Down two goals early on the road against Providence, the Irish rallied behind senior attack Sean Rogers and scored four answered goals to take a lead en route to a 13-8 victory over the Friars.
"Sean had an excellent game," Irish coach Kevin Corrigan said. "They were forcing us to beat them individually, and he did a great job of picking his spots and getting to the cage when he could. He also did well moving without the ball to set himself up."
Rogers tallied four goals and one assist, tying a career high in points, to lead the No. 4 Irish (8-2) in scoring. However, the Friars (7-5) kept the game close throughout the first half, trailing just 5-4 after the first two quarters. Corrigan credited the close game to Providence's methodical offense and stingy defense.
"In the first half, we struggled," Corrigan said. "We missed on some opportunities and they really milked their possessions and held us down."
Early in the third quarter the Friars tied the game twice, but each time Notre Dame countered with a goal to preserve their lead. The Irish finally gained some separation late in the third and early in the fourth, taking advantage of two separate man-up opportunities to build a 10-6 lead.
"In the second half, we managed to get ahead," Corrigan said. "That forced them to come at us and try to score instead of holding onto the ball."
Senior goalie John Kemp ended the day with nine saves, while the Irish defense was able to limit Providence's main offensive weapon, junior attack Sean Wright, to just two goals and three points, both below his season averages of 2.7 and 3.5). However, Corrigan felt that his defense did not play up to their potential.
"Eight goals is more than we would like to give up," Corrigan said. "We need to do a much better job of clearing the ball, because that gave them second chances and allowed them to have very long possessions."
The Irish cleared the ball 13 times on 17 chances, but also held Providence scoreless on three man-up opportunities.
On offense, the Irish put heavy pressure on the Friar defense and freshman goalie Jack Connelly, unleashing 46 shots to Providence's 29. Sophomore attack Conor Doyle and junior midfielder Jim Marlatt each had four points. As a team, the Irish also had ten more groundballs than the Friars (37-27) and won 20 of 24 face-offs, despite missing junior face-off specialist Liam O'Connor due to injury.
"All the credit goes to [sophomore midfielder] Nick Ossello and [freshman midfielder] Trevor Brosco," Corrigan said. "They did a terrific job of stepping up and filling in for Liam and providing us with lots of chances."
Looking ahead, the Irish return home to play Georgetown on April 14 at Arlotta Stadium. The Hoyas (5-6), recently upset No. 14/10 St. John's, who gave Notre Dame its first Big East loss earlier this year.
Contact Greg Hadley at ghadley@nd.edu
