Meredith Simon Staff

A familiar face to Irish women[apos]s lacrosse fans returned to the Notre Dame sidelines in 2007-08 as Meredith Simon `04 joined her former coach, Tracy Coyne, as an assistant with the Irish.

As an assistant at Notre Dame, Simon works with the Irish attack and the team[apos]s goalkeepers on a daily basis while assisting with recruiting and team travel in addition to the day-to-day office operations.

She returned to Notre Dame after spending three seasons (2005-07) as an assistant at Towson University where she started her coaching career. There, she worked with the attack and the goalkeepers.

In three seasons at Towson, the Tigers were 26-25 overall while capturing their first Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) to advance to their first NCAA Tournament appearance.

In returning to Notre Dame, Simon followed in the footsteps of one of her teammates, Alissa Moser `02, who was an assistant with Coyne for three seasons.

During her first two seasons with the Irish, Notre Dame[apos]s attack has rewritten the offensive record book. In 2008, the Irish scored 13.26 goals per game, a jump of 1.26 from 2007 and then last year, Notre Dame scored at a rate of 15.29 goals per game, just over two goals more per game.

The 2009 season saw the Irish set records for goals (321), assists (150) and points (471), marks that helped Notre Dame to a 16-5 record, a BIG EAST Championship and a trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals.

In those two seasons, Simon has had the opportunity to work with two of the most prolific scorers in the program[apos]s history – Jillian Byers and Caitlin McKinney – while being a teammate of a third – Crysti Foote.

The 27-year old Simon is a member of that fraternity of scorers as she finished her career in 2004 as one of Notre Dame[apos]s all-time leading scorers.

As a member of the Irish women[apos]s lacrosse program (2000-04), Simon became the school[apos]s first-ever, first-team, Intercollegiate Women[apos]s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) All-American as she set a then Notre Dame single-season scoring mark with 74 points on 46 goals and 28 assists while leading the Irish to the NCAA tournament in 2004.

During that season, Simon also became the first Notre Dame player to be a nominee for the prestigious Tewaaraton Trophy as the top player in the nation.

A two-time first team All-BIG EAST selection (2003, 2004), Simon was the BIG EAST co-attack player of the year in 2004, sharing the honor with Leigh Ann Zimmer of Syracuse. During 2004, the attack standout also was selected as a second team All-American by Inside Lacrosse Magazine and womenslacrosse.com.

A team captain as a senior, the Flemington, N.J., native finished her Notre Dame career ranked first in games played (64), third in goals (109), fourth in assists (49), third in points (158), tied for fourth in ground balls (123) and third in draw controls (91). She ended her career with what is now the sixth-longest point-scoring streak in the program[apos]s history as she scored in 28 straight games, recording 68 goals and 35 assists for 103 points between March 25, 2003 and May 13, 2004. During her career, Simon was a member of Notre Dame[apos]s first two NCAA tournament teams in 2002 and 2004.

Simon graduated with a degree in American Studies from Notre Dame in 2004 and was a Dean[apos]s List selection four times. A graduate of Hunterdon Central High School in New Jersey, she was a three-sport standout in soccer, basketball and lacrosse. Simon was the second member of her family to play and serve as captain of a Notre Dame lacrosse team as she followed her brother, Eric `03 who captained the men[apos]s team in 2003.