Notre Dame Remains Unbeaten
from press release
HAMDEN, Conn. - The third-ranked Notre Dame
men's lacrosse team captured a 10-2 win at Quinnipiac in Great
Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) play on Saturday afternoon. The
Fighting Irish improved to 11-0 overall and 4-0 in the GWLL with
the win.
Senior attackman Duncan Swezey (Ambler, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) led
the Irish with three points on two goals and an assist. Junior
midfielder Grant Krebs (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's) chipped in two
goals for Notre Dame, who has now won a program-record 11 straight
games. The two goals allowed were a season-low total for the Irish
defense.
Notre Dame got on the board first as junior attackman Neal Hicks
(Atlanta, Ga./The Lovett School) scored five minutes into the
contest. The Irish went up 2-0 as freshman midfielder Eric Keppeler
(Baldwin, Md./Dulaney) notched his first goal of the season off a
feed from Swezey with 1:51 remaining in the first quarter. Krebs
scored 36 seconds later to put the Fighting Irish up by three at
the end of the first period.
Adam Felicetti (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) gave Notre Dame
a four-goal advantage early in the second quarter. That marked the
first goal of the season for the junior midfielder. The Irish went
up 5-0 with 3:39 left in the first half when freshman Nicholas
Beattie (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) scored with the
assist going to his classmate Bobby Smith (Woodbine,
N.J./Lawrenceville School). Notre Dame went up by six two minutes
later with a goal from Swezey on an assist from Zach Brenneman
(East Hampton, N.Y./East Hampton).
Swezey gave Notre Dame a 7-0 lead at the intermission as he scored
with three seconds left on the clock. The no goals allowed in the
first half was a season-best effort for any half for the Irish
defense.
Quinnipiac (3-8, 1-3) snapped Notre Dame's season-best 38:09
scoreless streak as Jack Oppenheimer scored at the 11:58 mark of
the third quarter. The Fighting Irish regained their seven-goal
advantage when senior attackman Ryan Hoff (Baldwin, Md./Dulaney)
notched his 20th goal of the season on an assist from Brenneman
with just over five minutes remaining in the third period.
A man-up goal from Krebs on an assist from Matt Ciambella (Orchard
Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) made it 9-1 in favor of the Irish with
9:33 left in regulation. That was Krebs' team-best 21st goal of the
season. The junior now has team-best streaks for points (27) and
goals (23).
The Bobcats answered back 11 seconds later to make it 9-2 on a
Kevin Kelly tally.
Notre Dame senior midfielder Kevin Cullinane (Southport,
Conn./Fairfield Prep) scored the first goal of his career in a
return to his home state to put the Irish back up by eight (10-2)
with 6:24 left on the clock. Beattie picked up the assist on the
play.
Senior goalie Scott Rodgers (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) remained
undefeated as he made five saves and allowed one goal in 50:27 of
action. Freshman Colt Power (Dallas, Texas/Episcopal School of
Dallas) saw his first action of the season and made two saves,
while allowing a goal in 9:33 of play. Quinnipiac's Kevin Benzing
played the entire contest and made seven saves in the loss. Notre
Dame held a 31-25 edge in shots, while the Bobcats won 10 of 16
faceoffs.
The Fighting Irish have a quick turnaround as they will play host
to St. John's tomorrow at Alumni Field. Game time is slated for
3:00 p.m. (ET). Notre Dame will put its nation-best 24-game home
field win streak on the line against the Red Storm. The game will
be the regular-season home finale for the Irish.
