May 14, 2000
BALTIMORE — The Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team shocked the lacrosse world Sunday by upsetting the fifth-seeded Loyola Greyhounds 15-13 in the first round of the NCAA tournament. It is just the second win for the 13th ranked Irish in nine NCAA tournament appearances and the first win over the Greyhounds in 11 meetings.
This is the second time the Irish have stunned the collegiate lacrosse world in the NCAA tournament. In 1995, the Irish upset fifth-seeded Duke 12-10 to become the first-ever team from the West to advance past the first round of the tournament. Notre Dame also avenges their worst loss of the 2000 season when the Greyhounds beat the Irish 12-2 at Moose Krause Stadium, March 18.
“We felt there was a certain script to this game,” Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan said after the game. “We didn’t put too much stock in that first meeting. We wanted to get Loyola out of their rhythm and that is what we were able to do.”
In Sunday’s game, Notre Dame jumped out to an early lead just 46 seconds in the game when junior David Ulrich (Baltimore, M.D.) scored his second career NCAA tournament goal to put the Irish in the lead 1-0. Loyola would answer back when Tim Goettelmann scored the first of his seven goals on the day to tie the game 1-1.
The Irish then ripped off four straight goals by four different players, starting with junior Chris Young (Camillus, N.Y.) scoring his first-ever NCAA point. Classmate Tom Glatzel (Ellicott City, M.D.), who would score an Irish NCAA tournament record seven points on the day (4 goals, 3 assists), tallied his first goal of the contest in the run as well as senior Stedman Oakey (Charlottesville, M.D.) and sophomore John Flandina (West Islip, N.Y.). The scoring burst gave Notre Dame a lead they would never relinquish.
Loyola’s Bobby Horsey stopped the Irish streak with his first of two goals on the day. Junior Jon Harvey (Winchester, Mass.) then took a Flandina pass to score his first and only goal of the contest for the Irish with 26 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The Irish held a 6-2 lead when the buzzer sounded to end the quarter.
Glatzel took over the second quarter for the Irish, scoring three straight goals and assisting on junior Steve Bishko’s (West Islip, NY) second career NCAA goal. Bishko’s score finished a five- goal run and the Irish led 10-2 with two minutes remaining in the half.
Glatzel completed an impressive turn-around from the first meeting with the Greyhounds, when he did not score a point.
“I took better shots today than in the first game,” Glatzel said. “That loss earlier in the season was a motivating factor. We felt they underestimated us. We are a good team and we showed that today.”
Loyola gained some momentum by scoring three unanswered goals over a 1:24 span to end the half. Goettelmann scored twice and David Mascarella added one during the spurt.
Notre Dame was able to answer the Loyola run at the beginning of the second half. Senior Steve Fiamingo (Cincinnati, Ohio) and junior Todd Ulrich (Baltimore, M.D.) scored in the first five minutes of the third quarter to stretch the Irish lead to 12-5.
“We knew they were going to make a run,” Corrigan said. “You don’t win 47 games over the last four seasons without having the ability to put a scoring run together.”
Loyola would make a run at the end of the game, but the Irish defense and senior goaltender Kirk Howell (Nashville, Tenn.), who had 13 saves in the game, would enable the Irish to hold their lead.
Loyola’s Gunnar Goettelman, Tim Goettelman, Bobby Horsey and Mike Battista combined to score eight goals in the final 20 minutes of the game to close the gap. Loyola took 15 shots in the fourth period, but Howell, who had five saves in the quarter, and the Irish defense kept the Irish lead intact.
“The defense played well today,” Corrigan said. “Mike Adams did a good job on (Tim) Goettelman. There was no defense for some of the shots he was making. He played an outstanding game.”
Fourth quarter goals by Irish junior Mike Adams (Wilton, Conn.), and Kevin Higgins (Wilton, Conn.), along with Chris Young’s second of the game put the game out of reach. Eleven different players scored for the Irish on the day, helping solve the Greyhound defense that only allowed two goals in the first meeting.
“The difference in the game is that we are a much better team than when we played Loyola the first time,” Corrigan said. “That first game was the turning point of our season.”
Sunday’s win is the seventh straight this season for the Irish who will head to the second round of the NCAA tournament for just the second time in school history. Notre Dame will meet fourth-seeded Johns Hopkins Sunday, May 21 on their home field for the right to advance to the semifinals.