HAMDEN, Conn. – The third-ranked Notre Dame men's lacrosse team captured a 10-2 win at Quinnipiac in Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) play on Saturday afternoon. The Fighting Irish improved to 11-0 overall and 4-0 in the GWLL with the win.

Senior attackman Duncan Swezey (Ambler, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) led the Irish with three points on two goals and an assist. Junior midfielder Grant Krebs (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's) chipped in two goals for Notre Dame, who has now won a program-record 11 straight games. The two goals allowed were a season-low total for the Irish defense.

Notre Dame got on the board first as junior attackman Neal Hicks (Atlanta, Ga./The Lovett School) scored five minutes into the contest. The Irish went up 2-0 as freshman midfielder Eric Keppeler (Baldwin, Md./Dulaney) notched his first goal of the season off a feed from Swezey with 1:51 remaining in the first quarter. Krebs scored 36 seconds later to put the Fighting Irish up by three at the end of the first period.

Adam Felicetti (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) gave Notre Dame a four-goal advantage early in the second quarter. That marked the first goal of the season for the junior midfielder. The Irish went up 5-0 with 3:39 left in the first half when freshman Nicholas Beattie (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) scored with the assist going to his classmate Bobby Smith (Woodbine, N.J./Lawrenceville School). Notre Dame went up by six two minutes later with a goal from Swezey on an assist from Zach Brenneman (East Hampton, N.Y./East Hampton).

Swezey gave Notre Dame a 7-0 lead at the intermission as he scored with three seconds left on the clock. The no goals allowed in the first half was a season-best effort for any half for the Irish defense.

Quinnipiac (3-8, 1-3) snapped Notre Dame's season-best 38:09 scoreless streak as Jack Oppenheimer scored at the 11:58 mark of the third quarter. The Fighting Irish regained their seven-goal advantage when senior attackman Ryan Hoff (Baldwin, Md./Dulaney) notched his 20th goal of the season on an assist from Brenneman with just over five minutes remaining in the third period.

A man-up goal from Krebs on an assist from Matt Ciambella (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) made it 9-1 in favor of the Irish with 9:33 left in regulation. That was Krebs' team-best 21st goal of the season. The junior now has team-best streaks for points (27) and goals (23).

The Bobcats answered back 11 seconds later to make it 9-2 on a Kevin Kelly tally.

Notre Dame senior midfielder Kevin Cullinane (Southport, Conn./Fairfield Prep) scored the first goal of his career in a return to his home state to put the Irish back up by eight (10-2) with 6:24 left on the clock. Beattie picked up the assist on the play.

Senior goalie Scott Rodgers (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) remained undefeated as he made five saves and allowed one goal in 50:27 of action. Freshman Colt Power (Dallas, Texas/Episcopal School of Dallas) saw his first action of the season and made two saves, while allowing a goal in 9:33 of play. Quinnipiac's Kevin Benzing played the entire contest and made seven saves in the loss. Notre Dame held a 31-25 edge in shots, while the Bobcats won 10 of 16 faceoffs.

The Fighting Irish have a quick turnaround as they will play host to St. John's tomorrow at Alumni Field. Game time is slated for 3:00 p.m. (ET). Notre Dame will put its nation-best 24-game home field win streak on the line against the Red Storm. The game will be the regular-season home finale for the Irish.

2009-04-18