April 2, 2007
Villanova at #13 Notre Dame
Tuesday, April 3 • 4:00 p.m. (ET)
Moose Krause Stadium • Notre Dame, Ind.
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The No. 13 Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team will host Villanova in non-conference action this Tuesday (April 3) at Moose Krause Stadium. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m. (ET). The Fighting Irish carry a 5-3 record into the contest, while the Wildcats are 4-3. Notre Dame is coming off an 11-3 win at Brown on Saturday, while Villanova defeated Hofstra 9-8 on Friday. The game can be seen live and free of charge on und.com.
WATCH THE GAME LIVE: Tuesday’s game can be seen live on und.com at 4:00 p.m. (ET) … this unique feature, which is free of charge, is the only way to watch the Notre Dame-Villanova contest … to view the game, log onto und.com and go to the men’s lacrosse page … once there, go to `Schedule’ at the top of the page and find the Villanova game and click on `Watch’ … former Fighting Irish assistant coach Kevin Anderson will handle color commentary duties for the broadcast and will be accompanied by Notre Dame student Paul Rigney.
ND-VILLANOVA SERIES NOTES: Tuesday will mark the 11th meeting all-time between the Fighting Irish and the Wildcats … Notre Dame leads the series 6-4 … the Irish are 2-1 against the Wildcats at home … the series began with Villanova claiming the first four meetings, while the Irish have won the last six, including last year’s 10-7 decision at Villanova … the first meeting occurred during the 1987 campaign, a 7-6 Wildcat victory … Irish head coach Kevin Corrigan is 6-3 against Villanova during his Notre Dame tenure.
ABOUT THE IRISH: Notre Dame (5-3) is coming off an 11-3 win over Brown on Saturday, March 31 … the Irish are ranked 13th in both the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll and the USILA coaches poll … freshman attackman Will Yeatman leads the Irish in points with 26 and assists with 11 … his 15 goals rank him third on the team … sophomore attackman Ryan Hoff leads the team with 17 goals, while senior Brian Hubschmann is second with 16 … junior goaltender Joey Kemp has all eight decisions for the Irish and carries a 7.05 goals-against average and a .604 save percentage … the Fighting Irish have six starters and 16 letterwinners back from last year’s team that posted a 10-5 record and earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament … Kemp earned honorable mention All-America honors from the USILA last season … he ranked in the top-12 nationally in both save percentage and goals-against average … Kemp and Hubschmann were preseason honorable mention All-America selections according to Inside Lacrosse … Hubschmann led the team with 31 goals last season and tied for team-high honors in points with 50 … Kevin Corrigan is in his 19th season as the head coach of the Fighting Irish … Corrigan has an overall record of 161-91 (.639) at Notre Dame.
ABOUT VILLANOVA: The Wildcats are 4-3 on the season after a 9-8 win at Hofstra on Friday (March 30) … senior midfielder Eric Heidenberger leads the team with 12 goals, while junior attackman Chris MacDonald has a team-high 16 points on six goals and 10 assists … sophomore goaltender Andrew DiLoreto has a 4-2 record to go along with a 7.43 goals-against average and a .566 save percentage … Villanova has wins over Lafayette (8-5), Air Force (9-8) Saint Joseph’s (10-4) and Hofstra (9-8) along with losses to Penn (10-6), Denver (12-11, OT) and Towson (6-5) … the Wildcats returned 31 letterwinners and eight starters from a team that went 5-10 last season … head coach Mike Corado is in his first season at the helm of the Villanova program … Villanova is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in men’s lacrosse.
IRISH VS. THE CAA: Notre Dame is 14-11 all-time against the Colonial Athletic Association, including an 11-11 mark in the Kevin Corrigan era … the Irish have two CAA members on their 2007 schedule, Drexel and Villanova … Notre Dame defeated Drexel 16-5 on March 13.
