Grant Krebs tallied three goals and an assist in last season's 12-2 win over St. John's.

Fighting Irish Set For Saturday Showdown At St. John's

April 23, 2010

Game Notes Get Acrobat Reader

NOTRE DAME (6-5, 1-3) at ST. JOHN’S (5-6, 2-2)
Saturday, April 24 – 1:00 p.m. (ET)
DaSilva Memorial Stadium – Queens, N.Y.
Gametracker on und.com

SETTING THE STAGE … Notre Dame hits the road to face BIG EAST foe St. John’s at 1:00 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, April 24 at DaSilva Memorial Stadium in Queens, N.Y. The Irish are 6-5 overall this season and 1-3 in BIG EAST play. The Red Storm is 5-6 and 2-2 in the conference. This will be the second meeting all-time between the Fighting Irish and Red Storm. Notre Dame captured a 12-2 home victory over St. John’s last season.

ABOUT THE IRISH … Notre Dame captured its first BIG EAST victory with an 11-3 triumph of Providence on Saturday at Arlotta Stadium … the Fighting Irish used eight different goal scorers in the win over the Friars … junior midfielder Zach Brenneman paced Notre Dame with two goals and two assists against Providence … Brenneman has team-high totals in goals (20) and points (30) … senior attackman Neal Hicks has a team-best 11 assists to go along with 16 goals … the Fighting Irish are averaging 9.45 goals per game, while surrendering 7.91 per contest … the Irish defense ranks seventh nationally and their man-down defense ranks third (.800) … Notre Dame has had 12 different players score a goal this season … senior goalie Scott Rodgers, a third-team All-American last season, is 5-3 on the season … Rodgers boasts an 8.10 goals-against average and a .570 save percentage … he has a 20-4 career record … freshman goalie John Kemp has played in four games, including two starts … Kemp carries a 7.52 goals-against average and a .569 save percentage.

ND-ST. JOHN’S SERIES NOTES … Saturday will be the second meeting all-time between Notre Dame and St. John’s … the Irish posted a 12-2 win over the Red Storm last season at Notre Dame … Grant Krebs led the way for the Irish with three goals and an assist … Neal Hicks chipped in one goal and three assists.

SCOUTING ST. JOHN’S … The Red Storm will bring a 5-6 overall record into Saturday’s game against the Irish … St. John’s is 2-2 in BIG EAST play … St. John’s is coming off a 12-10 setback at Villanova last Saturday … the Red Storm has posted league wins against Rutgers (11-10) and Providence (13-5) … St. John’s other BIG EAST loss came at Georgetown (9-6) … the Red Storm are averaging 8.36 goals per game and allowing 10.55 per contest … Harry Kutner leads St. John’s in goals with 15 … Tom Manes has team-high totals in assists (13) and points (23) … Jeff Lowman has a 3-2 record in goal and carries a 9.87 goals-against average and a .581 save percentage … Gavin Buckley is 2-4 between with pipes with an 11.04 goals-against average and a .471 save percentage … St. John’s went 5-9 last season … the Red Storm returned six starters and 22 letterwinners from that squad … head coach Jason Miller is in his fourth season at the helm of the St. John’s program.

OFFENSIVE ATTACK … Notre Dame used a season-high eight goal scorers in the win over Providence last Saturday … the Irish broke the game open with an 8-0 run that started with 14:05 left in the second quarter and ended with 3:37 remaining in the third period.

A DOMINATING PERFORMANCE … Notre Dame out shot Providence 44-14 … the 14 shots were the fewest allowed by the Irish defense this season … the three goals were the fewest surrendered by Notre Dame since a 12-2 victory over St. John’s last season (4/19/09).

LOCKING DOWN … The Fighting Irish boast the nation’s third-best man-down defense (.800) … Notre Dame ranks seventh nationally in overall team defense by surrendering just 7.91 goals per game … since the beginning of the 2007 season, the Fighting Irish defense has only allowed 10 or more goals seven times in the 59 games played during that span.

RODGERS IN THE RANKINGS … Notre Dame senior goalie Scott Rodgers ranks eighth nationally with an 8.11 goals-against average and he is 14th in the nation with a .570 save percentage.

SCORELESS QUARTERS … When the Notre Dame defense held Providence scoreless in the second quarter on April 17, it marked the sixth time this season that the Irish held an opponent without a goal for an entire quarter … in the season opener, Notre Dame did not allow a fourth-quarter goal against Duke … the Fighting Irish held Loyola scoreless during the second quarter of the game on March 6 … the Irish shut out Drexel in the third period on March 9 … Notre Dame held Ohio State scoreless in the fourth quarter in the meeting on March 20 … Notre Dame blanked Rutgers in the first quarter on March 27.

