Notre Dame is Final Unbeaten Team
from press release
DENVER, Colo. - Duncan Swezey's third goal of
the game snapped an 8-8 tie with 2:03 left in regulation and the
fourth-ranked Notre Dame men's lacrosse team held on for a 10-8
victory over Denver on Saturday afternoon at Invesco Field at Mile
High.
Sophomore midfielder David Earl (Simsbury, Conn./Westminster
School) sealed the game as he scored with 1:09 remaining. The win
improved Notre Dame to 10-0 on the season and 3-0 in Great Western
Lacrosse League (GWLL) play. The contest against the Pioneers (6-6,
1-2) was part of the sixth annual Rocky Mountain Showdown.
"It was another guy who stepped up for us today. Duncan Swezey had
the hat trick and it seems like every game we have another guy step
up with a hat trick," stated Irish head coach Kevin Corrigan.
Denver jumped out in front first behind a goal from Andrew Lay at
the 12:55 mark of the first quarter. That would be the only lead of
the game for the Pioneers. Notre Dame responded with four straight
goals to claim a three-goal advantage with 8:39 left in the opening
half.
Junior midfielder Grant Krebs (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's) put the
Irish on the board off a pass from Swezey (Ambler, Pa./Hatboro
Horsham) at the midway point of the first quarter. Sophomore Zach
Brenneman (East Hampton, N.Y./East Hampton) then found the back of
the net with senior Peter Christman (Simsbury, Conn./Westminster
School) picking up the assist. Notre Dame led 2-1 after the opening
15 minutes of play.
Back-to-back scores from Swezey just over a minute apart put Notre
Dame up 4-1. Senior Ryan Hoff (Baldwin, Md./Dulaney) assisted on
the first tally. Following a Denver goal from Todd Baxter, the
Fighting Irish regained their three-goal lead (5-2) as Brenneman
sent home his second goal of the day with Christman picking up his
team-high 13th assist of the season.
The Pioneers trimmed the lead back to two (5-3) as Lay scored his
second goal of the afternoon with 3:56 left in the first half.
Notre Dame answered back 22 seconds later when Hoff deposited his
19th goal of the season. Krebs then followed with his 19th tally of
the campaign at the three-minute mark of the second quarter. Hoff
and Krebs share the team lead in goals.
The goal flurry continued when Denver's Ben Wahler scored six
seconds after the Krebs goal to make it 7-4 in favor of the Irish.
A Mark Matthews goal with seven seconds remaining in the first half
sliced the Notre Dame lead to two (7-5) at halftime.
A goal from Matthews with 1:32 left in the third quarter would be
the only score from either team in the period. Notre Dame carried a
7-6 lead into the final stanza.
The Fighting Irish grabbed some breathing room when junior Kelly
McKenna (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield) scored off a feed from Earl with
9:43 on the clock. Denver responded with a man-down goal from Joey
Murray at the 9:17 mark of the fourth quarter. The Pioneers then
tied the contest (8-8) with 5:07 left in regulation when Patrick
Rogers found the back of the net.
"Maybe the most encouraging thing about today was our poise," added
Corrigan. "It was a tough situation playing in a hostile
environment and their crowd got into it when they tied it up (8-8)
late in the game, but we handled it and came through with the
win."
Senior goalie Scott Rodgers (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) remained
undefeated by making 15 saves on the afternoon. Denver's Peter
Lowell had nine stops in the loss. Notre Dame held a 43-32
advantage in shots.
"Having our defense give up eight goals today was a little
disappointing, but I felt Scott Rodgers played well in the cage,"
commented Corrigan. "Denver is a good team. They can score in a lot
of different ways and they showed that today."
The Irish claimed the faceoff battle as they won 12 of 22 attempts.
Junior Trever Sipperly (Greenwich, N.Y./Greenwich) went 7-5, while
sophomore Jake Marmul (Livonia, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central) was
5-5. Notre Dame senior defenseman Regis McDermott (Amityville,
N.Y./Chaminade) picked up a career-high seven ground balls. Junior
attackman Neal Hicks (Atlanta, Ga./The Lovett School) assisted on
Swezey's game winner.
Notre Dame now has won 16 of its last 17 contests against GWLL
opponents. With Virginia's loss today to Duke, the Irish are now
the only undefeated team left in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse.
