April 27, 2017
By Robby Hamman
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Three members of the No. 6 University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team received All-Atlantic Coast Conference Team accolades on Wednesday, as senior midfielder Sergio Perkovic, senior defenseman Garrett Epple and junior long stick midfielder John Sexton earned the recognition.
Wednesday’s honors mark the third straight season Perkovic has received the recognition, while Sexton claimed his second straight award and Epple garnered the All-ACC title for the first time in his career.
The honors were voted on by the five coaches in the league.
Perkovic (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan) has started all 54 games during his career at Notre Dame. Earlier this season the senior became the seventh player in program history to reach the 100-goal milestone. Perkovic currently has 110 goals in his career, which represent the most ever by a Notre Dame midfielder. Perkovic turned in the greatest goal-scoring performance of his illustrious career in an 11-10 win over Marquette on April 11, as he scored a career-high six goals to will the Irish to victory. Perkovic is also a Senior CLASS Award finalist and is on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List.
Sexton (Sudbury, Massachusetts) leads the Irish on the year in ground balls with 33, in great part thanks to his strong wing play on face-offs. He also has excelled in the attack, scoring three goals on the season. He earned ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors on March 27 after recording a goal and an assist while scooping up a season-high five ground balls to lead Notre Dame to a 12-7 win over No. 4 Ohio State. Sexton is also second on the team in caused turnovers with 14 in 2017.
Epple (Cockeysville, Maryland) has been a staple in the Irish defense. The senior leads the Irish in caused turnovers with 18 and is second in ground balls with 32 over Notre Dame’s 10 games during the 2017 season. Epple has earned two ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors this season for the job he did against Michigan (February 26) and No. 1 Maryland (March 4). The defenseman’s best performance of the season came against the Terrapins Epple shut down Maryland’s prolific attackman Matt Rambo, holding him scoreless in the game, and caused four turnovers.
With three selections to the 2017 All-ACC Team, Notre Dame now has 14 honorees over the four years of ACC competition. Perkovic joins former Notre Dame standout Matt Kavanagh as the only Notre Dame players to earn All-ACC recognition three times in their career.
Notre Dame (7-3, 2-2 ACC) will look to win its second ACC Championship crown in four years beginning at 8:30 p.m. EDT Friday when the Irish face No. 4 Duke (11-3, 3-1) in Durham, North Carolina, in the second semifinal game of the tournament. ESPNEWS will broadcast Friday’s two semifinal games and Sunday’s final will air on ESPNU at noon. All three contests also will be available on the WatchESPN app.
— ND —
The University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team pursues excellence on and off the field through the three pillars in which the program is built: Character, Culture & Community. These three foundational values guide the promise of the program, which is to provide its student-athletes with the most compelling and enriching experience in all of college athletics. Through academics, competition, service and travel, the program aims to immerse its players in situations that enhance their student-athlete experience to help them become the people, students and teammates they aspire to be.
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Robby Hamman joined Fighting Irish Media as athletics communications assistant director in September 2016, coordinating efforts for the volleyball and men’s lacrosse program. Hamman is a 2010 graduate of Bethel College, where he earned bachelor’s degrees in sport management and business administration, and earned his master’s degree in business administration from Defiance College in 2013.