April 5, 2006
No. 8 Notre Dame vs. Butler
Saturday, April 8 • 1:00 p.m. (ET)
Butler Bowl • Indianapolis, IN
Television: Comcast Local (South Bend Channel 3)
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The No. 8 Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team will hit the road for a four-game stretch beginning with the GWLL opener at Butler this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. (ET). The Fighting Irish are coming off two straight victories and have a 6-2 mark overall heading into the showdown with the Bulldogs, who are 3-6 on the year. Following the Butler contest, the Irish will have league games at Denver and Air Force and a non-conference tilt with Lehigh in Bethesda, Md. before returning home to face Ohio State in GWLL action on April 29.
SNAPSHOT OF THE IRISH: Notre Dame stands at 6-2 overall following last week’s victories over Brown (11-5) and Dartmouth (8-7) … Notre Dame is averaging 8.12 goals-per-game, while limiting its opponents to just 6.75 … the Irish opened the season with an 8-4 victory over No. 14 Penn State before dropping a 9-6 decision to No. 8 Cornell … the Fighting Irish then captured three straight victories against North Carolina (9-7), Villanova (10-7) and Bellarmine (8-2) before falling to No. 5 Hofstra (13-5) … Notre Dame has outscored its opponents 65-54 … senior attackman Brian Hubschmann leads the team in points (25) and goals (16) … senior Pat Walsh has a team-high 13 assists and has moved into third-place in Notre Dame history with 93 career assists … Hubschmann has six multiple-goal games this season … senior midfielder Matt Karweck joins Hubschmann in double figures with 11 goals … sophomore goaltender Joey Kemp has started every game in goal and has a 6-2 record … he has allowed 52 goals, while making 86 saves and boasts a .623 save-percentage and a 6.64 goals-against average … Walsh, a three-time All-America honoree, is second on the team with 21 points, coming on eight goals and 13 assists.
ABOUT BUTLER: The Bulldogs have a 3-6 mark on the season, including an 0-1 record at home … Butler has won its past two contests, against Bellarmine and Robert Morris, by identical 8-7 scores … the Bellarmine game was decided in triple overtime … Butler has been outscored 94-54 on the year … the Bulldogs have faced, and lost to, four teams that were ranked at the time of the contest (#2 Duke 20-3, #19 Towson 16-7, #12 Delaware 7-6, #9 Princeton 9-4) … sophomore midfielder Cliff Smith leads the team in points with 17 and goals with 14 … freshman middie Jeremy Sieverts has 15 points (11G, 4A) and junior attackman Adam Wade has 11 (6G, 5A) … junior Ryan Kaiser has started seven games in goal and has a 2-5 record and a 9.47 goals-against average and a .525 save percentage … the Bulldogs are coached by Stan Ross, who is in his second season at Butler … Butler posted a 5-7 mark last year, including a 1-4 record in GWLL play.
ND-BUTLER SERIES NOTES: The Irish and Bulldogs have met 13 times, with Notre Dame holding a 12-1 advantage in the intrastate rivalry … the Fighting Irish have won the past seven games in the series and have outscored Butler 166-86 all-time … the first meeting between the two Indiana schools occurred in 1993, a 22-11 Notre Dame victory … the Irish would go on to win the first five meetings in the series before Butler captured 6-5 win in 1998 at Butler … Notre Dame is 5-1 all-time at Butler.
GWLL HISTORY: Notre Dame is 44-7 all-time in GWLL play with nine league titles in 12 seasons … the Irish went 3-2 in conference play last season to finish third … last year marked the first time that Notre Dame had lost more than one game in the GWLL during a single season … the Irish have gone undefeated through conference play on six occasions and have lost only one game five times.
IRISH IN GWLL OPENERS: The Fighting Irish have an 11-1 mark in GWLL openers … Notre Dame downed Butler 22-6 in last season’s GWLL opener … the Irish have faced the Bulldogs three times in the conference lid-lifter … Notre Dame’s only loss in a GWLL opener was a 9-8 loss to Ohio State during the 2004 campaign.
COMMON OPPONENT: Notre Dame and Butler have one common opponent so far this season … the Irish defeated Bellarmine 8-2, while the Bulldogs defeated Bellarmine 8-7 in triple overtime.
WALSH NAMED GWLL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Pat Walsh was named the Great Western Lacrosse League Player of the Week for March 27-April 2 … Walsh tallied two goals and assisted on six others as the eighth-ranked Fighting Irish captured wins over Brown, 11-5, and Dartmouth, 8-7. This was the second career GWLL Player of the Week honor for Walsh … against Brown, Walsh produced a three-point game as he netted a goal and collected the assist on two more Irish scores … he had a hand in five of Notre Dame’s eight scores against Dartmouth by tallying a goal and collecting four assists … that marked the eighth time of his career that he registered four or more assists in a game.
ON THE ROAD: Notre Dame is ready to embark on its longest stretch away from home since the 2002 season when the Irish also played four straight contests away from home … the Irish went 3-1 on that trek with wins against Denver, Air Force and Butler and a loss to Army in the fourth and final game.
SECOND QUARTER SCORING: Notre Dame has outscored its opponents 22-8 during the second quarter this season.
