As if talking about Notre Dame basketball wasn't bad enough, I had to take this opportunity to stray further from the gridiron to issue props to ND's athletes that play the best spring sport in the country. I'm talking of course about men's lacrosse, which combines big hits and high scoring with some screwy rules that mesh together to create a sport that has rapidly grown in popularity over the last decade and is invading ESPNU during football's offseason.
Most Nasties readers probably most closely associate Irish lacrosse with TE Will Yeatman, and even though the freshman all-american missed the season with a suspension, Notre Dame has plenty of other great players around him. The last two seasons, ND has experienced some tough first round draws in the tournament, falling to Virginia in 2006 and taking Johns Hopkins to overtime before leaving the tournament in 2007. Both UVA and Hopkins would go on to win the national championship after beating the Irish.
It was with this tournament background, not advancing since 2001, that Notre Dame entered the 2008 men's tournament, and at a rain soaked Alumni Field, it looked like ND might have been in for some more heartbreak. Patriot League (that's a good league in lacrosse) champs, Colgate, got off to the better start, relying on excellent goalkeeping from Tim Harrington (18 saves) to jump out to a 5-2 halftime lead.
Notre Dame's usually potent offense struggled to find the net in the sloppy conditions, but the team rallied back slowly in the second half behind some key Joey Kemp saves to set the stage for a great finish. Down 6-7 with 1:30 to go in the fourth quarter (it's got quarters, just like football), senior Michael 'Pojo' Podgajny snuck through the Raider defense with two nasty face dodges to score the equalizer. Junior Peter Christman took advantage of a small window to rope a shot from GLE past the keeper and into the top left corner of the net to extend ND's home winning streak to 19 and advance them to the quarterfinals. Eight different Irish players scored in the contest; the final score of 8-7 was the first time Notre Dame had the lead all game.
Most Nasties readers probably most closely associate Irish lacrosse with TE Will Yeatman, and even though the freshman all-american missed the season with a suspension, Notre Dame has plenty of other great players around him. The last two seasons, ND has experienced some tough first round draws in the tournament, falling to Virginia in 2006 and taking Johns Hopkins to overtime before leaving the tournament in 2007. Both UVA and Hopkins would go on to win the national championship after beating the Irish.
It was with this tournament background, not advancing since 2001, that Notre Dame entered the 2008 men's tournament, and at a rain soaked Alumni Field, it looked like ND might have been in for some more heartbreak. Patriot League (that's a good league in lacrosse) champs, Colgate, got off to the better start, relying on excellent goalkeeping from Tim Harrington (18 saves) to jump out to a 5-2 halftime lead.Notre Dame's usually potent offense struggled to find the net in the sloppy conditions, but the team rallied back slowly in the second half behind some key Joey Kemp saves to set the stage for a great finish. Down 6-7 with 1:30 to go in the fourth quarter (it's got quarters, just like football), senior Michael 'Pojo' Podgajny snuck through the Raider defense with two nasty face dodges to score the equalizer. Junior Peter Christman took advantage of a small window to rope a shot from GLE past the keeper and into the top left corner of the net to extend ND's home winning streak to 19 and advance them to the quarterfinals. Eight different Irish players scored in the contest; the final score of 8-7 was the first time Notre Dame had the lead all game.
The Irish pile on Christman after his game winner
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