March 19, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The ninth-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team (3-1) scored the game’s first 12 goals and went on to a dominating 22-6 victory over Butler (2-3) Saturday afternoon in the Loftus Sports Center in front of a crowd of 1,089 in the Great Western Lacrosse League opener for both teams. Among the offensive stars for the Irish were junior A Matt Karweck (Penn Yan, N.Y./Penn Yan Academy), who missed the school record for points in a game by one (5 G, 3 A), junior All-American A Pat Walsh (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh H.S.), who had three goals and three assists, and senior co-captain A Jim Morrison (Fulton, Md./Mount St. Joseph H.S.), who became the first Notre Dame player ever to begin a season with four consecutive hat tricks (also one assist).
The Irish continued a trend of starting strong, using a big first quarter to take control of the game. Notre Dame held an 8-0 lead after the first 15 minutes of play, outshooting Butler 21-3 in the opening period, while also winning seven of nine faceoffs. The Irish also scored the first four goals of the second quarter to lead 12-0 before Butler got its first tally 24:51 into the contest. After Bulldog senior A Kyle Tietjen scored his second of three goals 2:25 before halftime (making the score 13-3), the Irish defense once again took over, shutting out Butler for the next 20:59 to allow Notre Dame to outscore the Bulldogs 8-0 in the third quarter.
The statistics bore out the dominating Irish performance, as Notre Dame outshot Butler 68-24 (46-7 combined in the first and third quarters; 61-14 after three periods), held a 46-22 ground ball advantage (18-4 in the second quarter; 43-14 after three periods), and won 19 of 30 faceoffs. The Irish also converted on six of 11 extra-man opportunities against the team that came in leading the GWLL in penalty killing, having allowed just two man-up tallies in 12 opportunities. Notre Dame held a 21-3 advantage before Butler outscored the Irish 3-1 in the fourth quarter to account for the final margin.
Karweck notched a career high in goals, matched his personal-best in assists, and doubled his previous collegiate-high total in points. He came up just shy of the Notre Dame record of nine points in a game, which has been done eight times, but not since 1995. John Olmstead accomplished the feat twice in 1988, while Mike Sullivan did it in ’90 and ’91, and all-time scoring leader Randy Colley turned in four nine-point games from ’93-95. Karweck also was one off the record for most goals in a home game. Three players – Joe Franklin in 1986, Mike Quigley in 1990, and Jon Harvey in 2000 – have netted six in front of the home fans.
Karweck – who had just three goals and four points combined in the first three contests of 2005 – scored on all but one of his six shots and also picked up one ground ball. He opened the scoring with a man-up tally just 2:08 into the game. He struck again just 1:05 later, scoring an even-strength tally off an assist by freshman M Michael Podgajny (Ridley Park, Pa./Ridley H.S.). He was quiet then until the start of the second half, when he scored three times in a four-minute span. Karweck next struck – on his third shot of the game – 4:08 into the third quarter, taking a pass from Morrison to find the back of the net. Just 1:26 later, senior M Brian Giordano (Princeton, N.J./Hun School) found Karweck for his fourth goal. With 8:18 left in the third quarter, the Irish junior had his only unsuccessful shot of the day, as his attempt was blocked out front by the defense. He bounced back, though, scoring another man-up goal – his fourth of the season – off another Giordano assist with 6:56 remaining in the third.
Karweck turned in his 11th career multiple-point game (four times in the last eight contests), as well as his seventh multiple-goal performance. Heading into Saturday, his career high in points was four, which he had done on four occasions, including in the opening game of the season, at #21 Penn State (3 G, 1 A). His goal and point totals were the most by an Irish player since Matt Howell registered five goals and three assists against Fairfield last year. Karweck also tied the Loftus Center record for points in a game, done last by North Carolina’s Jed Prossner in 2004, when he had six goals and two assists.
Morrison – who matched his career high in points (he also had 3 G, 1 A vs. Cornell this year) – continued to be Notre Dame’s most consistent and prolific goal scorer, scoring three goals on seven shots. He also had hat tricks in each of the first three contests of the ’05 campaign, a feat which had been done just once previously in the 25-year history of the Irish program, by first-team All-American Tom Glatzel at the beginning of the 2001 campaign, when he was one of the five finalists for the Tewaaraton Trophy (awarded to the top player in college lacrosse). The last Irish player to have four consecutive hat tricks – at any point in a season – was Jon Harvey in that same ’01 campaign. He did it against Ohio State (4), Denver (3), Air Force (3), Army (3), and Butler (3).
