April 3, 2007
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Sophomore Ryan Hoff (Baldwin, Md./Dulaney) scored a game-high five goals as the 13th-ranked Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team cruised to a 15-5 win over Villanova in non-conference action on Tuesday afternoon at Moose Krause Stadium. Junior Michael Podgajny (Ridley Park, Pa./Ridley) registered a career-best seven points on three goals and four assists to help the Irish to their third straight victory.
Notre Dame (6-3) opened the contest with five unanswered goals and Villanova could never fully recover. Podgajny put the Irish on the board just over three minutes into the contest as he took a pass from Lucius Polk (Washington, D.C./St. Albans) and scored a man-up goal. The Irish, who have now won 10 consecutive home games dating back to last season, went 6-of-7 in man-up opportunities on the day.
Freshman Grant Krebs (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary’s) made it 2-0 in favor of Notre Dame when he scored off a feed from Alex Wharton (Baltimore, Md./Gilman School). Podgajny then assisted Hoff on back-to-back goals in a span of 20 seconds to give the Irish a 4-0 cushion after the first quarter. The surge extended as Peter Christman (Simsbury, Conn./Westminster School) found the back of the net early in the second quarter to make it 5-0 in favor of the home team.
Villanova (4-4) scored four of the game’s next five goals to cut the deficit to two at 6-4. Andy German and Chris MacDonald started the run for the Wildcats with scores before Polk put the Irish back up by four (6-2) with a man-up goal. Villanova kept battling behind consecutive tallies from Jay Foley. The Irish regained the momentum going into halftime as Brian Hubschmann (Short Hills, N.J./Delbarton) netted a man-up goal of a pass from Podgajny with 5:47 remaining in the opening half to give Notre Dame a 7-4 lead at the intermission.
It would be all Notre Dame in the second half as the Fighting Irish went on an 8-1 run to close out the contest. Polk netted another man-up tally, off a Will Yeatman (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo) pass, before Podgajny and Hoff would notch scores to make it 10-4 with 5:35 remaining in the third quarter. Wharton collected the assist on Hoff’s third goal of the game.
The Wildcats’ lone score of the second half came at the 2:45 mark of the third period as German deposited his second goal of the contest.
Notre Dame concluded the game with a 5-0 run that began with Podgajny’s third goal of the game, which was a man-up tally off a pass from Hubschmann. Yeatman assisted on Hoff’s fourth goal of the afternoon with four seconds left in the third quarter and then sophomore Davey Leach (Timonium, Md./Boys’ Latin) sent in a blast from deep with less than one second remaining for the first goal of his Fighting Irish career to make it 13-5.
Yeatman found the back of the net off a feed from Podgajny before Hoff finished the scoring as he sent home a shot on an assist from John Greaney (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon). Hoff, who tied a Notre Dame record with seven goals earlier this season against Drexel, has a team-best 22 goals. Yeatman leads the Irish in points with 29 and assists with 13.
Junior goaltender Joey Kemp (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep) earned the win for the Irish as he made seven saves in 51:12 of action. Sophomore Scott Rodgers (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) came on in relief of Kemp and made four saves without surrendering a goal. Andrew DiLoreto picked up the loss for the Wildcats as he allowed 13 goals and made five saves in 45 minutes of play.
Notre Dame out shot Villanova 39-33 and Notre Dame’s Taylor Clagett (Chesapeake Beach, Md./DeMatha) went 14-of-20 in faceoffs.
The Irish return to action when they host Great Western Lacrosse League rival Air Force on Friday, April 13 at 5:00 p.m. at Moose Krause Stadium. Note the time change since the game was originally scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m.
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Villanova (4-4) – 0 4 1 0 – 5
#13 Notre Dame (6-3) – 4 3 6 2 – 15
Villanova Scoring (goals-assists):
Andy German 2-1, Jay Foley 2-0, Chris MacDonald 1-0, Mike Haas 0-2, Tim Langan, Jr. 0-1; Goaltenders: Andrew DiLoreto (L, 45:00, 5 saves, 13 GA), Mike Bogdanor (9:07, 0 saves, 2 GA), Elliott Brown (5:53, 0 saves, 0 GA)
Notre Dame Scoring (goals-assists):
Ryan Hoff 5-0, Michael Podgajny 3-4, Lucius Polk 2-1, Will Yeatman 1-2, Brian Hubschmann 1-1, Davey Leach 1-0, Peter Christman 1-0, Grant Krebs 1-0, Alex Wharton 0-2, John Greaney 0-1; Goaltenders: Joey Kemp (W, 51:12, 7 saves, 5 GA), Scott Rodgers (8:48, 4 saves, 0 GA)