QUALITY QUARTERS … Notre Dame has out-scored its opponents 34-21 in the second quarter of play this season … the Irish also hold a 28-19 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter.

HAT TRICKS … Six Notre Dame players have registered hat tricks this season … junior midfielder Zach Brenneman has a team-best four hat tricks this season … Grant Krebs (Sr./M) has three, including a four-goal performance against Georgetown … Neal Hicks (Sr./A) and David Earl (Jr./M) both have two hat tricks … Max Pfeifer (So./M) and Sean Rogers (So./A) each have one hat trick this season … Pfeifer’s hat trick was a four-goal effort against Drexel.

SPREADING THE WEALTH … The Fighting Irish have had 12 players score a goal this season … Notre Dame boasts four players with double-digit goal totals … Zach Brenneman (Jr./M) has a team-high 20 goals, while Grant Krebs (Sr./M) has 17 … Neal Hicks (Sr./A) has 16 goals and David Earl (Jr./M) has netted 14.

STREAKING … Junior midfielder Zach Brenneman has scored a goal in a team-best six straight contests … Brenneman has netted 13 goals during that stretch.

FACING OFF … Trever Sipperly won 13 of his 15 faceoff attempts last Saturday against Providence … that marked a personal-best single-game winning percentage (.867) for the senior midfielder … he ranks ninth nationally this season with a .594 winning percentage (130-89) … last season, Sipperly ranked 13th nationally with a .559 percentage (85-67) … he also ranks 19th nationally in ground balls per game (4.82).

QUALITY COMPETITION … The Fighting Irish have eight teams on their 2010 slate that appear in the latest USILA coaches poll … five of those squads are ranked in the top 10 … Notre Dame opened the campaign with an 11-7 victory over current No. 4 Duke … the Blue Devils were ranked second at the time of the contest … Notre Dame took down current No. 7 Loyola, 11-9, on March 6 … the Irish fell at current No. 11 Drexel, 7-6 in overtime, on March 9 … the Irish also suffered a 10-8 setback to current No. 18 Fairfield on March 13 in Houston, Texas … the Fighting Irish were defeated by No. 9 Villanova, 9-8, on April 3 … Notre Dame fell at No. 10 Georgetown, 11-8, on April 11 … the Irish will conclude the regular season against No. 1 Syracuse on May 1 at home.

A COACHING MILESTONE … Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan earned his 200th victory at Notre Dame with the win over Denver on March 16 … Corrigan, who is in his 22nd season at Notre Dame, has a 202-101 (.667) record at the helm of the Fighting Irish program.

HOME SWEET HOME … Notre Dame has won 29 of its last 31 home games … the 10-8 setback to Rutgers on March 27 snapped Notre Dame’s 27-game regular-season home win streak … prior to the loss to the Scarlet Knights, the Irish had not dropped a regular-season home tilt since a 9-6 loss to Denver during the 2005 season.

WORKING OVERTIME … The 7-6 win over Ohio State on March 20 was Notre Dame’s second overtime game of the season … the Irish dropped a 7-6 overtime decision at Drexel on March 9 … the last time that Notre Dame played two overtime contests in the same season was in 2005 … the win over Ohio State was Notre Dame’s first overtime victory since an 8-7 win over Colgate in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

A GOOD CAUSE … The Notre Dame-Fairfield contest on March 13 was part of the inaugural `Beating Cancer With a Stick Lacrosse Classic’ … the event, which was presented by Lacrosse 4 All, helped raise money for The Children’s Cancer Hospital at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center … it was the first NCAA Division I lacrosse game in Houston since 1970, when Johns Hopkins played Navy … four high school programs, Kinkaid, Houston Episcopal, Gulliver Prep (Fla.) and Palo Verde (Nev.), also participated in the event.

A RETURN TO TEXAS … The Fairfield game on March 13 signified the second straight season that Notre Dame played a game in the state of Texas … last year, the Fighting Irish topped Vermont, 13-7, in Dallas … that contest was part of the Patriot Cup.

BEATING THE BEST … Notre Dame has defeated two top-10 teams this season … the Irish knocked off No. 2 Duke, 11-7, in the season opener … Notre Dame took down No. 10 Loyola, 11-9, on March 6 … the last time the Fighting Irish beat two top-10 teams in the same season was during the 2008 campaign … that season, Notre Dame topped No. 9 Ohio State, 17-12, during the regular season and then downed the 10th-ranked Buckeyes, 9-2, in the title game of the GWLL tournament … Notre Dame also beat No. 10 Colgate, 8-7 in overtime, in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Championship.

