May 28, 2010
BALTIMORE, Md. – The Fighting Irish men’s lacrosse team arrived at the Baltimore Washington International airport on Thursday afternoon as the team gets set to face Cornell at 4:00 pm (ET) on Saturday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium in the first national semifinal game at the 2010 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship.
On Thursday evening, selected members of the Irish team including senior goalie Scott Rodgers (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur), senior midfielder Grant Krebs (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary’s), junior defenseman Kevin Ridgway (Kensington, Md./Georgetown Prep) and junior long-stick midfielder Andrew Irving (McLean, Va./The Hotchkiss School) and head coach Kevin Corrigan filmed introductory and welcome videos for Big Screen Network. The videos will be played throughout the weekend at M&T Bank Stadium, home of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens and host of the men’s lacrosse final four for the first time since 2007.
After the Big Screen Network interviews, the entire Irish team was made available to local and national media members in attendance, including reporters from InsideLacrosse.com, The Baltimore Sun and several local television stations.
After Notre Dame’s media obligations for the evening were fulfilled, the team joined other final four participants from Cornell, Duke and Virginia at the NCAA’s final four welcome dinner, held in the club level of M&T Bank Stadium. Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron closed out the evening’s festivities by addressing the student-athletes. Cameron’s speech stressed the importance this weekend plays in showcasing lacrosse to the entire country.
“Take this moment, grab it by the throat and show America – show America you have a great game,” Cameron said. “You want every kid to play like you. You gotta make kids aspire to be like you.”
On Friday, Rodgers, Krebs, Irving and junior midfielder David Earl (Simsbury, Conn./Westminster School) headed over to M&T Bank Stadium earlier than the rest of the team in order to meet with the ESPN talent and producers as they prepare for this weekend’s broadcasts. Both Division I semifinal games will be televised live on ESPN2 HD (and ESPN3.com), while Monday’s national championship game will be shown on ESPN HD (and ESPN3.com). Sean McDonough will handle the play-by-play duties and Quint Kessenich will serve as the color analyst. The broadcast will also showcase Eamon McAnaney and Bob Holtzman as sideline reporters, with McAnaney slated to patrol the Notre Dame sideline. McAnaney earned four monograms while playing defense for the Irish lacrosse team from 1988-91.
Notre Dame then practiced at M&T Bank Stadium. The practice was open to the media and fans from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. This evening, all four final four teams with take part in a pep rally at the amphitheatre in Baltimore’s famed Inner Harbor, which is slated to take place from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
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