Joey Rallo and the stout Irish defense will be in charge of shutting down the high-powered offense of Virginia on Saturday.

No. 15 Notre Dame And Top-Ranked Virginia Set For Saturday Showdown In NCAAs

May 10, 2006

#15 Notre Dame vs. #1 Virginia
NCAA Tournament • First Round
Saturday, May 13 • 3:30 p.m.
Klockner Stadium • Charlottesville, VA

Television: ESPNU
Live Audio (Virginia radio): und.com
Live Stats (Gametracker): und.com

Complete Release in PDF Format
PDF version recommended for easy reading and enhanced side bar informationdot.gifspacer.gifDownload Free Acrobat Reader

Notre Dame (10-4) will meet No. 1 seed Virginia (13-0) in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship on Saturday, May 13 at 3:30 p.m. in Charlottesville, Va. The Fighting Irish are making the program’s 11th trip to the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame’s last trek to the postseason came in 2001, when the Irish made their first-ever appearance in the Final Four. This will be Virginia’s 13th trip to the NCAA Championship in the past 14 seasons. The game will be carried live on ESPNU and the radio broadcast will be available at und.com as will live stats on `Gametracker’. The radio may begin when the game is already in progress. The winner of the Notre Dame-Virginia tilt will take on the winner of the Navy-Georgetown contest on May 20 or 21 in Towson, Md.

SNAPSHOT OF THE IRISH: Notre Dame concluded the regular season with a 10-4 mark (3-2 GWLL) … the Irish are led by a solid group of seniors, including attackmen Brian Hubschmann and Pat Walsh, who share the team lead with 47 points apiece … Hubschmann has a team-high 29 goals to go along with 18 assists, while Walsh leads the squad with 25 assists in addition to tallying 22 goals … Hubschmann has a team-high 10 multiple-goal games this season … senior midfielder Matt Karweck is third on the team with 25 points (20 G, 5 A) … freshman Ryan Hoff has chipped in with 18 goals … Notre Dame’s defense is one of the best in the country as the Irish are allowing just 7.21 goals per game, which is the seventh-best mark in the nation … sophomore goaltender Joey Kemp ranks ninth in both goals-against average (7.05) and save percentage (.597) … reigning GWLL Defensive Player of the Year D.J. Driscoll has also been a solid presence in the Irish defense all season long … Notre Dame has outscored its opponents 107-94 … Walsh has scored a goal in a team-best eight straight games … he has 105 career assists and needs five more to move into a tie for all-time assists in a career at Notre Dame … Walsh is also in second place on the Notre Dame list for career scoring with 189 points … Hubschmann is the only player to collect a point in every game this year for Notre Dame.

ABOUT VIRGINIA: The Cavaliers are the only undefeated NCAA Division I lacrosse team left this season … Virginia will be making its 13th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last 14 seasons … UVa boasts five players with 30 or more points this season and the Cavaliers own the nation’s highest-scoring offense at 15.62 goals per game and the top scoring margin (8.38) … senior attackman Matt Ward has a team-high 45 points on 26 goals and 19 assists, while senior midfielder Matt Poskay leads the team in goals with 29 … Virginia also has the nation’s eighth-best defense by allowing just 7.23 goals per game … goaltender Kip Turner has a 6.36 goals-against average (5th in NCAA) and a .599 save percentage (8th) … the Cavaliers won the ACC title this season and senior defenseman Michael Culver was named the tournament’s MVP.

ND-UVA SERIES NOTES: This will be the sixth meeting between the Fighting Irish and the Cavaliers … Virginia holds a 4-1 edge in the series … two of the prior meetings have also occurred in the NCAAs … the Cavaliers won first round tilts against the Irish in 1993 (19-9) and 1994 (23-4) … both of those meetings were in Charlottesville … Notre Dame defeated Virginia, 11-8, in Charlottesville during the 2001 Final Four season for the Irish … the Cavaliers bested the Fighting Irish 7-5 in a 2002 match-up in Charlottesville and again in 2003, 14-8, in a game played in Alexandria, Va. … Kevin Corrigan and Dom Starsia have been the respective coaches of Notre Dame and Virginia during all six meetings.

