April 17, 2001
NOTRE DAME, Ind. –
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The fourth-ranked Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team (9-1, 3-0) will take on two Great Western Lacrosse League foes this week as the Irish look to extend their four-game win streak. Coach Kevin Corrigan’s squad concludes its four-game homestand against Butler on Wed., April 18 at 4:00 p.m. (EST.), and then plays its final regular-season road game with a first-ever visit to Fairfield in Fairfield, Conn. on Sun., April 22 at 1:00 p.m. (EDT).
Notre Dame will be looking to equal its best start in school history when the Irish entertain the Bulldogs as the Irish hope to earn their 10th win of the season. Only on one other occasion — in 1994 — did a Notre Dame team win 10 of their first 11 contests. That Irish squad had only one loss during the regular season and suffered its second setback of that year in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Notre Dame outlasted Army 17-13 for its ninth win of the season. It was the most school goals scored by the Irish this season as well as the most given up in a game.
The Irish have beaten four ranked opponents (all on the road) thus far in 2001 — Penn State, Rutgers, Virginia and Loyola. Six of Notre Dame’s opponents this season currently are ranked in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Poll this week.
Corrigan’s squad is 4-0 at home and 5-1 on the road this season.
RECAP OF ARMY GAME
Notre Dame scored four unanswered goal in the final 5:18 of the contest to defeat Army 17-13. Junior Devin Ryan (Kensington, Md.) scored a career-high four goals and seniors Tom Glatzel (Ellicott City, Md.) and Jon Harvey (Winchester, Mass.) each tallied three scores to lead the Irish to their largest goal-scoring output of the season as eight different players scored in the contest.
Steve Bishko (West Islip, N.Y.) and John Flandina (West Islip, N.Y.) scored two goals each to help secure the victory. Glatzel also led the Irish with three assists in the contest, while David Ulrich (Baltimore, Md.) and Todd Ulrich (Baltimore, Md.) each added a goal and two assist.
With the score tied at 13-13 following a man-up goal by Army with 9:28 remaining in the contest, the Irish took the lead on David Ulrich’s unassisted goal at the 5:18 mark. Todd Ulrich pushed the lead to 15-13 off an assist from Glatzel and then Harvey tallied the final two insurance goals of the game with 2:14 and 24 seconds remaining in the game.
Glatzel scored the first three goals of the game for the Irish who jumped out to an early 3-1 lead with 7:14 remaining in the first quarter. Army built a 4-3 lead at the 3:59 mark before Bishko’s goal with 50 seconds left in the first-period stanza knotted the game at 4-4 after one period.
There were seven ties in the closely contested contest. Notre Dame grabbed its largest lead of the game, 11-7, when it opened the third quarter with back-to-back scores by Bishko and Flandina after the Irish held a 9-7 halftime advantage. Army pulled to within 11-10 before tying the game at 12-12 with 4:17 left in the third quarter.
HEAD COACH KEVIN CORRIGAN
Kevin Corrigan is in his 13th season at Notre Dame and 15th in the collegiate ranks. The three-time Great Western Lacrosse League coach of the year earned his 100th career win during the ’99 season in Notre Dame’s 10-8 victory over Hobart on March 27 and notched his 100th win as the Irish head coach in 2000 with his team’s 10-5 victory at Army . He owns a 123-75 (.621) overall ledger and an 113-60 (.653) mark with the Irish. Corrigan has guided Notre Dame to nine NCAA tournament appearances in the last 11 years and 10 (either outright or shared) conference titles. Prior to 1998, he had led the Irish to six straight tournament berths from 1992-97. Under Corrigan, Notre Dame has been victorious in the first round of the NCAA tournament on two occasions. In 1995, Notre Dame won its first-ever NCAA tournament game with a 12-10 victory over Duke which propelled the Irish into the quarterfinals for the first time in school history. Last season, his squad upset fifth-seeded Loyola (Md.) in 15-13 in the first round for the school’s first-ever win over the Greyhounds. Previous to his tenure at Notre Dame, he served as head coach at Randolph-Macon during the 1985 and 1986 campaign where his teams compiled a 10-15 mark.
SERIES RECORD VS. BUTLER
This will be the ninth meeting between the two teams with the Irish winning seven of the eight previous matchups. The two squads have battled to one-goal decisions each of the last three meetings. Last year, the Irish earned a 12-11 victory in Indianapolis, Ind., against the Bulldogs after losing 6-5 to Butler on their home field in 1998. Two years, Notre Dame knocked off Butler 8-7 in a come-from-behind victory. The Irish are 4-0 against the Bulldogs at Moose Krause Stadium.
SERIES RECORD VS. FAIRFIELD
Notre Dame and Fairfield meet for the second time, but it will be the first time the two teams will face each other as Great Western Lacrosse League foes. Last year, in the first-ever meeting between the two teams, the Irish defeated the Stags 20-12.
THE POLLS ARE IN
Notre Dame has played as a top 10 team in all but one game this season. The Irish are ranked fourth in the Warrior/Inside Lacrosse.com poll and are fifth in both the USILA/STX and Brine/360 Lacrosse.com rankings. Coach Kevin Corrigan’s squad earned its highest ranking in school history the week of March 19 when the Irish climbed to second for one week before losing to Hofstra on March 24. Previous to that poll, the highest ranking for a Notre Dame team had been sixth — in both March of 2001 and April of 1996.
