Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Irish Travel to Massachusetts in Search of First-Ever Win over Minutemen

April 20, 1999

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 15th-ranked Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team (6-5, 3-1) travels to Amherst, Massachusetts for its only action this week as the Irish face the Massachusetts Minutemen on Saturday, April 24 at 2:00 p.m.

Notre Dame, which has two games remaining in the 1999 regular season, snapped its three-game losing streak with a 15-7 win over Army on April 17. The Irish played twice last week. In addition to its contest against the Cadets, Coach Kevin Corrigan’s squad traveled to Columbus, Ohio on April 14 and dropped a 5-4 decision to the Buckeyes in what was Notre Dame’s final Great Western Lacrosse League test this season.

The Irish dropped one spot from 14th to 15th in this week’s United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Poll. Three weeks ago, Notre Dame had climbed to 13th, its highest ranking of the season.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW – Ohio State: Notre Dame suffered its third straight setback as the Irish lost a 5-4 decision to Ohio State in the final Great Western Lacrosse League test for Corrigan’s squad this season. The winning goal came with 10 seconds remaining in the contest and capped a four-goal rally for the Buckeyes who had trailed 4-1 midway through the fourth quarter. It was Ohio State’s first victory over the Irish since the 1989 campaign.

Notre Dame, which had previously won nine straight over the Buckeyes, was led in scoring by Stedman Oakey (Charlottesville, Va.) who had a season-high three goals in the contest. Steve Bishko (West Islip, N.Y.) added the other score for the Irish.

Corrigan’s squad was held scoreless in the second and fourth quarters, and the four goals were fewest scored by an Irish team since the 1995 campaign when it dropped a 6-4 decision to Princeton on March 14. Notre Dame outshot Ohio State 27-15 in the game, but Kirk Howell (Nashville, Tenn.) came up with just five stops while allowing all five goals.

Army: Senior attack Chris Dusseau (Columbus, Ohio) scored a career-high five goals as the Irish ended their three-game losing streak with a 15-7 win over Army in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

Tom Glatzel (Ellicott City, Md.) tallied four goals and dished off two assists, while Todd Ulrich (Baltimore, Md.) netted three goals in the game. David Ulrich (Baltimore, Md.), Stedman Oakey and Ben Savage (Ellicott City, Md.) also contributed in the scoring column. Steve Bishko and Kevin Higgins (Wilton, Conn.) also dished off two assists.

Notre Dame, wich led from the onset, scored two goals in the first 2:13 of the contest. The Cadets pulled to within a goal twice in the first quarter, but Notre Dame outscored Army 6-1 before the end of the first half and led 9-3 at halftime. Corrigan’s squad led by as many nine goals (14-5) midway through the fourth quarter.

Kirk Howell went the distance for the eighth time this season and finished with 10 saves in the game. It was the sixth time in seven outings, and seventh time overall this season, that he has registered 10 or more saves in a game.

HEAD COACH KEVIN CORRIGAN – Kevin Corrigan is in his 11th season at the Notre Dame helm and his 13th in the collegiate ranks. The three-time Great Western Lacrosse League coach of the year earned his 100th career win in Notre Dame’s 10-8 victory over Hobart on March 27. He owns a 102-69 (.596) overall ledger and an 92-54 (.630) mark with the Irish. Corrigan has guided Notre Dame to seven NCAA tournament appearances and conference titles. Prior to 1998, he had led the Irish to six straight tournament berths from 1992-97. Under Corrigan in 1995, Notre Dame won its first-ever NCAA tournament which propelled the Irish into the quarterfinals for the first time in school history. 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. MASSACHUSETTS – This will be the fifth straight year the two teams have played each other. Massachusetts has won all four meetings. Three of the four games played have been decided by a single goal. Both games which Notre Dame has lost to the Minutemen in Amherst have been by a goal. The Irish dropped a 10-9 decision in the first-ever meeting between the two schools in 1995 and lost 6-5 in 1997.

DUSSEAU NOTCHES CAREER HIGH FIVE GOALS – Chris Dusseau, who ranks third all-time in career goals with 105, scored a career-high five goals in Notre Dame’s victory over Army on Saturday. Dusseau scored his 100th career goal against Georgetown on April 10 and is one of just three Irish players to reach the milestone. The other two players to score 100-plus goals in their careers were Randy Colley (173 goals from 1992-94) and Joe Franklin (113 goals from 1983-86). Dusseau, the team’s leading goal scorer the past three seasons, and Tom Glatzel lead the Irish with 23 goals each this season.