BEEN HERE BEFORE: The Fighting Irish are making their 11th trip to the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship in the 26-year history of the program … all of the appearances have occurred since the 1990 season … the Fighting Irish carry a 4-10 mark in NCAA Tournament games … this is Notre Dame’s first trip to the NCAAs since the 2001 season … that year the Irish made the program’s first visit to the Final Four … in addition to the 2001 campaign, the Irish also reached the quarterfinals of the tournament in 1995 and 2000.

BUCKING THE TREND: At-large bids for non-east coast teams have been extremely rare in the 36-year history of the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship … only once has a team west of Chapel Hill, N.C. (University of North Carolina) garnered an at-large berth, prior to this year’s selection of the Irish … that was in 1971, when undefeated Air Force earned an invitation.

TWO FOR THE GWLL: Notre Dame’s bid marked the first time that the Great Western Lacrosse League has ever placed two teams into the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship … Denver was the league’s automatic qualifier by winning the conference and the Irish are the first-ever at-large berth from the league, which began in 1994.

IRISH VS. #1: Notre Dame has had two previous encounters with a No. 1 team … the 17th-ranked Fighting Irish lost to top-ranked Loyola, 10-8, during the 1999 season … No. 1 Virginia defeated No. 9 Notre Dame, 14-8, in 2003.

VS. TOP 10: Since 1990, Notre Dame has a 9-32 mark against teams ranked in the top 10 … this season, the Irish dropped a 9-6 decision to No. 8 Cornell (March 4) and a 13-5 contest to No. 5 Hofstra (March 25) … Notre Dame’s last win versus a top 10 squad occurred last season as the Irish knocked off No. 10 North Carolina, 9-7, in the First 4 invitational in Carson, Calif.

CORRIGAN HOMECOMING: Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan will be returning to his alma mater when the Irish face Virginia on Saturday … Corrigan was a midfielder for the Cavaliers from 1979-1981 … his father, Gene Corrigan, spent nine years at the helm of the Virginia lacrosse program, along with coaching men’s soccer and basketball, and returned for another nine-year stint () as director of athletics at Virginia.

THE WRIGHT CONNECTION: Virginia assistant coach Hannon Wright is in his first season in Charlottesville after spending last season as a volunteer assistant coach for Notre Dame.

BATTLE OF STRENGTHS: A key battle to watch will be Notre Dame’s nationally-ranked defense versus Virginia’s nationally-ranked offense … the Fighting Irish boast the seventh-best defense as they are allowing just 7.05 goals per game … the Cavaliers offense averages 15.62 goals per game, which is the top mark in the country.

