Irish finish undefeated in league play with close win
By STEVE KEPPEL
Sports Writer
The Notre Dame men's lacrosse team completed an undefeated season in the Great Western lacrosse league on Saturday by defeating a tough Butler team 12-11. The Irish have now won or shared the GWLL title in nine of head coach Kevin Corrigan's 12 seasons.
The fourteenth ranked Irish established an early lead against the Bulldogs by scoring three quick goals in the first ten minutes of play. Sophomore Devin Ryan put the Irish on the board first and David Ulrich and Steve Bishko each followed with goals of their own.
It looked as though Notre Dame was going to run away with this one much like in the previous contest against Ohio State. But the Bulldogs battled back and kept it close with goals from Chris Vosburgh and Doug Patterson before the period was over.
The Irish, who controlled the ball for most of the second quarter, once again made a run of three goals to go ahead 7-3 before the half. The quarter was highlighted by the play of both Jon Harvey and Tom Glatzel who each scored twice.
Glatzel, last week's player of the week, led the team in scoring for the second straight game with three goals and two assists. Glatzel's three goals now put him only seven behind last year's total of 26 with four games still left to play.
Notre Dame, who never trailed in the game, held a commanding 10-6 lead with just under eleven minutes left to play after a David Ulrich goal.
Instead of conceding defeat, Butler went on a tear to tie the game 10-10 with five minutes left. This Butler run was led by their top scorer, Mike Regan, who netted two goals during the spurt. Regan, who was unstoppable at times, led all scorers on the day with four goals and two assists.
The Irish were not about to let this one slip away and rallied back as Stedman Oakey and Jon Harvey scored two goals in the next two minutes. With little time remaining, it appeared as though the Irish would walk away with yet another GWLL win — but not before Mike Regan brought the Bulldogs back within one with 18 seconds left on the clock.
Following Regan's goal, Butler got the ball back on the ensuing face-off, after Notre Dame committed a procedure penalty that gave the Bulldogs one last chance to tie it up.
Ryan Ward from Butler ended up with the ball with eight seconds to play and fired a shot that was blocked by Kirk Howell that saved the game for the Irish.
Notre Dame is now 5-3 and looking to improve each week as they prepare for the NCAA tournament. The Irish will next take on the Army Cadets.
All Sports Stories for Monday, April 10, 2000
