Oct. 11, 1999

Notre Dame, Ind. -- Connor LaRose (Claremont, Calif.), who helped the Irish men's soccer team to two shutout wins last week, was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week. The junior defender helped Notre Dame to two shutout victories over IUPUI (1-0) and Providence (4-0).

LaRose, who has started all 12 games in 1999, also contributed his second assist of the season in the Providence game. He assisted on Notre Dame's first goal of the game 3:32 into the contest that was scored by Dustin Pridmore (Dallas, Texas) who netted two goals in the shutout.

Notre Dame currently is 7-4-1 overall and 3-1-1 in the BIG EAST. The Irish have won four straight, its longest win streak of the season, and most consecutive victories since the 1997 season. Notre Dame has recorded shutout wins in its last three outings and six total for the campaign. The Irish have a 0.88 goals against average as a team.

LaRose is the third different Irish player to earn BIG EAST weekly honors. Senior goalkeeper Gerick Short (Mobile, Ala.) has copped goalkeeper-of-the-week honors twice, while freshman Erich Braun (Frankfurt, Germany) was tabbed rookie of the week just one week ago.