THE LAST TIME: Notre Dame downed Villanova 10-7 last season in Villanova, Pa. … Brian Hubschmann registered a five-point game on four goals and one assist to lead the Irish to victory … Pat Walsh also chipped in two goals and an assist for Notre Dame … Joey Kemp earned the win and collected seven saves … Tim Langan and Matt Starker both scored two goals apiece for Villanova … Joe Canuso surrendered all 10 goals, while making 11 saves in the loss.
RECAPPING BROWN: Freshman Will Yeatman notched his second straight hat trick to help lead No. 17 Notre Dame to an 11-3 victory over Brown in non-conference action on Saturday, March 31 at Brown Stadium. Lucius Polk also registered three points on one goal and two assists, while junior goaltender Joey Kemp made 11 saves to earn the win for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame (5-3) jumped out in front early as Polk scored a man-up goal on an assist from Brett Vecchio less than two minutes into the game. Brown (5-3) evened the contest on an Alex Buckley goal with 10:41 left in the first quarter. A 5-0 Fighting Irish run broke the game open and sent Notre Dame on its way to the victory. Michael Podgajny began the surge with an unassisted goal with 10:03 remaining in the opening period. Yeatman, Peter Christman and freshman Grant Krebs then scored to give the Irish a 5-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. Krebs’ goal was the first of the season and was assisted by Ryan Cunn. Yeatman opened up the second-quarter scoring with his second tally of the day with the assist going to Alex Wharton with 3:51 left on the clock. The Bears ended the run with a man-up goal from Jack Walsh. Notre Dame responded as Ryan Hoff found the back of the net off a pass from Polk with eight seconds remaining in the half. The Fighting Irish led 7-2 at the intermission. Goals from Wharton and Yeatman early in the second half put Notre Dame up 9-2. Yeatman’s third score was assisted by Regis McDermott. Will Davis would register Brown’s final tally of the contest to make it a six-point Irish cushion with 4:10 left in the third period. Kemp and the Fighting Irish defense held the Bears scoreless over the final 19:10 of the game. Notre Dame junior Sean Dougherty notched his first-career goal to up the Irish lead back to seven with 3:12 left in the third quarter. Senior Brian Hubschmann became the ninth Irish player to score on the day as he took a feed from Polk and tallied a man-up goal with 3:20 remaining in the contest. The Fighting Irish out shot the Bears 39-35. Notre Dame’s Taylor Clagett won 14-of-18 faceoffs on the afternoon. Brown goaltender Jordan Burke picked up the loss as he played 32:09 and allowed nine goals and made five saves. Chandler Clark surrendered two goals and made six saves in 27:51 of action.
FIRST TIME: Junior defenseman Sean Dougherty and freshman midfielder Grant Krebs both netted their first-career goals against Brown on Saturday (March 31) … sophomore defenseman Regis McDermott notched the first point of his career as he dished out an assist against the Bears.
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: The Fighting Irish have held their past two opponents to just three goals … Notre Dame has registered back-to-back 11-3 victories over Bellarmine and Brown … the six combined goals allowed over a two-game span is the fewest since the Irish surrendered five tallies over two games during the 2004 campaign … that season, Notre Dame downed Dartmouth 10-3 then topped Air Force 12-2.
MAN-UP: The Irish have converted on 15 of 28 man-up opportunities this season (.536) … Ryan Hoff leads the Irish with five man-up goals, while Michael Podgajny has four … Notre Dame has limited its opponents to just a .241 (7-29) man-up conversion percentage this season.
SAVING THE DAY: Notre Dame junior goaltender Joey Kemp has had a huge impact on the Irish during his first two campaigns … as a freshman, he started nine games, posting a 5-2 record and led the nation with a .652 save percentage en route to being tabbed the Great Western Lacrosse League Rookie of the Year … he followed that up with another stellar season in 2006 … he went 10-5 and ranked eighth nationally with a .596 save percentage and 12th with a 7.54 goals-against average … he earned USILA Honorable Mention All-America honors along with being a first-team all-GWLL selection … this season he carries a 7.05 goals-against average and a .604 save percentage.
