Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ND Sports Men's Lacrosse 2012 Finish: 13-3; lost to Loyola (Md.) in the NCAA semifinals Top Returner: Senior goalie John Kemp Fresh Face To Watch: Freshman attack Matt Kavanagh things that I think he becomes an easy guy to play with." Corrigan said he expects last year's freshmen class to make as big a leap as any group on the team this season. Several sophomores — like Nick Ossello, Jack Near and coach's son Will Corrigan — are in line to become major contributors as midfielders on this year's team. Notre Dame started its regular season Feb. 16 with a trip to Duke. The Blue Devils have ended two of Notre Dame's last three seasons in the NCAA Tournament. They topped the Irish with a sudden-death overtime goal in the 2010 national title game, then knocked them out in the quarterfinal round a year later. Duke has also started the year for the Irish in each of the last four seasons. Notre Dame has yet to lose one of those meetings. The team typically plays a few preseason exhibitions before starting their official schedule with a stiff test against the perennial national contender. "I think it sets a standard for us in practice and in the way we want to play. That is very much intentional and something our guys really like," Corrigan said. "You open up with a very, very strong team, and you're going to find out early where you are." Corrigan might not know yet if his newest Irish team can improve on an impressive run, but a tough early schedule will give him a good idea soon enough. Baseball Notre Dame is a bigger, bulkier version of its old self three years into the tenure of head coach Mik Aoki. Recalibrating the team's offseason work habits was a top priority for Aoki during his first couple seasons with the Irish, and the skipper is happy with the results he sees heading into the 2013 campaign. "I think if you look at our team now as compared to two years ago it definitely passes the eye test a lot better," Aoki said. "Whether or not they can play baseball, we'll see. In terms of the physicality of the team and the way that they look, they're big kids. They're athletic-looking kids." The Irish return their two biggest bats from a year ago in juniors Trey Mancini and Eric Jagielo, who play at the corners of Notre Dame's infield. Mancini and Jagielo combined for 25 home runs and 88 RBI in the middle of the batting order last season. They were both picked for the Preseason All-Big East team. The team was picked to finish third overall in the conference this year. Baseball 2012 Finish: 31-27, 14-13 in Big East; lost to St. John's in Big East Tournament semifinals Top Returner: Junior first baseman Trey Mancini Fresh Face To Watch: Freshman pitcher David Hearne