March 11, 1999

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 19th-ranked Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team (2-1, 2-0) will look to extend its two-game win streak when the Irish travel to Villanova to face in the Wildcats in a 1:00 p.m. contest on Saturday, March 13.

Notre Dame opened up the season with a 13-8 loss to #11 Penn State, but then came back last weekend to post impressive victories over Great Western Lacrosse League foes Denver (17-9) and Air Force (16-2).

WEEK IN REVIEW – Penn State: Notre Dame dropped its season opener on the road as the Irish lost 13-9 at Penn State. It was the Nittany Lions’ third victory in the five meetings between the two schools. After Penn State scored the game’s opening goal, Notre Dame responded with three unanswered scores on goals by sophomore David Ulrich (Baltimore, Md.), senior Chris Dusseau (Columbus, Ohio) and Chad DeBolt (Waterloo, N.Y.). The 3-1 lead would be the last for the Irish as Penn State scored three unanswered goals of its own to take a 4-3 lead after the first quarter, and led by as much as 12-5 after 45 minutes of play. Steve Bishko (West Islip, N.Y.), Brad Owen (Amherst, N.H.) and Ulrich each scored twice in the victory. David’s twin brother Todd dished off a career-high three assists in the game. Bishko also had three assist on the day for a total of six points. Irish goalie Kirk Howell (Nashville, Tenn.), making his first career start, had 15 saves in the game, including six in the final 15-minute stanza. Denver: After spotting the Pioneers two goals in the first 2:30 of the contest, Notre Dame held Denver in check for most of the contest in earning its first victory of the season, 17-9, and first in the Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL). Sophomore Tom Glatzel (Ellicott City, Md.) tallied a career-high five goals as four others Notre Dame players had multiple-goal games. In addition, Glatzel had two assists in the contest for a career-high seven points in the outing. Todd Ulrich had two goals and for the second straight game dished off three assists. David Ulrich tallied a goal and dished off a personal best four assists. Seniors Ben Savage (Ellicott City, Md.), Chris Dusseau and Brad Owen had a pair of goals, while Chad DeBolt, Jon Harvey (Winchester, Mass.) and John Flandina (West Islip, N.Y.) rounded out the scoring. Kirk Howell, making his second career start, allowed just six goals and made seven saves. Air Force: Notre Dame’s defense was nearly flawless for 60 minutes as the Irish held the Falcons scoreless for three-plus quarters en route to the 16-2 victory. It was the fewest goals allowed by Notre Dame since the 1997 campaign when they defeated Ohio State at home 12-2. The Irish were led by Brad Owens and Tom Glatzel who each tallied three times in the contest. Todd and David Ulrich and Steve Bishko had two goals. David Ulrich added a career-high five assists in the game. The Irish also received scoring from Revere La Noue (Baltimore, Md.), Chris Dusseau and John Flandina. Notre Dame jumped out to an early 4-0 lead less than four minutes into the contest, but Air Force back to score consecutive goals to cut the advantage to 4-2. The last Falcon score came with 1:29 remaining in the first quarter. Howell played 48 minutes and had seven saves, while allowing the two goals, while Patrick Darcy (Rockville Center, N..Y.) made five saves in the 12 minutes he played.

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 starts the 1999 campaign needs just two more wins for his 100th career victory. He owns a 98-65 (.601) overall ledger and an 88-50 (.638) 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.

SERIES RECORD VS. VILLANOVA – This will be the seventh meeting between the two schools and the first since the 1996 campaign when Corrigan’s squad came away with an 8-2 victory. Notre Dame trails the series 2-4, but the Irishhave won two straight and have a 1-2 record at Villanova.

SUPER SOPHS – Notre Dame’s top four scorers this season are from the team’s sophomore class. David Ulrich, who was the squad’s second-leading scorer and team leader in assists, has five goals and a team-leading 10 assists for a team-best 15 points. Tom Glaztel leads the squad in goals scored with eight and also has dished off three assists for 11 points. Todd Ulrich is third in the Irish scoring column with four goals and six assists (second best on the team) for 10 points, while Steve Bishko rounds out the scoring with four goals and four assists (eight points).

GOALS A PLENTY – Notre Dame is averaging 13.7 goals per game and 16.5 in its last two outings. The Irish scored 17 goals in a win over Denver and then followed it up two days later with 16 goals versus Air Force. The last time a Notre Dame team scored 16-plus goals in back-to-back games was in 1994 when it beat Air Force 20-8 and Ohio State 19-10. Corrigan’s squad averaged just 9.2 goals per games during the 1998 campaign.

