Dec. 15, 2009
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team has announced its 2010 spring schedule. The Fighting Irish have 13 regular-season games on the slate beginning with a tilt at Duke on Feb. 20 and ending with a home BIG EAST showdown against Syracuse on May 1 at the brand new Arlotta Stadium.
The 2010 campaign ushers in a new era for Notre Dame lacrosse. The Irish will begin play in the state-of-the-art Arlotta Stadium in addition to competing in the BIG EAST Conference, which enters its first season of men’s lacrosse play.
The match up with Duke will be the first since the Irish topped the Blue Devils, 12-10, in the first round of the 1995 NCAA Championship. Following the season-opener, Notre Dame returns home to face annual rival Penn State on Feb. 28. That tilt is scheduled to take place inside the Loftus Sports Center. The Fighting Irish are 12-4 all-time against the Nittany Lions. Notre Dame captured a 13-8 victory last season at Penn State.
The Fighting Irish will take part in the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic on March 6 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md. Notre Dame and Loyola will be the third and final game of the day. The first contest of the event will feature Maryland against Duke and that will be followed by Princeton versus Johns Hopkins.
This will mark the fourth straight season, and 19th time overall, that Notre Dame and Loyola have met. The Irish have come away victorious in the past three encounters, including a 10-9 triumph in last season’s opener in Powder Springs, Georgia.
The Irish will look to improve to 3-0 all-time against Drexel when they visit the Dragons on March 9. Notre Dame will travel to Houston, Texas to face Fairfield on March 13 at the Kinkaid School. This will mark the second straight season that the Irish have played a game in the state of Texas. Last season, the Irish topped Vermont in Dallas. Notre Dame and Fairfield met for six straight seasons (2000-05) while both schools were members of the Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL). The Irish went 4-2 in those contests.
The first regular-season game at Arlotta Stadium is slated for March 16 as Notre Dame will play host to Denver. The Irish and Pioneers are no strangers since they spent the previous 11 seasons together in the GWLL. Notre Dame is 10-3 all-time against Denver.
The Fighting Irish will welcome in another former GWLL rival as Ohio State comes to town on March 20. Notre Dame holds a 25-9 advantage in the series against the Buckeyes, including victories last season during the regular season and in the title game of the conference tournament.
The final six games of the 2010 campaign all will be BIG EAST showdowns for the Irish. Notre Dame’s first-ever BIG EAST clash will come against Rutgers on March 27 at Arlotta Stadium. This will be the first meeting between the Irish and Scarlet Knights since the 2002 campaign.
A two-game road trip will take the Irish to Villanova on April 3 and Georgetown on April 11. The Irish will be squaring off against Villanova for the fifth straight season, while this will be the first encounter with the Hoyas since 1999. Notre Dame returns home for the first-ever meeting with Providence on April 17.
Notre Dame will visit St. John’s on April 24. The Irish and Red Storm met for the first time last season and Notre Dame came away with a 12-2 victory at home.
Syracuse, the winner of the past two NCAA Championships, will make its first-ever trip to Notre Dame for the regular-season finale on May 1. The two teams last met in the quarterfinals of the 2008 NCAA Tournament and the Orange escaped with an 11-9 victory.
The Fighting Irish will hope to be among the 16-team NCAA Championship field for the fifth straight season when the 2010 tournament commences with first-round games on May 15 and 16 at campus sites. The quarterfinals will be held May 22 and 23 in Princeton, N.J. and Stony Brook, N.Y. The NCAA semifinals and final will take place at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md.
Notre Dame went 15-1 last season and won the GWLL’s regular-season and tournament titles en route to earning the No. 7 seed in the NCAA Championship. Last season’s win total and winning percentage both were program records. The Fighting Irish have three teams on their 2010 slate that were in the 2009 NCAA Championship (Syracuse, Duke, Villanova).
2010 NOTRE DAME MEN'S LACROSSE SCHEDULE
FEBRUARY20 Sat. at Duke 1:00 p.m.28 Sun. PENN STATE 1:00 p.m.MARCH6 Sat. vs. Loyola^ 4:00 p.m.9 Tue. at Drexel TBA13 Sat. vs. Fairfield@ TBA16 Tue. DENVER 4:00 p.m.20 Sat. OHIO STATE 1:00 p.m.27 Sat. RUTGERS* 12:00 p.m.APRIL3 Sat. at Villanova* 1:00 p.m.11 Sun. at Georgetown* 12:00 p.m.17 Sat. PROVIDENCE* 12:00 p.m.24 Sat. at St. John's* 1:00 p.m.MAY1 Sat. SYRACUSE* 1:00 p.m.15/16 Sat./Sun. NCAA Championship (First Round) TBA Campus Sites22/23 Sat./Sun. NCAA Championship (Quarterfinals) TBA Princeton, N.J./Stony Brook, N.Y.29 Sat. NCAA Championship (Semifinals) TBA Baltimore, Md. (M&T Bank Stadium)31 Mon. NCAA Championship (Final) TBA Baltimore, Md. (M&T Bank Stadium)
Home games in BOLD CAPSAll times local to site^ - Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic (M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Md.)@ - Houston, Texas (Kinkaid School)* - BIG EAST game