QUINNIPIAC RECAP: Notre Dame erupted for a season-high point total in a 19-7 dominating Great Western Lacrosse League victory over Quinnipiac on Saturday, May 6 at Moose Krause Stadium … four different Irish players netted hat tricks, including senior attackman Brian Hubschmann, who also had two assists for a career-high tying six points … joining Hubschmann with six points was his classmate Pat Walsh as he notched two goals and four assists … Notre Dame came out on fire to take a 10-2 lead at the end of the first quarter … Matt Karweck began the scoring with a tally just 33 seconds into the game and then freshman Ryan Hoff made it 2-0 at the 13:03 mark … both Karweck and Hoff collected hat tricks on the day, as did sophomore Michael Podgajny … Quinnipiac made it 2-1 on an Eric Trama goal, then Karweck fed Walsh to make it 3-1 less than five minutes into the game … Trama responded with his second goal to slice the deficit to one, however that would be as close as the Bobcats would get as Notre Dame went on an 11-0 run, which spanned over 26 minutes, to take command of the contest and cruise to victory … Walsh ignited the surge with a goal at the 8:19 mark of the first quarter and then the floodgates opened as the Irish netted six more goals in the final eight minutes of the quarter … Hubschmann and Bill Liva scored to make it 6-2 and then Hoff added his second score of the quarter before Podgajny tallied back-to-back goals … Liva also dished out three assists in the game to collect a career-high four points … Karweck deposited the last score of the period to make it 10-2 … the run continued into the second quarter with two goals from Hubschmann, who totaled six points for the second straight game, and single tallies from Karweck and Matt Ryan … Notre Dame took a 14-2 lead into the half … the first half output surpassed a season-high total for the Irish … Joey Kemp only played the first half to collect his 10th win of the season for the Fighting Irish … he made six saves in 30 minutes of action … freshman Scott Rodgers played the third quarter, making two saves and allowing two goals, while senior Daniel Hickey also made two stops and allowed three tallies in the final period … Bobcats put a halt to the Irish run with three minutes elapsed in the second half on a goal from Tucker Prudden … Hubschmann put the Irish lead back up to 12 (15-3) just 23 seconds later … Prudden then notched his second tally before Notre Dame ran off four unanswered from Podgajny, Ryan Cunn, Duncan Swezey and Hoff to end the third quarter with a 19-4 lead … Quinnipiac registered three fourth quarter goals to make it a 19-7 final.

SCORING OUTBURST: Notre Dame’s 19-goal performance against Quinnipiac was a season-best output for the Irish and the most goals since a 22-6 win over Butler last season.

DOUBLE-DIGIT WIN TOTALS: This year’s 10-win season for the Irish marked the seventh double-digit win total in the 26-year history of the Notre Dame program … the other years that the Irish racked up at least 10 wins were in 1988 (10-4), 1992 (10-5), 1993 (11-3), 1994 (10-2), 2000 (10-4) and 2001 (14-2).

HOME SWEET HOME: The Fighting Irish posted a perfect 6-0 mark at home this season … the Irish won one game in the Loftus Center and five at Moose Krause Stadium … Notre Dame has gone undefeated at home on six occasions … the most recent prior to this season was in 2001 with another 6-0 record … the other times were in 1984 (4-0), 1994 (5-0), 1995 (5-0) and 1997 (6-0).

GWLL HISTORY: Notre Dame is 47-9 (.839) all-time in GWLL play with nine league titles in 12 seasons … the Irish finished second in the league this season with a 3-2 mark.

SECOND QUARTER SCORING: Notre Dame has outscored its opponents 38-16 during the second quarter this season.

NCAA RANKINGS: Joey Kemp is ninth nationally with a 7.05 goals-against average and is also ninth in Division I with a .597 save percentage … Kemp led the nation with a .652 save percentage last season … Pat Walsh is averaging 1.79 assists per game, which places him 12th in the NCAA this season … as a team, Notre Dame is tied for seventh in scoring defense nationally as the Irish are allowing just 7.21 goals per game … the Irish are second in man-down defense (.806) and 10th in faceoff percentage (.566).

FACING-OFF: The Irish rank 10th in the country with a .566 faceoff percentage … sophomore Taylor Clagett has gone 110-177 (.621), while senior Steve Panos has won 41 of 90 (.456) attempts … Sean Dougherty is 4-7 (.571) … Clagett is Notre Dame’s top faceoff specialist, yet has missed four games so he is not eligible to rank among the NCAA leaders … the rule stipulates that athletes must play in 75% of their team’s games in order to be eligible … Clagett has appeared in 71% (10-14) of the games for the Fighting Irish this season … if his percentage counted, he would rank fifth … the sophomore has put up impressive numbers against some of the nation’s other top faceoff guys … Clagett went 12-16 against Denver’s Geoff Snider, who leads the NCAA with a .695 percentage … Clagett also went 10-16 versus Penn State’s Greg Gurenlian, who is eighth in the country with a .610 mark.