FACING OFF: Junior midfielder and faceoff specialist Taylor Clagett has won 88 of 155 (.568) faceoffs this season … he won 126 of 205 faceoff attempts last season … his .615 winning percentage in 2006 would have ranked him sixth nationally, however he missed four games due to injury and could not qualify among NCAA statistical leaders in that category … his career winning percentage is .601 (345-574).
HOME SWEET HOME: Notre Dame has won its past nine home contests … the streak stems back to a 14-13 overtime win against Air Force on April 10, 2005 … Notre Dame’s last loss at home was a 9-6 setback to Denver on April 7, 2005 … the Irish went a perfect 6-0 at home during the 2006 campaign … the Irish are 2-0 at home so far this season … two of the games during the streak have been played in the Loftus Sports Center, while the other seven have taken place outside at Moose Krause Stadium … Notre Dame owns an overall home record of 111-35 (.760) during the 26-plus years of varsity lacrosse at the University.
HUBSCHMANN BACK ON TRACK: Brian Hubschmann had his streak of 11 straight games with a goal snapped in the 11-3 win over Bellarmine on March 20 … prior to the game against the Knights, he was last held without a goal in an 8-5 loss at Denver last season (4-14-06) … Hubschmann got back on track with a goal in an 11-3 win at Brown on March 31 … he has scored at least one goal in 20 of his last 22 games.
HAT TRICKS: The Irish have had four players notch at least three goals in a game this season … Brian Hubschmann leads the team with three games of three-plus goals … his four tallies against Drexel were a season-high total … Hubschmann netted three goals against Loyola and Dartmouth … the Irish’s top total came from Ryan Hoff, who notched seven goals against Drexel … Hoff also registered a hat trick against Bellarmine as did his teammate Will Yeatman … Yeatman followed that up with another hat trick against Brown … junior Michael Podgajny recorded four goals versus Penn State.
SEVENTH HEAVEN FOR HOFF: Sophomore attackman Ryan Hoff tied a Notre Dame record with seven goals in a 16-5 win over Drexel on March 13 … he equaled the school record originally set by Randy Colley in 1993 against New Hampshire … Hoff’s seven tallies also established a program record for the most goals scored in a road game … the previous high was six by eight different Irish players and most recently by Pat Walsh against Hofstra in 2005 … the seven goals scored by Hoff are the second most among all NCAA Division I men’s players this season for a single game … Matt Girsh from Siena netted eight goals against VMI.
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT: The 16 goals scored against Drexel on March 13 were the most for the Irish since tallying 19 versus Quinnipiac during the 2006 regular-season finale … the 16 goals also marked the most in a road game for Notre Dame since the 2005 season, when the Irish won a 16-5 decision at Ohio State.
SCORELESS STRETCH: Junior goaltender Joey Kemp held Drexel without a goal for 43:22 in the 16-5 Irish on March 13 … that marks his career-long scoreless stretch … it began at the 6:35 mark of the first quarter and ended with 10:03 left in the game … his previous best was 36:23, which occurred last season during the Bellarmine and Hofstra contests.
INSTANT IMPACT: Freshman Will Yeatman leads the Irish in points with 26 and assists with 11 … his 15 goals rank him third on the team … the attackman has notched at least two points in every game this season … his biggest point output to date came in a 16-5 win over Drexel as he scored two goals and notched a season-high four assists.
DOUBLE DUTY: Will Yeatman spent this past fall playing tight end for the Fighting Irish football team … the freshman played in 12 of Notre Dame’s 13 games on the gridiron … the San Diego native was a prep All-American in lacrosse at Rancho Bernardo High School.
NOTRE DAME IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame is ranked 13th in this week’s Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll … the Irish are also ranked 13th in the latest USILA coaches poll … Notre Dame’s highest ranking this season was eighth in the USILA poll during the week of Feb. 26th … the Fighting Irish peaked at No. 8 in last season’s USILA poll the week of April 3rd.
QUALITY COMPETITION: The Fighting Irish have four teams on their 2007 regular-season schedule that appear in the latest Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll … Notre Dame defeated then-No. 13 Loyola 9-7 in the season opener … the Greyhounds are currently ranked 8th … the Irish fell to current No. 1 Cornell 13-8 and then dropped an 11-8 decision to current No. 11 North Carolina on March 10 … Dartmouth, the current No. 19 team, topped the Irish 7-6 on March 17 … Notre Dame downed Drexel, 16-5, on March 13 when the Dragons were ranked 19th in the USILA coaches poll.
