May 11, 2001
#5 NOTRE DAME (12-1) vs. BUCKNELL (10-3)
2001 NCAA MEN’S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP
(First Round)
Sunday, May 13, 2001
Michie Stadium (United States Military Academy)
West Point, N.Y.
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IRISH AND BISON MEET FOR FIRST TIME:
Today’s NCAA tournament first-round matchup between the No. 5 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Bucknell Bison is the first-ever meeting between the two schools. This is the first time Notre Dame will play in the NCAA tournament as a seeded team.
IRISH BACK IN THE NCAAs:
Notre Dame is making its 10th NCAA tournament appearance and ninth in the last 10 seasons. This is the third consecutive year the Irish have been part of the 12-team NCAA tournament field. After six consecutive appearances from 1992-97, the Irish missed the NCAAs in 1998 after finishing the season with a 5-7 record. Kevin Corrigan, the 13-year mentor for the Irish has led Notre Dame to all 10 of its appearances. Corrigan’s squads have posted a 2-9 record in NCAA tournament competition.
SCOUTING THE IRISH:
The Irish have been near perfect this season as they head into NCAA tournament first-round action with an overall record of 12-1 which represents the most wins in school history as well as best winning percentage (.923). Notre Dame began the 2001 campaign with five straight wins that produced victories over four ranked opponents on the road — Penn State (10-8), Rutgers (9-4), Virginia (11-8) and Loyola (10-7). The only loss for head coach Kevin Corrigan’s squad was to Hofstra as the Irish dropped an 11-10 decision to the Pride in overtime.
Since the loss to Hofstra, Notre Dame has won seven straight heading into today’s matchup with Bucknell. The Irish posted a 5-0 record in Great Western Lacrosse League play and have outscored their opponents 99-37 in the last seven games with an average margin of victory of 8.86 goals per game.
Notre Dame’s offense and defense have been spectacular this season as the Irish are averaging 11.90 goals per game, while giving up just 7.10 goals per game. Only two opponents — Hofstra and Army – have scored more than 10 goals in a game, while the Irish defense has held six teams to five goals or less. The 83 goals allowed by Notre Dame are the fewest ever allowed by an Irish team during the regular season. The school mark for average goals allowed in a season is 7.20 set by the 1996 squad.
Seven of Notre Dame’s attack and midfielder players have scored 14 or more goals this season. The Irish offense is led by its’ attack unit of senior starters Tom Glatzel (35 goals, 22 assists), David Ulrich (16 goals, 27 assists) and Jon Harvey (23 goals, 3 assists). All three of those players have started all 13 games at attack.
The Irish midfield also has contributed plenty of offense for the Irish with junior John Flandina standing fourth in the scoring column with 17 goals and six assists, while senior Todd Ulrich has tallied 17 goals and dished off five assists. Senior Steve Bishko is sixth in the scoring column with 16 goals and four assists, while another senior Chris Young has contributed nine goals and nine assists. Junior Devin Ryan has been an offensive force as well with 14 goals and one assist.
Notre Dame’s defense has been achored by the play of defensemen Mike Adams, a senior, and junior A.J. Wright, while senior goalkeeper Kirk Howell has been the backbone of the team’s stellar defensive efforts throughout the season. He has allowed just 77 goals in 13 starts, made 141 saves and has a .647 save percentage and 6.45 goal against average.
The Irish completed an undefeated season at home, at 6-0, for the fourth time in school history, while finishing with a 6-1 road mark. Notre Dame opened the season by playing six of its first seven games on the road.
Notre Dame won its third consecutive GWLL title this season, and seventh in the last eight years. This is the second consecutive season Notre Dame has posted 10-plus wins in a given season after last year’s team finished with a 10-4 campaign. Overall, it is the sixth 10-plus win season in the program’s history.
A win today would mark Notre Dame’s eighth straight, and that would be the longest since the 1993 and 1994 campaigns.
HEAD COACH KEVIN CORRIGAN:
Kevin Corrigan is in his 13th season at Notre Dame and 15th in the collegiate ranks. The three-time Great Western Lacrosse League coach of the year earned his 100th career win during the ’99 season in Notre Dame’s 10-8 victory over Hobart on March 27 and notched his 100th win as the Irish head coach in 2000 with his team’s 10-5 victory at Army. He owns a 126-75 (.627) overall ledger and an 116-60 (.659) mark with the Irish. Corrigan has guided Notre Dame to 10 NCAA tournament appearances in the last 12 years and 10 (either outright or shared) conference titles. Prior to 1998, he led the Irish to six straight tournament berths from 1992-97. Under Corrigan, Notre Dame has been victorious in the first round of the NCAA tournament on two occasions. In 1995, Notre Dame won its first-ever NCAA tournament game with a 12-10 victory over Duke which propelled the Irish into the quarterfinals for the first time in school history. In 2000, his squad upset fifth-seeded Loyola (Md.) in 15-13 in the first round for the school’s first-ever win over the Greyhounds. 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. Notre Dame’s game against Fairfield on Apr. 22 marked the 200th of Corrigan’s collegiate tenure.
