ATLANTA, GA. - Inclement weather in Atlanta delayed the start of today's men's lacrosse game between Dartmouth and Notre Dame by nearly two hours. The delay did nothing to cool the redhot play of the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first period, outshooting the Big Green 10-3 on the way to a 19-7 victory. Dartmouth regrouped in the second quarter winning the shot battle 12-9, scoring four goals to Notre Dame's two. At half time the score was a respectable 7-4 in favor of the number 8-ranked Irish.

The rest of the game, however, belonged to Notre Dame. Senior Michael Podgajny had four goals, including the gamewinner to start the third quarter, and an assist to lead the team, Junior Ryan Hoff also had a hat trick. For Dartmouth, juniors Brian Koch (Rye, N.Y.) and Jonathan Livadas (Wilmington, Del.) had two goals each. Freshman Rhet Miller (Dallas, Texas) scored his first collegiate goal to bring the Green within two at 5-3 in the second quarter. Sophomore Josh Gillam (Peterborough, Ont.), fresh from the ice of the hockey arena, scored his first goal of the season. Sophomore Christopher Root (Houston, Texas) rounded out the scoring for Dartmouth.

Junior Pat Marshall (Lutherville, Md.) and sophomore Michael Novosel (Somers, N.Y.) shared equal time in the goal with Marshall having five saves and taking the loss. Novosel had 11 saves in the game. Dartmouth now heads a little further north to take on Presbyterian on Monday in Clinton, S.C. Game time is set for 2:00 pm.

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ATLANTA, Ga. – The No. 7 Notre Dame men's lacrosse used a well-balanced offensive attack that featured 12 different goalscorers to capture a 19-7 victory over Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon in front of 5,180 fans at The Lovett School. The contest was the first NCAA Division I men's lacrosse game in the state of Georgia.

The contest was originally scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m., yet was pushed back to a 4:45 p.m. start due to inclement weather in the Atlanta area.

Senior midfielder Michael Podgajny tied a career-high output with four goals to pace the Irish in that category. Fellow senior Alex Wharton notched a career-best six-points, which included a career-high tying four assists. Duncan Swezey, a junior attackman, also chipped in a career-high four assists on the day. The 19 goals were the most for a Notre Dame team since a 19-7 victory over Quinnipiac in 2006.

Notre Dame (5-1) jumped out to a 5-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. Hoff put the Irish on the board with just 18 seconds elapsed in the game and Podgajny followed with a goal three minutes later. Hoff, Grant Krebs and Podgajny deposited the final three goals of the quarter.

The shutout in the opening period marked the fourth time this season that the Notre Dame defense has held an opponent scoreless in the first quarter of play.

Darmouth (2-2) struck back with a 3-0 run beginning with a man-up goal from Josh Gillam. Jonathan Livadas and Rhett Miller then scored to slice the Irish lead to two (5-3). Notre Dame came back with goals from Wharton and Dan Gibson to take a 7-3 lead with 4:08 left in the first half. The Big Green used a score from Christopher Root to make it a 7-4 game at the intermission.

It was all Notre Dame in the second half as the Irish scored 12 of the stanza's 15 goals. An early 3-0 run behind scores from Podgajny, Hoff and Taylor Clagett made it 10-4 with 9:33 remaining in the third quarter. The goal from Clagett was his first of the season. In addition, senior midfielder went 17-for-24 in faceoff attempts on the afternoon.

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2008-03-15