Printer-Friendly Format     E-mail this article     Senior co-captain Alex Wharton has a team-high 47 points on a team-best 29 assists and 18 goals.

Notre Dame and Colgate both riding winning streaks into the first-round tilt.

May 8, 2008

#10 Colgate (11-5) vs. #5 Notre Dame (13-2)
NCAA Tournament First Round
Sunday, May 11 • 12:00 p.m. (ET)
Alumni Field • Notre Dame, Ind.
Television: ESPNU (Live)

Complete Release in PDF Format

Notre Dame will play host to an NCAA Tournament game for the first time as the sixth-seeded Irish welcome Colgate to Alumni Field on Sunday for a 12 noon (ET) start. This will be the 13th NCAA appearance for the Fighting Irish, while the Raiders are making their first trip to the NCAAs. Notre Dame is coming off a 9-2 win over Ohio State in the Great Western Lacrosse League Tournament title game on Sunday, May 4. Colgate, the champions of the Patriot League, defeated Syracuse, 12-11, last Saturday.

HOW TO FOLLOW: Sunday's game will be aired live on ESPNU ... Dave Cohen will handle play-by-play duties, while Mark Dixon will be the analyst ... you can also follow the game via `Gametracker' on und.com ... simply go to the men's lacrosse page and click on `Schedule' and find the Colgate game and click on `Gametracker' ... fans can also 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.

ND-COLGATE SERIES NOTES: This will be just the second meeting ever between Notre Dame and Colgate ... the Fighting Irish captured an 11-10 win over the Raiders in Geneva, N.Y. during the 1987 season.

ABOUT THE IRISH: Notre Dame (13-2) is riding a season-best six-game win streak into the NCAA Tournament ... Notre Dame has also won a program-record 18 straight games at home ... the Irish are coming off a 9-2 victory over No. 10 Ohio State in the title game of the inaugural GWLL Tournament ... Notre Dame has defeated five ranked teams this season (#17 Loyola, 7-6; #13 Albany, 7-6; #11 Drexel, 13-6; #9 Ohio State, 17-12; #10 Ohio State 9-2) ... the Fighting Irish concluded the regular season with an 11-2 record, including a 4-1 mark in the Great Western Lacrosse League to finish among a three-way tie for the conference title with Ohio State and Denver ... that marked the 11th GWLL regular-season title for Notre Dame since the league was founded in 1994 ... the Irish are currently ranked fifth in this week's USILA coaches poll and sixth in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media rankings ... that matches the team's highest ranking of the season ... junior attackman Ryan Hoff leads the Fighting Irish with 39 goals this season ... senior attackman Alex Wharton has team-high totals in points (47) and assists (29), both career-best marks ... sophomore midfielder Grant Krebs is second on the team with 24 goals ... senior midfielder Michael Podgajny and junior attackman Duncan Swezey both have 22 goals ... Notre Dame boasts the nation's fifth-best scoring offense by notching 12.60 goals per game ... the Irish defense also ranks fifth nationally as they surrender just 6.80 goals per game ... senior goaltender Joey Kemp ranks second nationally with a .642 save percentage and he is third with a 6.38 goals-against average ... the Irish have the top faceoff unit in the country with a .649 winning percentage ... senior Taylor Clagett has won faceoffs at a .644 (186-289) clip to rank second in the nation ... Notre Dame returned seven starters and 17 letterwinners from last year's team that posted an 11-4 record and captured the GWLL title with a perfect 5-0 conference mark ... in 2007, Notre Dame fell to eventual national champion Johns Hopkins, 11-10, in overtime during the first round of the NCAA Tournament ... Kevin Corrigan is in his 20th season as the head coach of Notre Dame ... he has a record of 180-94 (.657) 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 COLGATE: The Raiders (11-5) are making their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance ... Colgate won its first-ever Patriot League title this season ... Colgate heads into the tournament on a seven-game win streak, which includes a 12-11 win over No. 2 Syracuse in the regular-season finale ... the Raiders have defeated a ranked opponent in each of the past four games ... the 11 wins ties the program record for wins in a season and is the third consecutive season Colgate has posted 11 victories ... headlining Colgate's attack are juniors Brandon Corp and Kevin Colleluori and senior Matt Lalli ... Corp leads all scorers with 40 goals and 14 assists for 54 points, while Lalli has 19 tallies and a team-best 26 helpers for 45 points. ... Colleluori has 33 goals and nine assists for 42 points overall ... senior Chris Eck has a 193-116 record in faceoffs for a .625 win percentage ... in goal, sophomore Tim Harrington sports a 10-5 record and .586 save percentage and 8.73 goals against average ... as a team, Colgate averages 9.94 goals per game on offense, while surrendering 8.81 per game ... head coach Jim Nagle is in his sixth season with the Raiders.