Morrison, who also had three ground balls, continued to be dangerous early in games, as he first scored off a Walsh assist with 34 seconds left in the opening period to make it 8-0. He followed that up with a tally four minutes into the second quarter. That goal was set up by senior LSM Chris Richez (Freeport, N.Y./Freeport H.S.), who led the transition game down the field and then found Morrison for the score. He completed the hat trick just 51 seconds into the second half, taking a Walsh feed and scoring to put Notre Dame up 11 (14-3).
The Irish senior, who joined the team as a walk-on but now is one of the squad’s four captains, has 12 goals on the season, the highest total for the Irish. He came into the weekend tied with Denver’s Matt Brown for the GWLL lead in goals per game (3.00). Morrison also figures to be among the NCAA leaders when the first set is released this week. Eight of his 12 goals have come in the first quarters of games.
Walsh, who last year was a third-team All-American and one of the 15 nominees for the Tewaaraton Trophy, continued to be an offensive force for the Irish, notching six points to up his season total to 20 (8 G, 12 A). After registering two assists, he scored his first goal early in the second quarter off a Karweck feed and then tallied again from Karweck on an EMO to put Notre Dame up 12-0 with 6:02 remaining before halftime. His final score also came on the man-up advantage, when he took a pass from Podgajny and scored with 7:55 left in the third to make the score 17-3.
He came into the game with a sizeable lead among the GWLL scoring leaders, with an average of 4.67 points per game (Brown was next at 3.50). Walsh moved his average to 5.00 per game, and he also figures to be high in the national stats when they are released this week. His average of 3.00 assists per game also was tops in the conference by a large margin. Irish junior M Matt Ryan (Ridley Park, Pa./Ridley H.S.) was second in the league leaders with 2.00, but he failed to notch an assist on Saturday, despite scoring a first-period goal. Walsh has had at least one point in 16 consecutive games, and he has had six or more points on seven occasions in his career. It was his eighth game with three or more goals, as well.
Giordano took a game-high 10 shots and registered a season-high four points (2 G, 2 A). A key factor in Notre Dame’s man-up unit, which was 6-11 on Saturday and is now 13-24 (.542) on the season. Giordano’s four goals are tied for the team lead with Karweck. He notched four points in a game for the seventh time in his career, while also turning in his 13th multiple-goal game. Giordano has scored a goal in each of his last seven games, the longest such streak of his career. The two assists – both coming on third-period Karweck goals – matched his career high, originally done in his rookie season against Rutgers, in just his third collegiate game in 2002.
The 22 goals were the most by an Irish team in 12 years, since a 22-11 win over Butler on March 29, 1993, in the Bulldogs’ first season as a varsity program. It was the highest scoring output ever for any team in the Loftus Sports Center, as well as the largest margin of victory for the Irish since a 21-5 win against Canisius on Feb. 27, 1993.
Despite the offensive fireworks, Notre Dame’s defense was a major factor in the victory. Richez, junior D D.J. Driscoll (Downingtown, Pa./Malvern Prep School), and sophomores D Joey Rallo (Cockeysville, Md./Boys’ Latin H.S.) and D J.R. Stahl (Sparks, Md./Boys’ Latin H.S.) held the Bulldogs at bay, as they managed a season-low goal total. The Irish defense has now held opponents to nine goals or fewer in nine of the last 11 games and has given up more than seven just once in four affairs in 2005. They were able to limit Butler to just six goals despite Notre Dame playing all four of its goaltenders in the game. Driscoll picked up five ground balls to bring his season total – second on the Irish – to 21.
Freshman G Joey Kemp (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep School) made his second career start for the Irish and played the first half, giving up three late goals and making two saves. He is the first freshman goalie to register victories in each of his first two starts since Chris Parent did so in 1990 en route to a 6-4 record.
Fifth-year senior G Stewart Crosland (Bethesda, Md./Landon School) played the first 9:42 of the second half, making a save on the only shot he faced. He then gave way to senior Sean Quigley (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Chaminade H.S.), who made his third career appearance, playing 9:46 and allowing a goal while making two saves. Junior Daniel Hickey (Garden City, N.Y./Chaminade H.S.) – who also is a walk-on long snapper on the Irish football team – made his second collegiate appearance, playing the final 10:32 in the cage and making five saves, while giving up a pair of scores.
