May 9, 2007
#9 Notre Dame (11-3) at #5 Johns Hopkins (9-4)
Saturday, May 12 • 7:30 p.m. (ET)
Homewood Field • Baltimore, Md.
Television: ESPNU (Live)
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Notre Dame (11-3) will meet No. 3 seed Johns Hopkins (9-4) in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship on Saturday, May 12 at Homewood Field in Baltimore, Md. The game is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. (ET) and will be aired live on ESPNU. The Fighting Irish are making their 12th trip to the NCAA Tournament in program history. Notre Dame fell to eventual national champion Virginia, 14-10, in the first round of last season’s tournament.
ND-JOHNS HOPKINS SERIES NOTES: The Fighting Irish and Blue Jays have met four times, with Johns Hopkins holding a 3-1 edge in the series … all of the previous encounters have taken place in the NCAA Tournament … the last meeting occurred in 2001, a 13-9 Irish victory in the quarterfinal round in College Park, Md.
DONE THIS BEFORE: Saturday will mark the fifth meeting between Notre Dame and Johns Hopkins in NCAA Tournament play since the 1992 season … the Blue Jays are 3-1 in those contests … Notre Dame won the last encounter in the postseason, a 13-9 decision during the 2001 quarterfinals in College Park, Md. … the Blue Jays knocked the Irish out of the 2000 tournament with a 15-11 victory in the quarterfinals … in 1996, Johns Hopkins claimed a 12-7 win in the first round, while the Irish also fell to the Blue Jays in the first round of the 1992 NCAAs, 15-7.
ABOUT THE IRISH: Notre Dame (11-3) is riding an eight-game win streak, including a 14-9 victory over Quinnipiac on Saturday … the Fighting Irish are making their second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the 12th trip in program history … Notre Dame captured the program’s 10th GWLL title this season … the Irish are ranked 9th in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll and 11th in the current USILA coaches poll along with being second in the latest LaxPower computer rating … Notre Dame concluded the regular-season home slate with a perfect 6-0 mark … the Irish have won a school-record 13 straight games at home … freshman attackman Will Yeatman leads the Irish in points with 44 and assists with 23 … Notre Dame has the nation’s second-best man-up offense (.509) and the fourth-best scoring defense (6.36) … the Irish also have the country’s fifth-best scoring offense (11.79) and are second in scoring margin (+5.43) … sophomore attackman Ryan Hoff leads the team with 38 goals, while senior midfielder Brian Hubschmann is second with 24 tallies … junior goaltender Joey Kemp has all 14 decisions for the Irish and carries a .630 save percentage and a 6.47 goals-against average … he ranks third and fifth, respectively, in those categories nationally … 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 167-91 (.647) at Notre Dame.
ABOUT JOHNS HOPKINS: The Blue Jays carry a 9-4 record into Saturday’s contest … Johns Hopkins is making its 36th straight NCAA Tournament appearance … the Blue Jays are led by junior midfielder Paul Rabil, who has team-high totals in points (39), goals (23) and assists (16) … freshman attackman Steven Boyle is second in each of those categories (34 points, 21 goals, 13 assists) … as a team, the Blue Jays are averaging 10.16 goals per game … the Johns Hopkins defense is surrendering 7.87 goals per game … senior goaltender Jesse Schwartzman has started all 13 games, while owning an 8-4 record with a 8.32 goals-against average and a .543 save percentage … the Blue Jays went 9-5 last season and were defeated by Syracuse, 13-12, in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament … Dave Pietramala is in his seventh season as the head coach of Johns Hopkins.
UP NEXT: The winner of the Notre Dame-Johns Hopkins contest will take on the winner of the Georgetown-Princeton tilt in the quarterfinal round on May 19 in Princeton, N.J. … the semifinals and finals will be held in Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium on May 26 and 28.
THE LAST TIME VS. JOHNS HOPKINS: Notre Dame captured a 13-9 victory over Johns Hopkins in the quarterfinal round of the 2001 NCAA Championship in College Park, Md. … that advanced the Irish to their first-ever appearance in the national semifinals … the Irish were No. 4 at the time of the meeting, while the Blue Jays were No. 3.
COMMON OPPONENTS: Notre Dame and Johns Hopkins have faced two common opponents this season (Loyola & North Carolina) … the Fighting Irish defeated Loyola 9-7, while the Blue Jays defeated the Greyhounds 12-9 … Notre Dame fell to North Carolina 11-8 and Johns Hopkins lost to the Tar Heels 13-10.
IRISH AGAINST THE FIELD: Notre Dame faced three teams that are in this year’s NCAA Tournament field (Loyola, Cornell, North Carolina) … the Irish posted a 1-2 record against those squads … Notre Dame topped Loyola, 9-7, in the season opener on Feb. 17 … the Fighting Irish fell to Cornell, 13-8, on March 3 and then were defeated by North Carolina, 11-8, on March 10.
VS. TOP 10: Since 1990, Notre Dame has a 9-34 mark against teams ranked in the top 10 … this season, the Irish dropped a 13-8 decision to No. 4 Cornell (March 4) … the Big Red are now ranked No. 1 … Notre Dame’s last win versus a top-10 squad occurred during the 2005 campaign as the Irish knocked off No. 10 North Carolina, 9-7, in the First 4 invitational in Carson, Calif.
