Feb. 19, 2010
#9 NOTRE DAME (0-0) at #2 DUKE (1-0)
Saturday, February 20 – 1:00 p.m. (ET)
Koskinen Stadium – Durham, N.C.
Live Stats Available on goduke.com
SETTING THE STAGE … The Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team will open its 30th season of varsity play with a trip to No. 2 Duke on Saturday, Feb. 20. Game time is slated for 1:00 p.m. (ET)â⒬ˆat Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C. This will be the sixth all-time meeting between the Fighting Irish and the Blue Devils. Duke leads the series 4-1. Notre Dame is coming off a 15-1 campaign, while Duke posted a 15-4 record last season.
ABOUT THE IRISH … Notre Dame returns six starters and 16 letterwinners from last year’s team that posted a 15-1 record … the win total and winning percentage (.938) established program records … three All-America honorees are back for the Irish … fifth-year senior Scott Rodgers is back in goal after earning third-team honors in 2009 … Sam Barnes and Grant Krebs both received honorable mention accolades … Barnes will anchor the Irish defense, while Krebs is a staple on the first midfield line … Notre Dame also returns its leading point scorer, senior attackman Neal Hicks … Hicks tallied 43 points on 25 goals and 18 assists in 2009 … Notre Dame is entering its first season of BIG EAST Conference play this season … last season, the Irish captured the Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) regular-season and tournament titles last season … Notre Dame garnered the No. 7 seed for the 2009 NCAA Championship and fell to Maryland, 7-3, in the first round … the Fighting Irish defense led the nation one season ago with a 6.19 goals-against average, while the offense was tied for 10th by scoring 11.0 goals per game … Kevin Corrigan is entering his 22nd season as the head coach of Notre Dame … he has a record of 196-96 (.671) during his Fighting Irish tenure.
ND-DUKE SERIES NOTES … This will be the sixth meeting between the Fighting Irish and Blue Devils … Duke holds a 4-1 edge in the series … all five previous encounters have taken place in Durham, N.C. … the Irish took the last meeting, 12-10, during the first round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament … the first matchup between the two schools occurred in 1983 and Duke claimed that contest 13-5 … the other meetings took place in 1984 (8-5), 1985 (18-4) and 1993 (13-7).
THE LAST TIME … Notre Dame defeated Duke, 12-10, during the first round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament in Durham, N.C. … that marked Notre Dame’s first-ever win in the NCAA Championship …the Irish were ranked 15th at the time of the contest, while the Blue Devils were fifth … Randy Colley, Notre Dame’s all-time leading goal scorer, tallied five goals and one assist in the victory … Tim Kearney also deposited a hat trick for the Irish.
ABOUT DUKE … The Blue Devils opened the 2010 campaign with a 12-11 overtime win over Bucknell on Feb. 13 in Powder Springs, Ga. … Zach Howell scored the game winner 15 seconds into overtime … Ned Crotty had one goal and five assists, while Howell and Max Quinzani both had four goals … the Blue Devils went 15-4 one season ago and fell to Syracuse, 17-7, in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament … Duke returned seven starters and 31 letterwinners from that squad … head coach John Danowski is in his fourth season at Duke and he carries a 51-9 record at the school.
IRISH AGAINST THE ACC … Notre Dame is 6-18 all-time against Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) teams … the Irish went 1-1 against ACC foes last season … Notre Dame topped North Carolina, 9-7, during the regular season and fell to Maryland, 7-3, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
IRISH IN SEASON-OPENERS … Notre Dame is 22-7 all-time in season-openers, including a 16-5 record in the Kevin Corrigan era … the Irish have won a program-record seven straight season-openers … last season, Notre Dame won its lid-lifter, 10-9, over Loyola in Powder Springs, Ga. … the Irish last dropped a season-opener in 2002, a 10-9 overtime setback at home against Penn State … including this year, the Fighting Irish have opened their slate against a ranked opponent for 17 consecutive seasons.
WINNING WAYS … In 2009, Notre Dame’s 15-1 mark established program records for wins and winning percentage in a single season … the Fighting Irish compiled the first undefeated regular season in program history and it marked the fourth straight season that the Irish have reached double figures in wins … Notre Dame’s 15-game win streak was a program best.
DEFENDING THE CAGE … Notre Dame boasted the nation’s top defense in 2009 by producing a school-record 6.19 goals-against average, which shattered the program standard of 6.66 from the 2007 season … Notre Dame did not surrender more than nine goals in a game all season long, while limiting foes to six goals or fewer six times … in his first season as a starter, Scott Rodgers led all NCAA Division I goalies with a 6.14 goals-against average and a .663 save percentage en route to earning third-team All-America honors … his 15 victories also established a Fighting Irish record … the Irish had the nation’s fifth-best scoring defense in 2008 by allowing 7.04 goals per game … in 2007, Notre Dame ranked fourth nationally with the 6.66 mark.
STREAKING … Senior midfielder Grant Krebs carries a team-best 32-game point streak into the 2010 campaign … he has notched 73 points on 55 goals and 18 assists during the streak … Krebs tallied 38 points on 29 goals and nine assists in 2009 … Krebs also owns the team’s longest goal-scoring streak as he has deposited a goal in 28 straight games.