UP NEXT: The winner of the Notre Dame-Colgate game will take on the winner of the Syracuse-Canisius tilt in the NCAA quarterfinals on Sunday, May 18 at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y. ... Syracuse is the tournament's third seed, while Canisius is unseeded ... the Orange and Griffins will battle on Sunday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. (ET) in Syracuse, N.Y.

NOTRE DAME IN NCAA PLAY: The Fighting Irish are making their 13th trip to the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship in the 28-year history of the program ... all of the appearances have occurred since the 1990 season ... the Fighting Irish carry a 4-12 mark in NCAA Tournament games ... the best performance by the Fighting Irish in the postseason was in 2001 as they made it to the national semifinals ... in addition to the 2001 campaign, the Irish reached the quarterfinals of the tournament in 1995 and 2000 ... this is the school's third straight trip to the NCAAs ... Notre Dame has fell to the eventual national champion in the first round in each of the past two tournaments ... last season, the Irish dropped a thrilling, 11-10, overtime contest at Johns Hopkins ... in 2006, Notre Dame was bested at Virginia, 14-10.

SEEDING: This season marks just the second time ever that Notre Dame has been seeded for the NCAA Tournament ... prior to being the sixth seed for this year's championship, the only other time the Irish were seeded was in 2001 ... that season, Notre Dame was the fifth seed and made the program's only appearance in the national semifinals.

COMMON OPPONENTS: Notre Dame and Colgate have faced three common opponents this season (Denver, Ohio State, Lehigh) ... Colgate opened the season with a 15-5 loss at Denver ... Notre Dame also fell to the Pioneers, 9-8, in Bridgeview, Ill. ... Colgate then dropped a 13-6 decision at Ohio State ... the Irish defeated the Buckeyes twice this season (17-12, 9-2) ... both teams defeated Lehigh ... the Raiders downed the Mountain Hawks, 5-3, and Notre Dame bested Lehigh, 14-7.

IRISH AGAINST THE NCAA FIELD: The Fighting Irish played a total of four teams (Loyola, Ohio State (twice), Denver, North Carolina) that made this year's NCAA Tournament field ... Notre Dame posted a 3-2 record against those squads ... the Irish won at Loyola, 7-6, in the season opener ... Notre Dame topped Ohio State, 17-12, at home in the regular-season finale and then defeated the Buckeyes, 9-2, a week later in the GWLL title game in Birmingham, Mich. ... the Irish fell at North Carolina, 8-6, and to Denver, 9-8, in a game played at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. ... those are the only two losses for Notre Dame this season.

VS. TOP 10: Since 1990, Notre Dame has an 11-36 mark against teams ranked in the top 10 ... the Irish will look to improve that mark against No. 10 Colgate on Sunday ... this season, the Fighting Irish are 2-1 against the top-10 ... Notre Dame's 17-12 victory over Ohio State on April 27 marked the first win over a top-10 team since a 9-7 triumph of No. 10 North Carolina in 2005 ... the Irish topped the 10th-ranked Buckeyes, 9-2, in the GWLL title game on May 4.

GWLL SUCCESS: Notre Dame defeated Ohio State, 9-2, in the championship game of the inaugural Great Western Lacrosse League Tournament on Sunday, May 4 in Birmingham, Mich. ... the Fighting Irish have won 11 GWLL regular-season titles, including this year's co-championship with Ohio State and Denver ... the Irish have won the title outright seven times, while earning a share of the crown four times ... Notre Dame is 55-10 (.846) all-time in GWLL regular-season play ... this is the 15th season for the GWLL ... Notre Dame has gone undefeated in GWLL play on seven occasions, including last season's 5-0 mark.

WELL REPRESENTED: For the first time in the 15-year history of the conference, three teams from the Great Western Lacrosse League have received bids to the NCAA Tournament ... Notre Dame, Ohio State and Denver are all among the 16-team NCAA field ... this is just the second time that the GWLL has placed multiple teams into the tournament ... the other occurred in 2006 as Denver received the automatic bid and Notre Dame was an at-large selection.

SHUTTING DOWN THE BUCKEYES: Notre Dame held No. 10 Ohio State to a single goal in each half during the 9-2 victory in the GWLL championship game on May 2 ... that was the fewest goals allowed by a Notre Dame defense since a 14-2 win over Lehigh last April ... it also marked the fewest goals surrendered by an Irish defense against a ranked opponent in the history of the program ... the Buckeyes entered the contest averaging over 14 goals a game, which ranked them in the top-five nationally for scoring offense.

