D.J. Driscoll played in all seven games for the U.S. during the 2010 FIL World Championship.

Fighting Irish Head West For Two Key GWLL Contests

April 12, 2006

No. 9 Notre Dame vs. No. 18 Denver

Friday, April 14 • 7:30 p.m. (MT)

Barton Lacrosse Stadium • Denver, Colo.

Television: Comcast-Denver

No. 9 Notre Dame vs. Air Force

Sunday, April 16 • 2:00 p.m. (MT)

Cadet Lacrosse Stadium • USAFA, Colo.

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The No. 9 Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team will carry a three-game winning streak out west for two crucial GWLL showdowns against No. 18 Denver on Friday (April 14) and Air Force on Sunday (April 16). The Fighting Irish are coming off a 9-8 victory against Butler in the GWLL opener last Saturday to improve their record to 7-2 on the season. Denver will enter the contest with a 7-4 (1-0 GWLL) mark, while Air Force is 6-5 (1-0 GWLL) overall heading into its game against Bucknell on Friday. Following the trip out to Colorado, the Irish will travel to Bethesda, Md. to take on Lehigh at Georgetown Prep on Sunday, April 23.

SNAPSHOT OF THE IRISH: Notre Dame stands at 7-2 overall (1-0 GWLL) following three straight victories over Brown (11-5), Dartmouth (8-7) and Butler (9-8) … Notre Dame is averaging 8.22 goals-per-game, while limiting its opponents to just 6.89, which is the ninth-best mark in the nation … Notre Dame is tied with Quinnipiac for the fifth-best man-down defense in the nation, allowing just four EMO goals in 20 chances … the Irish opened the season with an 8-4 victory over No. 14 Penn State before dropping a 9-6 decision to No. 8 Cornell … the Fighting Irish then captured three straight victories against North Carolina (9-7), Villanova (10-7) and Bellarmine (8-2) before falling to No. 5 Hofstra (13-5) … Notre Dame has outscored its opponents 74-62 … senior attackman Brian Hubschmann leads the team in points (27) and goals (17) … senior Pat Walsh has a team-high 14 assists and is third all-time in Notre Dame history with 94 career assists … Hubschmann has six multiple-goal games this season … senior midfielder Matt Karweck is second on the team with 13 goals … freshman Ryan Hoff is having a solid rookie campaign with 10 goals … sophomore Joey Kemp has started every game in goal and has a 7-2 record … he has allowed 60 goals, while making 96 saves and boasts a .615 save-percentage (8th in NCAA) and a 6.79 goals-against average (11th in NCAA) … Walsh, a three-time All-America honoree, is second on the team with 25 points, coming on 11 goals and 14 assists.

ABOUT DENVER: The Pioneers enter Friday’s contest with a 7-4 record (1-0 GWLL) and ranked 18th in the latest USILA poll … Denver boasts a 7-0 home record … Denver is averaging 11.45 goals per game (4th in NCAA), while allowing 7.91 (16th in NCAA) … the Pioneers have outscored their opponents 126-87 … junior attackman Brandon Barcus leads the team with 26 points on a team-high 22 goals and four assists … seniors Adam Goodwin and Geoff Snider have both notched 17 goals … Snider has won 163 of 231 faceoff attempts (.706) this season, which ranks him second in the nation … he is tops in the country with an average of 12.18 groundballs per game … junior Jeb Hollingsworth and freshman Austin Konkel and have split time in goal for the Pioneers … Hollingsworth has started nine games and has a 5-4 mark, while Konkel has a 2-0 record, including a win against Quinnipiac in the Pioneers’ last game … Konkel has a 7.42 goals-against average and a .571 save-percentage, while Hollingsworth posts marks of 7.95 and .549 in those same categories … Jamie Munro is in his eighth season as the head coach of the Pioneers … he has a 59-47 record in that time … Denver was 9-5 (4-1 GWLL) last season as co-GWLL champions.

