May 30, 1997

Two Men’s Lacrosse Players Earn All-America Honors

Notre Dame, IN — Notre Dame juniors TODD RASSAS (Northfield,Ill) and JIMMY KEENAN (Floral Park, Ill.) were named to the UnitedStates Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association All-America teams forthe second straight year.

RASSAS earned second-team honors on defense after being named tothe third team following the ’96 campaign. A two-year starter, heled an Irish defense that allowed just 8.91 goals per game. Healso finished second on the team with 68 ground balls.

KEENAN, a two-year starter in the midfield, earned honorablemention honors for the second consecutive year. He was NotreDame’s second-leading scorer as a junior finishing the ’97 seasonwith 12 goals and 28 assists (40 points). His 28 assists set theIrish mark for assists in a season by a midfielder. KEENAN rankssixth nationally with 2.33 assists per game.

Both earned Great Western Lacrosse League first-team honors as theIrish won their sixth straight title in earning a sixthconsecutive NCAA tournament berth. Notre Dame finish 9-3 in ’97and was ranked ninth in the final USILA poll — its highest finalranking in school history.