Jan. 5, 2004
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame senior A Dan Berger (Phoenix, Md./Boys’ Latin H.S.) and sophomore A Pat Walsh (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh H.S.) were named preseason honorable mention All-America by Inside Lacrosse, the magazine announced recently. In 2003, Walsh was the first Irish player ever to earn All-America honors as a freshman (gaining honorable mention accolades), while Berger led Notre Dame in goalscoring with 32 tallies.
The Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook, an in-depth preview of the 2004 collegiate lacrosse season, will be available early this month, but the publication recently announced its preseason poll and All-Americans. In addition to three teams of 15, a total of 48 players were listed as honorable mention.
Berger is a two-time first-team all-Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) selection, having led the Irish in goals in each of the last two seasons. He has started all 27 Notre Dame contests over those campaigns, scoring at least one goal in all but three of them. In that span, Berger has netted multiple scores on 14 occasions, including nine times a year ago, exploding for five of Notre Dame’s eight tallies in a one-goal loss to #15 Hofstra. After tying for team-high scoring honors in ’02 with 25 points (21 goals, four assists), he was second to Walsh last year (32 G, 2 A).
Walsh, the ’03 GWLL Rookie of the Year and a first-team all-conference selection, was the first freshman to lead Notre Dame in scoring since Randy Colley did so in 1992. In addition to finding the net 20 times, Walsh tied the school record for assists in a season with 32, accumulating a total of 52 points. He posted at least one point in every game but one in starting every contest of his rookie campaign. Walsh’s top game was an eight-point performance against Harvard in which he had four goals and as many assists. This past summer, he helped the United States win the Under-19 Men’s Lacrosse World Championship, contributing 13 goals and eight assists in six games. Walsh was the national team’s leading scorer in the title game, notching four goals and three assists in a 19-10 triumph over rival Canada.
Notre Dame’s 2004 schedule will see the Irish take on a total of 35 players that gained some type of preseason All-America mention by Inside Lacrosse. All but one of the 12 Irish opponents had at least one player listed, while Dartmouth’s (April 4, home) six honorees and five each for Syracuse (March 11, away) and North Carolina (March 14, home) led the way. A full listing of the Inside Lacrosse preseason All-America teams can be found at www.insidelacrosse.com.
After never having a player gain postseason All-America honors previously, Notre Dame has featured at least one All-America honoree in each of the last 11 seasons.
The Irish, ranked 16th in the Inside Lacrosse preseason coaches poll, return 20 monogram winners, including eight starters, from last season’s team that was 9-5, won a share of a fifth consecutive GWLL crown, and finished the season ranked 18th in the nation after being listed as high as ninth.