ND-DENVER SERIES NOTES: The Irish and Pioneers have met nine times, with Notre Dame holding an 8-1 advantage … the Fighting Irish captured the first eight games in the series before dropping last year’s 9-6 contest at Moose Krause Stadium … Notre Dame is 3-0 all-time at Denver … the Irish have outscored the Pioneers 126-71 in the series … the first meeting between the two schools occurred in 1992, a 25-4 Irish victory in Colorado Springs, Colo.

ABOUT AIR FORCE: The Falcons are 6-5 heading into their Friday showdown against Bucknell … Air Force is 5-0 at home this season … the Falcons boast five players with 20-plus points on the year … sophomore attackman Kevin Crumrine leads the squad with 25 points on a team-high 21 goals and four assists … freshman middie Griffin Nevitt has 19 goals and five assists for 24 points … junior William Meister has 18 assists to rank 14th nationally with 1.64 assists per game … Justin Pavoni has started all 11 games in net and carries a 5-5 record … he has the nation’s 17th-best save percentage at .586 and he also boasts a 7.99 goals-against average … Pavoni has allowed 84 goals, while making 119 saves … Fred Acee is in his ninth season at the helm of the Air Force program and his 38th year overall … he possesses a 344-200-1 record overall and a 32-79 mark at Air Force … the Falcons were 4-8 (1-4 GWLL) last season.

ND-AIR FORCE SERIES NOTES: Notre Dame is 17-1 all-time against the Falcons … Air Force won the first game in the series, 14-8, back in 1988, yet the Irish have won the past 17, including last season’s 14-13 overtime contest at Moose Krause Stadium … Notre Dame is 7-1 all-time at Air Force … the Fighting Irish hold a 228-122 scoring advantage in the series.

BUTLER RECAP: Senior midfielder Matt Karweck netted the game-winner with 4:16 left to play as Notre Dame downed Butler 9-8 on Saturday, April 8 in the Butler Bowl … the contest was the Great Western Lacrosse League opener for both squads … Pat Walsh collected his first hat trick of the season and he also dished out an assist to post a team-high four points for the Irish … a key span in the game occurred when Walsh netted two goals with less than a minute left in the first half to tie the contest at 3-3 heading into halftime … the first tally was assisted by Bill Liva with 53.5 seconds left on the clock and the second came with just 1.6 seconds remaining on a pass from Michael Podgajny … Butler would regain some of the momentum early in the second half as Jeremy Sieverts scored an unassisted goal with less than two minutes gone by in the third quarter … the Irish responded with back-to-back scores from Liva and Brian Hubschmann … freshman Peter Christman collected the assist on Liva’s tally, while Podgajny assisted on Hubschmann’s man-up goal … the Bulldogs countered with two scores of their own from Adam Wade and Cliff Smith to take a 6-5 lead with 6:20 left in the third period … a 3-0 run by the Fighting Irish would give Notre Dame its largest lead of the game at 8-6 with 12:25 remaining in the fourth quarter … freshman Ryan Hoff began the surge off a pass from Walsh with 5:45 left in the third to knot the game at 6-6 … Karweck would notch his first goal of the afternoon less than a minute later with the assist going to Hubschmann … Walsh then connected on his third goal of the day on Christman’s second assist of the game … Butler responded yet again as Smith and Ben Sultze notched tallies to even the contest at 8-8 with just 5:48 left … Notre Dame did not waste much time as Karweck put back a rebound with just over four minutes remaining to give the Irish the lead … Notre Dame goaltender Joey Kemp and the rest of the Fighting Irish defense held down the Bulldogs for the remainder of the contest to preserve the victory … Kemp, a sophomore, made 10 saves on the day as did Butler’s Ryan Kaiser … the Bulldogs held a 2-0 advantage after the first quarter of play on goals from Smith and Sultze … Notre Dame’s Matt Ryan sliced the deficit in half with his sixth goal of the season less than a minute into the second quarter … Wade put Butler up 3-1 with 11:09 left before Walsh found the back of the net twice in the final minute of the opening half … the Fighting Irish out-shot the Bulldogs 32-29 and went 13-21 in faceoffs thanks to a solid day by sophomore Taylor Clagett … Notre Dame also converted on 16 of 20 clear attempts.

