Printer-Friendly Format     E-mail this article     Ryan Hoff tied a school record with seven goals in last season's 16-5 win at Drexel.

Irish look to extend program-record 15-game win streak.

March 24, 2008

#11 Drexel at #7 Notre Dame
Tuesday, March 25 • 4:00 p.m. (ET)
Notre Dame, Ind.
Live Stats: und.com (Gametracker)

Complete Release in PDF Format

The seventh-ranked Notre Dame men's lacrosse team returns home after a three-game road trip to host No. 11 Drexel on Tuesday, March 25. Game time is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. (ET). The Irish are 5-1, while the Dragons are 7-1 and riding a seven-game win streak. Notre Dame will be putting its program-record 15-game home win streak on the line against Drexel.

ND-DREXEL SERIES NOTES: This will be just the second meeting ever between Notre Dame and Drexel ... the Fighting Irish captured a 16-5 victory over the Dragons last season in Philadelphia, Pa. ... Notre Dame was ranked 16th at the time of the contest, while Drexel was 19th ... current junior Ryan Hoff tied a Notre Dame record with seven goals in the victory.

ABOUT THE IRISH: Notre Dame carries a 5-1 record into Tuesday's contest ... the Fighting Irish are currently ranked seventh in both the USILA coaches poll and the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media rankings ... Notre Dame was set to open its Great Western Lacrosse League schedule at Air Force on Saturday (March 22), but the game was postponed due to weather-related travel issues for the Irish ... a makeup date will be announced at a later time ... in their last contest, the Irish defeated Dartmouth, 19-7, on March 15 at The Lovett School in Atlanta, Ga. ... junior attackman Ryan Hoff leads Notre Dame with 16 goals ... senior attackman Alex Wharton has team-high totals in points (19) and assists (12), both career-best marks ... junior Duncan Swezey has a career-high 11 goals ... Notre Dame has defeated two ranked teams this season (#17 Loyola, 7-6 & #13 Albany, 7-6) ... the Irish have used 17 different goalscorers ... Notre Dame is averaging 11.67 goals per game, while holding opponents to just 7.00 goals a game ... senior goaltender Joey Kemp has played 342:32 of a possible 360 minutes between the pipes ... Kemp, a two-time All-America honoree, carries a .642 save percentage ... 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 172-93 (.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 DREXEL: The Dragons are 7-1 this season and ranked 11th in both the Inside Lacrosse and USILA polls ... after suffering an 11-7 loss to No. 3 Virginia in the season opener, Drexel has won its last seven games ... the Dragons are coming off a 13-6 victory at Lafayette on Saturday (March 22) ... the other victories in the win streak have come against Penn (9-8), Lehigh (13-7), Binghamton (3-2), St. John's (6-3), St. Joseph's (12-5) and Albany (7-6) ... Drexel is 4-0 on the road this season ... the Dragons are averaging 8.75 goals per game, while surrendering 6.00 per game ... senior attackman Andrew Chapman has a team-high 18 goals ... sophomore attackman Colin Ambler leads Drexel with 25 points on 12 goals and a team-best 13 assists ... senior Bruce Bickford has started every game in goal and carries a 5.71 goals-against average and a .662 save percentage ... Drexel returned eight starters and 31 letterwinners from last season's squad that went 11-5 to finish with a final Inside Lacrosse ranking of 17th ... Drexel is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association ... head coach Chris Bates is in his ninth season with the Dragons.

COMMON OPPONENTS: Notre Dame and Drexel have played one common opponent this season ... the Fighting Irish defeated Albany, 7-6, on March 1, while Drexel topped the Great Danes by an identical 7-6 score on March 15.

IRISH VS. THE CAA:Notre Dame is 16-11 all-time against the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), including a 13-11 mark in the Kevin Corrigan era ... the Fighting Irish topped CAA member Villanova, 16-6, earlier this season ... Notre Dame was 2-0 against the CAA last season with wins over Drexel (16-5) and Villanova (15-5) ... Villanova and Drexel are the only CAA opponents on Notre Dame's 2008 schedule.

THE LAST TIME: Notre Dame topped Drexel, 16-5, last season in Philadelphia, Pa. ... Ryan Hoff tied a program record with seven goals for the Fighting Irish ... Brian Hubschmann chipped in four goals for Notre Dame, while Will Yeatman and Michael Podgajny both netted two goals ... Colin Ambler led Drexel with two scores ... Joey Kemp made 12 saves for the Irish, while Bruce Bickford had 11 stops for the Dragons.

BACK HOME: The Drexel tilt will mark the first home game for Notre Dame since a 7-6 victory over Albany on March 1 ... the Irish are coming off a three-game road trip ... Notre Dame began the trek with a 16-6 victory at Villanova on March 4 ... Notre Dame fell at No. 4 North Carolina, 8-6, on March 8 ... the Irish then topped Dartmouth, 19-7, in Atlanta, Ga. on March 15 ... a scheduled fourth contest away from home was supposed to take place, yet the Irish were not able to make the trip to Air Force for a showdown on Saturday (March 22) due to weather-related travel issues.

