April 23, 2015
#6 DUKE (10-4, 1-3 ACC)
vs.
#1 NOTRE DAME (9-1, 4-0 ACC)
Friday, April 24, 2015 · 5:30 p.m. (ET)
PPL Park · Chester, Pa.
TV/INTERNET
ESPNU
WatchESPN
LIVE STATS
theacc.com
SETTING THE STAGE
· No. 1 Notre Dame (9-1, 4-0) looks to defend its 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship crown when the top-seeded Irish, winners of the 2015 ACC regular-season title, face No. 6 and fourth-seeded Duke (10-4, 1-3). Faceoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. at PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania.
· This will be the second meeting of the season between the two schools. Notre Dame claimed a 15-10 victory earlier this season in Durham on April 4. · North Carolina (No. 2 seed) and Syracuse (No. 3 seed) will meet in Friday’s second semifinal matchup at 8 p.m.
· The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and WatchESPN with Eamon McAnaney (play-by-play), Quint Kessenich (analyst) and Paul Carcaterra (reporter) handling the broadcast for all games throughout the championship weekend. Live stats will be available at theacc.com.
· The Blue Devils are the eighth straight ranked opponent Notre Dame has faced this season. The Irish have won six straight over ranked foes and are 6-1 overall in 2015.
· The Irish scored three goals in the final 1:15 of last Saturday’s game against North Carolina. Junior attackman Matt Kavanagh netted two of Notre Dame’s final three tallies, including the game-winner with seven seconds remaining. Captain Jim Marlatt assisted on each of the three final Irish goals. Marlatt had a career-high four assists in the contest.
IRISH CLAIM 2015 ACC REGULAR-SEASON CROWN
· Notre Dame won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title in 2015 in just its second season as a conference member as the Irish finished with a 4-0 record.
· Coach Kevin Corrigan’s squad clinched the title with a thrilling come-from-behind 15-14 win over No. 2 North Carolina on April 18. Both teams entered the matchup with 3-0 records.
LOOKING FOR A REPEAT
· Notre Dame enters the 2015 ACC Championship as the defending tournament champion.
· The Irish claimed the title a year ago their inaugural season in the ACC with two one-goals victories.
· Notre Dame defeated Maryland 6-5 in the semifinals with Matt Kavanagh netting the game-winning goal with seven seconds remaining in the contest. · After opening up a five-goal lead (14-9) after three quarters, the Irish held off Syracuse in the final 15-minute stanza to earn a 15-14 victory in the championship game.
THE RIVALRY CONTINUES
· Friday’s semifinal game will mark the 16th meeting between the Irish and the Blue Devils and the 11th in the last six seasons.
· Duke leads the series 9-6 and had won the previous three matchups before the 15-10 Irish win in Durham earlier this season.
· The Irish are 5-5 against the Blue Devils since the beginning of the 2010 season and are 5-1 in the regular-season matchup during that time. Duke has won the four NCAA tournament contests the two teams have played.
COACHES CORNER
· Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan is 11-12 versus a John Danowski-coached team. Corrigan went 6-7 versus Danowski’s Hofstra teams and the Irish head coach is 5-5 against Danowski during his Duke tenure.
CLOSE CALLS
· Five of Notre Dame’s 10 games this season have been decided by two goals or less. The Irish are 4-1 in those games (3-1 in one-goal affairs).
· Notre Dame has played two overtime contests this season — they lost 11-10 to Denver in overtime and defeated Syracuse 13-12 in double-overtime.
ANOTHER NO. 1 VS. NO. 2 AFFAIR AT ARLOTTA
· Last Saturday’s game against North Carolina marked the second No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown at Arlotta Stadium in 2015. No. 2 Notre Dame knocked off No. 1 Syracuse 13-12 in double-overtime on March 28.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE BLUE DEVILS
· A quartet of hat tricks from senior captain Conor Doyle, junior Matt Kavanagh, senior Nick Ossello and freshman Mikey Wynne propelled the Irish to a 15-10 victory over Duke in Durham, North Carolina on April 4.
· Doyle finished with a career-high seven points in the contest as he also dished off a personal-best four assists in the game.
· Sophomore goalie Shane Doss made a career-high 17 saves in the win.
· The Irish win snapped Duke’s 21-game home winning streak, the longest active streak in the nation at the time.
FOUR IRISH PLAYERS EARN ALL-ACC HONORS
· Notre Dame had four players garner all-ACC after having two players selected in 2014.
· Junior attackman Matt Kavanagh earned all-conference honors for the second consecutive season, while senior attackman Conor Doyle, junior defender Matt Landis and sophomore midfielder Sergio Perkovic were first-time honorees.
· North Carolina and Syracuse each placed five players on the 18-member all-conference team, while Duke placed three and Virginia, one.
NOTRE DAME NOT USED TO TRAILING
· Prior to Saturday’s game against North Carolina, Notre Dame had only trailed for 19:29 the entire season.
