Feb. 28, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Hat tricks from seniors Neal Hicks (Atlanta, Ga./Lovett School) and Grant Krebs (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary’s) helped the third-ranked Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team to a 12-8 triumph of Penn State on Sunday afternoon inside the Loftus Sports Center.
Notre Dame (2-0) jumped out to a 9-3 lead by halftime en route to the victory in its home opener. Just as in the 11-7 season-opening win over Duke last Saturday, the Fighting Irish did not trail in Sunday’s contest.
Sophomore attackman Nicholas Beattie (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) netted two goals on the day, while Zach Brenneman (East Hampton, N.Y./East Hampton), Max Pfeifer (Crozet, Va./Western Albermarle), Sean Rogers (New Hyde Park, N.Y./Holy Trinity) and Colin Igoe (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) all had one goal. Brenneman also added a team-high two assists. Krebs had a game-best four points (3g, 1a). Senior goalie Scott Rodgers (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) made 11 saves in the win.
Rogers, a sophomore attackman, opened the scoring just over two minutes into the first quarter with his first career goal. Tallies from Krebs and Beattie gave Notre Dame a 3-0 lead by the 5:21 mark of the opening quarter.
Penn State (0-2) got on the board on a goal from Chris Hogan with 3:26 showing on the clock in the first quarter. Hogan led the Nittany Lions with two goals and an assist. Matthew Mackrides also deposited two goals for Penn State.
Hicks beat the horn in the first quarter to give Notre Dame a 4-1 lead after the first 15 minutes of play. Hicks then made it 5-1 early in the second quarter.
Following Hogan’s second goal, the Fighting Irish used three straight tallies to take an 8-2 lead with 9:26 remaining in the first half. Krebs started the uprising with a goal at the 10:43 mark and Pfeifer followed with a score 25 seconds later. Krebs completed his hat trick to give the Irish the six-goal advantage.
A man-up goal from Mackrides with 3:36 left in the first half temporarily halted the Irish surge. Brenneman scored with three seconds left in the stanza to give the Irish a 9-3 lead at the intermission.
Penn State initiated the scoring in the second half on a goal from Anthony Basciano with 7:30 elapsed in the period. Beattie’s second goal of the afternoon upped the Irish lead back to six (10-4) with 3:47 left in the third quarter. The Nittany Lions cut their deficit to five (10-5) by the end of the third quarter as Mackrides scored with 24 seconds left.
The back-and-forth second half continued as Hicks notched his third goal with less than a minute gone by in the fourth quarter. Hicks has a team-best five goals this season.
Three straight tallies from Penn State made it a three-goal affair (11-8) with just under 10 minutes left in regulation. The Nittany Lion goals came from Billy Gribbin, Nick Dolik and Will Donley.
Notre Dame’s Igoe put a halt to the run and produced the final outcome as he scored on an empty net with 19 seconds left.
The Irish out shot Penn State 34-31. John Nichols started in goal for Penn State and played 20:34, while surrendering eight goals. Dave Baker played the remainder of the contest and allowed four goals. Notre Dame senior midfielder Trever Sipperly (Greenwich, N.Y./Greenwich) went 11-for-20 in facoffs.
The Fighting Irish return to the field against Loyola (Md.) on Saturday, March 6. The game is part of the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md. The contest, which is the third of three games in the event, is slated to start at 4:00 p.m. (ET).
February 28, 2010 – Loftus Sports Center – Notre Dame, Ind.
Penn State (0-2) – 1 2 2 3 – 8
#3 Notre Dame (2-0) – 4 5 1 2 – 12
Penn State Scoring (goals-assists):
Chris Hogan 2-1, Matthew Mackrides 2-0, Billy Gribbin 1-0, Nick Dolik 1-0, Anthony Basciano 1-0, Will Donley 1-0, Charley Henneghan 0-1, Colton Vosburgh 0-1; Goaltenders: John Nichols (20:34, 3 saves, 8 GA); Dave Baker (39:26, 7 saves, 4 GA)
Notre Dame Scoring (goals-assists):
Grant Krebs 3-1, Neal Hicks 3-0, Nicholas Beattie 2-0, Zach Brenneman 1-2, Max Pfeifer 1-1, Sean Rogers 1-0, Colin Igoe 1-0; Goaltender: Scott Rodgers (W, 60:00, 11saves, 8 GA)
— ND —