KEMP GARNERS NATIONAL ACCOLADE: Senior goaltender Joey Kemp was named the Nike/Inside Lacrosse National Player of the Week for his stellar performance in the 9-2 win over No. 10 Ohio State in the GWLL Tournament championship game on May 4th ... Kemp made a season-high 18 saves in shutting down the Buckeyes, who entered the contest averaging over 14 goals per game.

GWLL HONORS: Six Fighting Irish players received All-Great Western Lacrosse League honors for the 2008 campaign ... Michael Podgajny (Sr., M), Sean Dougherty (Sr., D), Ross Zimmerman (Sr., D) and Joey Kemp (Sr., G) earned first-team accolades, while Ryan Hoff (Jr., A) and Alex Wharton (Sr., A) were named to the second team ... this marked the third all-league first-team honor for Kemp and the second for both Dougherty and Zimmerman ... Podgajny was a second-team pick last season ... Hoff earned a first-team nod last season, while this is Wharton's first all-conference honor.

LUCKY 13: Notre Dame's 13 victories this season marks the most for the program since the 2001 campaign ... the Fighting Irish went 14-2 that season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament semifinals.

HAT TRICKS FOR HOFF: Ryan Hoff led the Fighting Irish with three goals in the 10-6 win over Quinnipiac in the GWLL semifinals ... that marked the seventh game this season in which Hoff, a junior attackman, has scored three or more goals ... that is the most for any Fighting Irish player this season ... Hoff leads Notre Dame with 39 goals this season after pacing the team with 40 goals last year ... his 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 netted seven goals in a 16-5 win over Drexel last season ... Hoff also notched a five-goal game this season in a 16-6 triumph of Villanova (March 4)

REACHING THE CENTURY MARK: Junior attackman Ryan Hoff notched his 100th career goal in the win over Ohio State in the GWLL title game on May 4th ... his 100 goals currently ranks fifth in the Notre Dame record books ... he is six goals away from moving into the top-four ... Randy Colley (1992-95) is the program record-holder with 173 tallies.

RECORD-SETTING CAREER: Senior goaltender Joey Kemp notched his school-record 33rd career victory in the 19-7 win over Bellarmine on March 29 ... Kemp is now 39-13 overall during his Irish career ... in addition, Kemp is currently first in Irish history with a 7.14 goals-against average and with 3067:14 minutes played for a goaltender ... he is also first in games started for a goaltender (43) ... the two-time All-American currently ranks third in school history in saves (606).

KEMP AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS: Joey Kemp ranks in the top-three nationally in both save percentage (2nd, .642) and goals-against average (3rd, 6.38) this season ... last season, he ranked fourth nationally in both goals-against average (6.78) and save percentage (.614) en route to being named the 2007 Great Western Lacrosse League Player of the Year and an honorable-mention All-American.

LOCKING DOWN: While the Notre Dame offense has reached double digits 10 times this season, the Irish defense has only surrendered a double-digit tally on one occasion (12g, Ohio State) ... the Fighting Irish are surrendering just 6.80 goals per game this season, which ranks in a tie for fifth nationally ... the Irish have held opponents to six goals on seven occasions, five goals once (Air Force) and allowed a season-low two goals against Ohio State on May 4th ... 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 and starting defensemen Sean Dougherty, Ross Zimmerman and Regis McDermott.

DOMINATING THE X: As a team, Notre Dame boasts the nation's top faceoff percentage (.649) ... senior Taylor Clagett ranks second nationally in that category with a .644 (186-289) win percentage ... Clagett has been a valuable asset for the Irish during his Notre Dame career as he has won over 60-percent (.609) of his faceoff opportunities ... injuries have hampered Clagett over the past two seasons, yet he has kept Notre Dame among the nation's best in faceoffs ... last season, Clagett ranked 16th nationally as he won 164 of 189 faceoff attempts ... in 2006, he won 126 of 205 attempts for a .615 percentage, which would have ranked him sixth in the country had he appeared in enough games.

GETTING OFFENSIVE: The Fighting Irish are averaging 12.60 goals a game, which ranks fifth nationally ... in 2007, Notre Dame had the nation's fourth-best offense by averaging 11.65 goals per game ... Notre Dame's scoring margin of +5.80 is the third-best mark among all NCAA Division I squads this season.

FAST STARTS: Notre Dame has out scored its opponents 52-18 during the first quarter of play this season ... the Fighting Irish have held opponents scoreless in the first quarter on five occasions (Loyola, Penn State, Albany, Dartmouth, Air Force).

