Jan. 25, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Four members of the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team have been named to the Inside Lacrosse top-50 players list for the 2008 season. The list appears in the publication’s February issue. Senior goaltender Joey Kemp (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep) was the highest-ranked Fighting Irish player as he was 13th overall.
Kemp was ranked as the second-best goaltender on the list behind Princeton’s Alex Hewitt (No. 6 overall). Kemp, a two-time All-America honoree, was named the 2007 Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) player of the year as he ranked fourth among all NCAA Division I goaltenders in both goals-against average (6.78) and save percentage (.614).
Sophomore attackman Will Yeatman (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo) was tabbed as the 15th best player on the Inside Lacrosse list. He is the only non-junior or senior in the top 20. Yeatman, the 2007 GWLL newcomer of the year and LaxPower national rookie of the year, was the Notre Dame points leader in ’07 with 46 on a team-high 25 assists and 21 goals. He copped All-America honors as a freshman and helped the Irish rank fourth nationally in goals per game (11.65).
Sean Dougherty (Malvern, Pa./Malvern Prep) was selected as the No. 35 player on the list. The senior defenseman received all-conference and All-America accolades last season as he started all 15 games and anchored a Fighting Irish defense that ranked fourth in the nation by allowing just 6.66 goals per game.
Senior midfielder Michael Podgajny (Ridley, Pa./Ridley Park) is the 37th ranked athlete on the magazine’s list. Last season, he was third on the team with 26 goals to go with 13 assists. He also was a key cog in the nation’s third-best man-up unit as he registered nine man-up goals, which were a team-high total. Podgajny, a 2007 All-America honoree, was the only Irish player to score a goal in every game last season.
Johns Hopkins’ Paul Rabil, a senior midfielder, topped the Inside Lacrosse top-50 list followed by Duke’s Matt Danowski (Sr., A) and Virginia’s Ben Rubeor (Sr., A).
— ND —