April 27, 2016
Five members of the fourth-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team-senior attackman Matt Kavanagh, senior defenseman Matt Landis, junior midfielder Sergio Perkovic, junior goaltender Shane Doss and sophomore long-stick midfielder John Sexton-headlined the All-ACC Team named Wednesday by the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Kavanagh earned that recognition for a third straight season, while Landis and Perkovic claimed the All-ACC award for a second consecutive year.
The Irish joined North Carolina (those two teams shared the ACC regular-season top spot) with five players each on the 18-member squad. Syracuse had four players selected, Duke had three and Virginia one in voting by the five league head coaches.
The fourth-ranked career scorer in the country among active players with 211 points, Kavanagh (Rockville Centre, New York) leads the Irish in scoring in 2016 with 36 points and in assists (21) and is tied for third with 27 ground balls. He ranks third in the ACC and 14th nationally in assists per game at 2.1-and he set career highs for points and assists earlier this month at Syracuse with nine points (three goals, six assists). Kavanagh had five points against Georgetown to open the campaign and a season-high four goals (including the overtime game-winner) versus Marquette. A member of the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, Kavanagh stands third on the all-time Notre Dame career scoring list (211 points) and fourth in both career goals (116) and career assists (95).
Landis (Pelham, New York), the top defenseman in the country in 2015 as selected by the USILA and the 2015 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, is tied for third with 27 ground balls and has a team-leading 14 caused turnovers in 2016. He has played a major role in an Irish defense that ranks fifth nationally, holding opponents to 7.51 goals per game. Landis was named ACC defensive player of the week (and the USILA/Lids Team Sports national defensive player of the week) following Notre Dame’s 9-4 win over Maryland last month. He also has been named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List.
Perkovic (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan) has started all 44 games during his career in an Irish uniform. He has 22 goals and two assists as Notre Dame’s third-leading scorer in 2016 with 24 points. Perkovic has registered five hat tricks this season, including four-goal performances against Georgetown, Detroit and North Carolina. He is a three-time pick as ACC offensive player of the week in 2016, including after his game-winner in overtime to beat Virginia. Perkovic also is on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List.
Doss (Glen Ridge, New Jersey) has been a mainstay of the Notre Dame defense, ranking fifth nationally in goals-against average (7.43) and eighth in save percentage (.568). Only once in 2016 has he permitted an opponent to reach the double-figure mark in goals. Doss leads the ACC in both goals-against average and save percentage.
Sexton (Sudbury, Massachusetts) ranks second on the 2016 squad in ground balls with 33, in great part thanks to his strong wing play on face-offs. He also has scored three goals this season. He was named the ACC defensive player of the week April 11 following Notre Dame’s victory over Duke in which Sexton and the Irish limited Blue Devil midfielder Myles Jones to a single assist (after Jones had accounted for 11 points in his previous outing).
Notre Dame’s five all-league picks mark the most in its three-year history with the ACC. The Irish had four picks last year (Kavanagh, Landis, Perkovic and Conor Doyle) and two in 2014 (Kavanagh and Steve O’Hara). Kavanagh, Landis and Perkovic all are returning USILA first-team All-Americans from 2015.
Notre Dame (9-2, 3-1 ACC) will look to win its second ACC Championship crown in three years beginning at 8:30 p.m. EDT Friday when the second-seeded Irish face third-seeded and 13th-rated Duke (9-6, 2-2) in Kennesaw, Georgia, in the second semifinal game of the tournament. ESPNU will broadcast Friday’s two semifinal games and Sunday’s championship contest. All three contests also will be available on the WatchESPN app.
2016 All-ACC Men’s Lacrosse Team
Justin Guterding, So., A, Duke
Steve Pontrello, Sr., A., North Carolina
Matt Kavanagh, Sr., A, Notre Dame
Dylan Donahue, Sr., A, Syracuse
Deemer Class, Sr., M, Duke
Myles Jones, Sr., M, Duke
Mike Tagliaferri, Jr., M, North Carolina
Sergio Perkovic, So., M, Notre Dame
Sergio Salcido, Jr., M. Syracuse
Nick Mariano, Jr., M. Syracuse
Jake Matthai, Sr., M, North Carolina
Michael Howard, Jr., LSM, Virginia
John Sexton, So., LSM, Notre Dame
Austin Pifani, Jr., D, North Carolina
Matt Landis, Sr., D, Notre Dame
Brandon Mullins, Sr., D, Syracuse
Shane Doss, Jr., G, Notre Dame
Stephen Kelly, Jr., F/O, North Carolina
University of Notre Dame Athletics Communications contact:
John Heisler
Senior Associate Athletics Director
112 Joyce Center
Notre Dame, IN 46556
574-631-7516 (office)
574-532-0293 (cell)
heisler.1@nd.edu
The University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team pursues excellence on and off the field through the three pillars in which the program is built: Character, Culture & Community. These three foundational values guide the promise of the program, which is to provide its student-athletes with the most compelling and enriching experience in all of college athletics. Through academics, competition, service and travel, the program aims to immerse its players in situations that enhance their student-athlete experience to help them become the people, students and teammates they aspire to be.
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