March 10, 2007
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The No. 14 Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team suffered an 11-8 setback to No. 15 North Carolina on Saturday afternoon at Fetzer Field. Four Tar Heel players scored two goals in the winning effort. Sophomore Ryan Hoff (Baldwin, Md./Dulaney) led the Irish with two tallies, while freshman Will Yeatman (San Diego, Calif/Rancho Bernardo) notched his fourth three-point game of the season on one goal and two assists. The loss dropped Notre Dame to 2-2 on the season. North Carolina is 5-1.
The Tar Heels jumped out to an early 2-0 lead before the Irish rattled off three straight goals in a span of 19 seconds. Junior midfielder Michael Podgajny (Ridley Park, Pa./Ridley) began the surge with a goal off a Bill Liva (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Malvern Prep) pass with 9:48 remaining in the opening period. Senior Brian Hubschmann (Short Hills, N.J./Delbarton) netted an unassisted goal with 9:32 left on the clock and Yeatman collected the assist on Hoff’s first goal of the day three seconds later.
North Carolina evened the contest 3-3 on a Gavin Petracca tally with just under nine minutes left in the first quarter. Yeatman put the Irish back in front before assisting on another Hoff goal that gave Notre Dame a 5-3 lead after the first period.
The Irish were held scoreless for the next 26:27 of the game as the Tar Heels went on a 7-0 run to take a 10-5 lead at the 6:40 mark of the third quarter. Nick Tintle ignited the run, which featured two goals from both he and Michael Burns. Bobby McAuley, Rob Driscoll and Bart Wagner also scored during that stretch. Wagner had two scores on the day.
A goal from Liva put a halt to the surge and made it 10-6 with 4:34 remaining in the third quarter. Petracca, who had three assists during the game, notched his second score early in the final period to give the Tar Heels a five-goal cushion. Peter Christman (Simsbury, Conn./Westminster School) cut into the deficit with a goal at the 11:11 mark of the quarter before his teammate Ryan Cunn (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) made it 11-8 off a feed from Alex Wharton (Baltimore, Md./Gilman School). Neither team would score the rest of the way.
Notre Dame’s Joey Kemp (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep) played all 60 minutes in goal and made 14 saves. Goaltender Grant Zimmerman played 56:41 for North Carolina and made 10 saves and allowed five goals. He also scored a goal of his own. Chris Madalon was in the net for 3:19 and surrendered three goals and made one save. The Tar Heels held a 42-32 advantage in shots and a 40-30 edge in ground balls.
The Irish will be playing their fourth straight game away from home when they face Drexel on Tuesday (March 13) in Philadelphia, Pa. Game time against the Dragons is slated for 3:30 p.m. (ET).
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#14 Notre Dame (2-2) – 5 0 1 2 – 8
#15 North Carolina (5-1) – 3 4 3 1 – 11
Notre Dame Scoring (goals-assists):
Ryan Hoff 2-0, Will Yeatman 1-2, Bill Liva 1-1, Brian Hubschmann 1-0, Michael Podgajny 1-0, Ryan Cunn 1-0, Peter Christman 1-0, Alex Wharton 0-1; Goaltender: Joey Kemp (60:00, 14 saves, 11 GA)
North Carolina Scoring (goals-assists):
Gavin Petracca 2-3, Nick Tintle 2-0, Bart Wagner 2-0, Michael Burns 2-0, Rob Driscoll 1-0, Bobby McAuley 1-0, Grant Zimmerman 1-0, Ben Hunt 0-2, Sean Delaney 0-1; Goaltenders: Grant Zimmerman (56:41, 10 saves, 5 GA), Chris Madalon (3:19, 1 save, 3 GA)