ON THE ROAD: Notre Dame is in the middle of its longest stretch away from home since the 2002 season when the Irish also played four straight contests away from home … the Irish began that trek with three straight victories over Denver, Air Force and Butler before dropping the final contest to Army.

GWLL HISTORY: Notre Dame is 45-7 all-time in GWLL play with nine league titles in 12 seasons … the Irish went 3-2 in conference play last season to finish third … last year marked the first time that Notre Dame had lost more than one game in the GWLL during a single season … the Irish have gone undefeated through conference play on six occasions and have lost only one game five times.

IRISH IN GWLL OPENERS: With the 9-8 win over Butler in this year’s GWLL opener, the Fighting Irish now have a 12-1 mark all-time in GWLL lid-lifters … Notre Dame’s only loss in a GWLL opener was a 9-8 decision to Ohio State during the 2004 campaign.

SECOND QUARTER SCORING: Notre Dame has outscored its opponents 25-9 during the second quarter this season.

NCAA RANKINGS: Joey Kemp is eighth nationally with a .615 save percentage and he is 11th in Division I with a 6.80 goals-against average … Kemp led the nation with a .652 save percentage last season … Pat Walsh is averaging 1.56 assists per game, which places him in a tie for 16th in the NCAA this season … as a team, Notre Dame is ninth in scoring defense nationally as the Irish are allowing just 6.89 goals per game … the Irish are tied for fifth in man-down defense (.800).

HAT TRICKS: Three different Irish players have notched hat tricks this season … Pat Walsh was the latest to do it as he scored three times against Butler … that was the 10th hat trick of his Notre Dame career … freshman Ryan Hoff netted the first hat trick of his college career in the 11-5 win over Brown on March 29 … the last Irish freshman to register a hat trick prior to Hoff was current sophomore Michael Podgajny in the 2005 regular season finale at Ohio State … Brian Hubschmann is the only Irish player with two hat tricks this season … Hubschmann had a career-high tying four-goal effort against Villanova and a three-goal game versus Hofstra.

HUBSCHMANN BACK IN ACTION: Senior attackman Brian Hubschmann, who is back in the Irish lineup after missing all of last season to injury, is leading the team with 27 points on 17 goals and 10 assists … he has notched six multiple-goal games this season, including a career-high tying four-goal effort versus Villanova on March 14 … for his career, he has seven games with four or more points … he also netted a hat trick against Hofstra … Hubschmann was a 2005 Inside Lacrosse preseason honorable mention All-America selection … as a sophomore in 2004, he totaled 29 points on 18 goals and 11 assists and copped all-GWLL second team honors.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP: Seniors occupy the top four spots on the Irish point-leaders list … Brian Hubschmann leads with 27 (17 G, 10 A), while Pat Walsh has 25 (11 G, 14 A), Matt Karweck has 15 (13 G, 2 A) and Matt Ryan has 11 (6 G, 5 A).

STREAKING: Notre Dame has won three games in-a-row … Brian Hubschmann is riding an nine-game point streak … Notre Dame has won its past four games at Moose Krause Stadium, including 10 of its last 13 … senior attackman Pat Walsh has started all 46 games during his Fighting Irish career.

FINE LINE: The Irish are coming off of two one-goal victories over Dartmouth (8-7) and Butler (9-8) … those have been the only two one-goal decisions for the Irish so far this season … close losses the past two seasons have kept Notre Dame out of NCAA tournament … Notre Dame’s last six losses entering this season had been by one goal, including three in overtime.

