March 13, 2006
NOTRE DAME MEN’S LACROSSE WEEKLY NOTES PACKET
No. 11 Notre Dame vs. Villanova
Tuesday, March 14, 2006 • 4:00 p.m. (ET)
Villanova Stadium • Villanova, Pa.
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The No. 11 Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team embarks on a three-game road trip beginning with a visit to Villanova on Tuesday (March 14). The Fighting Irish improved to 2-1 on the season with a 9-7 victory over North Carolina on Saturday, while the Wildcats carry a 2-3 mark into the contest following a 7-6 overtime loss to Binghamton also on Saturday. Notre Dame continues the trek away from home by traveling to Louisville, Ky. for a showdown with Bellarmine this Saturday (March 18) and then the Irish will have a week off before facing Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y. on Saturday, March 25.
ND-NOVA SERIES NOTES: Tuesday will mark the 10th meeting all-time between the Fighting Irish and the Wildcats … Notre Dame leads the all-time series 5-4 … the Irish are 3-1 at Villanova … the series began with Villanova claiming the first four meetings, while the Irish have won the last five, including last year’s 11-7 decision at Villanova … the first meeting occurred during the 1987 campaign, a 7-6 Wildcat victory … Irish head coach Kevin Corrigan is 5-3 against Villanova during his tenure at Notre Dame … the Fighting Irish hold a 95-84 scoring edge in the series.
SNAPSHOT OF THE IRISH: Notre Dame is off to a 2-1 start this season following a 9-7 win over North Carolina on Saturday … the Irish opened the season with an 8-4 victory over Penn State before falling to Cornell, 9-6 … senior attackman Brian Hubschmann leads the team in points with 10 coming on four goals and six assists … sophomore goaltender Joey Kemp has logged all 180 minutes in goal … he has allowed 20 goals, while making 34 saves and boasts .630 save-percentage and a 6.67 goals-against average … the senior trio of Hubschmann, Matt Karweck and Pat Walsh share the team lead with four goals apiece … sophomore Taylor Clagett has won 33 of 53 (.623) faceoff attempts so far this season …
ABOUT VILLANOVA: Villanova has a 2-3 mark on the season, including a 2-1 record at home … the Wildcats lost their only contest with a ranked foe this season, a 13-2 defeat at No. 2 Duke … Villanova has both scored and surrendered 39 goals … the Wildcats largest scoring output was a 14-4 victory over Lafayette … Matt Starker leads the team in points with 11 and goals with 10 … Chris McDonald is second on the squad with eight points on five goals and three assists … Mike Haas has a team-high five assists … Joe Canuso has seen the majority of the time in net and has allowed 35 goals, while stopping 61 shots for a 7.20 goals-against average and a .635 save percentage … he was a preseason honorable mention All-American selection according to Inside Lacrosse.
IRISH VS. THE CAA: Notre Dame is 12-10 all-time against the Colonial Athletic Association, including a 9-10 mark in the Kevin Corrigan era … the Irish have two CAA members on their 2006 schedule, Villanova and Hofstra … Notre Dame defeated both of those squads one year ago.
KARWECK STREAKING: Senior midfielder Matt Karweck has notched at least one point in each of his last 11 games dating back to last season … during that stretch, he has collected a total of 27 points on 14 goals and 13 assists … this is the longest point streak of his Notre Dame career … his previous long was eight games in 2004.
HELPING HAND: Pat Walsh was involved in six of Notre Dame’s nine goals in the victory over North Carolina … 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 fourth all-time in school history with 85 assists … he is three assists shy from the third spot, 15 away from second and is 25 assists away from tying David Ulrich’s (1998-2001) program record of 110 … Walsh is also sixth in program history with 151 points coming on 66 goals and 85 assists … he is 30 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).
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 10 points … he has scored two goals and assisted on two others in each of the past two contests … for his career, he has six games with four or more points … 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.
GOING FOR TWO: The Irish have six players that have notched two goals in a game this season … freshmen Peter Christman and Ryan Hoff went for two scores apiece in the season-opener against Penn State … seniors Pat Walsh and Brian Hubschmann did the same against Cornell … Hubschmann made it back-to-back two goal games as he collected a pair against North Carolina … joining him with two scores against North Carolina was Matt Karweck and Matt Ryan.
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.
FACEOFFS: Sophomore Taylor Clagett has won 33 of 53 faceoffs so far this season for a .623 percentage … he ranked sixth in the country with a .612 percentage (131-214) as a freshman last year.
SAVING THE DAY: Sophomore goaltender Joey Kemp boasts a .630 save percentage on the year … he led the nation with a .652 percentage in 2005.
CLEARING THE WAY: Notre Dame has an .830 clear percentage while the Irish have held opponents to a .682 percentage … last season, the Irish had a .763 clear percentage and their opponents had a mark of .771.
FAN SUPPORT: The Notre Dame-Cornell game in Lisle, Ill. drew 3,523 fans … the Irish have now played in front of crowds of at least 1,000 people in eight of their last 12 contests … 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.
