SJU lacrosse falls to Notre Dame for sixth straight loss
Katie Beckmann, Staff Writer
Issue date: 4/22/09 Section: Sports
The St. John's lacrosse team continued its fall from grace on Sunday by losing to No. 3 Notre Dame, 12-2. It was the team's sixth consecutive loss since defeating then-No. 5 Georgetown on Feb. 28, a victory that earned a national ranking.
Seniors Bobby Fitton and Trevor Michaelsen had goals for the Red Storm, while senior captain Jamal Jones and rookie Harry Kutner each added an assist.
"We got off to a great start. We made four crucial mistakes in the second quarter that cost us four goals, and put us down four at the half," head coach Jason Miller said.
"We really struggled offensively in the second half and never really gave ourselves a chance to get back in it."
The Red Storm, who as a team had been averaging eight goals a game, offered its worst offensive showing all season, scoring just two goals on 36 shots on goal.
Miller and senior captain Dominick DeNapoli both said the reason of the lack of offensive production was because of Notre Dame's star goalie Scott Rodgers.
"We didn't execute our game plan as well as we would have liked to," DeNapoli said. "We did have 36 shots, so we were able to get through the Notre Dame defense. Scott Rodgers, the Notre Dame goalie, just had saves where he needed them."
Rodgers made 14 saves for the Fighting Irish, which improves to 12-0.
"Scott Rodgers is excellent, he's a Teewarton finalist, and they are pretty solid defensively -- but we had way too many unforced errors and didn't really get many quality chances," Miller said.
The Red Storm still has a chance to close out their season on a positive note. They travel to Connecticut to play Fairfield on Saturday and will host Duke in their Senior game and season finale on May 3.
While spirits may currently be down for the Red Storm (5-7), DeNapoli still has a positive outlook for the last two games.
"We have a chance to finish our season with a .500 record, which the program hasn't done since it was reinstated in 2005," DeNapoli said.
"That face alone should be motivation enough, a chance to do something that hasn't been done yet."
Seniors Bobby Fitton and Trevor Michaelsen had goals for the Red Storm, while senior captain Jamal Jones and rookie Harry Kutner each added an assist.
"We got off to a great start. We made four crucial mistakes in the second quarter that cost us four goals, and put us down four at the half," head coach Jason Miller said.
"We really struggled offensively in the second half and never really gave ourselves a chance to get back in it."
The Red Storm, who as a team had been averaging eight goals a game, offered its worst offensive showing all season, scoring just two goals on 36 shots on goal.
Miller and senior captain Dominick DeNapoli both said the reason of the lack of offensive production was because of Notre Dame's star goalie Scott Rodgers.
"We didn't execute our game plan as well as we would have liked to," DeNapoli said. "We did have 36 shots, so we were able to get through the Notre Dame defense. Scott Rodgers, the Notre Dame goalie, just had saves where he needed them."
Rodgers made 14 saves for the Fighting Irish, which improves to 12-0.
"Scott Rodgers is excellent, he's a Teewarton finalist, and they are pretty solid defensively -- but we had way too many unforced errors and didn't really get many quality chances," Miller said.
The Red Storm still has a chance to close out their season on a positive note. They travel to Connecticut to play Fairfield on Saturday and will host Duke in their Senior game and season finale on May 3.
While spirits may currently be down for the Red Storm (5-7), DeNapoli still has a positive outlook for the last two games.
"We have a chance to finish our season with a .500 record, which the program hasn't done since it was reinstated in 2005," DeNapoli said.
"That face alone should be motivation enough, a chance to do something that hasn't been done yet."
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