· Entering their showdown against Marquette on April 7, the Fighting Irish had only trailed for 1:10 in their previous six games. The Golden Eagles jumped on top 2-0 and held a lead for 8:23 during that time.
· Against the Tar Heels, the Fighting Irish trailed for 2:01 through three quarters before North Carolina opened up a two-goal advantage in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame trailed from the 13:54 mark of the final stanza until tallying the game-tying goal with 33 seconds left in the contest.
STRONG STARTS
· The Fighting Irish have outscored their opponents 39-14 in the first quarter and 76-36 in the first half this season.
· Notre Dame has led after the first, second and third quarters in all but one game this season — North Carolina. Against the Tar Heels, the Irish were tied following the first three quarters.
STOUT SLATE
· Eight of Notre Dame’s 11 regular-season opponents currently appear in both the USILA (coaches) and Cascade/Maverik (media) polls, including five in the top 10.
· The Fighting Irish are 7-1 against those ranked teams so far this season.
NOTRE DAME AT NO. 1
· After beating No. 1 Syracuse on March 28, Notre Dame moved to the top of the USILA (coaches) and Cascade/Maverik (media) polls.
· The Irish have been in the top spot each of the last four weeks, which is the program’s longest run at No. 1.
· This is the eighth week in the history of the Fighting Irish program that they have been No. 1 in both polls.
Here are Notre Dame’s previous appearances at No. 1:
April 18 — May 2, 2011 (USILA & media polls — 2 weeks)
March 25 — April 1, 2013 (USILA & media polls — 1 week)
April 22 — April 29, 2013 (USILA & media polls — 1 week)
DOSS GETTING IT DONE
· Sophomore goalie Shane Doss is 14th nationally in save percentage (.562) and 21st in goals-against average (8.57). Doss leads the ACC in save percentage and is second in goals-against average.
· Doss made a career-high 17 saves in the win at Duke (April 4). He has made 10 or more saves in six of his eight starts this season.
· He was named the USILA Division I Defensive Player of the Week and the ACC Defensive Player of the Week after the Irish shut out Ohio State, 9-0. He earned the ACC honor once again along with being the NCAA.com Defensive Player of the Week for his career-high 17 save effort in the 15-10 win at Duke.
· Doss has a 8-1 record this season and a 13-4 career mark.
GETTING OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE
· Notre Dame ranks seventh nationally in scoring offense (13.80 gpg) and 17th in scoring defense (8.80 gpg).
KAVANAGH PRODUCING POINTS
· Matt Kavanagh has compiled three or more points in nine of 10 games this season. He ranks 14th nationally in assists per game (2.20) and 16th in points per game (4.30).
· The junior attackman has notched six or more points in three games this season and in 11 games during his career.
· Kavanagh’s career 3.64 points-per-game average is fourth among all active Division I players.
· Kavanagh had his career-best 17-game goal streak snapped against Marquette, but he did have three assists versus the Golden Eagles.
MANNING UP
· Notre Dame boasts the nation’s second-best man-up offense (.621). The Fighting Irish are 18-of-29 in extra-man opportunities this season. Mikey Wynne and Matt Kavanagh have a team-best five man-advantage goals, while Sergio Perkovic has four man-up tallies.
HOT SHOTS
· The Fighting Irish rank third nationally in shooting percentage (.358). Individually, Mikey Wynne is third in the nation in shooting percentage (.526) and Conor Doyle is sixth (.488).
CONSISTENCY FROM Conor Doyle
· Senior attackman Conor Doyle has a 31-game point streak, which ties him for 12th nationally and is the longest on the team.
· Doyle has produced 89 points (57g, 32a) during the streak.
· Doyle has notched 10 goals and five assists in the last three games. He tied a career-high mark of four goals in the win over Marquette after producing seven points on three goals and four assists in the victory at Duke. The point and assist totals against the Blue Devils were career highs.
FIGHTING IRISH SPURTS
· Notre Dame has produced significant scoring runs in each of the last nine games.
· The Irish tallied the final three goals of the game in a span of 1:15 to secure a 15-14 come-from-behind victory over North Carolina.
· Marquette claimed a 2-0 lead over Notre Dame before the Fighting Irish scored seven straight goals en route to the 14-7 win.
· The Irish netted seven of the game’s first nine goals in the 15-10 victory at Duke.
· The Fighting Irish extended their 5-3 halftime lead against Syracuse with four straight second-half scores to claim a six-goal advantage (9-3) before going on to win 13-12 in double-overtime.
· Notre Dame scored every goal in the 9-0 win over Ohio State on March 21.
· The Fighting Irish scored the first seven goals in the 11-9 victory at Virginia.
· Notre Dame surrendered the first goal to Denver before scoring five straight times, but the Irish would suffer an 11-10 overtime setback.
