Feb. 3, 2003
Notre Dame, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team will begin the 2003 campaign ranked 17th in the Inside Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Poll. In addition senior defenseman Eric Simon (Flemington, N.J.) and senior long midfielder John Souch (Watertown, N.Y.) were selected to the Preseason Honorable Mention All-America team by the publication.
Notre Dame returns six starters and 16 letterwinners from last year’s team which finished with a 5-8 record overall and 4-1 mark in Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) play as the Irish shared the regular-season title with Fairfield. It marked the fourth straight year and eighth time in nine seasons that Notre Dame has either won or shared the conference title.
Defending national champion Syracuse and 2002 runner-up Princeton are ranked first and second, respectively, in the preseason ranking. John Hopkins is third, followed by Virginia, Maryland, Georgetown, Duke, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Hofstra rounding out the top 10. The second 10 includes Cornell, Loyola, Towson, Navy, Brown, Penn State, Notre Dame, Yale, Ohio State and Army.
The ’03 Irish schedule features 11 teams ranked in the preseason top 25, including five opponents in the top 10.
Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan begins his 15th season at the Irish helm. In 14 season along the sidelines, Notre Dame teams have compiled a 123-69 (.641) record under his direction. He has guided the Irish to the school’s 10 NCAA tournament appearances.
Simon was one of Notre Dame’s top defensive players started all nine games he played in a year ago. A hand injury forced him to miss four games in’02, but he still finished the season with a goal and 36 ground balls.
Souch has been a major cog in the Irish’s defensive unit since his freshman season as a longstick midfielder . He has played in all 43 games during his career and has 112 career ground balls.
Notre Dame opens up the 2003 campaign against on Sunday, February 23 when the Irish travel to Penn State. The home opener is the following weekend when Corrigan squad entertains Pennsylvania on Saturday, March 8 at 2:00 p.m.