March 18, 2002
Notre Dame, Ind. – The 15th-ranked Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team puts its four-game season-opening winning streak on the line Tuesday afternoon, March 19 when the Irish play host to the 10th-ranked Cornell Big Red. The starting time is set for 4:00 p.m. at Moose Krause Stadium weather permitting. If inclement weather occurs, the game will be moved indoors to Meyo Field in the Loftus Sports Center.
The Irish, 4-0 overall and 1-0 in BIG EAST play, are ranked 15th in the March 12 Brine/IWLCA Poll and are coming off a 14-5 home win on March 17 versus Boston College. The 4-0 start is the best in the short history of the program.
In the Cornell, the Irish will face one of the top teams in the nation as the Big Red visit Notre Dame with a 2-0 record.
The two teams have never faced each other in women’s lacrosse but have one common opponent so far this season in Stanford. The Irish won at Stanford 10-5 on March 9 while Cornell won 20-5 on March 2.
The Big Red has outscored the opposition by a 29-11 margin in two games and are led offensively by Sarah Fischer (7 goals, 2 assists) and Jaimee Reynolds (4 goals, 3 assists). Carrie Giancola has a 5.59 goals against average and a .545 save percentage.
BIG EAST Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week Danielle Shearer (Jr., Hampstead, Md.) and Jen White (Jr., Annapolis, Md.) lead the Irish. Shearer recorded six goals and five assists for 11 points in two Notre Dame wins last week while White won two games in goal with a 6.50 goals against and a .500 save percentage.
Shearer leads Notre Dame’s offense with nine goals and eight assists for 17 points and is followed by Natalie Loftus (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) with seven goals and three assists for 10 points and senior Alissa Moser (North Wales, Pa.) who has eight goals and one assist for nine points.
The Irish have outscored opponents 49-21 in the first four games. White is 4-0 in the Notre Dame goal with a 5.25 goals against and a .611 save percentage on the year.