· After Dartmouth tied Notre Dame, 2-2, the Fighting Irish rattled off 14 consecutive tallies in the 20-5 victory.
· The Irish overturned a 1-0 deficit at Michigan with nine straight goals en route to the 17-8 victory.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
· Notre Dame has had at least six different goal scorers in seven of 10 games this season.
· Notre Dame had a season-high 10 goal scorers in wins over Dartmouth and Michigan. The Irish had a season-low four goal scorers in the win at Virginia.
WHAT A START FOR WYNNE
· Freshman attackman Mikey Wynne has a team-high 30 goals this season.
· Wynne ranks 10th nationally in goals per game (3.00). He has posted two or more goals in eight of 10 games this season.
· Wynne scored six goals versus Georgetown in his collegiate debut.
PERKOVIC A PLAYMAKER
· Sophomore Sergio Perkovic is Notre Dame’s leading midfield scorer this season with 17 goals and six assists.
· Perkovic has 15 multiple-goal games during his career (six this season), including four games of three-plus tallies.
· He tied a career-high mark of five points with three goals and two assists April 7th versus Marquette. He had a hand in four straight Fighting Irish goals (2g, 2a) during the second quarter of that contest.
· Perkovic netted 28 goals last season, including five in the national title game. The 28 goals were the most ever for a freshman midfielder at Notre Dame.
KAVANAGH IN THE IRISH RECORD BOOK
· Junior attackman Matt Kavanagh’s 162 career points (91g, 71a) rank sixth in the Notre Dame record book.
· Kavanagh’s 91 goals are the eighth-most in school history and the 71 assists are the fifth most.
· Kavanagh produced Fighting Irish single-season records for points (75) and assists (33) in 2014.
· Kavanagh’s 42 goals last season were the most for a Notre Dame player since Randy Colley netted a school-record 49 goals in 1995.
· Kavanagh is the only player in Notre Dame history to register 30 goals and 30 assists in the same season (42g, 33a in 2014).
· He has 28 multiple-goal games during his career (15 with three-plus goals).
· Kavanagh matched a school record with seven goals in last season’s win at Ohio State.
OSSELLO ON A ROLL
· Senior midfielder Nick Ossello has registered a career-high three points in four of the last five games. He scored three goals against Ohio State and then tallied two goals and one assist versus Syracuse. Ossello deposited three goals against Duke and Marquette.
NOTRE DAME BLANKS THE BUCKEYES
· Notre Dame posted the second shutout in program history with the 9-0 blanking of No. 15 Ohio State on March 21 at Arlotta Stadium.
· Notre Dame sophomore Shane Doss started between the pipes and stopped 11 Buckeye shots, while senior Conor Kelly came off the bench to play the final 4:25 of the game and made two saves to preserve the shutout. Notre Dame’s only other clean sheet in program history came in a 15-0 win over Mt. Union on April 10, 1984.
· Notre Dame’s man-down defensive unit halted all five of Ohio State’s man-up chances.
FOUR ON TEWAARATON WATCH LIST
· Matt Kavanagh (Jr./A), Matt Landis (Jr./D), Jack Near (Sr./M) and Sergio Perkovic (So./M) are among 50 players who recently were named to the 2015 Tewaaraton Award Watch List.
· Kavanagh was a Tewaaraton Award nominee last season.
KAVANAGH IS CLUTCH
· Matt Kavanagh has three overtime game-winning goals during his career. He netted the deciding goal in last season’s triumph over Albany in the NCAA quarterfinals. During his freshman campaign, he scored in overtime against Penn State and North Carolina (3ot).
GAME CHANGERS AWARD
· Members of the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team have been recognized as Atlantic Coast Conference/United Way “Game Changers” and were honored during the 2015 New York Life ACC Tournament. The “Game Changers” initiative was introduced this year as part of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s unique and longstanding partnership with United Way. It seeks to recognize and highlight specific ACC team involvement with its local United Way chapter.
ELITE COMPANY
· Notre Dame and Duke are the only two schools to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship in each of the last five
campaigns.
· Notre Dame and Maryland are the only two programs to earn a spot in the NCAA Championship field in each of the last nine seasons.
· The Fighting Irish are 10-5 in the NCAA tournament over the last five seasons.
IRISH ATHLETICS TO HONOR FATHER HESBURGH
· The University of Notre Dame athletics department will commemorate the legacy of long-time University president Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., in a number of ways. Father Hesburgh died February 26 at age 97. He served as University president from 1952-87.
· Notre Dame athletic terams will wear “Father Ted” patches or stickers on some combination of their uniforms, warm-ups or helmets.
· Moments of silence will be observed prior to home events in each of Notre Dame’s 26 varsity sports.
· In the near future, there will be commemorative signage created for each Notre Dame home athletic venue — to be featured either on the field or court itself or displayed elsewhere at the facility.