GOING FOR TWO: Notre Dame has had two players score multiple goals in every game so far this season … overall, the Irish have had multiple players score at least two goals in a game in 15 straight contests dating back to last season … the last game that did not happen was in a 9-8 overtime win at Hofstra on March 26, 2005.

DOUBLE DIGITS: The Fighting Irish have tallied 10 or more goals twice this season … the first time was in a 10-7 win over Villanova on March 14 … the Fighting Irish had their largest scouring output of the season in an 11-5 win over Brown on March 29 … Notre Dame scored in double-figures in seven of its 11 games one season ago … five of those contests were wins.

RUNNING: Notre Dame has put together key 5-0 runs on three occasions this season … against North Carolina, the Fighting Irish used a 5-0 spurt to break open a 3-3 contest and take an 8-3 lead early in the third quarter … the Tar Heels would make a run of their own to cut the margin to one (8-7), yet that is as close as they would get before falling 9-7 … in the Villanova tilt, the Irish trailed 3-2 before running off five unanswered goals to take a 7-3 lead right before halftime … the Wildcats made a surge to make it an 8-7 contest, however the Irish would prevail 10-7 … Notre Dame broke open a 2-1 game versus Brown to take a commanding 7-1 lead en route to an 11-5 victory … on the year, the Irish have put together runs of three or more goals in eight of nine games.

THREE IN-A-ROW: Notre Dame is currently enjoying its second three-game winning streak of the season with wins over Brown (11-5), Dartmouth (8-7) and Butler (9-8) … the Irish had their first three-game win streak ended against Hofstra on March 25 … Notre Dame has won at least three games in-a-row in 23 of 26 varsity seasons … the only years that the Irish failed to win three consecutive was during the first varsity campaign in 1981 then again in 1983 and 1991.

SECOND HALF SHUTOUT: Notre Dame’s second half shutout against Bellarmine marked the first time a Fighting Irish defense held a team scoreless in a half since the first half against Butler during the 2003 campaign … the Irish would go on to win that contest 9-2 … the two tallies versus Bellarmine were the fewest allowed by an Irish defense since a 12-2 victory over Air Force during the 2004 season.

WALSH NAMED GWLL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Pat Walsh was named the Great Western Lacrosse League Player of the Week for March 27-April 2 … Walsh tallied two goals and assisted on six others as the eighth-ranked Fighting Irish captured wins over Brown, 11-5, and Dartmouth, 8-7 … this was the second career GWLL Player of the Week honor for Walsh … against Brown, Walsh produced a three-point game as he netted a goal and collected the assist on two more Irish scores … he had a hand in five of Notre Dame’s eight scores against Dartmouth by tallying a goal and collecting four assists … that marked the eighth time of his career that he registered four or more assists in a game.

HELPING HAND: Pat Walsh was involved in six of Notre Dame’s nine goals in the victory over North Carolina on March 11 … the senior attackman collected five assists and scored a goal … the five assists tied a career-high for a single game, which he also accomplished versus Denver as a freshman in 2003 … he now has nine games with six or more points during his Fighting Irish career … his high-point mark is eight, which came against Harvard in 2003.

MOVING UP THE CHARTS: Senior attackman Pat Walsh is currently third all-time in school history with 94 assists … he is five assists shy from second and is 16 assists away from tying David Ulrich’s (1998-2001) program record of 110 … Walsh is also tied for fourth in program history, with Tom Glatzel (1998-2001), with 167 points coming on 73 goals and 94 assists … he is 14 points away from making it into the top-three all-time in school history … Randy Colley (1991-95) is the school record holder with 273 career points (173 G, 100 A).

WALSH POINT-LESS: In Notre Dame’s 8-2 win over Bellarmine, Pat Walsh was held without a point for just the third time in his collegiate career … he was also held point-less in a 9-6 loss at Denver last season and in a 10-4 setback to Maryland in 2003.