THE POLLS ARE IN:
Notre Dame has played as a top 10 team in all but one game this season. The Irish are ranked fourth the USILA/STX poll and fifth in both the Warrior/Inside Lacrosse.com poll and Brine/360 Lacrosse.com rankings. Coach Kevin Corrigan’s squad earned its highest ranking in school history the week of March 19 when the Irish climbed to second for one week before losing to Hofstra on March 24. Previous to that poll, the highest ranking for a Notre Dame team had been sixth — in both March of 2001 and April of 1996.
ULRICH, GLATZEL FINALISTS FOR TEWAARATON TROPHY:
Senior attackmen David Ulrich and Tom Glatzel are among the finalists for the inaugural Tewaaraton Trophy to be presented by the University Club of Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the Tewaaraton Award Foundation. The award is presented annually to the top male and female lacrosse players in the United State. The first-ever honorees will be awarded the trophy on June 7, 2001. Ulrich was among the 15 players named at the start of the season, but Glatzel’s play this season has earned him a spot on the list of finalists as well.
THE CAPTAINS:
The captains for the 2001 captain are defensemen Mike Adams, attack Tom Glatzel, goalie Kirk Howell and attack David Ulrich.
COMMON OPPONENTS:
The Irish and Bison have played three common opponents this season — Penn State, Pennsylvania and Army. Notre Dame was victorious against all three teams, while Bucknell posted a 2-1 record. The Irish defeated the Nittany Lions 10-8 on the road and were a 10-8 and 16-4 winner against the Quakers and Cadets, respectively. Meanwhile, Bucknell posted an 11-10 victory at Army and 10-6 win at home against Penn State, but suffered an 11-3 loss to Pennsylvania on the road.
CAPTAIN KIRK:
Fifth-year player Kirk Howell is in his second year as an Irish captain. Last season, he served as team captain along with Patrick Darcy, Steve Fiamingo and Kevin Higgins. Howell has the distinction of being one of just four Irish players players to serve as team captain twice during their careers. Randy Colley (1994 and 1995), Alex Cade and Jimmy Keenan (1997 and 1998) are the three others to have serve as two-time captains.
RECORD-SETTING CAMPAIGN:
Notre Dame’s 12 wins represent the most ever by a Notre Dame team Previously, the school-record for wins was 11 set by the 1993 Irish squad which finished with an 11-3 record and .786 winning percentage. Notre Dame’s .923 winning percentage is clearly best among any Irish team in school history. Prior to this season, the 1994 squad owned the best mark for winning percentage as that Irish team finished 10-2 (.833).
IRISH POST BACK-TO-BACK 10-WIN SEASONS:
Notre Dame’s 12 wins this season marks the second straight season the Irish have recorded 10-plus wins in a campaign. In 21 seasons of lacrosse, Notre Dame teams have won 10 or more games on six occasions. The first 10-win season was in 1988 as that Irish squad finished with a 10-4 record. From 1992-1994, Notre Dame teams posted records of 10-5, 11-3 and 10-2, respectively. The Irish finished 10-4 in 2000, which was their first 10-win season since the 1994 campaign.
NOT THE UNDERDOG ANYMORE:
A number five seed in the NCAA tournament is certainly something new for the Irish after earning one of the top eight seeds when the bracket was unveiled a week ago. This the first time Notre Dame will be playing in the championship as a seeded team.
ROLE REVERSAL:
Notre Dame could offer Bucknell a little advice on having to play the fifth seed in the tournament because up until this season, that’s the seed the Irish have been assigned to go up against. The Irish, however, have been victorious when going up against the higher seed. In 1995, Notre Dame beat No. 5 Duke 12-10 in Durham, N.C., and last season pulled off another upset when it won its first-round matchup with No. 5 Loyola, 15-13, in Baltimore, Md.
SEEING DOUBLE:
Seniors David and Todd Ulrich are the first twin brothers to play on the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team. David has been a three-year starter at atack, while Todd was a starter in the midfield in both his sophomore and junior seasons. They are one of four Boys’ Latin graduates on the team (the other is senior attack Tom Glatzel and freshman Dan Berger).