HAT TRICKS: Five different Irish players have notched hat tricks this season … Brian Hubschmann leads the team with five hat tricks on the year … Hubschmann had a career-high tying four-goal effort against Villanova and Quinnipiac to go along with three-goal efforts versus Hofstra, Air Force and Ohio State … Pat Walsh has three hat tricks on the season … he scored three times against Butler and he registered a four-goal effort against Lehigh and also produced a three-goal performance against Ohio State for his 12th career hat trick … four Irish players notched hat tricks in a 19-7 win over Quinnipiac … Hubschmann scored four times, while Ryan Hoff, Matt Karweck and Michael Podgajny all netted three goals apiece … Hoff, a freshman, recorded the first hat trick of his college career in the 11-5 win over Brown on March 29.

HUBSCHMANN BACK IN ACTION: Senior attackman Brian Hubschmann returned to the Irish lineup this season after missing all of last year to injury and is tied for the team lead in points with 47 … he has a team-high 29 goals to go along with 18 assists … he has notched 10 multiple-goal games this season, including a career-high tying four goal efforts against Villanova and Quinnipiac … he also tied a career-high with six points against Ohio State (3 G, 3 A) and Quinnipiac (4 G, 2 A) … additionally, he netted hat tricks against Hofstra and Air Force … Hubschmann was a 2005 Inside Lacrosse preseason honorable mention All-America selection … as a sophomore in 2004, he totaled 29 points on 18 goals and 11 assists and copped all-GWLL second team honors.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP: Seniors occupy the top three spots on the Irish point-leaders list … attackmen Pat Walsh and Brian Hubschmann are tied for the lead with 47 apiece … Walsh has 22 goals and 25 assists, while Hubschmann has 29 goals to go along with 18 assists … Matt Karweck is third with 25 points (20 G, 5 A) … freshman Ryan Hoff is next on the list with 19 points (18 G, 1 A).

THE SENIORS: Notre Dame’s 10-member senior class consisting of D.J. Driscoll, Daniel Hickey, Brian Hubschmann, Matt Karweck, Steve Panos, Drew Peters, Matt Ryan, Brandon Schultheis, James Severin and Pat Walsh have compiled a 33-18 record over the course of their four years … they are 14-6 in the GWLL and 17-4 at home, including a perfect 6-0 mark this season … the group helped the Irish win a share of the 2003 GWLL title … they have also been instrumental in helping the Irish be ranked among the national top 10 in each of the past four seasons and posting 10 victories against nationally-ranked teams.

STREAKING: Brian Hubschmann is riding a 14-game point streak … senior Pat Walsh has scored a goal in eight straight games … Walsh has started all 51 games during his Fighting Irish career … Notre Dame has won its past six games at Moose Krause Stadium, including 12 of its last 15.

DOUBLE DIGITS: The Fighting Irish have tallied 10 or more goals five times this season, including the past three contests … the Irish are 5-0 when scoring at least 10 goals … Notre Dame has posted double-figures against Villanova (10-7), Brown (11-5), Lehigh (10-7), Ohio State (10-8) and Quinnipiac (19-7) … Notre Dame scored in double-figures in seven of its 11 games one season ago … five of those contests were wins.

RUNNING: Notre Dame has registered runs of three or more goals in 13 of 14 games this season … the Irish used key 5-0 runs in back-to-back hard fought wins over North Carolina and Villanova earlier in the season … another 5-0 run was used to break open the Brown contest, which the Irish won 11-5 … Notre Dame scored four of the first five goals against Ohio State en route to a 10-8 victory … the Irish had a season-best 11-0 run in the 19-7 victory over Quinnipiac.

THREE IN-A-ROW: The Fighting Irish have put together three three-game winning streaks this season … that had never happened in the history of the program prior to this season … Notre Dame has won at least three games in-a-row in 23 of 26 varsity seasons … the only years that the Irish failed to win three consecutive was during the first varsity campaign in 1981 then again in 1983 and 1991.