SPREADING THE WEALTH: The Fighting Irish have had 22 different players notch at least one goal this season ... the season-high total was 13 players with a goal in a 19-7 victory over Bellarmine on March 29 ... the Irish used 12 goalscorers in a 19-7 win against Dartmouth on March 15 ... last season, the Irish had 18 players score a goal ... Notre Dame has had at least 10 goalscorers in a game on six occasions this season and most recently in a 17-12 win over No. 9 Ohio State (April 27)... 10 Irish players scored a goal in that contest.

STREAKING: Junior attackman Ryan Hoff has a team-best 12-game goal streak ... Hoff has notched a goal in 23 of the last 24 games dating back to last season ... the junior attackman was held without a goal in a 7-6 win over Albany on March 1 ... that snapped an 11-game goal streak.

OFFENSIVE OUTPUT: Notre Dame's 19-goal performance in a 19-7 win over Bellarmine on March 29 matched a season-high total that was also achieved in a 19-7 victory against Dartmouth on March 15 ... this marked the first time since 1994 that the Irish have produced two games with 19-plus goals in one season ... overall, Notre Dame has reached double figures in 10 of 15 games this season ... the Irish reached double figures 11 times last season.

NOTRE DAME IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame is fifth in this week's USILA coaches poll and sixth in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll ... the No. 5 ranking matches a season-best spot for the Irish in the USILA poll ... Notre Dame was also fifth in the March 3rd and March 17th polls ... Notre Dame's highest Inside Lacrosse ranking is sixth in the March 17, April 28 and in the most recent poll.

QUALITY COMPETITION: The Fighting Irish are 5-2 against ranked opponents this season ... Notre Dame opened the campaign with a 7-6 victory over No. 17 Loyola ... the Irish topped No. 13 Albany, 7-6, on March 1 ... Notre Dame fell at No. 4 North Carolina, 8-6, on March 8 ... Notre Dame defeated No. 11 Drexel, 13-6, on March 25 ... the Irish fell to No. 19 Denver, 9-8, on April 5 ... Notre Dame bested No. 9 Ohio State, 17-12, on April 27 ... the Irish then topped the 10th-ranked Buckeyes, 9-2, in the GWLL title game on May 4th.

HOME SWEET HOME: Notre Dame has won a program-record 18 straight games at home ... the Irish are 5-0 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 in 2007 ... four of the games during the streak have been played in the Loftus Sports Center, while 12 have taken place outside at Moose Krause Stadium ... the last two home victories have taken place at School Field and Alumni Field, respectively ... Notre Dame owns an overall home record of 119-35 (.773) during the 28 years of varsity lacrosse at the University.

NO PLACE TO CALL HOME: This season, Notre Dame has played its five home games at four different locations ... the Irish defeated Penn State and Albany inside the Loftus Sports Center ... Notre Dame topped Drexel at Moose Krause Stadium ... a victory over Quinnipiac occurred at School Field, which is located just south of the Notre Dame campus ... the Irish returned to campus to top Ohio State at Alumni Field.

NO MORE MOOSE: The win over Drexel on March 25 marked the final game at Moose Krause Stadium for the Notre Dame men's lacrosse program ... the stadium is being torn down to make room for the state-of-the-art Arlotta Stadium that will be the new home for the Irish.

ARLOTTA GROUNDBREAKING: The official groundbreaking ceremony for Arlotta Stadium was held on Friday, April 18 ... the stadium will be the new home for the Notre Dame men's and women's lacrosse teams ... conceptual plans suggest a 2,000-seat, lighted stadium that would include an artificial-turf field, locker rooms, restrooms and concession areas ... the state-of-the-art facility is named after Notre Dame graduate John Arlotta, president and chief executive officer of Denver-based Coram Inc. ... he and his wife, Bobbie, pledged the lead gift toward the stadium to be built to the east of the Joyce Center as part of the University's new athletics quadrangle ... the Arlotta children - Mindy, Andy and Jon - also have pledged an additional gift from The Arlotta Family Foundation toward the project ... in addition to their generous donation, alumni and friends of the lacrosse programs have donated over two million dollars ... completion is scheduled for June of 2009.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: The Notre Dame men's and women's lacrosse teams are in the NCAA Tournament during the same season for just the second time ever ... the other occurrence was in 2006 ... the Irish women face top-seeded Northwestern in the first round on Sunday (May 11) ... a total of seven schools are represented in both the men's and women's NCAA Division I Lacrosse Championship this season (Colgate, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia).

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 straight 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 were third-team member Michael Podgajny (M) and honorable mention selections Ryan Hoff (A) and Ross Zimmerman (D).

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 (G) and Alex Wharton (A) are the Fighting Irish team 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.

KEEPING UP WITH FIGHTING IRISH 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.