IN HIGH GEAR:
Notre Dame’s offense has been in high gear of late outscoring its opponents 99-37 in the last seven games. Overall, the Irish have tallied 159 goals in 13 games, 76 more than their opponents who have scored 83 on the season. As a team, Notre Dame ranks 12th in scoring offense, and has averaged 14.25 goals per game in its last four outings. The 17 goals scored by the Irish against Army marked a season high.
STINGY DEFENSE:
Notre Dame’s defense has been nothing short of spectacular this season as the Irish are third nationally in scoring defense allowing just 6.38 goals per game. Only two opponents (Hofstra and Army) have scored more than 10 goals against the Irish. The Pride tallied 11 in their 11-10 overtime win, while the Cadets put 13 on the scoreboard, the most given up by the Irish since last season’s 15-13 loss to Johns Hopkins in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Irish have held four opponents — Rutgers, Ohio State, Air Force, Butler, Fairfield and Harvard– to under five goals in their wins. Notre Dame’s 13 opponents have scored just 83 goals this season, the fewest allowed by a Notre Dame team that has played 12 or more games.
ROAD TESTED:
Notre Dame finished the regular season with a 6-1 road mark as the Irish opened the 2001 campaign by playing six of its first seven games on the road. The last Notre Dame team to finish with six road wins in a season was the 1996 squad which won all six of its games on the home field of its opponent. That season, the Irish also notched a neutral site victory against Maryland-Baltimore County and lost to Johns Hopkins in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Annapolis, Md. to finish with 7-1 road mark overall.
HOME SWEET HOME:
Notre Dame has an impressive .769 winning percentage at home since 1981, the program’s inaugural season as a varsity sport as the Irish teams have compiled an 90-27 record. Notre Dame was a perfect 6-0 in home games this season, the fourth undefeated home season in the program’s 21-year history. Irish teams have also gone without a home loss during the 1994 (5-0), 1995 (5-0) and 1997 (6-0) campaigns. During the past seven-plus seasons, the Irish have compiled a 37-7 (.841) record at home.
GWLL DOMINANCE:
For the second straight season, Notre Dame was undefeated in Great Western Lacrosse League play with a 5-0 record and won its third consective league crown. The Irish have won or shared the league crown in 10 of Kevin Corrigan’s 13 seasons as head coach.
SIZING UP THE TOURNAMENT FIELD:
Notre Dame has played three of the teams in this year’s NCAA tournament field with a 2-1 record against those opponents. All three of the games were on the road as the Irish beat Virginia 11-8 and Loyola 10-7, but lost in overtime to Hofstra, 11-10.
CORRIGAN TURNS THE TABLE ON ALMA MATER:
Notre Dame’s 11-8 win at Virginia on March 14 marked the first win by an Irish team over the Cavaliers in three meetings between the two school. It also marked the first-ever win for Kevin Corrigan against his alma mater. A 1982 graduate, he played lacrosse for the Cavaliers and also served as an assistant there from 1987-88. Corrigan’s father Gene was the men’s lacrosse coach and athletic director at Virginia before serving as commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
IRISH TRIP UP GREYHOUNDS IN REGULAR SEASON:
Heading into its matchup with Loyola on March 18, Notre Dame had never beaten the Greyhounds in a regular-season matchup. In fact, up until last year’s first-round NCAA tournament win, the Irish were 0-10 overall against Loyola. But this season, Notre Dame picked up its first-ever win in a regular-season as they beat the Greyhounds 10-7 in Baltimore, Md.
LEAVING HIS MARK:
For the fourth straight year, senior attack David Ulrich is the team leader in assists with 27. The Baltimore, Md. native became Notre Dame’s career assist leader on Apr. 18 in Notre Dame’s win over Butler and now has 108 assists in 53 career contests. He has a career assist average of 27.0 per season and 2.04 per game. Randy Colley (1991-95), Notre Dame’s career scoring leader, topped the Irish career assist chart with 100 before his mark was eclipsed. Ulrich had 30-plus assists during both the 1999 and 2000 campaigns. Last year, he tied the Irish single-season mark when he dished off 32 assists. Ulrich’s 174 career points places him third on the all-time career scoring list. Colley ranks first with 273 points, while Mike Sullivan (1989-92) is second on that list with 185 points.
MOVING UP THE RANKS:
The numbers registered by Tom Glatzel have been staggering as the Irish senior has scored 35 goals and dished off 22 assists (career best) this season. He is averaging 2.69 goals and 4.38 points per game. Most impressive, are his numbers over the past two-plus seasons. As a freshman, he scored just two goals and dished off an assist, but since that season, he has scored 99 goals and dished off assists in 41 games. Glatzel has career totals of 101 goals and 56 assists for 157 points, which places him fourth on the all-time scoring list. He is one of just four Irish players to have scored 100 or more goals during their careers. The other four players include Randy Colley (173 from 1991-95), Chris Dusseau (115 from 1996-99) and Joe Franklin (113 from 1983-86).