FIRST-TIMERS: The Irish have three first-time opponents on the 2006 ledger … Notre Dame defeated Bellarmine, 8-2, in the first-ever meeting between the two Midwest schools on March 18 … the Irish also topped Brown 11-5 in their first-ever clash … Notre Dame will have its inaugural showdown with GWLL newcomer Quinnipiac on May 6.

FRESH FACES: The two-goal performances by Peter Christman and Ryan Hoff against Penn State marked the first time two freshmen had scored multiple goals in a game for the Irish since the 2003 season as current seniors Pat Walsh and Drew Peters both netted three goals versus Hartford … both Hoff and Christman are enjoying solid rookie campaigns … Hoff is fifth on the team with 11 points (10 G, 1 A), while Christman has seven points (3 G, 4 A) … fellow freshman Regis McDermott has played every game this season in the Irish defense, while his classmate Duncan Swezey has appeared in eight contests, collecting two goals and two assists.

SAVING THE DAY: Sophomore goaltender Joey Kemp boasts a .615 save percentage on the year, which places him eighth nationally … he has made 96 saves, while allowing 60 goals … Kemp led the nation with a .652 percentage in 2005, making 131 saves and giving up 70 goals … he also has a 6.79 goals-against average on the season, which ranks him 11th in the country.

CLEARING THE WAY: Notre Dame has a .800 clear percentage, while the Irish have held opponents to a .690 percentage … last season, the Irish had a .763 clear percentage and their opponents had a mark of .771.

FAN SUPPORT: The Irish have played in front of crowds of at least 1,000 people in 10 contests over the past two seasons … Notre Dame is averaging 1,689 fans per game this season … the Notre Dame-Cornell game in Lisle, Ill. on March 4, which was technically a home game for the Irish, drew 3,523 fans … … the Notre Dame-Hofstra contest attracted 4,363 fans at James M. Shuart Stadium on March 25 … the Fighting Irish and Bellarmine played in front of 2,700 fans at Trinity High School in Louisville, Ky. on March 18 … last year’s meeting with North Carolina in the First 4 invitational drew 7,182 fans into the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. … that was the largest crowd ever for a lacrosse contest west of the Mississippi River.

NOTRE DAME IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame debuted in the Lacrosse magazine preseason rankings at No. 10, while the Irish were No. 12 in the Inside Lacrosse/Faceoff Yearbook preseason poll … the Irish are No. 11 in the most recent Inside Lacrosse media poll, which was released on April 10 … the latest USILA coaches poll (April 10) has the Irish 9th.

PLAYING THE BEST: Notre Dame faced defending NCAA champion Johns Hopkins to conclude fall ball and then opened spring exhibition play versus national runner-up Duke and Bucknell in Durham, N.C. … the Fighting Irish have four teams that appear in the latest USILA coaches poll on their 2006 ledger … Notre Dame opened the season with an 8-4 victory over No. 14 Penn State … Notre Dame fell to current No. 4 Cornell, 9-6, on March 4 and current No. 2 Hofstra, 13-5, on March 25 … the Irish will have a Great Western Lacrosse league match-up at No. 18 Denver this Friday.

IRISH O: Notre Dame boasted the nation’s fourth highest-scoring offense last season (11.91 goals-per-game) … All-American attackman Pat Walsh is back for his senior season after leading the Irish in scoring his first three campaigns … last year, Walsh posted 43 points on 21 goals and 22 assists … ND did lose leading goal-scorer Jim Morrison (25 G) to graduation, yet the return of senior attackman Brian Hubschmann from an injury that kept him out all of last season should help to pick up the scoring slack … Hubschmann notched 29 points (18 G, 11 A) as a sophomore in 2004 … other factors in the Irish offense will be seniors Matt Karweck (26 pts. in ’05) and Matt Ryan (21 pts. in ’05) … through the first seven games of the 2006 season, Notre Dame is averaging 8.14 goals-per-game.

