Notre Dame Grinds Out Win over PSU
from press release
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The third-ranked Notre
Dame men's lacrosse team improved to 2-0 on the season with a 6-2
triumph of Penn State on Sunday afternoon at Bigler Field. The
Fighting Irish used six different goal scorers to claim their ninth
straight victory over the Nittany Lions.
The two goals allowed by the Fighting Irish defense were the fewest
since a 12-2 win over St. John's during the 2009 season. Notre Dame
sophomore goalie John Kemp made eight saves in goal, while his
counterpart Austin Kaut had 15 stops for Penn State (1-1).
Notre Dame led 3-2 after three quarters of play and the Irish out
scored Penn State 3-0 in the final period to secure the victory.
Junior midfielder Max Pfeifer netted a man-up goal at the 11:15
mark of the fourth quarter to give the Irish a 4-2 edge. That was
Pfeifer's second goal of the season.
Freshman attackman Westy Hopkins scored less than a minute later to
give Notre Dame its first three-goal advantage (5-2) of the
contest. Hopkins has three goals this season. Junior midfielder
Eric Keppeler deposited the game's final tally, on an assist from
Sean Rogers, with 3:50 remaining. It was Keppeler's first goal of
the season.
Notre Dame grabbed a 1-0 lead just over two minutes into the
contest on junior attackman Nicholas Beattie's first goal of the
season. Penn State answered back at the 6:06 mark of the first
quarter on a Matt Mackrides man-up tally. Senior midfielder Zach
Brenneman put the Fighting Irish up 2-1 with nine seconds left in
the opening quarter. Brenneman has a team-high four goals this
season.
Fighting Irish sophomore attackman Ryan Foley registered the game's
only goal of the second quarter as he deposited his first score of
the season with 13:29 left in the opening half.
The Nittany Lions scored the only third-quarter goal as Tom
Lacrosse made it a one-goal affair (3-2) with just over seven
elapsed in the stanza.
Notre Dame out shot Penn State 42-19 and the Irish forced 16
turnovers. Fighting Irish senior defenseman Kevin Ridgway forced a
game-high three turnovers. Senior long-stick midfielder Andrew
Irving and junior midfielder Devon Dobson both had a team-high
three ground balls for the Irish.
The Nittany Lions held a slim 7-5 edge in the faceoff circle. Irish
freshman Liam O'Connor was 4-for-8 in faceoffs and senior Jake
Marmul was 1-for-4.
The two scores were the fewest-ever for Penn State in the 18
all-time meetings against Notre Dame. The Irish lead the series
versus the Nittany Lions, 14-4.
The Fighting Irish will open the home portion of their 2011 slate
next Sunday versus No. 19 Drexel. Game time is slated for 1:00 p.m.
(ET).
February 27, 2011 - Bigler Field - University Park, Pa.
#3 Notre Dame (2-0) - 2 1 0 3 - 6
Penn State (1-1) - 1 0 1 0 - 2
Notre Dame Scoring (goals-assists):
Nicholas Beattie 1-0, Zach Brenneman 1-0, Ryan Foley 1-0, Max
Pfeifer 1-0, Westy Hopkins 1-0, Eric Keppeler 1-0, Sean Rogers 0-1;
Goaltender: John Kemp (W, 60:00, 8 saves, 2 GA)
Penn State Scoring (goals-assists):
Matt Mackrides 1-0, Tom Lacrosse 1-0, Colton Vosburgh 0-1;
Goaltender: Austin Kaut (L, 60:00, 15 saves, 6 GA)
