Notre Dame Lacrosse Escapes with Win Over Ohio State, 8-7

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 6 Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team captured an 8-7 win over Ohio State on Wednesday afternoon at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Senior midfielder Max Pfeifer scored two goals for the Fighting Irish, while junior goalie John Kemp made 17 saves.

Notre Dame (5-1) never trailed in the contest en route to its fourth straight victory. After Ohio State trimmed the Irish lead to one (7-6) with 2:22 remaining in regulation, Notre Dame’s Liam O’Connor won the ensuing faceoff and scored to push the Irish lead back to two. That was the first career goal for the Irish sophomore.

Ohio State (3-5) made it a one-goal game with 19 seconds remaining on a Reegan Comeault tally. The Buckeyes then won the faceoff, but Fighting Irish senior defenseman Kevin Randall forced a turnover and his teammate Tyler Andersen picked up the ground ball to preserve the Irish victory.

This was Notre Dame’s fifth straight one-goal decision. The Irish are 4-1 in those contests. It is the first time in program history that Notre Dame has played five consecutive one-goal games.

“We just kind of scraped this one out today,” said Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan. “We got two goals from our third midfield, one from our faceoff guy and one from a long-stick. We survived and played a lot of defense. John Kemp was terrific today in goal.”

Freshman attackman Conor Doyle gave Notre Dame a 1-0 lead just over four minutes into the contest. The Buckeyes evened the score on a David Planning goal with 6:10 left in the first quarter.

Andersen, a junior long-stick midfielder, gave the Irish a 2-1 lead at the 3:13 mark of the first quarter with his first career goal. Ohio State answered on a tally from Adam Trombley with just over a minute left in the opening quarter. The game was deadlocked, 2-2, after one quarter of play.

Senior attackman Sean Rogers put the Irish back on top, 3-2, at the 4:30 mark of the second quarter with his team-best eighth goal of the season. That was the lone goal for either team in the period. It marked the sixth time this season that the Notre Dame defense has not allowed a goal for an entire quarter of play.

Pfeifer extended the Irish lead to two (4-2) with 9:43 left in the third quarter as he deposited a pass from Doyle. Logan Schuss ended the Ohio State scoreless streak, which reached 23:35, to make it a one-goal game (4-3) at the midway point of the third quarter.

Pfeifer answered back to give the Irish a 5-3 lead with 3:33 showing on the clock in the quarter. Just over a minute later, the Buckeyes sliced the Irish advantage back to one on a Jesse King goal. Junior midfielder Pat Cotter put the Fighting Irish back up by two (6-4) by the end of the third quarter.

The Irish grabbed their largest lead of the day (7-4) on sophomore Tyler Brenneman’s first career goal, which came with 10:42 left in regulation. The Buckeyes trimmed their deficit back to two (7-5) with 6:07 remaining on King’s second goal of the afternoon.

“We had chances at the end to put the game away,” added Corrigan. “We missed two open goals and had some other chances in the last four minutes that would have made it an easier finish for us. But we still held on for the win.”

Ohio State had a 41-21 advantage in shots, while the Buckeyes held a 12-7 edge in faceoffs. Ohio State goalie Greg Dutton made six saves. The Buckeyes were 0-for-2 in extra-man opportunities, while the Irish were 0-for-3. Notre Dame sophomore defenseman Stephen O’Hara matched a game-high total with five ground balls.

This was Notre Dame’s 10th straight victory over Ohio State.

The Fighting Irish will open BIG EAST Conference play on Sunday with a home showdown against Rutgers. Faceoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. (ET) at Arlotta Stadium. A free live streaming broadcast of the game can be seen on UND.com.

March 21, 2012
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium – Columbus, Ohio

#6 Notre Dame (5-1) 2 1 3 2 – 8
Ohio State (3-5) 2 0 2 3 – 7

Notre Dame Scoring (goals-assists):
Max Pfeifer 2-0, Conor Doyle 1-1, Sean Rogers 1-0, Liam O’Connor 1-0, Pat Cotter 1-0, Tyler Brenneman 1-0, Tyler Andersen 1-0, Westy Hopkins 0-1; Goaltender: John Kemp (W, 60:00, 17 saves, 7 GA)

Ohio State Scoring (goals-assists):
Jesse King 2-0, Logan Schuss 1-2, Turner Evans 1-0, Reegan Comeault 1-0, David Planning 1-0, Adam Trombley 1-0, David Planning 1-0, Nick Liddil 0-1, Tyler Frederick 0-1, Dominique Alexander 0-1; Goaltender: Greg Dutton (L, 60:00, 6 saves, 8 GA)

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