DRISCOLL AND PETERS NAMED `06 IRISH CAPTAINS: Seniors D.J. Driscoll and Drew Peters have been selected as co-captains for this year’s Fighting Irish squad … Driscoll was named the Great Western Lacrosse League Defensive Player of the Year and was tabbed as a STX/USILA honorable mention All-American last season … he was also selected as a 2006 Inside Lacrosse preseason third team All-American … Peters, a three-time monogram winner, has played in all 46 games during his Notre Dame career … he will help to anchor the Fighting Irish midfield again this season.

IRISH EARN PRESEASON HONORS: Four Fighting Irish players received preseason All-America honors by Inside Lacrosse and Face-Off Yearbook with senior Pat Walsh (A) leading the way as he was tabbed as a second-team selection … fellow senior D.J. Driscoll (D) was selected to the third-team, while sophomores Taylor Clagett (M) and Joey Kemp (G) received honorable mention distinction … Walsh is a three-time All-America honoree … last year, he earned STX/USILA honorable mention All-America honors along with Driscoll … Driscoll was tabbed as the 2005 Great Western Lacrosse League Defensive Player of the Year, while Kemp was named the GWLL Rookie of the Year … Clagett led the Irish with a .612 face-off percentage last season.

WALSH NAMED TO TEWAARATON AWARD WATCH LIST: For the third year in a row, senior attackman Pat Walsh has been listed among the 53 players on the `Watch List’ for the Tewaaraton Trophy, awarded to the top player in college lacrosse at the end of the season … Walsh is the only Irish player ever named the to watch list for the Tewaaraton Trophy, which is in its sixth year, though attackman Tom Glatzel was a finalist for the award in 2001 … Walsh has gone on to be listed as a Tewaaraton Trophy nominee the past two seasons.

IRISH ADD NINE FOR NEXT SEASON: Head coach Kevin Corrigan has announced the commitment of nine student-athletes who will join the program next season … the Irish will finalize their 2005-06 recruiting class during the late signing period in April … log onto und.com for more information.

NAME          POSITION          HIGH SCHOOL
Sean Callinan Defense Deerfield Academy (Mass.)Matt Ciambella Attack Orchard Park (N.Y.)Mike Creighton Defense Malvern Prep (Pa.)Adam Felicetti Midfield Central Bucks East (Pa.)Neal Hicks Attack Lovett School (Ga.)Grant Krebs Midfield St. Mary's (Md.)Chip Lanser Defense Dulaney (Md.)Kelly McKenna Midfield Penfield (N.Y.)Brett Vecchio Midfield Cold Spring Harbor (N.Y.)

ND ON THE TUBE: The Irish will appear on television five times during the 2006 regular season … Notre Dame’s contest at Hofstra on March 25 was aired on Fox Sports New York … the Notre Dame-Brown game at Moose Krause Stadium on March 29 was carried on Comcast Local as will the Butler tilt on April 8 … the Irish home match against Dartmouth on April 2 was carried by College Sports Television (CSTV) … the road tilt at Denver this Friday will be broadcast by Comcast.

FOLLOW ALL ND HOME GAMES ONLINE: All Notre Dame home games will feature livestats available through und.com, the official web site of all 26 varsity athletic programs at the University … simply go to the men’s lacrosse page and click on `Schedule’ at the top of the page and find the game that is being played that day and click on `Gametracker’ to follow the game for free.

NOTRE DAME ANNOUNCES IRISH ALERT TEXT MESSAGE SERVICE: The University of Notre Dame Department of Athletics, in conjunction with Centennial Wireless and Notre Dame Sports Properties, has announced a new service for Fighting Irish fans. Irish ALERT, a text messaging service designed to give fans up-to-the-minute game updates, will cover four varsity sports this spring – baseball, softball, men’s lacrosse and women’s lacrosse … this is a FREE trial program that will run until the completion of each sport’s 2006 season … log onto und.com to sign up.