ULRICH, GLATZEL FINALISTS FOR TEWAARATON TROPHY
Senior attackmen David Ulrich and Tom Glatzel are among the finalists for the inaugural Tewaaraton Trophy to be presented by the University Club of Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the Tewaaraton Award Foundation. The award will be presented annually to the top male and female lacrosse players in the United State. The first-ever honorees will be awarded the trophy on June 7, 2001. Ulrich was among the 15 players named at the start of the season, but Glatzel’s play this season has earned him a spot on the list of nominees.
SPREADING WEALTH
Notre Dame used a balanced scoring effort in defeating Army 17-13 as eight different players figured into the Irish scoring column. The Irish were led by junior Devin Ryan’s career high four goals, while Tom Glatzel and Jon Harvey each tallied three scores in the victory. Steve Bishko, John Flandina and David Ulrich all scored two goals, while Todd Ulrich had one score in the game.
IN HIGH GEAR
Notre Dame’s offense has been in high gear of late outscoring its opponents 59-25 in the last four games. Overall, the Irish have tallied 119 goals in 10 game, 48 more than their opponents who have scored 71 on the season. As team, Notre Dame ranks 14th in scoring offense, and has averaged 14.75 goals per game in its last four outings. The 17 goals scored by the Irish against Army marked a season high.
STINGY DEFENSE
Notre Dame’s defense has been nothing short of spectacular this season as the Irish are fourth nationally in scoring defense allowing just 7.10 goals per game. Only two opponent (Hofstra and Army) have scored more than 10 goals against the I. The Pride tallied 11 in their 11-10 overtime win, while the Cadets put up 13 on the scoreboard, the most given up by the Irish since last season’s 15-13 loss to Johns Hopkins in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Irish have held three opponents — Rutgers, Ohio State and Air Force — to under five goals in their wins. Notre Dame’s 10 opponents have scored just 71 goals this season. Notre Dame could break the record for fewest goals allowed in a 12-game season — 88 (7.33) set by the 1984 squad.
ROAD TESTED
Notre Dame heads into its final road game of the regular season against Fairfield with a 5-1 road mark. The Irish opened the 2001 campaign by playing six of its first seven games on the road. The last Notre Dame team to finish with six road wins in a season was the 1996 squad which all six of its games on the home field of its opponent. That season, the Irish also notched a neutral site victory against Maryland-Baltimore County and lost to Johns Hopkins in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Annapolis, Md. to finish with 7-1 road mark.
HOME SWEET HOME
Notre Dame has an impressive .765 winning percentage at home since 1981 in the program’s inaugural season as a varsity sport as the Irish teams have compiled an 88-27 record. Head coach Kevin Corrigan’s squad lost two games at home in 2000 in posting a 4-2 mark. During the past seven-plus seasons, the Irish have compiled a 35-7 (.833) mark and have had three undefeated season — 1994 (5-0), 1995 (5-0) and 1997 (6-0).
CLOSING IN ON THE ASSIST RECORD
For the fourth straight year, senior attack David Ulrich is leading the team in assists. The Baltimore, Md. native has 17 this season and needs just three more to become the school’s all-time career assist leader. Ulrich has 98 career assists for an average of 24.5 assists per season. Randy Colley (1991-95), Notre Dame’s career scoring leader, tops the Irish career assist chart with 100. Ulrich had 30-plus assists during both the 1999 and 2000 campaigns. Last year, he tied the Irish single-season mark when he dished off 32 assists during the season. Ulrich’s 160 career points places him third on the all-time career scoring list.
MOVING UP THE RANKS
The numbers registered by Tom Glatzel have been staggering as the Irish senior has scored 29 goals and dished off 14 assists through the first 10 games of the season. He is averaging 2.90 goals per game and 4.30 points per game. Most impressive, are his numbers over the past two-plus seasons. As a freshman, he scored just two goals and dished off an assist, but since that season, he has scored 93 goals and dished off 47 assists in 38 games. Glatzel has career totals of 95 goals and 48 assists for 143 points, which places him in a tie for sixth on the all-time scoring list.
IRISH IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICS
Two Irish players –Tom Glatzel (7th in points per game and 13th in goals per game) and Kirk Howell (5th in goals against average and 16th in save percentage) — are ranked among the national leaders. As a team, Notre Dame is tied for third in winning percentage, fourth in scoring defense, sixth in scoring margin, 13th in man-down defense and 14th in scoring offense and man-up offense.
MAKING THE GRADE
Junior Owen Asplundh (Bryn Athyn, Pa.) was honored and recognized at the recent Academic Excellence Awards Dinner by Notre Dame’s Office of Academic Services for Student-Athlete as the men’s lacrosse player with the highest cumulative grade point. Asplundh, who is enrolled in the College of Arts and Letters and is majoring in English and African-American Studies, owns a grade index of 3.457 following five semesters. As a team, the men’s lacrosse team earned a 3.193 grade point average in the fall semester, which ranked as its best cumulative total ever.