NOTRE DAME IN NCAA PLAY: The Fighting Irish are making their 12th trip to the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship in the 27-year history of the program … all of the appearances have occurred since the 1990 season … the Fighting Irish carry a 4-11 mark in NCAA Tournament games … Notre Dame fell to eventual national champion Virginia 14-10 during last season’s tournament… the Irish’s best performance in the postseason was in 2001 as they made it to the national semifinals … in addition to the 2001 campaign, the Irish reached the quarterfinals of the tournament in 1995 and 2000.
RECAPPING QUINNIPIAC: Notre Dame topped Quinnipiac 14-9 on Saturday, May 5 at Quinnipiac Lacrosse Field. The win gave the Irish a perfect 5-0 mark in the GWLL this season. Sophomore attackman Ryan Hoff led the way for the Irish with six goals, while senior Brian Hubschmann chipped in three goals and two assists. Notre Dame (11-3, 5-0) broke open a 1-1 contest by going on a 9-1 run to take a 10-2 lead by the early stages of the third quarter. The surge began with back-to-back goals from Hoff on assists from Ross Zimmerman and Will Yeatman. Hubschmann then cracked the scoring column to give the Irish a 4-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. Hoff notched his third goal, on an assist from Hubschmann, in the early stages of the second quarter. Quinnipiac (6-7, 1-4) finally responded as Todd Kaiser scored with 10:29 left in the second quarter to make it 5-2 in favor of the visitors. Hubschmann and Hoff came right back and scored to give Notre Dame a five-goal cushion at halftime (7-2). The second half opened with Peter Christman assisting Michael Podgajny on Notre Dame’s eighth goal of the game. Hoff kept the run going as he registered his fifth and sixth goals on assists from Yeatman and Ryan Cunn, respectively, to give the Fighting Irish a 10-2 lead with 10:29 left in the third quarter. A 5-0 run by Quinnipiac put the Bobcats within three (10-7) with 8:54 remaining in the contest. Mike Stottler ignited the surge with two scores in a row before three straight goals from Mike Annunziata. Hubschmann put a halt to the run with his third goal of the day with 6:47 left in the game. Freshman Grant Krebs scored off a Cunn pass 45 seconds later to give the Irish a 12-7 lead. A Tucker Prudden goal cut the Bobcat deficit to four before freshman Mike Creighton put the Irish up 13-8 with his first goal of the season at the 4:41 mark of the fourth quarter. Stottler scored his third goal to make it 13-9 and Yeatman responded with a tally to make it a 14-9 final in favor of the Irish. Notre Dame opened the game’s scoring as Lucius Polk netted an unassisted goal two minutes into the contest. Quinnipiac responded as Kaiser scored to knot the game with 10:39 left on the clock in the first quarter. Junior goaltender Joey Kemp picked up his 11th win of the season by making 10 saves. Quinnipiac’s Jamie Prudden stopped 13 Irish shots. Notre Dame out shot Quinnipiac 39-24 and held a 47-28 advantage in ground balls.
GWLL PERFECTION: Notre Dame posted a perfect 5-0 record in Great Western Lacrosse League play this season … that was the Irish’s first unblemished GWLL mark since the 2001 campaign … Notre Dame has had seven perfect GWLL seasons in the 14 years of the league.
IRISH IN THE GWLL: Notre Dame captured its 10th GWLL title this season … the championship marks the Irish’s first conference title since the 2003 season when they tied for the championship … Notre Dame is 51-9 (.850) all-time in GWLL play.
EIGHT IN A ROW: Notre Dame is currently riding a season-best eight-game winning streak with wins over Bellarmine (11-3), Brown (11-3), Villanova (15-5), Air Force (16-4), Denver (14-6), Lehigh (14-2), Ohio State (12-6) and Quinnipiac (14-9) … Notre Dame’s last eight-game win steak occurred in 2001 as the Irish ran off nine straight victories.
DOUBLE-DIGIT WIN TOTALS: This year’s 11-win season for the Irish marked the eighth double-digit win total in the 27-year history of the Notre Dame program … the other years that the Irish racked up at least 10 wins were in 1988 (10-4), 1992 (10-5), 1993 (11-3), 1994 (10-2), 2000 (10-4), 2001 (14-2) and 2006 (10-5).
HOME SWEET HOME: Notre Dame has won a program-record 13 straight games at home … the current 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 wrapped up this year’s regular-season slate with a perfect 6-0 mark … two of the games during the streak have been played in the Loftus Sports Center, while the other 11 have taken place outside at Moose Krause Stadium … Notre Dame owns an overall home record of 115-35 (.767) during the 27 years of varsity lacrosse at the University.
IRISH D: Notre Dame boasts the fourth-best scoring defense among all NCAA Division I men’s teams … the Irish are allowing just 6.36 goals per game … the Irish have only surrendered 38 goals during the team’s current eight-game winning streak (4.75 gpg) … Notre Dame had the nation’s 11th-best scoring defense last season by surrendering 7.67 goals per game.
