Notre Dame snaps skid with 13-4 win against Ohio State
By STEVE KEPPEL
Sports Writer
After losing two straight games, the Notre Dame men's lacrosse team beat Ohio State 13-4 in a convincing fashion on Saturday to improve to 4-3 on the season and 3-0 in conference play.
This was an important win for the No. 15 ranked Irish, who now sit atop the Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) with only one conference game left.
The victory also gives the Irish some confidence that players hope will carry on into the last five games of the season.
"This win is really important to us because we have another league game coming up next weekend against Butler and we really needed some confidence going into this one. If we win this one we will get a bid to the NCAA tournament at the end of the year," said junior Tom Glatzel.
Glatzel, who hails from Ellicott City, Md., led the team with five goals and two assists, tying his career high in both goals and points in a game. The Irish came out strong and after mastering the slower tempo of the Buckeyes, they scored two quick goals at the end of the first quarter and ran off four unanswered in the second.
"Our coach had them really scouted out well, he knew exactly what he wanted to do and he let us know how important it was to stick to our game plan," Glatzel said. "We just kept the ball out of their hands. They really like to slow the ball down a lot and our offense did a great job holding the ball. The longer we had the ball the more tired they were getting and we got a few easy goals there and that really carried us."
Glatzel and juniors Steve Bishko and Jon Harvey each scored during this stretch to lead the Irish.
The Buckeyes finally got on the board with 40 seconds left in the half on a goal from Pat Meyers. But, after a third goal from Glatzel with eight seconds remaining, the Irish led by a score of 7-1.
The third quarter was highlighted by good defense and tight goalie play by both teams.
Bishko scored a quick goal, but then it looked like the Irish defense was going to give up another big run as the Buckeyes rallied, bringing the score to 8-4.
It appeared as though Ohio State was going to come back, but Notre Dame survived the barrage and went on to score five straight goals in the last part of the game.
This last Irish run was started with a big goal by Bishko, who ended the day with a hat trick and upped his season total to nine.
"In our past two games we have let teams score four or five goals in a row and usually we get down and then let them get a couple that they shouldn't," Glatzel said. "This time we didn't let them get any easy ones. The ones they got they earned and we just shut them down after that."
Next week Notre Dame heads to Indianapolis to take on Butler in another conference matchup. If the Irish can win they will be headed to the NCAA tournament for the eighth time in the past nine years.
All Sports Stories for Monday, April 3, 2000