SECOND HALF SHUTOUT: Notre Dame’s second half shutout against Bellarmine marked the first time a Fighting Irish defense held a team scoreless in a half since the first half against Butler during the 2003 campaign … the Irish would go on to win that contest 9-2 … the two tallies versus Bellarmine were the fewest allowed by an Irish defense since a 12-2 victory over Air Force during the 2004 season.

MOVING UP THE CHARTS: Senior attackman Pat Walsh is currently second all-time in school history with 105 assists … he is five assists away from tying David Ulrich’s (1998-2001) program record of 110 … Walsh is also second in program history with 189 points coming on 84 goals and 105 assists … Randy Colley (1991-95) is the school record holder with 273 career points (173 G, 100 A).

FIRST-TIMERS: The Irish had three first-time opponents on the 2006 ledger … Notre Dame defeated Bellarmine, 8-2, in the first-ever meeting between the two Midwest schools … the Irish also topped Brown 11-5 in their first-ever clash … Notre Dame also downed GWLL newcomer Quinnipiac 19-7.

FRESH FACES: The two-goal performances by Peter Christman and Ryan Hoff against Penn State marked the first time two freshmen had scored multiple goals in a game for the Irish since the 2003 season as current seniors Pat Walsh and Drew Peters both netted three goals versus Hartford … both Hoff and Christman are enjoying solid rookie campaigns … Hoff is fourth on the team with 19 points (18 G, 1 A), while Christman has eight points (4 G, 4 A) … fellow freshman Regis McDermott has played every game this season in the Irish defense, while his classmate Duncan Swezey has appeared in 11 contests, collecting three goals and three assists.

SAVING THE DAY: Sophomore goaltender Joey Kemp boasts a .597 save percentage on the year, which places him ninth nationally … he has made 139 saves, while allowing 94 goals … Kemp led the nation with a .652 percentage in 2005, making 131 saves and giving up 70 goals … he also has a 7.05 goals-against average on the season, which ranks him ninth in the country as well.

CLEARING THE WAY: Notre Dame has a .783 clear percentage, while the Irish have held opponents to a .693 percentage … last season, the Irish had a .763 clear percentage and their opponents had a mark of .771.

FAN SUPPORT: The Irish have played in front of crowds of at least 1,000 people in 11 contests over the past two seasons … the Notre Dame-Cornell game in Lisle, Ill. on March 4, which was technically a home game for the Irish, drew 3,523 fans … … the Notre Dame-Hofstra contest attracted 4,363 fans at James M. Shuart Stadium on March 25 … the Fighting Irish and Bellarmine played in front of 2,700 fans at Trinity High School in Louisville, Ky. on March 18 … Notre Dame’s largest crowd for a `true’ home game this season was 1,563 fans versus Ohio State on April 29 … last year’s meeting with North Carolina in the First 4 invitational drew 7,182 fans into the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. … that was the largest crowd ever for a lacrosse contest west of the Mississippi River.

NOTRE DAME IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame debuted in the Lacrosse magazine preseason rankings at No. 10, while the Irish were No. 12 in the Inside Lacrosse/Faceoff Yearbook preseason poll … the Irish are No. 15 in the most recent Inside Lacrosse media poll, which was released on May 8 … the final USILA coaches poll (May 8) has the Irish ranked 17th.

PLAYING THE BEST: The match-up with No. 1 Virginia will mark Notre Dame’s fifth game versus a ranked team this season … the Irish have already squared off against the nation’s second and third-ranked teams in Hofstra and Cornell, respectively … the Irish fell to the Pride, 13-5, on March 25 and the Big Red, 9-6, on March 4 … the Irish topped No. 14 Penn State 8-4 in the season-opener on Feb. 26 and fell to No. 18 Denver 8-5 on Apr. 15 … Notre Dame also faced defending NCAA champion Johns Hopkins to conclude fall ball and then opened spring exhibition play versus national runner-up Duke and Bucknell in Durham, N.C.