LAST YEAR’S MEETING: No. 9 Notre Dame downed Villanova 11-7 in Villanova, Pa. on March 28, 2005 … the game was originally scheduled for March 8, yet was postponed due to inclement weather … the Irish opened the game with five goals in both the first and second quarters to take a commanding 10-4 lead at halftime … the Wildcats would trim the lead to two with a three-goal third period … Notre Dame put the game away with a goal in the fourth … Jim Morrison netted a career-high five goals in the contest for the Fighting Irish … Colin Fatti and current senior Matt Ryan notched two goals of their own … also collecting goals was Lucius Polk and Matt Karweck … Pat Walsh dished out four assists in the contest … the win improved Notre Dame’s record to 5-1, which placed the team four games over the .500 mark for the only time all season.
NORTH CAROLINA RECAP: Pat Walsh registered a six-point performance with one goal and five assists and three Irish players totaled two goals apiece as No. 12 Notre Dame claimed a 9-7 victory over North Carolina at Moose Krause Stadium on Saturday, March 11 … netting two goals apiece for the Irish was the senior trio of Brian Hubschmann, Matt Karweck and Matt Ryan … Hubschmann also collected two assists on the day to bring his team-leading point total to 10 and Karweck also had one helper … it was a game of runs as Notre Dame would string together five straight goals to go up 8-3 early into the second half, yet North Carolina would respond with four scores in-a-row to make it an 8-7 contest with 4:09 left to play … Ryan then netted the tally that iced the game with 2:51 left on an assist from Karweck … North Carolina out-shot Notre Dame 25-20 and the Tar Heels also held a 44-35 advantage in groundballs … Joey Kemp made seven stops for the Irish and Grant Zimmerman made nine saves for the Tar Heels … the Fighting Irish defense stopped six of 16 clear attempts for the Tar Heels, while the Irish converted 16 of 17 clear attempts … Walsh put the Irish on the board with 8:24 left in the first quarter as he took a pass from Hubschmann and sent it in for his fourth goal of the season … that marked Notre Dame’s first score in the opening period this season … North Carolina’s Ryan Blair knotted the game at one two minutes later on an assist from Michael Burns … the Irish would then run off two straight on goals from Ryan and Karweck to end the period … the Tar Heels notched the first two scores of the second stanza with goals from Bart Wagner and Sean Link to even up the game at three … Notre Dame would then tally the next five goals in the contest, with Walsh assisting on four of them … Hubschmann and Karweck netted the first two scores and then junior Bill Liva found the back of the net with just 10 seconds remaining in the half … Ryan Hoff scored his third goal of the year to put the Irish up 7-3 less than a minute into the second half … Hubschmann finished off the run with his second goal of the day … the Tar Heels countered with unassisted goals from Nick Tintle and Wagner to round out the third period … Link and Ryan Walterhoefer then netted scores on assists from Wagner … the Walterhoefer tally was the only man-up goal of the contest … Ryan would then put a halt to the North Carolina surge with his second goal of the day to give the Irish a 9-7 victory.
IRISH D: The Notre Dame defense held Penn State to just four goals in the season-opener on Feb. 26 … the four tallies were the fewest allowed by an Irish defense since a 12-2 victory over Air Force during the 2004 season and the fewest in a season-opener since 2000, a 10-4 win over Penn State.
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.
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. 13 in the most recent Inside Lacrosse media poll, which was released on March 6 … the first USILA coaches poll of the season came out on March 6 and the Irish are 12th in those rankings.
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 fell to No. 5 Cornell, 9-6, on March 4 … the Irish will host No. 16 Dartmouth on Apr. 2 … Notre Dame will have a road game at No. 9 Hofstra on March 25 and a Great Western Lacrosse league match-up at No. 14 Denver on Apr. 14.
IRISH VS. TOP-10: Since 1990, Notre Dame has a 9-31 mark against teams ranked in the top-10 … the Irish dropped a 9-6 decision to No. 8 Cornell on March 4 in their only battle versus a top-10 team so far this season … Notre Dame’s last win versus a top-10 squad occurred last season as the Irish knocked off No. 10 North Carolina, 9-7, in the First 4 invitational in Carson, Calif.
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 39 games during his Notre Dame career … he will help to anchor the Fighting Irish midfield again this season.
IRISH OFFENSE: Notre Dame boasted the nation’s fourth highest-scoring offense last season (11.91 goals-per-game) and this year’s squad hopes to duplicate that success … 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).
FINE LINE: Close losses past two seasons have kept Notre Dame out of NCAA tournament … five of Notre Dame’s last six losses over the course of the past two seasons have been by one goal, including three in overtime … the Irish hope a stronger and more seasoned defense will make the difference this season and return them to the field of 16 … Notre Dame’s last NCAA tournament berth back in 2001 culminated with the program’s first-ever appearance in the national semifinals … the Irish have yet to play a one-goal contest in 2006.
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 will be aired by College Sports Television (CSTV) as will the Irish home match against Dartmouth on April 2 … the Notre Dame-Brown contest at Moose Krause Stadium on March 29 along with a road contests at Butler on April 8 and Denver on April 14 will be carried 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.