April 11, 2007
Air Force at #11 Notre Dame
Friday, April 13 • 5:00 p.m. (ET)
Moose Krause Stadium • Notre Dame, Ind.
Denver at #11 Notre Dame
Sunday, April 15 • 1:00 p.m. (ET)
Moose Krause Stadium • Notre Dame, Ind.
Television: CSTV (Live)
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The No. 11 Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team will continue its four-game homestand with two crucial Great Western Lacrosse League games this weekend. The Fighting Irish will welcome in Air Force on Friday (April 13) for a 5:00 p.m. (ET) showdown before meeting Denver on Sunday (April 15) at 1:00 p.m. Note the time change on the Air Force game since it was originally scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. That contest can be seen live and free of charge on und.com. The Notre Dame-Denver tilt will be aired live on College Sports Television (CSTV).
WHERE TO WATCH: Friday’s game against Air Force can be seen live on und.com at 5:00 p.m. (ET) … this unique feature, which is free of charge, is the only way to watch the Notre Dame-Air Force 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 Air Force game and click on `Watch’ … Sunday’s clash with Denver can be seen live on College Sports Television (CSTV) at 1:00 p.m. (ET).
ND-AIR FORCE SERIES NOTES: Notre Dame is 17-2 all-time against the Falcons … Air Force won the first game in the series, 14-8, back in 1988 before the Irish captured 17 in a row before falling to the Falcons, 9-8, last season at Air Force … Notre Dame is 9-0 against the Falcons at home, including a 14-13 overtime decision the last time the two teams met at Moose Krause Stadium during the 2005 campaign … the Fighting Irish hold a 236-131 scoring advantage in the series.
ABOUT THE IRISH: Notre Dame (6-3, 1-0) is coming off a 15-5 victory over Villanova on April 3 … the Irish are ranked 11th in both the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll and the USILA coaches poll … Notre Dame has won three games in a row and 10 straight at home, which ties a program record … freshman attackman Will Yeatman leads the Irish in points with 29 and assists with 13 … his 16 goals rank him third on the team … Notre Dame has the nation’s second-best man-up offense (.600) and the seventh-best scoring defense (6.89) … sophomore attackman Ryan Hoff leads the team with 22 goals, while senior midfielder Brian Hubschmann is second with 17 … junior goaltender Joey Kemp has all nine decisions for the Irish and carries a 6.93 goals-against average and a .603 save percentage … he ranks in the top-10 nationally in both categories … 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 162-91 (.640) at Notre Dame.
ABOUT AIR FORCE: The Falcons are 2-5 and coming off a 16-9 win over Quinnipiac in their GWLL opener on Saturday (April 7) … the Falcons’ other win was an 11-7 decision versus Siena in the season opener … Air Force has suffered losses against UMBC (13-7), Villanova (9-8), Yale (12-9), Bucknell (8-3) and Army (7-3) … Griffin Nevitt leads the team in scoring with 23 points on 11 goals and 12 assists … Will Meister has 22 points on nine goals and 13 assists … the Falcons returned seven starters and 32 letterwinners from a team that went 7-9 last season, including a 2-3 mark in the GWLL … Fred Acee is in his 10th year at the helm of the Air Force program.
THE LAST TIME VS. AIR FORCE: Notre Dame dropped a 9-8 decision at Air Force last season … Brian Hubschmann netted three goals in the loss, while Ryan Hoff and Matt Karweck notched two goals apiece for the Irish … goaltender Joey Kemp made 10 saves in the contest … Conrad Lochocki tallied five scores for Air Force … Justin Pavoni made 13 stops to earn the win for the Falcons.
ND-DENVER SERIES NOTES: The Irish and Pioneers have met 10 times, with Notre Dame holding an 8-2 advantage … the Fighting Irish captured the first eight games in the series before dropping the past two encounters, including last season’s 8-5 decision at Denver … Notre Dame is 3-1 against Denver at home … the Irish have outscored the Pioneers 131-79 in the series … the first meeting between the two schools occurred in 1992, a 25-4 Irish victory in Colorado Springs, Colo.
ABOUT DENVER: The Pioneers carry a 6-5 record into their GWLL showdown at Bellarmine on Friday … Denver posted 10-7 win at Providence on April 3 … the Pioneers captured a 10-9 win over Quinnipiac in their only GWLL tilt to date … Denver’s other wins have come against Penn State (10-5), Villanova (12-11), UMBC (13-8) and Hartford (16-4), while suffering losses to North Carolina (11-8), Duke (13-9), Stony Brook (11-8), Vermont (9-8) and Harvard (6-4) … Denver has 27 letterwinners and 12 starters back from last season’s team that went 12-5, including a perfect 5-0 mark in the GWLL to take the conference title … the Pioneers fell to Maryland, 16-8, in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament … Jamie Munro is in his ninth season as the head coach of Denver.
