Irish Lax Reaches NCAA Tournament for Seventh Consecutive Year

This Sunday at 5:15p ET on ESPNU/ESPN3 the Notre Dame Men's Lacrosse program will play host as a #4 seed to the visiting Yale Bulldogs in the NCAA Tournament.

After an opening season loss the Irish won 10 games in a row, including the program's first ever victory over the Syracuse Orange. Head Coach Kevin Corrigan couldn't refocus his team after the momentous win, though. In the quarterfinals of the first ever Big East Lacrosse Tournament as the Irish squandered countless opportunities to St. John's.

Despite the loss in the Big East Tournament, the Irish did manage to win the Big East regular-season title with a perfect 6-0 record.

What is more, they have higher hopes at returning to the national championship game over Memorial Day weekend. Two years ago they lost in their only previous trip to the title game in a low-scoring battle with the Duke Blue Devils.

The road back to the title game starts this Sunday, and here's hoping the Irish look more like the team in the highlights below than the one that fell apart against St. John's.

Notre Dame Men's Lacrosse Ranked No. 1

It had been a long time coming for the Notre Dame Men's Lacrosse program under head coach Kevin Corrigan, but the Irish became the western most school in NCAA lacrosse history to earn a No. 1 ranking.

Both major polls, Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll and United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) have the Irish sitting atop all other collegiate programs. The spot has been earned thanks in part to accomplishments and positive momentum for the Irish program from prior seasons, including last season's run to the national championship game. It also helps that Notre Dame remains the only undefeated Division 1 program, sitting at 10-0 (5-0 Big East) on the year.

Corrigan is in his 23rd year as head coach at Notre Dame and has literally built the program from irrelevance to national power. Prior to his arrival the program had never earned a NCAA Tournament berth. Under Corrigan's leadership, though, Notre Dame has earned 15 appearances in the tournament. 

This Saturday, Corrigan's Irish squad will experience their toughest test of the 2011 season when they travel to Syracuse, NY to take on the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU at 7pm EST.

While the top spot in both major polls is quite the distinction, there is still much more to be accomplished this season for the Irish. Led by three Tewaaraton Trophy nominees in seniors Zach Brenneman (M), David Earl (M), and Kevin Ridgway (D), Notre Dame looks to knock off the Orange for the first time in school history. The Irish are winless in four previous attempts against the Orange. 

The ultimate goal this season, however, is to not only return to the national title, but to earn the school's first ever championship in the sport. They are one step closer with a No.1 ranking - a first in program history - and a sure bid to the NCAA tournament.

Irish Laxers Knock of Defending National Champs In Season Opener

For the second year in a row the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Men's Lacrosse team opened with strong competition in the defending national champion Duke Blue Devils. Last season the Irish prevailed in Durham, NC with an 11-7 win. New year, same result.

For good measure, the Irish tallied one more goal than last year's game to give head coach Kevin Corrigan and his No. 6 ranked team a 12-7 victory over the No. 5 Blue Devils. Highlights can be found here.

In front of more than 8,000 fans on Sunday, February 20 the Irish and Blue Devils squared off in the inaugural Sunshine Classic in Jacksonville, FL at Everbank Stadium.

Duke had cruised in its season opener against Siena 20-6 but looked tense in yesterday's matchup against a Notre Dame team led by five pre-season All-Americans in midfielders Zach Brenneman and David Earl,  defensemen Kevin Ridgway and Sam Barnes, and longstick midfielder Andrew Irving.

After a scoreless and fairly passive first period the Blue Devils put two goals on the board early in the second with goals from Tom Rynn and Josh Offit. Notre Dame responded in quick fashion with three goals. Sean Rogers netted the first goal with a beautiful one-handed wrap-around from behind the goal to beat Blue Devils netminder Dan Wigrizer. A mere twenty seconds later Rogers added another goal to even up the score.

It was Wigrizer, a true freshman at the time, who helped the Blue Devils win their first national championship with a 6-5 OT victory over the Irish in last year's title game.

But Wigrizer was not at his best yesterday as he allowed seven goals on thirteen shots before being pulled late in the fourth period.

Notre Dame received scoring support from a veteran supporting cast and a sprinkling of newer talent. Westy Hopkins, a freshman attacker, scored two goals to help the Irish cause. Senior Andrew Irving also notched two goals for the Irish.

Star senior midfielder Zach Brenneman registered a career-high five point game on three goals and two assists. The hat trick matched his previous goal scoring accomplishments against the Blue Devils last season.

Perhaps the brightest star of the day in an Irish uniform was sophomore John Kemp, the starter in goal tasked with replacing former All-American Scott Rodgers. Kemp finished with ten saves on seventeen shots. Many of the shots were taken point blank but Kemp flashed his quickness and strength to prevent an offensive explosion from the Blue Devils.

By halftime the Irish held a 4-2 lead and managed to build on the differential throughout each of the remaining periods, netting a high mark of five goals in the final period of play.
The game was one of four televised regular season contests on the season featuring Notre Dame. Other televsied games include April 10 against Georgetown (12pm EST on ESPNU), April 30 at Syracuse (7pm EST on ESPNU), and May 6 at North Carolina (7pm EST on ESPNU).

Speaking of North Carolina, with the No. 4 Tar Heels losing to unranked Ohio State yesterday the Irish climbed to No. 4 in the Inside Lacrosse media poll released today.

After opening the season with a gritty but eventual exhibition loss against Team USA the Irish now sit at 1-0 in the regular season.

Next Sunday the Irish travel to State College, PA to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions.