Printer-Friendly Format     E-mail this article     Ryan Hoff notched five goals in a 15-5 victory over Villanova last season.

Fighting Irish looking for 4-0 start to 2008 season.

March 3, 2008

#5 Notre Dame at Villanova
Tuesday, March 4 • 4:00 p.m. (ET)
Villanova Stadium • Villanova, Pa.

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The fifth-ranked Notre Dame men's lacrosse team begins a four-game trip away from home with a game at Villanova on Tuesday, March 4. Game time is slated for 4:00 p.m. (ET) at Villanova Stadium. The Fighting Irish enter the contest 3-0, while the Wildcats are 1-2. This will be the 12th meeting between Notre Dame and Villanova.

ND-VILLANOVA SERIES NOTES: Tuesday will mark the 12th meeting all-time between the Fighting Irish and the Wildcats ... Notre Dame leads the series 7-4 ... the Irish are 4-1 against the Wildcats at Villanova ... the series began with Villanova claiming the first four meetings, while the Irish have won the past seven, including last year's 15-5 decision at home ... the first meeting occurred during the 1987 campaign, a 7-6 Wildcat victory ... Irish head coach Kevin Corrigan is 7-3 against Villanova during his Notre Dame tenure.

ABOUT THE IRISH: Notre Dame is off to its first 3-0 start since the 2003 season ... the Irish are coming off a 7-6 home victory over No. 13 Albany on Saturday (March 1) ... the Fighting Irish have topped two ranked teams this season (#17 Loyola, 7-6 & #13 Albany, 7-6) ... the Irish have used 12 different goalscorers ... junior attackmen Ryan Hoff and Duncan Swezey share the team lead in goals with seven apiece ... Swezey, who matched a career-high total with four goals against Albany, and senior Alex Wharton share the team lead in points with eight ... Wharton has a team-best six assists ... Notre Dame is averaging 9.67 goals per game, while allowing 7.00 goals a game ... senior goaltender Joey Kemp has played all 180 minutes between the pipes ... Kemp has made 34 saves and carries a .618 save percentage ... the Irish are currently ranked fifth in the USILA coaches poll along with being sixth in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media rankings ... Notre Dame returned seven starters and 17 letterwinners from last year's team that posted an 11-4 record and captured the Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) title with a perfect 5-0 conference mark ... that was the 10th GWLL crown for the Irish since the league was founded in 1994 ... in 2007, Notre Dame made its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and the 12th trip in program history ... the Irish fell to eventual national champion Johns Hopkins, 11-10, in overtime during the tournament's first round ... Kevin Corrigan is in his 20th season as the head coach of Notre Dame ... he has a record of 170-92 (.649) during his Fighting Irish tenure ... Corrigan was named the 2007 GWLL coach of the year ... that marked the fourth time he has received that honor.

ABOUT VILLANOVA: The Wildcats enter Tuesday's contest with a 1-2 record ... Villanova is coming off a 7-6 loss to Penn on Saturday (March 1) ... in the season opener, Villanova fell at Syracuse, 21-6 ... the Wildcats rebounded with a 9-6 win over Lafayette (Feb. 24) ... Jay Foley leads the team in goals (7), assists (4) and points (11) ... Tim Driscoll is second on the team with six goals, while Tim Langan has four ... Villanova returned four starters and 25 letterwinners from last season's squad that posted a 7-7 record overall ... the Wildcats went 2-4 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) ... head coach Mike Corrado is in his second season at the helm of the Villanova program.

THE LAST TIME: Notre Dame captured a 15-5 home victory over Villanova last season ... Ryan Hoff paced the Irish with five goals, while Michael Podgajny produced seven points on three goals and four assists ... Andy German and Jay Foley both scored two goals for the Wildcats ... Joey Kemp played 51:12 in goal for Notre Dame and made seven saves, while surrendering five goals.

IRISH VS. THE CAA: Notre Dame is 15-11 all-time against the Colonial Athletic Association, including a 12-11 mark in the Kevin Corrigan era ... the Irish were 2-0 against the CAA last season with wins over Drexel (16-5) and Villanova (15-5) ... Drexel is the only other CAA opponent on Notre Dame's 2008 schedule.

GOING FOR FOUR: With a win against Villanova on Tuesday, Notre Dame will start a season 4-0 for the first time since the 2001 campaign ... this season marks fifth time, and the first since 2003, that Notre Dame has begun a season 3-0 ... Notre Dame has started a season 4-0 on two occasions (1993 & 2001).

HOME SWEET HOME: Notre Dame has won a program-record 15 straight games at home ... the Irish are 2-0 at home this season ... the current streak stems back to a 14-13 overtime win against Air Force on April 10, 2005 ... Notre Dame's last loss at home was a 9-6 setback to Denver on April 7, 2005 ... the Irish went a perfect 6-0 at home during the 2006 campaign and followed it up with a 6-0 mark at home during the 2007 season ... four of the games during the streak have been played in the Loftus Sports Center, while the other 11 have taken place outside at Moose Krause Stadium ... Notre Dame owns an overall home record of 117-35 (.770) during the 28 years of varsity lacrosse at the University.

RECAPPING ALBANY: A Peter Christman goal with 23 seconds remaining in regulation gave No. 6 Notre Dame a 7-6 victory over No. 13 Albany on Saturday, March 1 inside the Loftus Sports Center ... Duncan Swezey led the Irish with a game-high and career-high tying four goals ... the Irish used solid efforts from their starting defensemen Sean Dougherty, Ross Zimmerman and Regis McDermott with key saves from senior goaltender Joey Kemp to hold Albany without a goal during both the first and third quarters ... the Notre Dame offense took advantage of the stout defense by jumping out to a 4-0 lead by the early stages of the second quarter ... Michael Podgajny started the scoring for the Irish with a goal off a feed from Grant Krebs at the 8:52 mark of the first period ... Swezey then followed with back-to-back tallies just 15 seconds apart to give Notre Dame a 3-0 lead after the opening quarter ... in the second period, Krebs put the Irish up by four with 11:37 left on the clock ... Albany used its own 4-0 run to knot the game heading into halftime ... Derek Dale put the Great Danes on the board with a man-up tally at the 8:01 mark ... Matt Johnson and Mike Ammann would notch scores 53 seconds apart to slice the deficit to one (4-3) ... Corey Small capped off the surge as he found the back of the net with 4:17 left in the half ... the Fighting Irish regained the lead on a Swezey goal with eight minutes elapsed in the second half ... that was the only scoring of the third quarter ... Notre Dame upped the advantage to two (6-4) as Swezey connected on his fourth goal, with the assist going to senior Alex Wharton with 10:54 left in the fourth quarter ... Small made it a 6-5 game with 9:41 on the clock and he would strike again with 50 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game before Christman deposited the game winner ... a final attempt by Albany's Jordan Levine was blocked by the Irish defense in the final seconds ... Taylor Clagett dominated in faceoffs as he won 12-of-16 attempts ... the Irish held a 39-24 advantage in shots ... Kemp and his counterpart Brett Queener both made 11 saves.

STREAKING: Junior attackman Ryan Hoff saw his career-long 11-game goal streak come to an end in the 7-6 victory over Albany on March 1 ... the streak, which dated back to last season, was the longest on the team ... fellow junior Duncan Swezey's current three-game goal streak is now the longest for the Irish ... senior midfielder Michael Podgany has scored at least one goal in the past 17 games in which he has played ... the only game he missed during that stretch was this season's opener against Loyola ... Podgajny missed the contest due to an injury.

11 STRAIGHT: The win over Albany marked Notre Dame's 11th straight regular-season victory ... the last loss in the regular season for the Irish came on March 17, 2007, a 7-6 setback at Dartmouth. FAST STARTS: Through the first three games of the season, Notre Dame has out scored its opponents 12-0 during the first quarter of play.

HOT DAY FOR HOFF: Ryan Hoff's six goals against Penn State (Feb. 24) were just one shy of the school record that he shares with Randy Colley (class of 1995) ... Hoff, a junior attackman, netted seven goals in a 16-5 win over Drexel last season ... the junior attackman led the Irish with 40 goals one season ago.

CAREER DAY FOR WHARTON: Senior attackman Alex Wharton notched career-highs in assists with four and total points with five in the 15-9 victory over Penn State on Feb. 24 ... all of his assists were on Ryan Hoff goals.

SPREADING THE WEALTH: The Fighting Irish have had 12 different players notch at least one goal through the first three games of the season ... in the season-opener, Notre Dame produced seven goals from seven different players in a 7-6 win over Loyola ... the Irish used nine different goalscorers in a 15-9 triumph of Penn State last Sunday.

IRISH DEFENSE: The Irish are surrendering just 7.00 goals per game through the first three contests this season ... the Notre Dame defense has shut out its opponents during the first quarter of all three games ... Notre Dame boasted the nation's fourth-best scoring defense in 2007 by allowing a school-record 6.66 goals per game ... several key components to the Irish defense are back this season, including goaltender Joey Kemp in goal and starting defensemen Sean Dougherty, Ross Zimmerman and Regis McDermott.

SAVING THE DAY: Senior goaltender Joey Kemp ranks third in Notre Dame history with 29 career victories ... the two-time All-America honoree carries an overall record of 29-11 ... Kemp ranked fourth nationally in both goals-against average (6.78) and save percentage (.614) last season en route to being named the 2007 Great Western Lacrosse League player of the year ... he is currently first in school history with a 7.40 goals-against average.