All 39 healthy players on Notre Dame’s roster saw action on Saturday. Freshmen D Dave Caperna (Fallston, Md./Gilman School) and A Dan Scolaro (Lake Forest, Ill./Loyola Academy) made their collegiate debuts, while two other rookies – A/M Sloan Smith (Concord, N.H./Phillips Exeter Academy) and M Taylor Clagett (Chesapeake Beach, Md./DeMatha Catholic H.S.) – registered their first collegiate goals. Senior M Tyler Krummenacher (St. Louis, Mo./MICDS H.S.) and sophomore M Ryan Cunn (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip H.S.) also tallied their first career goals, while freshman A Alex Wharton (Baltimore, Md./Gilman School) was credited with his first collegiate point, assisting on Smith’s goal, which came in the final 10 seconds of the third period to give Notre Dame its largest lead, 21-3.
Senior A Matt Malakoff (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore H.S.) turned in his first collegiate multiple-goal game, with unassisted scores in both the second and third quarters. Sophomores M Bill Liva (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Malvern Prep School) and M John Greaney (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon H.S.) also both tallied goals for the Irish, while junior M Drew Peters (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon H.S.) had an assist to extend his point streak to three.
Clagett led all players in ground balls with seven and also was successful on 10 of the 13 faceoffs he took. On the season, he leads the Irish in ground balls (23) and has won 65.8% of the draws he has taken (48-73). Senior M Frank Matarazzo (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Bergen Catholic H.S.) also was strong at the X, winning six of his nine attempts and picking up four ground balls.
Sophomore LSM Brannon Halvorsen (Lake Oswego, Ore./Lakeridge H.S.) picked up his first three collegiate ground balls late in the game, while Cunn also had the first two in his career. Sophomore D John Duffy (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep School) made his collegiate debut and collected a ground ball. Smith had his first collegiate ground ball, as well.
The game was notable in a variety of ways in the Loftus Center’s history. The eight goals in both the first and third quarters are the most ever in a single period by any team in the facility. The 13 first-half tallies also are the most in a half in the Loftus Center. Also, the crowd of 1,089 was the largest on record in the facility.
Notre Dame opened GWLL play with a victory for the 11th time in 12 years since the conference was formed in 1994. The Irish, who have won nine conference championships, hold an all-time 42-5 (.894) record in GWLL action, including a 23-2 (.920) mark at home. The Irish, who finished second to Ohio State in 2004, were picked by Inside Lacrosse as the favorites to win the league title this season.
The Irish will return to action next weekend with a tough road trip that will take them to Hofstra on Saturday for a 1:30 p.m. (EST) contest and then to #20 Villanova for a Monday game.
SCORE BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot-------------------------------------Butler.............. 0 3 0 3 - 6Notre Dame.......... 8 5 8 1 - 22
Butler SCORING: GOALS: Tietjen, Kyle 3; Albertson, Grant 2; Ornsby, Ken 1.ASSISTS: Albertson, Grant 3; Brauch, Phil 1.
Notre Dame SCORING: GOALS: Karweck, Matt 5; Walsh, Pat 3; Morrison, Jim 3;Giordano, Brian 2; Malakoff, Matt 2; Krummenacher, Tyler 1; Smith, Sloan 1;Cunn, Ryan 1; Ryan, Matt 1; Greaney, John 1; Clagett, Taylor 1; Liva, Bill 1.ASSISTS: Karweck, Matt 3; Walsh, Pat 3; Giordano, Brian 2; Podgajny, Michael 2;Morrison, Jim 1; Peters, Drew 1; Richez, Chris 1; Wharton, Alex 1.
SHOTS - BUTLER 24; ND 68.SHOTS ON GOAL - BUTLER 16; ND 37.PENALTIES - BUTLER 12/9:30; ND 5/4:00.MAN-UP OPPORTUNITIES - BUTLER 1-4; ND 6-11.FACEOFFS - BUTLER 11-30; ND 19-30.CLEARS - BUTLER 15-23; ND 13-15.
GOALIES - BUTLER: Ashley, Sam 1-1 (06:14 minutes, 7 shots-1 saves, 6 GA),Beattie, Ryan (11:26, 2-1, 1) , Kaiser, Ryan (42:20, 28-13, 15);ND: Kemp, Joey 2-0 (30:00, 5-2, 3) , Crosland, Stewart (09:42, 1-1, 0),Hickey, Daniel (10:32, 7-5, 2) , Quigley, Sean (09:46, 3-2, 1).