ARLOTTA STADIUM … Arlotta Stadium is the new home for the Notre Dame men’s and women’s lacrosse programs … construction of the facility began in August of 2008 and it held its first event on October 16, 2009 as the Notre Dame men’s team played the Iroquois National Team in an exhibition contest … the official stadium dedication was held on October 17, 2009 … the stadium features over 2,000 seats, lights, an artificial-turf field, locker rooms, player lounges, restrooms and concession areas … the state-of-the-art facility is named after Notre Dame graduate John Arlotta, president and chief executive officer of Denver-based Coram Inc. … he and his wife Bobbie pledged the lead gift toward the stadium, which was built to the east of the Joyce Center as part of the University’s new athletics quadrangle … the Arlotta children – Mindy, Andy and Jon – pledged an additional gift from The Arlotta Family Foundation toward the project … in addition to their generous donation, alumni and friends of the lacrosse programs donated over two million dollars.
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS … Five Notre Dame players have garnered preseason All-America honors from Inside Lacrosse … Scott Rodgers (Sr., G) was named to the first team, while Grant Krebs (Sr., M) and Sam Barnes (Sr., D) were second-team selections … Trever Sipperly (Sr., M/FO) and Andrew Irving (Jr., LSM) were honorable mention picks.
BIG EAST DEBUT … The 2010 campaign marks the first season of BIG EAST men’s lacrosse … the seven conference schools that will participate in the newly-formed league are Georgetown, Notre Dame, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s, Syracuse and Villanova … the teams will play a six-game single round-robin regular-season schedule … men’s lacrosse is the BIG EAST’s 11th men’s sport while the Conference conducts 13 women’s sports … Notre Dame already is a member of the BIG EAST in 23 other sports … Notre Dame was a member of the Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) from 1994-2009 … the Fighting Irish captured 12 GWLL regular-season titles in addition to winning the only two GWLL Tournaments (2008 & 2009).
IRISH TABBED TO FINISH SECOND IN BIG EAST … Notre Dame was picked to finish second in the inaugural season of the BIG EAST men’s lacrosse league … the conference’s head coaches casted the votes and were not permitted to vote for their own teams … Syracuse was tabbed to win the league with six first-place votes, while Notre Dame received one first-place nod … rounding out the order of finish was Georgetown, Villanova, Rutgers, St. John’s and Providence.
IRISH EARN PRESEASON ALL-LEAGUE HONORS … Four Notre Dame student-athletes were named to the 2010 All-BIG EAST Preseason Team … senior Scott Rodgers was the lone goalie selected to the 15-man squad … fellow seniors Sam Barnes (D), Neal Hicks (A) and Grant Krebs (M) also were chosen for the all-conference team.
RODGERS NAMED A LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE … Notre Dame goalie Scott Rodgers has been named one of 20 candidates for the 2010 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in the men’s lacrosse division … to be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – classroom, character, community and competition … an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities … Rodgers, a third-team All-American last season, carries a 3.077 cumulative grade-point average as a sociology major in Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters.
QUALITY COMPETITION … The Fighting Irish have five teams on their 2010 slate that appear in the latest Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll … No. 9 Notre Dame opens the campaign against No. 3 Duke … the Irish will also face top-ranked Syracuse (May 1), No. 12 Georgetown (April 11), No. 16 Loyola (March 6) and No. 20 Denver (March 16).
FAMILY CONNECTION … Gene Corrigan, the father of Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan, played his collegiate lacrosse at Duke from 1948-51 … Kevin’s younger brother, Boo, currently is the Senior Associate Director of Athletics for External Affairs at Duke.
IRISH NAME ’10 CAPTAINS … Seniors Mike Creighton (D), Neal Hicks (A) and Kelly McKenna (M) are first-time captains for the Fighting Irish, while Scott Rodgers (G), a fifth-year senior, will be serving as a team captain for the second straight season.
GETTING OFFENSIVE … The Notre Dame offense has been one of the best in the nation over the past few seasons … last season, the Irish ranked in a tie for 10th nationally by averaging 11.00 goals per-game … in 2008, the Irish averaged 12.04 goals per game and that placed them fifth among all NCAA Division I teams … Notre Dame ranked fourth in 2007 with an 11.65 goals per-game average.
FACING OFF … Notre Dame ranked ninth nationally in faceoff winning percentage one season ago … the Irish went 184-147 in the faceoff X … Trever Sipperly ranked 13th nationally with a .559 percentage (85-67), while Jake Marmul went 97-78 for a .554 winning percentage to rank 19th in the country.
BACK TO THE DANCE … Notre Dame has earned four straight appearance to the NCAA Championship … the Irish have garnered one of the tournament’s eight national seeds and have posted a first-round contest the past two seasons … last season, the seventh-seeded Fighting Irish fell to Maryland, 7-3, in the tournament’s first round.
KEEPING UP WITH ND MEN’S LACROSSE … Log onto und.com for the latest information on the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse program … und.com, the official athletics web site for the University of Notre Dame, features press releases, game stories, feature stories, video interviews, stats, rosters and more … fans also can sign up for Irish ALERT, a text messaging service designed to give fans game updates for all 26 varsity sports at Notre Dame … Irish men’s lacrosse fans can sign up to receive scores following each quarter … in addition, media members and fans may be added to the sports information e-mail release list by contacting assistant sports information director Sean Carroll at Carroll.64@nd.edu or (574) 631-2664 … all requests for story ideas, interview access, match credentials and further information on Irish men’s lacrosse should similarly be directed to Carroll … credential and interview requests should be made at least 24 hours in advance.