March 15, 2008
ATLANTA, Ga. – The No. 7 Notre Dame men’s lacrosse used a well-balanced offensive attack that featured 12 different goalscorers to capture a 19-7 victory over Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon in front of 5,180 fans at The Lovett School. The contest was the first NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse game in the state of Georgia.
The contest was originally scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m., yet was pushed back to a 4:45 p.m. start due to inclement weather in the Atlanta area.
Senior midfielder Michael Podgajny tied a career-high output with four goals to pace the Irish in that category. Fellow senior Alex Wharton notched a career-best six-points, which included a career-high tying four assists. Duncan Swezey, a junior attackman, also chipped in a career-high four assists on the day. The 19 goals were the most for a Notre Dame team since a 19-7 victory over Quinnipiac in 2006.
Notre Dame (5-1) jumped out to a 5-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. Hoff put the Irish on the board with just 18 seconds elapsed in the game and Podgajny followed with a goal three minutes later. Hoff, Grant Krebs and Podgajny deposited the final three goals of the quarter.
The shutout in the opening period marked the fourth time this season that the Notre Dame defense has held an opponent scoreless in the first quarter of play.
Darmouth (2-2) struck back with a 3-0 run beginning with a man-up goal from Josh Gillam. Jonathan Livadas and Rhett Miller then scored to slice the Irish lead to two (5-3). Notre Dame came back with goals from Wharton and Dan Gibson to take a 7-3 lead with 4:08 left in the first half. The Big Green used a score from Christopher Root to make it a 7-4 game at the intermission.
It was all Notre Dame in the second half as the Irish scored 12 of the stanza’s 15 goals. An early 3-0 run behind scores from Podgajny, Hoff and Taylor Clagett made it 10-4 with 9:33 remaining in the third quarter. The goal from Clagett was his first of the season. In addition, senior midfielder went 17-for-24 in faceoff attempts on the afternoon.
A Dartmouth goal from Livadas was answered with a man-up score from Swezey. Krebs connected on his second goal of the game before the Big Green countered with a goal from Brian Koch to make it 12-6 in favor of the Irish after three quarters of play.
Podgajny and David Earl opened the scoring in the fourth quarter to give Notre Dame an eight-goal advantage (14-6) with 12:19 left on the clock. A goal from Koch with 11:43 left in regulation would signify the final Dartmouth score of the game.
Notre Dame ended the contest with a 5-0 spurt that began with goals from Davey Malera and Matt Ciambella. Wharton would then find the back of the net for his second goal of the game, which put a cap on his six-point effort. Neal Hicks then scored to make it 18-7 with 6:38 left. Hicks, a sophomore attackman, also collected two assists on the afternoon during the return to his alma mater, The Lovett School. Peter Christman tallied the final goal of the day with 4:39 remaining.
Once again the Fighting Irish defense controlled the game at their end of the field. Senior defenseman Sean Dougherty held his man without a goal for the second straight game. Fellow senior Ross Zimmerman and junior Regis McDermott also helped in locking down the Big Green as the Irish claimed a 49-30 advantage in shots.
Senior goaltender Joey Kemp made 12 stops and allowed six goals in his 53 minutes between the pipes for the Irish. Sophomore Brendan Moore came in to relieve Kemp and collected one save. Pat Marshall made five saves and surrendered seven goals while playing the first half for the Big Green. Michael Novosel had 11 stops and gave up 12 goals in the second half.
Notre Dame concludes its four-game trek away from home with the Great Western Lacrosse League opener at Air Force on Saturday, March 22. Game time is slated for 12:00 p.m. (MT).
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Dartmouth (2-2) – 0 4 2 1 – 7
#7 Notre Dame (5-1) – 5 2 5 7 – 19
Dartmouth Scoring (goals-assists):
Jonathan Livadas 2-1, Brian Koch 2-0, Rhett Miller 1-0, Christopher Root 1-0, Josh Gillam 1-0, Ari Sussman 0-2, Ryan Orr 0-1; Goaltenders: Pat Marshall (30:00, 5 saves, 7 GA), Michael Novosel (30:00, 11 saves, 12 GA)
Notre Dame Scoring (goals-assists):
Michael Podgajny 4-1, Ryan Hoff 3-0, Alex Wharton 2-4, Grant Krebs 2-0, Duncan Swezey 1-4, Neal Hicks 1-2, Peter Christman 1-2, Dan Gibson 1-1, Matt Ciambella 1-0, David Earl 1-0, Davey Malera 1-0, Taylor Clagett 1-0; Goaltenders: Joey Kemp (52:59, 12 saves, 6 GA), Brendan Moore (7:01, 1 save, 1 GA)
— ND —