SOUTH BEND, Ind. (5/11/08)—Notre Dame’s Peter Christman rifled a shot high into the left corner with 1:28 left in overtime to beat Colgate 8-7 in overtime in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament. Colgate’s Tim Harrington (Lutherville, Md.) made a season-high 18 saves as the No.10/12 Raiders made their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

 

“He was tremendous,” head coach Jim Nagle said of Harrington’s play. “He’s had a great season for us. He’s been really consistent. I mean 18 saves and just eight goals, that’s really impressive.”

 

Colgate closes out its memorable season with an 11-6 record overall. The Raiders captured their first Patriot League title and NCAA Tournament berth this season. The sixth-seeded and sixth-ranked Fighting Irish advance to the quarterfinals to play the winner of the Syracuse/Canisius game.

 

The Raiders led by as many as three goals, while Notre Dame never led until the final tally of the game. Sophomore Zack Craumer (Greenwich, Conn.)led all scorers with three points from a goal and two assists, while junior Kevin Colleluori (Bethpage, N.Y.) had two goals. Senior Matt Lalli (Princeton Junction, N.J.) and Brandon Corp (Chittenango, N.Y.) both added a goal and an assist.

 

Notre Dame (14-2) had eight different players score a goal, while Alex Wharton led the way with two points on a goal and an assist.

 

After three good quarters of good lacrosse, Colgate held a 6-4 lead. With Colgate holding a 9-0 record on the season when leading after three quarters and the Fighting Irish riding the momentum of a strong third frame, the fans were sure to be treated to a great fourth quarter.

 

Exciting it was as it went down to the wire.  Wharton started the scoring for Notre Dame at the 11:21 mark to make it a 6-5 game. Much like the third quarter, neither team could get on the scoreboard for a long stretch until Colleluori scored after the Raiders received a stalling warning. Colleluori got the ball on the wing and backed his defender down and slipped it past Kemp for a 7-5 lead with 4:23 left to play.

 

Thirty eight seconds later Notre Dame picked up a ground ball on a Colgate turnover and made it a one-goal game from a shot from Neal Hicks. Feeling the momentum, the Irish were able to keep the Colgate offense in check and tied the game with 1:29 left to play as Michael Podgajny penetrated the Raider defense and beat Harrington low.  

 

The Irish forced a Colgate turnover with 28 seconds to and got the ball back in their offensive zone. Notre Dame got a good look at net, but it was Harrington coming up with perhaps the biggest save of the game. The Irish got one last chance to get a shot, but threw the ball away as the Raiders and Notre Dame headed to overtime.

 

The Raiders won the opening faceoff in the overtime session with Will Planer (Rumson, N.J.) picking up the ground ball. Coming out of timeout, Colgate set up its offense. After draining over a minute off the clock, Lalli fed Craumer on the doorstep but Notre Dame goalie Joey Kemp denied him for the biggest save of the game. Kemp finished with eight saves in the contest.

 

Notre Dame cleared the ball into their offensive zone and called the timeout. The Fighting Irish got a pair of shots on goal that went wide but were backed up by Notre Dame. The Irish got the ball again out in front of the cage. The Raider defense stayed tight around the crease not allowing any close shots. Christman took the ball around to the right wing and with the defender on his back fired a tough angle shot into the left upper 90 for the game-winner.

 

Prior to the thrilling final 18 minutes, the Raiders controlled much of the pace of the game. The Raiders jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 1:58 into the game. Lalli used a right-handed dodge past his defender and fired a right-handed shot past Kemp for a 1-0 lead. Notre Dame tied the game just over eight minutes later when Ryan Hoff quicksticked the ball past Tim Harrington off of a pass from Wharton.

 

The Raiders closed out the final 1:33 with a pair of goals to go into the first break ahead 3-1. Great ball movement was the key to the second tally as Corp found Craumer right on the doorstep. Craumer passed up the chance of a shot by finding Colleluori right on the crease for the score. Crop made it 3-1 with seven ticks left in the quarter, rifling a shot high past Kemp. 

 

The Fighting Irish made it a one-goal game midway through the second frame with a bullet from Zach Brenneman high past Harrington.

 

Colgate controlled the remaining eight minutes of the session, getting two more goals for a three-goal lead at the half. Sophomore Ian Murphy (Constantia, N.Y.) made it a two-goal game at the 7:13 mark with an underhanded shot low into the corner after a feed Corp from behind the cage. Craumer tallied his first goal of the game just over a minute later sneaking his shot past Kemp for the 5-2 lead at the half.

 

The Raider defense and Harrington held strong in the final five minutes of the half to keep the Irish off the board. Harrington finished with eight saves in the opening 30 minutes as Notre Dame outshot Colgate 17-11.

 

Trailing by three to start the third period, Notre Dame registered two unanswered to pull within one goal again. The Irish successfully killed off a Colgate man-up opportunity and Grant Krebs got the ball in the offensive zone and bounced a shot past Harrington.

 

Defense was the name of the game over the next eight minutes with neither team finding the back of the cage. The Irish broke through the Colgate defense with 4:57 on the clock after an offsides call on the Raiders. Adam Felicetti got the ball after a quick restart and bounced the ball into the goal to make it 5-4 with less than five minutes to play in the third frame.

 

Colgate stopped the run 2:32 later on a man-up opportunity. Lalli quickly fed Josh Back (Guilderland, N.Y.) on the crease who easily bounced it past Kemp for a two-goal cushion and setting up the thrilling final 19 minutes of action.

 

Senior Chris Eck (Fairfield, Conn.)was 6-of-18 in faceoffs and picked up three ground balls. Corp and senior Tyler Philpot (Gales Ferry, Conn.) led the Raiders with five ground balls apiece.

 

The Irish outshot Colgate 40-23, but the Raiders dominated the ground ball battle 33-22. Colgate successfully cleared 22-of-26, while Notre Dame was 19-of-23. Both teams had a man-up score.