DUSSEAU REACHES THE CENTURY MARK – Notre Dame senior attack Chris Dusseau became the 12th Irish player to reach the 100-point mark in his career this season. Currently third in the scoring column this season with 23 goals and two assists (25 points), Dusseau moved to 10th on the all-time career scoring list with 105 goals and 11 assists for 116 points. He passed Will Sutton (1991-95) who finished his career with 59 goals and 56 assists (115 points). Dusseau, a co-captain this season, has started all 48 games throughout his career.

SUPER SOPHS – Notre Dame’s sophomore class is represented well in the Irish scoring column this season as four of the team’s five scorers are second-year players. David Ulrich leads the team in scoring with 14 goals and a team-high 25 assists (39 points), while teammate Tom Glatzel second with 23 goals and 10 assists (33 points). David’s twin brother, Todd, is fourth in scoring with 12 goals and nine assists (21 points), while Steve Bishko rounds out the top five scorers with 12 goals and seven assists (19 points).

GOAL DISTRIBUTION – Notre Dame is averaging 1.46 more goals per game this season than it did a year ago. The Irish are averaging 10.63 goals in 1999 compared to 9.17 goals in 1998. The number of players who have scored 10 or more goals this season has doubled to six in ’99.

HOWELL COMING UP BIG IN GOAL – Junior Kirk Howell, who spent two seasons as the backup to four-year starter Alex Cade, has been impressive for the Irish this season. He has played 645:54 of the possible 662:11 minutes and has allowed 89 goals while making 124 saves. Howell has a .582 save percentage and 8.27 goals against average. He has registered a career-high 17 saves in two games this season – Loyola and Georgetown – and has had 10 or more saves in six of his last seven outings and in seven games overall.

IRISH LINEUP REMAINS CONSISTENT – The Notre Dame starting lienup has remained consistent throughout the ’99 campaign. Eight players have started all 11 games. The only change has come on defense where senior Ray Cross (McAllen, Tex.) has started six games and Mike Adams (Wilton, Conn.) earned five starting assignments.

TOUGH DEFENSE – Notre Dame’s defense has continued to stifle opponents as the Irish have allowed just 8.45 goals per game this season. In its last two contests, Notre Dame has allowed an average of 6.0 goals. Coach Kevin Corrigan’s squad has given up 10 or more goals in five contests and held six of opponents for under 10 goals this season. The Irish have been most effective in the fourth quarter as opponents are averaging just 1.82 goals per game (20 goals scored) in the final 15-minute stanza.

IRISH STRONG AT HOME – In three (1994, 1995 and 1997) of the last six years, Notre Dame finished the home portion of its season undefeated. The Irish posted 5-0 marks in both ’94 and ’95 and were 6-0 in ’97. Corrigan’s squad is 5-1 at home this season. Since 1984, Notre Dame has a 79-25 (.760) record at home and is 39-8 (.830) over the last seven-plus seasons.

– IRISH IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICS –

David Ulrich -  t6th in assists per game (2.27)Kevin Higgins - 16th in ground balls per game (6.36)Kirk Howell -   11th in goals against average (8.27)                17th in save percentage (.582)Team -          12th in scoring defense (8.45)                19th in face-off winning percentage (.534)                17th in scoring margin (+2.18)

UNITED STATES INTERCOLLEGIATE LACROSSE ASSOCIATION POLL
(Week of April 19)

                            Pts. 1.  Loyola (8-0)           200 2.  Johns Hopkins (7-1)    190 3.  Duke (10-1)            176 4.  Syracuse (6-2)         175 5.  Virginia (6-3)         159 6.  Georgetown (8-2)       146 7.  Delaware (9-1)         144  8.  Maryland (7-3)         129 9.  Penn State (7-2)       11410.  Hofstra (8-2)          11311.  Princeton (5-3)        10112.  UMBC (8-3)              9113.  Navy (5-5)              7014.  North Carolina (6-7)    6015.  NOTRE DAME (6-5)        5416.  Cornell (5-4)           4917.  Butler (7-5)            4218.  Lehigh (6-3)            13     Yale (5-5)              1320.  Ohio State (6-3)        12

FACE-OFF LACROSSE POLL
(Week of April 19)

                             Pts. 1.  Loyola                  260 2.  Johns Hopkins           245 3.  Duke                    228 4.  Syracuse                226 5.  Virginia                208 6.  Georgetown              197 7.  Delaware                176 8.  Princeton               153 9.  Maryland                15010.  Hofstra                 14011.  Penn State              13512.  UMBC                    12913.  Navy                    11014   North Carolina           8515.  NOTRE DAME               6616.  Cornell                  5817.  Butler                   4918.  Towson                   3619.  Lehigh                   13     Ohio State               13     Yale                     13