GETTING OFFENSIVE: In 2007, Notre Dame averaged 11.65 goals per game, which ranked the Irish fourth in the nation ... so far this season, the Fighting Irish are averaging 9.67 goals a game.

MAN UP: Notre Dame has converted on 4-of-15 man up opportunities this season ... last season, the Fighting Irish converted on 50-percent (29-of-58) of their man-up opportunities ... that conversion percentage ranked Notre Dame second among all NCAA Division I teams.

NOTRE DAME IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame is currently fifth in the USILA coaches poll and sixth in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media rankings ... that is the highest the Fighting Irish have been ranked in either poll this season.

QUALITY COMPETITION: The Fighting Irish have five teams on their 2008 schedule that appear in the latest Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll ... Notre Dame opened the campaign with a 7-6 victory against current No. 13 Loyola ... the Irish topped then No. 13 Albany, 7-6, on March 1 ... Notre Dame takes on No. 4 North Carolina in Chapel Hill on March 8 ... Notre Dame will host No. 15 Drexel on March 25 ... a Great Western Lacrosse League showdown against No. 19 Denver will take place on April 5 in Chicago.

KEMP ON TEWAARATON WATCH LIST: Senior goaltender Joey Kemp was named to the 51-man watch list for the Tewaaraton Award, which is presented annually to the nation's top player ... this marks the second season that Kemp has been named to the award's watch list.

IRISH EARN PRESEASON HONORS: Seven Notre Dame players earned preseason All-America recognition from Inside Lacrosse Magazine and its Face-Off Yearbook ... headlining the group for the Fighting Irish were second-team honorees Taylor Clagett (M/FO), Sean Dougherty (D), Joey Kemp (G) and Will Yeatman (A) ... joining the quartet of second-team picks for the Irish was third-team member Michael Podgajny (M) and honorable mention selections Ryan Hoff (A) and Ross Zimmerman (D).

IRISH TABBED TO WIN GWLL: Notre Dame was selected to win its second straight Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) title according to Inside Lacrosse ... the GWLL head coaches selected the preseason order of finish within the league ... Ohio State, Denver, Air Force, Quinnipiac and Bellarmine followed Notre Dame in the voting.

FOUR IRISH PLAYERS AMONG IL TOP 50: Four Irish athletes were named to the Inside Lacrosse top-50 players list for the 2008 season ... senior goaltender Joey Kemp was the highest-ranked Fighting Irish player as he was 13th overall and the second-ranked goaltender on the list ... sophomore attackman Will Yeatman was 15th, while senior defenseman Sean Dougherty and senior midfielder Michael Podgajny were 35th and 37th, respectively.

KEMP AND WHARTON NAMED `08 IRISH CAPTAINS: Seniors Joey Kemp and Alex Wharton have been named captains for the 2008 season ... Kemp was one of three captains for the Fighting Irish last season, while this will mark Wharton's first year as a co-captain ... Kemp, a goalkeeper, is a two-time All-America honoree ... he was named the 2007 Great Western Lacrosse League player of the year, in addition to being selected as an honorable mention All-American ... Kemp has started 42 straight games in goal during his stellar career ... last season, he ranked fourth nationally in goals-against average (6.78) and save percentage (0.614) ... Wharton, an attackman, is coming off a career-best season ... in 2007, Wharton notched career-high totals in goals (8), assists (10) and points (18) ... he played in 14 games with eight starts last season ... Wharton has seen the field in 29 career games, including 13 starts ... his career totals feature 12 goals, 18 assists for 30 points.

FOLLOW ALL ND HOME GAMES ONLINE: All five of Notre Dame's true home games will feature livestats available through und.com, the official web site of all 26 varsity athletic programs at the University ... simply go to the men's lacrosse page and click on `Schedule' at the top of the page and find the game that is being played that day and click on `Gametracker' to follow the game for free.

SIGN UP FOR IRISH ALERT TEXT MESSAGE SERVICE: Go to und.com to sign up for Irish ALERT, a text messaging service designed to give fans up-to-the-minute game updates for all 26 varsity sports at Notre Dame.

KEEPING UP WITH ND MEN'S LACROSSE: For results of Notre Dame men's lacrosse games, call the Notre Dame Sports Hotline at (574) 631-3000 and choose #5 and #1 ... the hotline provides schedules and result information for all 26 varsity sports and serves as a supplement to the match recaps and weekly releases provided on the official athletic website, www.und.com ... in addition, media members and fans may be added to the sports information e-mail release list by contacting assistant sports information director Sean Carroll at Carroll.64@nd.edu ... all requests for story ideas, interview access, match credentials, and further information on Irish men's lacrosse should similarly be directed to Carroll ... credential and interview requests should be made at least 24 hours in advance.