an assistant coach for the Cavaliers during the 1987 and 1988 seasons. Kevin’s father, Gene Corrigan, was the head coach of the Cavaliers from 1959-67 and returned for a 10-year stint (1971-81) as director of athletics at Virginia. Gene was the director of athletics at Notre Dame from 1981-87.
FIGHTING IRISH GETTING OFFENSIVE
– The Fighting Irish rank fifth nationally in goals-per game (15.25). Notre Dame’s 61 goals are the most for the Fighting Irish through the first four games of a season since the 1993 squad netted 62.
– This is the first time Notre Dame has netted at least 10 goals in each of the first four games of a season.
– Matt Kavanagh is third nationally in points per game (5.5) and assists per game (3.0). Mikey Wynne ranks fifth nationally in goals per game (3.5).
– The 20 goals against Dartmouth (Feb. 28) were the most for the Irish since a 22-6 win over Butler on March 19, 2005.
KAVANAGH PRODUCING POINTS
– Matt Kavanagh tallied four goals and two assists in Saturday’s setback at Denver. Kavanagh has registered six or more points in each of the last three games. The junior has notched six or more points in a game 11 times during his career.
– Kavanagh’s career 3.82 points-per-game average is second among all active Division I players.
MANNING UP
– Notre Dame boasts the nation’s top man-up offense. The Fighting Irish are 9-of-11 (.818) in extra-man opportunities this season. Mikey Wynne has a team-best four man-advantage goals, which are the seventh-most in the country. Matt Kavanagh and Sergio Perkovic both have two man-up tallies.
A CLEAR(ING) ADVANTAGE
– Notre Dame is holding opponents to just a .693 conversion percentage (52-of-75) on clears. The Fighting Irish have converted 48 of their 59 clear attempts (.814).
HOT SHOTS
– The Fighting Irish rank second nationally in shot percentage (.379). Individually, Mikey Wynne is 10th in the nation with a .519 mark.
SPRING BREAK
– Following last Saturday’s game against the Pioneers, the Fighting Irish remained in Denver until Monday and then traveled to Baltimore. The Irish took part in variety of activities in Baltimore before they headed to Charlottesville, Va. on Thursday.
FIGHTING IRISH SPURTS
– Notre Dame has produced significant runs in each of the last three games.
– The Irish overturned a 1-0 deficit at Michigan with nine straight goals en route to the 17-8 victory.
– After Dartmouth tied Notre Dame, 2-2, the Fighting Irish rattled off 14 consecutive tallies in the 20-5 victory.
– Notre Dame surrendered the first goal to Denver before scoring five straight times, but the Irish would suffer an 11-10 overtime setback.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
– Fifteen different Notre Dame players have scored a goal this season. Three Fighting Irish players have a double-digit goal total (Mikey Wynne 14, Matt Kavanagh 10, Sergio Perkovic 10).
WHAT A START FOR WYNNE
– Freshman attackman Mikey Wynne has a team-high 14 goals this season. He tallied six goals in the 14-12 season-opening win over Georgetown. The six goals were one shy of tying the school record. He posted four goals and one assist at Michigan, while he deposited three goals versus Dartmouth. Wynne scored once at Denver.
PERKOVIC PICKS UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF
– Sophomore midfielder Sergio Perkovic has registered 10 goals and two assists this season.
– Perkovic is the only Irish player to score at least two goals in every game this season. He has 13 multiple-goal games during his career, including four games of three-plus tallies.
– Perkovic has scored two or more goals in nine of the last 10 games dating back to last season.
– Perkovic tied a career-high mark of five points with three goals and two assists against Georgetown in the season opener.
– Perkovic netted 28 goals last season, including five in the national title game.
CONSISTENCY FROM Conor Doyle
– Senior attackman Conor Doyle has a 25-game point streak, which ranks 18th nationally and is the longest on the team.
– Doyle has produced 65 points (41g, 24a) during the streak.
KAVANAGH IN THE IRISH RECORD BOOK
– Junior attackman Matt Kavanagh’s 145 career points (84g, 61a) rank ninth in the Notre Dame record book.
– Kavanagh’s 84 goals are tied for eighth in school history and he also ranks eighth in assists.
– Kavanagh produced Fighting Irish single-season records for points (75) and assists (33) in 2014.
– Kavanagh’s 42 goals last season were the most for a Notre Dame player since Randy Colley netted a school-record 49 goals in 1995.
– Kavanagh is the only player in Notre Dame history to register 30 goals and 30 assists in the same season (42g, 33a in 2014).
– He has 26 multiple-goal games during his career (14 with three-plus goals).
– Kavanagh matched a school record with seven goals in last season’s win at Ohio State.
FOUR ON TEWAARATON WATCH LIST
– Matt Kavanagh (Jr./A), Matt Landis (Jr./D), Jack Near (Sr./M) and Sergio Perkovic (So./M) are among 50 players who recently were named to the 2015 Tewaaraton Award Watch List.
– Kavanagh was a Tewaaraton Award nominee last season.
FIVE PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
– Five Notre Dame players garnered preseason All-America honors from Inside Lacrosse. Junior attackman Matt Kavanagh was selected to the first team, while sophomore midfielder Sergio Perkovic was placed on the second team. Junior defenseman Matt Landis earned a third-team citation and Garrett Epple (So./D) and Jack Near (Sr./M) both were honorable-mention picks.
VETERAN TRIO TO CAPTAIN THE IRISH
– Seniors Jim Marlatt, Conor Doyle and Jack Near have been named team captains for the 2015 campaign. Marlatt, a fifth-year senior, is a two-time team captain, while Doyle and Near are in their first year in the leadership position.
KAVANAGH IS CLUTCH
– Matt Kavanagh has three overtime game-winning goals during his career. He netted the deciding goal in last season’s triumph over Albany in the NCAA quarterfinals. During his freshman campaign, he scored in overtime against Penn State and North Carolina (3ot).
THREE IRISH PLAYERS PICKED IN MLL DRAFT
– Three Notre Dame seniors – Jack Near (M), Conor Doyle (A) and Nick Ossello (M) – were selected in the 2015 Major League Lacrosse (MLL) Collegiate Draft.
– The Rochester Rattlers picked Near in the first round with the seventh overall selection. Doyle went to the Chesapeake Bayhawks in the sixth round (43rd overall), while the Denver Outlaws picked Ossello in the eighth round (60th overall).
IRISH IN THE ACC
– The Fighting Irish posted a 2-3 regular-season record last season in their first year in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Notre Dame notched wins over North Carolina (11-10) and Virginia (18-9) and fell to Syracuse (11-10), Duke (15-7) and Maryland (12-8). The Irish won the ACC Tournament with victories over Maryland (6-5) and Syracuse (15-14).
ELITE COMPANY
– Notre Dame and Duke are the only two schools to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship in each of the last five campaigns.
– Notre Dame and Maryland are the only two programs to earn a spot in the NCAA Championship field in each of the last nine seasons.
– The Fighting Irish are 10-5 in the NCAA tournament over the last five seasons.
IRISH ATHLETICS TO HONOR FATHER HESBURGH
– The University of Notre Dame athletics department will commemorate the legacy of long-time University president Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., in a number of ways. Father Hesburgh died February 26 at age 97. He served as University president from 1952-87.
– Notre Dame athletic teams will wear “Fr. Ted” patches or stickers on some combination of their uniforms, warm-ups or helmets.
– Moments of silence will be observed prior to home events in each of Notre Dame’s 26 varsity sports.
– In the near future, there will be commemorative signage created for each Notre Dame home athletic venue–to be featured either on the field or court itself or displayed elsewhere at the facility.