April 18, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team is ranked No. 1 in this week’s Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll and United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) coaches’ poll. It marks the first time in program history that the Fighting Irish have been ranked No. 1 in either poll.
Notre Dame downed St. John’s 10-7 on Saturday night to remain as the only undefeated team in all of NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse. The Irish, who have spent the past three weeks ranked second in both polls, are 9-0 overall and 4-0 in BIG EAST play.
The Irish received 12 of the 16 first-place votes in the media poll, while they claimed 13 of the 14 first-place nods in the coaches’ rankings. Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Syracuse and Denver round out the top five, respectively, in both polls.
Notre Dame will conclude the regular season with three straight games away from home beginning on Saturday at Providence. The Fighting Irish also will travel to No. 4 Syracuse (April 30) and No. 10/9 North Carolina (May 6). Notre Dame is 5-0 against ranked opponents this season, including wins over current No. 5 Denver (10-9), No. 7/6 Duke (12-7) and No. 11 Villanova (12-8).
The Fighting Irish are off to a 9-0 start for the second time in program history (31 seasons). The other occurrence came in 2009 when the Irish began the season 15-0.
–ND–