Feb. 27, 2016
There must be something about the Loftus Sports Center that suits University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse attack Mikey Wynne.
The Irish sophomore began his collegiate career a little more than a year ago with a half-dozen goals in Notre Dame’s 2015 season-opening win over Georgetown in the team’s indoor home.
Saturday Wynne did it again, notching six more goals (he had a hat trick before the first period was over) in a 14-5 victory by the top-rated Irish (3-0) over Detroit (0-3) in front of a packed crowd of 1,335 fans.
(The Notre Dame single-game record for goals is seven, last accomplished by current senior Matt Kavanagh in 2014.)
It doesn’t hurt on a given afternoon to have an All-America midfielder as your offensive sidekick-and that’s what happened Saturday as Notre Dame junior Sergio Perkovic had four goals of his own to nearly match Wynne’s pace.
The visiting Titans notched the first goal of the game at the 13:51 mark-then it was all Irish from there. Notre Dame put the next seven goals on the board, three in a row by Wynne followed by tallies by freshman Drew Schantz, captain and All-American Kavanagh (he was back in the starting lineup after missing the Wednesday Irish win over Bellarmine), plus two by Perkovic.
Perkovic finished off a hat trick of his own before halftime (the Irish led 8-2 at the break). Then he accounted for the first Notre Dame goal of the third period, meaning his four scores came in a 20:39 window.
After Detroit stopped the bleeding with a goal in the final minute of the first half, the Irish reeled off six straight to seal the verdict. Wynne had three more goals after halftime (he also had an assist for a seven-point day and was an ultra-efficient six of seven shooting)-and he had help from freshman Brendan Gleason and Anthony Marini who both got their first tallies of the 2016 campaign.
Freshman Ryder Garnsey and Kavanagh had two assists apiece. Two of Notre Dame’s final three goals came on extra-man chances.
Detroit scored three times in the final period after Kevin Corrigan’s Irish team had built the advantage to 13-2.
“We had the better of play most of the time, but we had some sloppy stick work and we need to be more selective shooting the ball at times. Those are some things we need to work on,” said Corrigan.
The Irish outshot Detroit 39-23, won 15 of 22 face-offs (nine of 14 by P.J. Finley and six of eight by John Travisano Jr.) and forced 23 Titan miscues. Notre Dame was successful on all 18 clearing attempts, while Detroit was only 12 of 20.
Irish junior goaltender Shane Doss notched his third win with seven saves (and two goals allowed)-while sophomore Owen Molloy played the final 12:36 in the net in his first collegiate action.
The unbeaten Irish are back in action at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST) Saturday against fifth-ranked Maryland, the 2015 NCAA runner-up, in the Pacific Coast Shootout in Costa Mesa, California.
| Score by Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Detroit (0-3) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Notre Dame (3-0) | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 14 |
Detroit Scoring:
Goals: Mark Anstead 1, Alex Gilhooly 1, Sean Birney 1, Andy Hebden 1, Mike Spuller 1
Assists: Anstead 1, Birney 1, Gilhooly 1
Notre Dame Scoring
Goals: Mike Wynne 6, Sergio Perkovic 4, Matt Kavanagh 1, Brendan Gleason 1, Drew Schantz 1, Anthony Marini 1
Assists: Ryder Garnsey 2, Kavanagh 2, Wynne 1, Brendan Collins 1, P.J. Finley 1, Ben Pridemore 1, Kyle Trolley 1
Goalkeepers
Detroit: Jason Webber, L, 60:00, 14 goals against, 14 saves
Notre Dame: Shane Doss, W, 47:24, 2 goals against, 7 saves: Owen Molloy, 12:36, 3 goals against, 4 saves