Oct. 2, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame senior Chris Cahill (Louisville, Ky./DeSales) was named the BIG EAST Conference Goalkeeper of the Week and junior forward Joseph Lapira (Lake Charles, La./Saint Louis Catholic) copped the league’s Offensive Player of the Week honor for the week ending Oct. 1. Cahill posted back-to-back shutouts in wins over Marquette (4-0) and Seton Hall (2-0), while Lapira netted two goals in both contests to bring his team-high total to 13 for the season.
This is the second such honor for Cahill, who was named the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week once last season. Cahill has posted five shutouts this season, including three in the past four games to bring his career total to 14. The senior carries a 0.85 goals-against average and a .771 save percentage to go along with a 6-2-1 record. He has made 27 saves on the year, while only allowing eight goals.
Lapira continued his amazing play by notching his third straight two-goal game in the 2-0 over Seton Hall on Saturday. The junior has five multiple-goal games this season, including a four-goal performance against No. 8 Indiana, which earned him his second career BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honor on Sept. 4. Lapira becomes the first ever Fighting Irish player to collect the conference’s offensive player of the week honor twice in the same season. He leads the Irish with 13 goals and 27 points, both career-highs.
The last Notre Dame duo to collect BIG EAST honors for the same week was Lapira and then senior goalkeeper Chris Sawyer back on Oct. 25, 2004. Lapira, a freshman at the time, was tabbed as the offensive player of the week, while Sawyer was named the goalkeeper of the week.
Notre Dame has garnered four weekly individual accolades from the BIG EAST this season. Senior forward Justin McGeeney (Ames, Iowa/Ames) was selected as the offensive player of the week on Aug. 28.
The Irish will carry a three-game winning streak into a non-conference showdown at Michigan on Wednesday (Oct. 4) at 7:00 p.m. Notre Dame is 7-3-2 overall and 5-2-0 in BIG EAST play.
— ND —