VILLANOVA, Pa. – The fifth-ranked Notre Dame men's lacrosse team used a 12-0 run, which spanned parts of three quarters, to take command of the game and produce a 16-6 victory over Villanova on Tuesday afternoon at Villanova Stadium. Junior attackman Ryan Hoff (Baldwin, Md./Dulaney) led the Fighting Irish with five goals to move his team-leading total to 12 on the season.

Notre Dame (4-0) is off to its first 4-0 start since the 2001 campaign and just the third ever in program history, with the other occurring in 1993. The Fighting Irish also extended their regular-season winning streak to 12 games.

Villanova (1-3) jumped on top, 1-0, with a goal from Tim Driscoll at the 13:38 mark of the first quarter. That marked the first deficit of the season for the Irish and it also was the first goal surrendered by Notre Dame in an opening quarter this season.

The Irish did not stay down for long as they ran off 12 straight goals. Duncan Swezey (Ambler, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) put Notre Dame on the board with 12:21 left in the opening quarter. Another Swezey score was preceded by goals from Michael Podgajny (Ridley Park, Pa./Ridley) and Hoff to make it 4-1 by the 4:28 mark of the first quarter.

Goals from Peter Christman (Simsbury, Conn./Westminster School), who also notched a career-high three assists, and Kelly McKenna (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield) made it a five-goal Irish advantage (6-1) after the first 15 minutes of play. The six-goal quarter matched Notre Dame's largest output in a quarter this season.

In the second period, Hoff and Colin Igoe (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne/UMass) netted goals to give the Fighting Irish an 8-1 lead at the intermission.

The Fighting Irish struck early in the second half as Grant Krebs (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's) found the back of the net with just 34 seconds elapsed in the stanza. Hoff followed with back-to-back goals, including a man-up score, to make it an 11-1 contest with 7:36 remaining in the third quarter. Notre Dame scored its 12th consecutive goal when Alex Wharton (Baltimore, Md./Gilman) notched a man-up tally with 4:56 left in the period.

Villanova finally ended the Irish surge as Tim Langan scored with 1:36 left in the third quarter. The Wildcat drought lasted 42:02 and Notre Dame led 12-2 after three periods of play.

Following a Tim Atkins goal for Villanova, Hoff deposited a man-up score, which was his fifth score of the game. Driscoll and Atkins scored the next two goals for the Wildcats to make it 13-5 with 8:15 remaining in regulation.

The next three goals came from the Irish courtesy of Matt Ciambella (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park), Wharton and Sloan Smith (Concord, N.H./Phillips Exeter Academy) to give Notre Dame a 16-5 lead with just over four minutes left on the clock. The Ciambella and Wharton scores were during a man-up advantage for the Irish. Villanova's Andrew Henrich scored a late goal to produce the final outcome.

Senior All-American Joey Kemp (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep) had another solid day in goal for the Irish as he allowed three goals. Sophomore Brendan Moore (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) replaced Kemp in goal at the 10:27 mark of the fourth quarter. Moore surrendered three goals in his collegiate debut. The Notre Dame defense has held three of its four opponents this season to six goals.

Villanova held a slim 36-35 edge in shots, while Notre Dame won 16-of-26 faceoffs. The Irish went 5-for-6 in man-up opportunities.

The Fighting Irish return to action against No. 4 North Carolina on Saturday, March 8 in Chapel Hill, N.C. Game time is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. (ET) at Fetzer Field.

Score by Period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
UND.................  6  2  4  4 - 16
NOVA................  1  0  1  4 -  6
 
Attendance: 519
 
UND SCORING:
GOALS: HOFF, Ryan 5; WHARTON, Alex 2; SWEZEY, Duncan 2; CHRISTMAN; Peter 1;
       PODGAJNY, Michael 1; KREBS, Grant 1; MCKENNA, Kelly 1; SMITH, Sloan 1;
       IGOE, Colin 1; CIAMBELLA, Matt 1.
ASSISTS: CHRISTMAN, Peter 3; PODGAJNY, Michael 2; WHARTON, Alex 2; HOFF, Ryan 1.
 
NOVA SCORING:
GOALS: Driscoll, Tim 2; Atkins, Tim 2; LANGAN, Tim 1; HENRICH; Andrew 1.
ASSISTS: Lyons, R.J. 2; Driscoll, Tim 1; Fritts, Matthew 1.
 
SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
UND................. 12  7 10  6 - 35
NOVA................  2 13 14  7 - 36
 
GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
UND.................  9  8  8 10 - 35
NOVA................  7  7  9 10 - 33
 
FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
UND.................  4-8   2-3   4-6   6-9  - 16-26
NOVA................  4-8   1-3   2-6   3-9  - 10-26
 
CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
UND.................  4-4   2-4   5-5   2-2  - 13-15
NOVA................  4-4   3-3   4-4   0-0  - 11-11
 
EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
UND.................  0-0   0-0   2-3   3-3  -  5-6
NOVA................  0-0   0-0   0-1   0-0  -  0-1
 
SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
UND.................  0  6  4  1 - 11
NOVA................  1  1  4  1 -  7
 
TURNOVERS BY PRD      1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
UND.................  5  7  5  9 - 26
NOVA................  7  2  4  6 - 19
 
PENALTIES - UND 1/1:00; NOVA 6/4:00.

2008-03-04