THE LAST TIME VS. DENVER: The Fighting Irish fell to the Pioneers 8-5 last season at Denver … the game was tied 4-4 heading into the final quarter before Denver scored three straight goals en route to the victory … Denver was ranked 18th at the time of the contest, while Notre Dame was No. 9 … Ryan Hoff netted two goals for the Irish, while Pat Walsh, Bill Liva and Drew Peters all scored goals … Joey Kemp made five saves in the loss … Ryan Zordani and Michael Goltra both had two scores for the Pioneers … Jeb Hollingsworth made 15 saves to pick up the win.
COMMON OPPONENTS: Notre Dame and Denver have faced three common opponents so far this season (Penn State, Villanova, North Carolina) … the Irish topped Penn State 11-8, while the Pioneers took down the Nittany Lions, 10-5 … both teams also defeated Villanova … Notre Dame bested the Wildcats 15-5 and Denver took a 12-11 decision against Villanova … North Carolina captured identical 11-8 wins over both Notre Dame and Denver … Denver plays Bellarmine on Friday … Notre Dame defeated the Knights 11-3 earlier this season.
RECAPPING VILLANOVA: Sophomore Ryan Hoff scored a game-high five goals as No. 13 Notre Dame cruised to a 15-5 win over Villanova in non-conference action on Tuesday, April 3 at Moose Krause Stadium. Junior Michael Podgajny 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 and scored a man-up goal. The Irish went 6-of-7 in man-up opportunities on the day. Freshman Grant Krebs made it 2-0 in favor of Notre Dame when he scored off a feed from Alex Wharton. 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 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 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 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 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. Junior goaltender Joey Kemp earned the win for the Irish as he made seven saves in 51:12 of action. Sophomore Scott Rodgers 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 went 14-of-20 in faceoffs.
THREE IN A ROW: Notre Dame is currently riding a season-best three-game winning streak with wins over Bellarmine (11-3), Brown (11-3) and Villanova (15-5) … Notre Dame has won at least three games in a row in 24 of 27 varsity seasons … the only years that the Irish failed to win three consecutive contests was during the first varsity campaign in 1981 then again in 1983 and 1991 … the Irish had three separate three-game win streaks last season.
HOME SWEET HOME: Notre Dame’s victory against Villanova on April 3 marked the 10th straight win at home, which tied a program record … the Irish have won 10 in a row at home on two other occasions, from 4-19-83 to 4-27-85 and from 2-27-94 to 3-2-96 … 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 are 3-0 at home so far this season … two of the games during the streak have been played in the Loftus Sports Center, while the other eight have taken place outside at Moose Krause Stadium … Notre Dame owns an overall home record of 112-35 (.762) during the 26-plus years of varsity lacrosse at the University.
HOFF STAYING HOT: Sophomore attackman Ryan Hoff leads the Irish with 22 goals this season … he is coming off a five-goal performance against Villanova on April 3 … earlier this season he tied a Notre Dame record with seven goals against Drexel … Hoff has three games of three-plus goals this season … he averages 2.44 goals per game, which ranks him 13th among all NCAA Division I men’s players in that category.
CAREER DAY FOR PODGAJNY: Junior midfielder Michael Podgajny notched a career-high seven points on three goals and four assists in Notre Dame’s 15-5 victory over Villanova on Apr. 3 … it marked the fifth hat trick of his career, while the four assists were a career-best total and tied the team-high total for the season, which was established by Will Yeatman versus Drexel.
MAN-UP: The Irish have converted on 21 of 35 man-up opportunities this season (.600) … that percentage ranks second nationally behind Colgate’s .647 mark … Michael Podgajny leads the Irish with six man-up goals, while Ryan Hoff and Lucius Polk both have five … Notre Dame has limited its opponents to just a .273 (9-33) man-up conversion percentage this season.
IRISH D: Notre Dame boasts the seventh-best scoring defense among all NCAA Division I teams … the Irish are allowing just 6.89 goals per game … Notre Dame had the nation’s 11th-best scoring defense last season by surrendering 7.67 goals per game.
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 6.93 goals-against average and a .603 save percentage … those marks rank eighth and 10th, respectively, among all NCAA Division I goaltenders.
FACING OFF: Junior midfielder and faceoff specialist Taylor Clagett has won 102 of 175 (.583) faceoffs this season … that mark ranks him 14th 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 .604 (359-594).
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, while Matt Girsh from Siena netted eight goals against VMI.
BALANCED ATTACK: 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 and scored five goals against Villanova … Will Yeatman deposited three goals against Bellarmine … he followed that up with another hat trick against Brown … junior Michael Podgajny recorded four goals versus Penn State and three against Villanova.
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 29 and assists with 13 … his 16 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 tallied six points on two goals and 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 … on Saturday, April 21 he will compete in the Irish’s lacrosse match against Lehigh at noon and then take part in Notre Dame’s annual Blue-Gold spring football game.
NOTRE DAME IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame is ranked 11th in this week’s Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll … the Irish are also ranked 11th 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 12th … the Irish fell to current No. 1 Cornell 13-8 and then dropped an 11-8 decision to current No. 9 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 16th in the Inside Lacrosse poll.
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.
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.