BROTHERLY LOVE:
Twin brothers David and Todd Ulrich certainly have been a strong scoring combination for the Irish during the past four season. Perhaps no assist dished off by Dave to Todd was more significant than the one against Butler which was Dave’s 100th of his career. That assist, which occurred in the third quarter, was the one that tied the Notre Dame school record. Dave would become the school’s career assist leader on the next Irish goal scored by Jon Harvey early in the fourth quarter.
YOUNG HAS BANNER DAY AGAINST CRIMSON:
Senior Chris Young had a memorable finish to his Irish career playing his final game at Moose Krause Stadium against Harvard as he scored two goals and dished off a career-best five assists for a career-high seven points in the 16-4 victory. This season he has nine goals and nine assists for 18 points. His nine assists and 18 points are both single-season bests for the Irish midfield player.
IRISH IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICS:
Three Irish players –Tom Glatzel (tied for 6th in points per game and 15th in goals per game), David Ulrich (tied for 11th in assists) and Kirk Howell (3rd in both save percentage and goals against average) — are ranked among the national leaders. As a team, Notre Dame is first in winning percentage, third in scoring defense, fourth in scoring margin, 12th in scoring offense, 15th in man-down defense and 18th man-up offense.
CALL HIM MR. VERSATILITY:
Junior defensive midfield Chad DeBolt certainly can stake claim to the most versatile student-athlete on the men’s lacrosse team — if the most all-around performer among all of Notre Dame’s varsity athletes. In addition to being a member of the lacrosse team, he also has been a walk-on member of the Irish football squad for the past two seasons. DeBolt made 72 special team appearnces during the 2000 football campaign — including a season-high 13 vs. USC — and was one of just four walk-ons on the usual travel list. He recovered a blocked punt versus Rutgers and blocked a punt in the USC game, both of which led to Irish touchdowns.
As a member of the lacrosse team, he has ranked as the team’s face-off leader each of the past two seasons.
Besides having success on the both the gridiron and lacrosse field, DeBolt has taught himself how to play the bagpipes. The Notre Dame tradition of having an Irish player lead the team onto the field before warm-ups playing Scotland the Brave is unique to all of college lacrosse. The tradition was started at the start of the ’96 campaign by Sean Meehan, a 1999 graduate and four-year member of the lacrosse team. As a sophomore last season, DeBolt took over that duty, teaching himself how to play the instrument. DeBolt learned to play the bagpipes during the summer following his freshman season in 1998 and throughout the 1999-2000 school year, receiving lessons from Meehan and the Notre Dame Bagpipe Club.
STRONG ACADEMICS:
More than one in every three Notre Dame student-athletes made the Dean’s List (3.4 grade-point average or better on a scale of 4.0) during the 2000 fall semester. Of the 737 student-athletes on Notre Dame varsity rosters, 275 (37 percent) made the Dean’s List. Of those 275, 16 came from the men’s lacrosse program. The Irish had their best semester ever in recording a 3.193 average as a team.
The 16 names to the Dean’s list were: junior Owen Asplundh (3.867, English), senior Steve Bishko (3.733, Economics). freshman Andrew Coleman (3.686, First Year of Studies), freshman Stewart Crosland (3.750, First Year of Studies), senior Chris Fallon (3.867, American Studies), sophomore Timothy Brooks Hartnett (3.350, Mendoza College of Business), senior Jon Harvey (3.667, History), senior Kirk Howell (3.750, Government), junior Matt Leisen (3.467, Finance), freshman Chris Masterson (3.529, First Year of Studies), freshman John Mulflur (3.572, First Year of Studies), senior Mike Pfeffer (3.533, Architecture), freshman Hani Rimlawi (3.738, First Year of Studies), junior Devin Ryan (3.467, Management Information Systems), junior A.J. Wright (3.584, Accounting) and senior Chris Young (3.600, Finance).
MAKING THE GRADE:
Junior Owen Asplundh was honored and recognized at the recent Academic Excellence Awards Dinner by Notre Dame’s Office of Academic Services for Student-Athlete as the men’s lacrosse player with the highest cumulative grade point. Asplundh, who is enrolled in the College of Arts and Letters and is majoring in English and African-American Studies, owns a grade index of 3.457 following five semesters. As a team, the men’s lacrosse team earned a 3.193 grade point average in the fall semester, which ranked as its best cumulative total ever.