DEFENDING THE CAGE … Notre Dame currently ranks seventh nationally with a 7.91 goals-against average … Notre Dame boasted the nation’s top defense in 2009 by producing a school-record 6.19 goals-against average, which shattered the program standard of 6.66 from the 2007 season … in his first season as a starter, Scott Rodgers led all NCAA Division I goalies with a 6.14 goals-against average and a .663 save percentage en route to earning third-team All-America honors in 2009 … his 15 victories also established a Fighting Irish record … the Irish had the nation’s fifth-best scoring defense in 2008 by allowing 7.04 goals per game … in 2007, Notre Dame ranked fourth nationally with the 6.66 mark.

ARLOTTA STADIUM … Arlotta Stadium is the new home for the Notre Dame men’s and women’s lacrosse programs … construction of the facility began in August of 2008 and it held its first event on October 16, 2009 as the Notre Dame men’s team played the Iroquois National Team in an exhibition contest … the official stadium dedication was held on October 17, 2009 … Notre Dame defeated Denver 14-7 on March 16 in its first regular-season game in the facility … the stadium features over 2,000 permanent seats, lights, an artificial-turf field, locker rooms, player lounges, restrooms and concession areas … the state-of-the-art facility is named after Notre Dame graduate John Arlotta, president and chief executive officer of Denver-based Coram Inc. … he and his wife Bobbie pledged the lead gift toward the stadium, which was built to the east of the Joyce Center as part of the University’s new athletics quadrangle … the Arlotta children – Mindy, Andy and Jon – pledged an additional gift from The Arlotta Family Foundation toward the project … in addition to their generous donation, alumni and friends of the lacrosse programs donated over two million dollars.

BIG STAGE … Notre Dame has played in some big venues over the past few seasons … on March 6, the Irish defeated Loyola, 11-9, in front of 19,742 fans at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md. during the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic … last season, Notre Dame topped Ohio State 14-8 in front of an NCAA regular-season record crowd of 30,192 fans at Ohio Stadium … the game was played prior to Ohio State’s spring football game … the Fighting Irish bested Denver, 10-8, at Invesco Field at Mile High one season ago … in 2008, Notre Dame faced Denver at Toyota Park, which is home to the Chicago Machine (MLL) and Chicago Fire (MLS).

A FANTASTIC 400 … The Penn State contest on Feb. 28 marked the 400th game in the history of varsity men’s lacrosse at Notre Dame … the Fighting Irish carry an all-time record of 266-143 (.650).

GETTING OFFENSIVE … The Notre Dame offense has been one of the best in the nation over the past few seasons … last season, the Irish tied for 10th nationally by averaging 11.00 goals per-game … in 2008, the Irish averaged 12.04 goals per game and that placed them fifth among all NCAA Division I teams … Notre Dame ranked fourth in 2007 with an 11.65 goals per-game average … the Irish are averaging 9.45 goals per game this season.

GRAND OPENING … Notre Dame’s 11-7 season-opening win over No. 2 Duke on Feb. 20 marked the program’s first victory over a team ranked in the top-two of the national polls … Notre Dame is 23-7 all-time in season-openers, including a 17-5 record in the Kevin Corrigan era … the Irish have won a program-record eight straight season-openers … the Fighting Irish have opened their slate against a ranked opponent for 17 consecutive seasons.

DELIGHTFUL DEBUT … Notre Dame freshman midfielder Steve Murphy netted two goals in his collegiate debut against Duke on Feb. 20 … the last time a Fighting Irish freshman scored at least two goals in their Notre Dame debut was when Ryan Hoff and Peter Christman deposited two goals each in an 8-4 win over Penn State in 2006.

THREE NAMED TO TEWAARATON WATCH LIST … Notre Dame seniors Sam Barnes (D), Grant Krebs (M) and Scott Rodgers (GK) were named to the 64-man watch list for the 2010 Tewaaraton Trophy … the Tewaaraton Award was formally established in August of 2000 and is the pre-eminent lacrosse award, which is given annually to the NCAA men’s and women’s lacrosse player of the year … the award will be presented on June 3rd, 2010 at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS … Five Notre Dame players garnered preseason All-America honors from Inside Lacrosse … Scott Rodgers (Sr., G) was named to the first team, while Grant Krebs (Sr., M) and Sam Barnes (Sr., D) were second-team selections … Trever Sipperly (Sr., M/FO) and Andrew Irving (Jr., LSM) were honorable mention picks.

BIG EAST DEBUT … The 2010 campaign marks the first season of BIG EAST men’s lacrosse … the seven conference schools that participating in the newly-formed league are Georgetown, Notre Dame, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s, Syracuse and Villanova … the teams will play a six-game single round-robin regular-season schedule … men’s lacrosse is the BIG EAST’s 11th men’s sport while the Conference conducts 13 women’s sports … Notre Dame already is a member of the BIG EAST in 23 other sports … Notre Dame was a member of the Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) from 1994-2009 … the Fighting Irish captured 12 GWLL regular-season titles in addition to winning the only two GWLL Tournaments (2008 & 2009).