NCAA RANKINGS: Joey Kemp is eighth nationally with a .623 save percentage and he is 11th in Division I with a 6.64 goals-against average … Kemp led the nation with a .652 save percentage last season … Pat Walsh is averaging 1.63 assists per game, which places him in a tie for 18th in the NCAA this season … as a team, Notre Dame is 10th in scoring defense nationally as the Irish are allowing just 6.75 goals per game … the Irish are tied for eighth in man-down defense (.826).
HAT TRICKS: Freshman Ryan Hoff netted the first hat trick of his college career in the 11-5 win over Brown on March 29 … the last Irish freshman to register a hat trick was current sophomore Michael Podgajny in the 2005 regular season finale at Ohio State … joining Hoff with a hat trick for the Irish this season is Brian Hubschmann … Hubschmann had a four-goal effort against Villanova and a three-goal game versus Hofstra.
SPREADING THE WEALTH: Notre Dame had eight different players score at least one goal in the 11-5 win over Brown on March 29 … scoring for the Irish was Ryan Hoff (3), Matt Karweck (2), Pat Walsh (1), Duncan Swezey (1), Brian Hubschmann (1), Michael Podgajny (1), Drew Peters (1) and Bill Liva (1) … the last time Notre Dame had at least eight players score in a game was the 2005 regular season finale at Ohio State as 12 different Irish players notched a goal.
HUBSCHMANN BACK IN ACTION: Senior attackman Brian Hubschmann, who is back in the Irish lineup after missing all of last season to injury, is leading the team with 25 points on 16 goals and nine assists … he has notched six multiple-goal games this season, including a career-high tying four-goal effort versus Villanova on March 14 … for his career, he has seven games with four or more points … he also netted a hat trick against Hofstra … 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 four spots on the Irish point-leaders list … Brian Hubschmann leads with 25 (16G, 9A), while Pat Walsh has 21 (8G, 13A), Matt Karweck has 12 (11G, 1A) and Matt Ryan has 10 (5G, 5A).
STREAKING: Brian Hubschmann is riding an eight-game point streak … Notre Dame has won its past four games at Moose Krause Stadium, including 10 of its last 13 … senior attackman Pat Walsh has started all 45 games during his Fighting Irish career.
DARTMOUTH RECAP: It was a back-and-forth affair on Sunday afternoon at Moose Krause Stadium with the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team claiming an 8-7 victory over Dartmouth … Pat Walsh led the 11th-ranked Fighting Irish with five points on one goal and four assists, while sophomore goaltender Joey Kemp matched a season-high with 14 saves … the Irish trailed 4-2 following the first quarter of play, despite getting two goals from freshman Ryan Hoff … Hoff, who notched his first career hat trick on Wednesday against Brown, scored his tallies on passes from Walsh and Matt Ryan … the senior duo of Brian Hubschmann and Walsh connected twice during the second quarter to even the contest at four apiece heading into halftime … the first tally came with 9:20 remaining as Hubschmann took a Walsh pass and sent it in to make it 4-3 … the same combination made it 4-4 less than three minutes later as Hubschmann tallied his team-leading 16th goal of the season … Dartmouth grabbed the lead early in the third quarter as Brad Heritage notched a man-up goal on a Ryan Danehy assist … the Irish countered with Walsh depositing an impressive unassisted tally to even the contest at five with 8:25 remaining in the period … Heritage struck again, this time with a man-down score, on a pass from Nick Bonacci less than a minute later to make it 6-5 Big Green … the Irish battled back with a 3-0 run that would give them the lead for good … Walsh registered his team-leading 13th assist of the season as he sent a pass to senior midfielder Matt Karweck, who sent it in for his 11th goal of the campaign … freshman Peter Christman then took a pass from senior co-captain Drew Peters and scored to put the Irish up 7-6 following three quarters of play … Notre Dame produced its largest lead of the day early in the fourth quarter when sophomore Michael Podgajny tallied a score off a feed from Hubschmann to make it 8-6 … the Big Green did not go away as Alec Hufnagel notched an unassisted goal with 11:37 left in the contest … however, that would be the final goal of the game as the Irish defense, behind Kemp, held Dartmouth scoreless the rest of the way.
DOUBLE DIGITS: The Fighting Irish have tallied 10 or more goals twice this season … the first time was in a 10-7 win over Villanova on March 14 … the Fighting Irish had their largest scouring output of the season in an 11-5 win over Brown on March 29 … Notre Dame scored in double-figures in seven of its 11 games one season ago … five of those contests were wins.
GOING FOR TWO: Notre Dame has had two players score multiple goals in every game so far this season … overall, the Irish have had multiple players score at least two goals in a game in 14 straight contests dating back to last season … the last game that did not happen was in a 9-8 overtime win at Hofstra on March 26, 2005.