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.

STREAKING: Junior attackman Duncan Swezey has a team-best six-game goal streak ... senior midfielder Michael Podgajny has scored at least one goal in the past 20 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 ... Ryan Hoff has notched a goal in 14 of the last 15 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 his team-best 11-game goal streak.

OFFENSIVE OUTPUT: Notre Dame's 19-goal performance against Dartmouth marked the most goals for the Irish since a 19-7 victory over Quinnipiac on May 6, 2006.

CAREER DAYS: Senior midfielder Michael Podgajny tied a career-high output with four goals to pace the Irish in that category during a 19-7 win over Dartmouth on March 15 ... fellow senior Alex Wharton notched a career-best six-points, which included a career-high tying four assists ... Duncan Swezey, a junior attackman, also chipped in a career-high four assists on the day.

WHARTON EARNS GWLL HONORS: Notre Dame senior attackman Alex Wharton was named the Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) player of the week for the week of March 10-16 ... Wharton registered a career-best six-point game on two goals and four assists in a 19-7 victory over Dartmouth on Saturday (March 15) ... the four assists from Wharton matched a career-best mark, which he established earlier this season against Penn State ... Wharton leads the Irish in points (19) and assists (12) with career-high totals in both categories ... this marked the first conference player of the week accolade for Wharton ... he became the third Fighting Irish player to be named the GWLL player of the week so far this season ... senior goaltender Joey Kemp earned those honors on Feb. 18, while junior attackman Ryan Hoff copped them on Feb. 27.

FAST STARTS: Notre Dame has out scored its opponents 23-3 during the first quarter of play this season ... the Fighting Irish have held opponents scoreless in the first quarter on four occasions this season (Loyola, Penn State, Albany, Dartmouth).

RETURNING HOME: Notre Dame sophomore Neal Hicks had a successful return to his alma mater, The Lovett School, in the 19-7 Irish victory over Dartmouth on March 15 in Atlanta, Ga. ... the attackman collected three points on one goal and two assists on the afternoon.

HOFF STAYING HOT: 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 ... Hoff also notched a five-goal game this season in a 16-6 triumph of Villanova (March 4) ... he leads the Irish with 16 goals after pacing the team with 40 goals one season ago ... Hoff currently ranks ninth nationally by averaging 2.67 goals per game.

SPREADING THE WEALTH: The Fighting Irish have had 17 different players notch at least one goal this 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 on Feb. 24 ... Notre Dame had 10 players score a goal in a 16-6 victory over Villanova on March 4 ... the season-high total was 12 goalscorers in a 19-7 win against Dartmouth on March 15 ... last season, the Irish had 18 players score a goal.

IRISH DEFENSE: The Irish are surrendering just 7.00 goals per game this season ... the Irish have held opponents to six goals on three occasions ... 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 31 career victories ... he is one win shy of tying the program record of 32 established by Kirk Howell (1998-2001) and Alex Cade (1995-98) ... Kemp, a two-time All-America honoree, carries an overall record of 31-12 ... he is currently first in school history with a 7.33 goals-against average ... Kemp ranks in the top 10 nationally in both save percentage (.642, 7th) and goals-against average (6.66, 10th) 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.

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 11.67 goals a game, which ranks ninth nationally ... Notre Dame's scoring margin of +4.67 is the fifth-best mark among all NCAA Division I squads.

MAN-UP: Notre Dame ranks ninth nationally in man-up offense ... the Irish have converted on 13-of-29 (.448) 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.

FACING OFF: As a team, Notre Dame boasts the nation's second-best faceoff percentage (.656) ... senior midfielder Taylor Clagett ranks in a tie for fourth nationally in that category with a .630 win percentage ... Clagett has been a valuable asset for the Irish during his Notre Dame career as he has won nearly 60-percent 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.

SUCCESSFUL START: The Fighting Irish started a season 4-0 for just the third time in program history before they fell at No. 4 North Carolina, 8-6, on March 8 ... Notre Dame has five victories through its first six games of the season for the first time since the 2005 campaign.

NOTRE DAME IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame is currently seventh in both the USILA coaches poll and the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media rankings ... the Irish have been as high as fifth in the USILA poll this season ... that happened on two occasions, in the March 3rd and March 17th polls ... Notre Dame's highest Inside Lacrosse ranking was sixth on March 17.

QUALITY COMPETITION: Notre Dame opened the campaign with a 7-6 victory against No. 17 Loyola ... the Irish topped then No. 13 Albany, 7-6, on March 1 ... Notre Dame fell at No. 4 North Carolina, 8-6, on March 8 ... Notre Dame will host No. 11 Drexel on March 25 ... a Great Western Lacrosse League showdown against No. 19 Ohio State will take place at home on April 27.

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).

IRISH TABBED TO WIN GWLL: Notre Dame was selected to win its second straight Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) title according to the league's head coaches ... Ohio State, Denver, Air Force, Quinnipiac and Bellarmine followed Notre Dame in the voting, which appeared in Inside Lacrosse's Face-Off Yearbook.

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.

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 and 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 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.