Nov. 14, 2002
Notre Dame, Ind. – Senior forward Erich Braun (Frankfurt, Germany) became the first Notre Dame player to twice earn first-team all-BIG EAST honors as he was named to the all-conference first team for the second straight year. For the second consecutive year, five Irish players garnered all-conference honors.
Joining Braun as all-conference selections were junior midfielder Justin Detter (White Lake, Mich.) and sophomore back Jack Stewart (Torrance, Calif.), who both earned second-team honors, while junior midfielder Chad Riley (Houston, Texas) and sophomore goalkeeper Chris Sawyer (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) copped third team accolades.
Braun is one of three Notre Dame players to earn first-team all-conference honors since the Irish became a member of the BIG EAST in 1995. A 19-game starter, he leads the team in scoring for the third time in four seasons with 10 goals and 1 assist (21 points). Braun’s 35 career goals ties him for seventh on the career goal-scoring list and his 83 career points tied him for ninth all-time. In 1999, he was the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year.
Detter, a first-team all-conference selection in 2001, stands third in the Irish scoring column with six goals and five assists (17 points) and has started all 19 contests. He has 14 career goals and 11 assists (39 points).
Stewart earns all-conference accolades for the first time in his career in just his second season a member of the Notre Dame program. Stewart, who has started all 19 games in ’02, has scored one goal this season.
Riley repeats as a third-team selection after following his selection to that same team in 2001. He is Notre Dame’s second-leading scorer this season with starting appearances in all 19 contests. He has netted four goals and has dished off a team-leading 11 assists (19 points). His 11 assists nearly match the 12 he scored in his first two seasons. and are the most by an Irish player in a single season since the 1995 campaign when Bill Lanza finished that season with 11. His 23 career assists tie him for fourth all-time at Notre Dame.
Sawyer earned second-team all-conference honors last season in his rookie year. The second-year player battled injuries throughout the second half of the season and played missed five games. He allowed 14 goals, made 39 saves and registered two shutouts. Sawyer has a 0.99 goals against average and .735 save percentage.
Notre Dame owns an 11-5-3 record overall this season and finished fourth in the final BIG EAST regular-season standings with a 6-3-1 conference mark.