RUNNING: Notre Dame has put together key 5-0 runs on three occasions this season … against North Carolina, the Fighting Irish used a 5-0 spurt to break open a 3-3 contest and take an 8-3 lead early in the third quarter … the Tar Heels would make a run of their own to cut the margin to one (8-7), yet that is as close as they would get before falling 9-7 … in the Villanova tilt, the Irish trailed 3-2 before running off five unanswered goals to take a 7-3 lead right before halftime … the Wildcats made a surge to make it an 8-7 contest, however the Irish would prevail 10-7 … Notre Dame broke open a 2-1 game versus Brown to take a commanding 7-1 lead en route to an 11-5 victory … on the year, the Irish have put together runs of three or more goals in seven of eight games.
THREE IN-A-ROW: The Irish had their three-game win streak ended against Hofstra last Saturday … Notre Dame’s 8-2 victory over Bellarmine on March 18 marked the third straight victory for the Irish … 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 … the Irish will be gunning for their second three-game win streak of the season when they take on Butler.
IRISH D: The Notre Dame defense is allowing just 6.75 goals-per-game, which ranks in a tie for 10th nationally … the Irish held Bellarmine to just two goals on March 18 … the two tallies were the fewest allowed by an Irish defense since a 12-2 victory over Air Force during the 2004 season.
SECOND HALF SHUTOUT: The Fighting Irish defense held Bellarmine scoreless during the second half on March 18 … that marked the first time a Notre Dame 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.
HELPING HAND: Pat Walsh was involved in six of Notre Dame’s nine goals in the victory over North Carolina on March 11 … the senior attackman collected five assists and scored a goal … the five assists tied a career-high for a single game, which he also accomplished versus Denver as a freshman in 2003 … he now has nine games with six or more points during his Fighting Irish career … his high-point mark is eight, which came against Harvard in 2003.
MOVING UP THE CHARTS: Senior attackman Pat Walsh is currently third all-time in school history with 93 assists … he is six assists shy from second and is 17 assists away from tying David Ulrich’s (1998-2001) program record of 110 … Walsh is also fifth in program history with 163 points coming on 70 goals and 93 assists … he is 18 points away from making it into the top-three all-time in school history … Randy Colley (1991-95) is the school record holder with 273 career points (173 G, 100 A).
WALSH POINT-LESS: In Notre Dame’s 8-2 win over Bellarmine, Pat Walsh was held without a point for just the third time in his collegiate career … he was also held point-less in a 9-6 loss at Denver last season and in a 10-4 setback to Maryland in 2003.
vFIRST-TIMERS: The Irish have three first-time opponents on the 2006 ledger … Notre Dame defeated Bellarmine, 8-2, in the first-ever meeting between the two Midwest schools on March 18 … the Irish also topped Brown 11-5 in their first-ever clash … Notre Dame will have its inaugural showdown with GWLL newcomer Quinnipiac on May 6.
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.
SAVING THE DAY: Sophomore goaltender Joey Kemp boasts a .623 save percentage on the year, which places him eighth nationally … he has made 86 saves, while allowing 52 goals … Kemp led the nation with a .652 percentage in 2005, making 131 saves and giving up 70 goals … he also has a 6.64 goals-against average so far this season.
CLEARING THE WAY: Notre Dame has a .800 clear percentage, while the Irish have held opponents to a .678 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 10 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 drew 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 … 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. 11 in the most recent Inside Lacrosse media poll, which was released on April 3 … the latest USILA coaches poll (April 3) has the Irish 8th, which is their highest ranking of the season.
PLAYING THE BEST: Notre Dame 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. … the Fighting Irish have four teams that appear in the latest USILA coaches poll on their 2006 ledger … Notre Dame opened the season with an 8-4 victory over current No. 18 Penn State … the Nittany Lions were ranked 14th at the time of the game … Notre Dame fell to current No. 5 Cornell, 9-6, on March 4 and current No. 2 Hofstra, 13-5, on March 25 … the Irish will have a Great Western Lacrosse league match-up at No. 19 Denver on Apr. 14.
IRISH O: Notre Dame boasted the nation’s fourth highest-scoring offense last season (11.91 goals-per-game) and this year’s squad hopes to duplicate that success … All-American attackman Pat Walsh is back for his senior season after leading the Irish in scoring his first three campaigns … last year, Walsh posted 43 points on 21 goals and 22 assists … ND did lose leading goal-scorer Jim Morrison (25 G) to graduation, yet the return of senior attackman Brian Hubschmann from an injury that kept him out all of last season should help to pick up the scoring slack … Hubschmann notched 29 points (18 G, 11 A) as a sophomore in 2004 … other factors in the Irish offense will be seniors Matt Karweck (26 pts. in ’05) and Matt Ryan (21 pts. in ’05) … through the first seven games of the 2006 season, Notre Dame is averaging 8.14 goals-per-game.
FINE LINE: Close losses the past two seasons have kept Notre Dame out of NCAA tournament … five of Notre Dame’s last six losses entering this season had been by one goal, including three in overtime … the Irish hope a stronger and more seasoned defense will make the difference this season and return them to the field of 16 … Notre Dame’s last NCAA tournament berth back in 2001 culminated with the program’s first-ever appearance in the national semifinals … the Irish won their only one-goal contest of the season, an 8-7 decision over Dartmouth on April 2.
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 45 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 will appear 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 on April 14 will be broadcast by Comcast.
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.