SCORELESS STRETCH: The Notre Dame defense produced a 65:31 scoreless stretch, which spanned parts of the Denver and Lehigh contests … Denver’s last goal against the Irish came with 2:58 left in the third quarter … Notre Dame then held Lehigh without a goal until the 12:27 mark of the fourth quarter … junior Joey Kemp was in goal for 55:08 of the stretch … that marks a career-long scoreless streak for the All-American … his previous high was 43:22, which occurred this season against Drexel.
SCORING MARGIN: Notre Dame has out scored its opponents 165-89 this season … that is an average of 5.43 goals per game, which ranks second among all NCAA Division I teams.
SECOND-HALF SCORING: The Fighting Irish have out scored their opponents 87-40 in the second half this season, including a 49-21 advantage in the third quarter.
DOUBLE FIGURES: Notre Dame has scored in double figures in 10 of 14 contests this season, including in each game of the current eight-game winning streak … the Irish scored 10 or more goals in six of 15 games last season.
CONSISTENT PERFORMERS: Michael Podgajny (Jr., M) has scored a goal in every contest this season … Ryan Hoff (So., A) has scored a goal in all but one game (Dartmouth) … the duo has helped Notre Dame boast the fifth-best scoring offense in Division I with a 11.79 goals per game average.
BALANCED ATTACK: The Irish have five players that have scored at least 18 goals this season … Ryan Hoff leads the way with 38, while Brian Hubschmann is second with 24 … Michael Podgajny has 22, followed by Will Yeatman with 21 and Lucius Polk with 18 … all five of those players have had at least one game this season with three or more goals … Alex Wharton also has a three-goal game this season.
MOVING UP THE CHARTS: Ryan Hoff’s 38 goals so far this season marks the most goals for an Irish player in a single season since Tom Glatzel notched 40 during the 2001 campaign … Hoff’s 38 tallies also rank him in a tie for eighth on Notre Dame’s all-time single-season goals list … senior midfielder Brian Hubschmann’s 76 goals has moved him into 11th place on the Irish’s all-time career goals list … he needs one score to move into the top-10.
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 … on Saturday, April 21, he competed in the Irish’s lacrosse match against Lehigh and then took part in Notre Dame’s annual Blue-Gold spring football game.
INSTANT IMPACT: Freshman Will Yeatman leads the Irish in points with 44 and assists with 23 … his 21 goals rank him fourth on the team … the attackman has notched at least two points in every game but one (Lehigh) this season … his biggest point output to date came in a 16-5 win over Drexel as he tallied six points on two goals and a season-high four assists.
WEEKLY HONORS: Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan was tabbed as the US Lacrosse National Men’s Coach of the Week for the Irish’s performance against Ohio State on April 28 … senior midfielder Lucius Polk was named the GWLL Player of the Week for tallying four goals in the victory over the Buckeyes … the four scores tied a career-high mark for Polk … he became the third Irish player to earn the league’s Player of the Week honor this season … junior goaltender Joey Kemp has received the distinction twice (Feb. 18 & March 26), while senior midfielder Brian Hubschmann has been named the GWLL Player of the Week once (March 19) 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 .630 save percentage and a 6.47 goals-against average … those marks rank third and fifth, respectively, among all NCAA Division I goaltenders.
MAN-UP: The Irish have converted on 28 of 55 man-up opportunities this season (.509) … that percentage ranks second nationally … Michael Podgajny leads the Irish with nine man-up goals, while Lucius Polk has seven … Notre Dame has limited its opponents to just a .273 (12-44) man-up conversion percentage this season.
FACING OFF: Junior midfielder and faceoff specialist Taylor Clagett has won 158 of 269 (.587) faceoffs this season … that mark ranks him 15th nationally … 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 .603 (415-688).
SEVENTH HEAVEN FOR HOFF: Ryan Hoff’s seven goals in a 16-5 win over Drexel on March 13 tied a Notre Dame record … 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 ties him for second among all NCAA Division I men’s players this season for goals scored in a single game … Virginia’s Ben Rubeor also tallied seven in a contest against Towson and Paul LeBlanc from Holy Cross did the same against Quinnipiac, while Matt Girsh from Siena netted eight goals against VMI.
NOTRE DAME IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame is ranked ninth in this week’s Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll and 11th in the latest USILA coaches poll … Notre Dame’s highest ranking this season in the USILA poll was eighth during the week of Feb. 26th … the Irish also reached as high as eighth in the Inside Lacrosse poll the week of April 30th … 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 12th … the Irish fell to current No. 1 Cornell 13-8 and then dropped an 11-8 decision to current No. 10 North Carolina on March 10 … Notre Dame downed Drexel, 16-5, on March 13 when the Dragons were ranked 19th in the USILA coaches poll … Drexel is currently ranked 17th in the Inside Lacrosse poll … Ohio State was ranked 20th according to Inside Lacrosse when the Irish downed the Buckeyes 12-6 on April 28.
HUBSCHMANN AND KEMP NAMED TO TEWAARATON TROPHY WATCH LIST: Brian Hubschmann (Sr., M) 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 midfielder 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, a midfielder, 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.
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