Notre Dame spoiled Bellarmine's first-ever conference match in the Great Western Lacrosse League with an 11-3 win Tuesday afternoon at Moose Krause Stadium.
The Irish (4-3, 1-0 GWLL) now hold a nine-game home win streak and an all-time record of 2-0 against Bellarmine (1-5, 0-1 GWLL).
Notre Dame freshman attack Will Yeatman and sophomore attack Ryan Hoff both recorded hat tricks in the victory, while Hoff added an assist. Irish sophomore attack Duncan Swezey also played a key role by notching a career-best four points with one goal and three assists.
Yeatman leads Notre Dame in points (23) and assists (11) this season.
"Today was a good game," Notre Dame junior goaltender Joey Kemp said. "We made it a point to win every ground ball. We did not do this in the previous games that we lost."
Irish senior midfielder Lucius Polk added another two goals, while junior midfielder Michael Podgajny and senior midfielder Bill Liva each scored one goal for the Irish. Sophomore attack Peter Christman, senior attack John Greaney and freshman midfielder Brett Vecchio all aided the effort with an assist each.
"Last week was hard with the travel," Kemp said. "It was nice to play in front of a home crowd."
Kemp picked up the victory by allowing only two goals and making nine saves in over 50 minutes of play. Sophomore Scott Rodgers then took over for Kemp with over nine minutes left to play. Rodgers gave up one score while making three saves of his own.
The Irish held a dominant edge on shots against Bellarmine. The final tally of attempts on goal was 37-22 in Notre Dame's favor.
Bellarmine scorers included Adam Gardner, John Kirk and Mike Rosenbergh, who all netted one goal each. Jamie Floris and Andrew Wolford both added an assist.
Notre Dame takes a week and a half off after the match against Bellarmine. The next game is scheduled for March 31 at noon, when the Irish travel to No. 18 Brown.
"We plan on practicing outside, and we need to get used to different types of turf," Kemp said about the upcoming break in the schedule. "We have to prepare for the next game."
