Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/542018
the upcoming season. "After much thought, prayer and discussion with my family, I have de- cided that it is in my best interest to graduate from Notre Dame and trans- fer to another school effective imme- diately," Golson said in a statement to FOX Sports. "I would like to thank ev- eryone at Notre Dame for the opportu- nity to compete at the highest level of college football, but most importantly to obtain my degree from one of the finest universities in the country. "To all the Fighting Irish fans, I want to thank you for your support over the past four years and let you know I truly love Notre Dame. To my former teammates, who I will miss tremen- dously, I wish much success in the fu- ture and will be your biggest fan from afar." Perkovic's Miracle Finish Falls Just Shy In Lacrosse Postseason A span of 5:57 in the fourth quar- ter of the men's lacrosse Final Four May 23 may have been the most clutch stretch for an Irish athlete all season — regardless of sport. With No. 1-seeded Notre Dame trailing No. 4-seeded Denver 7-4 with less than nine min- utes to play, sophomore midfielder Sergio Perkovic went on an absolute tear, scoring five goals between the 8:00 mark and the 2:03 mark to help the Irish force overtime with a 10-10 score at the end of regulation. Four of those goals came with less than five minutes to play and the Irish still trail- ing 9-5, with Perkovic tallying at 4:40, 3:38, 3:01 and 2:03 — four goals in a 2:37 span. The five goals total for the game marked a season high for Perkovic. Imagine if quarterback Everett Golson had set his season high for passing touchdowns in the first round of the College Football Playoff, with every one of his scores coming in the fourth quarter. It was that kind of moment for the team. Still, Notre Dame fell short of com- pleting the comeback. Denver scored first in the sudden-death overtime, advancing to the championship game with an 11-10 victory and eventually capturing the national title. Irish Invasion A Major Success For the second consecutive year, Notre Dame poured much time and resources into the Irish Invasion — an on-campus recruiting camp intended for prospects to sample a taste of the Irish student-athlete lifestyle. By all accounts, the 2015 event was highly successful. There were a few changes from last year 's inaugural camp. For example, the 2014 Invasion was held at the La- Bar practice fields — and this year the campers worked out inside Notre Dame Stadium under the Friday-night lights. They ran through drills, partici- pated in one-on-ones, and at the end of the camp competed in races and even a round of Tug-of-War. As of July 14, the Irish had landed five commitments alone from attend- ees at the camp, including Chesterfield (Va.) Lloyd C. Bird defensive back Jalen Elliott, Jacksonville (Fla.) First Coast wide receiver Kevin Stepherson, Bradenton (Fla.) IMA Academy safety