Feb. 3, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame senior captain Barbara Sullivan was named to the preseason All-ACC women’s lacrosse team in a vote of the league’s eight coaches on Tuesday.
The Garden City, New York native earned first-team All-America honors in 2013 as a sophomore, becoming the youngest player in school history to earn that honor. A stalwart in the Irish defense, Sullivan collected 57 ground balls, controlled a school-record 67 draws and caused 34 turnovers in 2013 to earn her a nomination for the Tewaaraton Award. Sullivan was hampered by back injuries in 2014 and played sparingly in six contests although her leadership from the sidelines, practice field and in the locker room helped spur the team on to a top-eight national seed and the right to play host to its NCAA tournament games.
Sullivan’s primary on-field role in 2014 was to use her height, strength and leaping ability on draws and she ended up controlling 22 during her abbreviated junior season. Sullivan was at her best against some of the nation’s top teams last spring. She controlled three of those 22 draws, and assisted on a goal 11 seconds into play, on March 5, 2014, when Notre Dame defeated No. 4 Northwestern. Sullivan controlled seven draws on Feb. 27, 2014, as the Irish battled No. 1 North Carolina on the road.
Sullivan ranks sixth in school history with 121 career draw controls and ninth with 69 career caused turnovers.
Ranked No. 10 in the national polls, Notre Dame was picked to finish sixth in the ACC in the same vote of the league’s coaches as the ACC has seven teams ranked in the top 13 of the national preseason polls. North Carolina and Syracuse were established as the preseason league co-favorites by the conference’s coaches, each picking up four first-place votes and 59 poll points. The Tar Heels and Orange are followed by Duke, Virginia, Boston College, Notre Dame, Louisville and Virginia Tech.
Notre Dame’s 2015 campaign starts on Friday, Feb. 13, as the Irish head southeast to face Cincinnati. Notre Dame will return home on Sunday, Feb. 15, to face Detroit inside the Loftus Sports Center before embarking on a five-game road trip.