HUBSCHMANN AND KEMP NAMED TO TEWAARATON TROPHY WATCH LIST: Brian Hubschmann (Sr., A) and Joey Kemp (Jr., G) have been named to the 2007 Tewaaraton Trophy Preseason Watch List … the award is presented annually to the nation’s top player … the athletes on the list are considered early season indicators of who to watch as the 2007 lacrosse season begins … the list of 51 players will be voted upon by coaches and narrowed as the season progresses, ultimately reaching a final list of five who constitute the award’s finalists.
IRISH EARN PRESEASON HONORS: Senior attackman Brian Hubschmann and junior goaltender Joey Kemp were selected as preseason honorable mention All-Americans by Inside Lacrosse/Faceoff Yearbook … Hubschmann was the team’s co-leading scorer last season with 50 points on a team-high 31 goals and 19 assists … Kemp was a USILA honorable mention All-America selection in 2006 … he started all 15 games, posting a 7.54 goals-against average and a .596 save percentage … he ranked eighth nationally in save percentage and 12th in goals-against average … Kemp was joined on the Face-Off Yearbook Preseason All-GWLL Team by his classmates Taylor Clagett (M/FO) and Ross Zimmerman (D).
HUBSCHMANN, LIVA AND KEMP NAMED `07 IRISH CAPTAINS: Seniors Brian Hubschmann and Bill Liva along with junior Joey Kemp have been named captains for the 2007 Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team … Hubschmann, an attackman, is in his fifth season with the Irish after missing all of his junior campaign with a knee injury … he led the team in goals last season with 31 and tied for the team lead in points with 50 … Liva has been a fixture in the Irish lineup during his first three seasons … he has played in 32 games, totaling 20 points on 12 goals and eight assists … Kemp has emerged as one of the top goaltenders in the nation throughout his first two seasons, ranking in the top-10 nationally in save percentage both years … he also was an honorable mention All-American in 2006.
COACHING CHANGES: The freshmen are not the only new faces on the Irish this season … head coach Kevin Corrigan has brought in two new assistant coaches, Gerry Byrne and Brian Fisher, to replace Kevin Anderson and Dave Cornell … Anderson stepped away from coaching, while Cornell took the head coaching job at Connecticut College … Byrne will not be a new face to everyone at Notre Dame since he served as an assistant under Corrigan from 1989-91 … most recently he held the head coaching position at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. … Fisher comes to Notre Dame from Rutgers, where he had a stellar four-year career from 1998-2001 followed by a five-year coaching stint with the Scarlet Knights.
BACK TO THE DANCE: Notre Dame returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2006 for the first time since the 2001 season … the Fighting Irish posted a 10-5 record last season, including a 3-2 mark in the GWLL, which placed them second behind conference champion Denver.
FOLLOW ALL ND HOME GAMES ONLINE: All six of Notre Dame’s 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, find the game that is being played that day and click on `Gametracker’ to follow the game for free.
SIGN UP FOR IRISH ALERT TEXT MESSAGE SERVICE: Go to und.com to sign up for Irish ALERT, a text messaging service designed to give fans up-to-the-minute game updates for all 26 varsity sports at Notre Dame.
KEEPING UP WITH ND MEN’S LACROSSE: For results of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse games, call the Notre Dame Sports Hotline at (574) 631-3000 and choose #5 and #1 … the hotline provides schedules and result information for all 26 varsity sports and serves as a supplement to the match recaps and weekly releases provided on the official athletic website, www.und.com … in addition, media members and fans may be added to the sports information e-mail release list by contacting assistant sports information director Sean Carroll at Carroll.64@nd.edu … all requests for story ideas, interview access, match credentials, and further information on Irish men’s lacrosse should similarly be directed to Carroll … credential and interview requests should be made at least 24 hours in advance.