Colgate

HAMILTON, N.Y. (5/4/08)—The 12th-ranked Colgate University men's lacrosse team will travel to South Bend, Ind. to take on sixth-ranked Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, May 11 at noon on Alumni Field. The 11th-seeded Raiders earned their first NCAA postseason berth by capturing the automatic bid as the winner of the Patriot League.

 

Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 children and seniors. Children 2-and-under get in for free. Fans can purchase tickets online at:http://und.cstv.com/tickets/nd-tickets.html or by calling (574) 631-7356. The game will be televised live by ESPNU at noon. The station can be found locally on Time Warner channel 108. It is available on channel 609 through DIRECTV.  

 

This will be the second meeting between the two teams in the programs' histories. Notre Dame captured the win 11-10 in overtime in 1987. It will be the third Great Western Lacrosse League team Colgate will have faced this season. The Raiders also took on Denver and Ohio State in 2008.

 

Colgate heads into the tournament on a seven-game win streak, which includes an upset win over No. 2 Syracuse in the regular season finale. The No. 12/15 Raiders are 11-5 overall on the season and have defeated a ranked opponent in each of the past four games. The 11 wins ties the program record for wins in a season and is the third consecutive season Colgate has posted 11 victories.

 

Headlining Colgate's dynamic attack are juniors Brandon Corp (Chittenango, N.Y.) and Kevin Colleluori (Bethpage, N.Y.), and senior Matt Lalli (Princeton Junction, N.J.). Corp leads all scorers with 40 goals and 14 assists for 54 points, while Lalli has 19 tallies and a team-best 26 helpers for 45 points. Colleluori has 33 goals and nine assists for 42 points overall. Sophomore Ian Murphy (Constantia, N.Y.), junior Nick Monastero (Bohemia, N.Y.), and sophomore Zack Craumer (Greenwich, Conn.) round out Colgate's double-digit scorers with 27, 21, and 17 points, respectively. Senior Chris Eck (Fairfield, Conn.) gets the Raider offense going from the "X" with a 193-116 record in restarts for a .625 win percentage. He also leads the team with 80 ground balls. Junior Will Planer (Rumson, N.J.) and E.J. Atamian (Worcester, Mass.) also are major parts of the faceoff and defensive midfields with 70 and 46 ground balls, respectively. Junior Andrew Watkins (Timonium, Md.) leads all close defensemen with 31 pickups. In goal, sophomore Tim Harrington (Lutherville, Md.) sports a 10-5 record and .586 save percentage and 8.73 goals against average.

 

The Fighting Irish enter the tournament after earning the automatic bid by capturing the Great Western Lacrosse League title with a 9-2 win over Ohio State. Notre Dame is 13-2 overall and is ranked sixth in both the USILA Coaches and Inside Lacrosse Media Polls. The Irish are riding a six-game win streak with their last loss coming against conference foe Denver on April 5. Notre Dame is 4-12 all-time in NCAA Tournament history and are hosting for the first time.

 

Alex Wharton and Ryan Hoff headline the attack with 47 and 43 points, respectively. Wharton leads the Fighting Irish with 29 assists, while Hoff is the top goal scorer with 39 tallies. Duncan Swezey is right behind them with 38 points from 22 goals and 16 assists. Taylor Clagett handles the faceoff duties with a 186-103 record at the X for a .644 win percentage. He also leads the Irish with 59 ground balls. In goal, Joey Kemp is 13-2 overall with a 6.38 goals against average and .642 save percentage.

 

The winner of the game will take on the winner of the Syracuse/Canisius contest in the quarterfinal round on May 17 or 18 in Ithaca, N.Y.