The Irish will hit the road this weekend and try and run their school-record unbeaten start to 10-0 when they take on Denver in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Showdown at Invesco Field Saturday.
No. 4 Notre Dame (9-0, 2-0 Great Western Lacrosse League) will be playing on the road for the first time in three weeks, registering home wins over Bellarmine, Villanova and Air Force in between.
The Irish defense has been their calling card so far this season, giving up a stalwart 6.87 goals per game. The unit, led by senior netminder Scott Rodgers was especially stout Saturday against the Falcons, giving up only four goals en route to a 10-4 win.
Scoring hasn't been much of a problem for Notre Dame either. Averaging 11.56 goals per game, the Irish have four players with over 20 points on the year, and one - senior midfielder Peter Christman -at 19. Junior attack Neal Hicks leads the team with 26 points and senior attack Ryan Hoff leads the team in goals with 18, with Hicks and junior midfield Grant Krebs close behind at 17 each.
The Pioneers (6-5, 1-1 GWLL) rely on four players for most of their offensive production. Junior midfield Charley Dickenson leads Denver with 30 points on the season, despite tallying just 10 goals. Senior midfield Joey Murray leads the squad in that department with 20.
The Irish and Pioneers have played two common opponents on the season so far - Bellarmine and North Carolina. Denver beat the Knights 12-9, but fell to the Tar Heels 20-7. Notre Dame, on the other hand, beat both teams 11-6 and 9-7, respectively.
A win would move the Irish to 3-0 in conference and, with only two additional GWLL games remaining, put them in very good position for the conference playoffs.
Notre Dame will face off in Denver at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