IRISH TABBED TO FINISH SECOND IN BIG EAST … Notre Dame was picked to finish second in the inaugural season of the BIG EAST men’s lacrosse league … the conference’s head coaches casted the votes and were not permitted to vote for their own teams … Syracuse was tabbed to win the league with six first-place votes, while Notre Dame received one first-place nod … rounding out the order of finish was Georgetown, Villanova, Rutgers, St. John’s and Providence.

IRISH EARN PRESEASON ALL-LEAGUE HONORS … Four Notre Dame student-athletes were named to the 2010 All-BIG EAST Preseason Team … senior Scott Rodgers was the lone goalie selected to the 15-man squad … fellow seniors Sam Barnes (D), Neal Hicks (A) and Grant Krebs (M) also were chosen for the all-conference team.

RODGERS NAMED A LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST … Notre Dame goalie Scott Rodgers has been named one of 10 finalists for the 2010 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in the men’s lacrosse division … to be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – classroom, character, community and competition … an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities … Rodgers, a third-team All-American last season, carries a 3.077 cumulative grade-point average as a sociology major in Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters … nationwide balloting is underway to determine the winner … fan balloting is available at www.seniorCLASSaward.com, as well as through text messaging … fans can text LAX to 74567 to vote for the finalists … Lowe’s will announce the winner of the award in late May.

IRISH CAPTAINS … Seniors Mike Creighton (D), Neal Hicks (A) and Kelly McKenna (M) are first-time captains for the Fighting Irish, while Scott Rodgers (G), a fifth-year senior, is serving as a team captain for the second straight season.

A QUICK LOOK BACK … In 2009, Notre Dame posted the first undefeated regular season in program history … the Fighting Irish went 13-0 overall in the regular season, including a 5-0 mark in Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) play … Notre Dame notched two more wins to take its second straight GWLL tournament title … the Irish concluded the season with a 15-1 record after falling to Maryland, 7-3, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament … Notre Dame garnered the No. 7 seed for the NCAAs … the win total and winning percentage (.938) established program records … the Fighting Irish defense led the nation in 2009 with a 6.19 goals-against average, while the offense was tied for 10th by scoring 11.0 goals per game … five Notre Dame players garnered All-America honors in 2009 … Scott Rodgers (G), Ryan Hoff (A) and Regis McDermott (D) were third-team selections, while Sam Barnes (D) and Grant Krebs (M) were honorable-mention picks … Rodgers, Barnes and Krebs are back for the Irish in 2010 … Rodgers was named the 2009 GWLL Player of the Year, while Kevin Corrigan was named the league’s coach of the year for the fifth time … Rodgers led the nation in goals-against average (6.14) and save percentage (.663) … attackman Neal Hicks led the Irish with 43 points on 25 goals and 18 assists … Hoff scored a team-best 32 goals.

WINNING WAYS … In 2009, Notre Dame’s 15-1 mark established program records for wins and winning percentage in a single season … the Fighting Irish compiled the first undefeated regular season in program history and it marked the fourth straight season that the Irish have reached double figures in wins … Notre Dame’s 15-game win streak was a program best.

SUSTAINED SUCCESS … Notre Dame has earned four straight appearances to the NCAA Championship … over the past two seasons, the Irish have garnered one of the tournament’s eight national seeds and have hosted a first-round contest … last season, the seventh-seeded Fighting Irish fell to Maryland, 7-3, in the tournament’s first round … Notre Dame has made 14 NCAA Tournament appearances since 1990 … Notre Dame is competing in its 30th season of varsity lacrosse … the Fighting Irish have an all-time record of 266-143 (.650) … Kevin Corrigan is in his 22nd season as the head coach of the Fighting Irish … he has a record of 202-101 (.667) during his Notre Dame tenure.

KEEPING UP WITH ND MEN’S LACROSSE … Log onto und.com for the latest information on the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse program … und.com, the official athletics web site for the University of Notre Dame, features press releases, game stories, feature stories, video interviews, stats, rosters and more … fans also can sign up for Irish ALERT, a text messaging service designed to give fans game updates for all 26 varsity sports at Notre Dame … Irish men’s lacrosse fans can sign up to receive scores following each quarter … in addition, media members and fans may be added to the sports information e-mail release list by contacting assistant sports information director Sean Carroll at Carroll.64@nd.edu or (574) 631-2664 … all requests for story ideas, interview access, match credentials and further information on Irish men’s lacrosse should similarly be directed to Carroll … credential and interview requests should be made at least 24 hours in advance.