DRISCOLL AND PETERS NAMED `06 IRISH CAPTAINS: Seniors D.J. Driscoll and Drew Peters have been selected as co-captains for this year’s Fighting Irish squad … Driscoll was named the Great Western Lacrosse League Defensive Player of the Year and was tabbed as a STX/USILA honorable mention All-American last season … he was also selected as a 2006 Inside Lacrosse preseason third team All-American … Peters, a three-time monogram winner, has played in all 51 games during his Notre Dame career … he will help to anchor the Fighting Irish midfield again this season.

IRISH EARN PRESEASON HONORS: Four Fighting Irish players received preseason All-America honors by Inside Lacrosse and Face-Off Yearbook with senior Pat Walsh (A) leading the way as he was tabbed as a second-team selection … fellow senior D.J. Driscoll (D) was selected to the third-team, while sophomores Taylor Clagett (M) and Joey Kemp (G) received honorable mention distinction … Walsh is a three-time All-America honoree … last year, he earned STX/USILA honorable mention All-America honors along with Driscoll … Driscoll was tabbed as the 2005 Great Western Lacrosse League Defensive Player of the Year, while Kemp was named the GWLL Rookie of the Year … Clagett led the Irish with a .612 face-off percentage last season.

WALSH NAMED TO TEWAARATON AWARD WATCH LIST: For the third year in a row, senior attackman Pat Walsh has been listed among the 53 players on the `Watch List’ for the Tewaaraton Trophy, awarded to the top player in college lacrosse at the end of the season … Walsh is the only Irish player ever named the to watch list for the Tewaaraton Trophy, which is in its sixth year, though attackman Tom Glatzel was a finalist for the award in 2001 … Walsh has gone on to be listed as a Tewaaraton Trophy nominee the past two seasons.

IRISH ADD NINE FOR NEXT SEASON: Head coach Kevin Corrigan has announced the commitment of nine student-athletes who will join the program next season … the Irish will finalize their 2005-06 recruiting class during the late signing period in April … log onto und.com for more information.

NAME          POSITION          HIGH SCHOOL
Sean Callinan Defense Deerfield Academy (Mass.)Matt Ciambella Attack Orchard Park (N.Y.)Mike Creighton Defense Malvern Prep (Pa.)Adam Felicetti Midfield Central Bucks East (Pa.)Neal Hicks Attack Lovett School (Ga.)Grant Krebs Midfield St. Mary's (Md.)Chip Lanser Defense Dulaney (Md.)Kelly McKenna Midfield Penfield (N.Y.)Brett Vecchio Midfield Cold Spring Harbor (N.Y.)

ND ON THE TUBE: The Irish appeared on television five times during the 2006 regular season … Notre Dame’s contest at Hofstra on March 25 was aired on Fox Sports New York … the Notre Dame-Brown game at Moose Krause Stadium on March 29 was carried on Comcast Local as will the Butler tilt on April 8 … the Irish home match against Dartmouth on April 2 was carried by College Sports Television (CSTV) … a road tilt at Denver was broadcast on Comcast-Denver … the contest against Virginia (ESPNU) will mark Notre Dame’s sixth appearance on television this season.

FOLLOW ALL ND HOME GAMES ONLINE: All Notre Dame home games will feature livestats available through und.com, the official web site of all 26 varsity athletic programs at the University … simply go to the men’s lacrosse page and click on `Schedule’ at the top of the page and find the game that is being played that day and click on `Gametracker’ to follow the game for free.

NOTRE DAME ANNOUNCES IRISH ALERT TEXT MESSAGE SERVICE: The University of Notre Dame Department of Athletics, in conjunction with Centennial Wireless and Notre Dame Sports Properties, has announced a new service for Fighting Irish fans. Irish ALERT, a text messaging service designed to give fans up-to-the-minute game updates, will cover four varsity sports this spring – baseball, softball, men’s lacrosse and women’s lacrosse … this is a FREE trial program that will run until the completion of each sport’s 2006 season … log onto und.com to sign up.