GOOD START – Junior Kirk Howell, who was the back-up to four-year starter Alex Cade ’98 the past two seasons, is the starting Irish goalie this season. He has played well in his first three games as he has a .580 save percentage and 7.68 goals against average. He has given up 21 goals and made 29 saves.

TOUGH DEFENSE – Notre Dame held Air Force scoreless for the second, third and fourth quarters in its 16-2 victory over the Falcons. The Irish defense has given up just15 goals combined (five in each quarter) in those quarters. Irish opponents are averaging 3.00 goals in the first quarter and 8.00 overall in the three contests. The first and fourth quarters have proven to be the most productive for the Irish as they are averaging 4.33 goals in the first and 4.00 in the fourth.

IRISH FACE TOUGH SCHEDULE AGAIN IN 1999 – Coach Kevin Corrigan has once again put together a demanding schedule which features nine team which finished in the top 20 of the USILA final rankings in 1998 and are ranked in the preseason poll of Face-Off Lacrosse Magazine. Two teams are currently ranked in the top 10 – # 4 Loyola and #7 Georgetown. Both defeated the Irish last season. Notre Dame plays at Loyola next Saturday, March 20 and faces Georgetown at home on Saturday, April 10 at 1:00 p.m.

SEEING DOUBLE – Sophomores David and Todd Ulrich are the first twin brothers to play on the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team. David plays attack, while Todd is in the midfield. Both are expected to be in the starting lineup this season. They are one of four players who played at Boys’ Latin in Baltimore – the other two are Ned Webster and Tom Glatzel.

IRISH STRONG AT HOME – In three (1994, 1995 and 1997) of the last five years, Notre Dame finished the home portion of its season undfeated. The Irish posted 5-0 marks in both ’94 and ’95 and were 6-0 in ’97. The ’99 schedule features seven home games and five road contests. Notre Dame opens up the season by playing four of its first seven games at home. Since 1984, Notre Dame has a 76-24 (.760) record at home and is 36-7 (.837) over the last seven-plus seasons.

IRISH SCHEDULE REMAINS CONSISTENT – The 12-game 1999 schedule features all but two teams from the 1998 schedule. The two new schools which appear on this year’s schedule are Villanova and Army. The Irish face the Cadets on Saturday, April 17 at Moose Krause Stadium in a 1:00 p.m. face-off.

DUSSEAU PICKED FOR LACROSSE PRESEASON HONORS – Senior attack Chris Dusseau was selected to College Lacrosse USA’s Preseason All-America team. He was the only Irish player tabbed for preseason All-America honors.

REVERSAL OF FORTUNE – Last season’s uncharacteristic 5-7 record marked the fewest wins in the 18-year history of the program and was only the second time ever that a Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team had finished below the .500-mark. The last time an Irish team was under .500 was in 1983 when it finished with a 6-7 record. Notre Dame went on to post a 9-3 record that following season (1984).

UNITED STATES INTERCOLLEGIATE LACROSSE ASSOCIATION
(Week of March 8 )

                              Pts. 1. Johns Hopkins (1-0)       198 2. Syracuse (2-0)            188 3. Duke (3-0)                181 4. Loyola (1-0)              168 5. Princeton (0-1)           156 6. Virginia (0-1)            141 7. Georgetown (2-0)          140 8. Maryland (2-1)            137 9. UMBC (2-0)                12910. Navy (1-1)                10411. Penn State (2-0)           8012. Hobart (0-0)               7613. North Carolina (2-1)       7314. Delaware (2-0)             7015. Cornell (1-0)              5816. Towson (1-0)               5117. Hofstra (0-1)              4118. Massachusetts (1-1)        3319. NOTRE DAME (2-1)           1920. Pennsylvania (1-0)         16

FACE-OFF LACROSSE
(Preseason Poll)

                              Pts. 1. Princeton                 981 2. Johns Hopkins             893 3. Loyola                    883 4. Syracuse                  863 5. Virginia                  843 6. Duke                      782 7. Maryland                  769 8. Georgetown                673 9. North Carolina            57110. Hofstra                   43311. Maryland-Baltimore County 38612. Hobart                    35313. Massachusetts             30814  Navy                      30315. Brown                     24116. Penn State                24017. Butler                    23118. Towson                    21919. Delaware                  15420. Harvard                   13921. Cornell                   13122. NOTRE DAME                12423. Rutgers                   10224. Army                       9225. Pennsylvania               25