Notre Dame head coach Tracy Coyne was named the 2006 BIG EAST coach of the year as she has her team has recorded its best record ever.

Crysti Foote And Tracy Coyne Take Major BIG EAST Postseason Awards

May 15, 2006

Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame senior attack standout Crysti Foote (Suffern, N.Y.) and coach Tracy Coyne headline the list of 2006 BIG EAST award winners and five members of the 2006 Irish were selected all-BIG EAST as the Conference announced its regular-season awards on Monday in voting done by the league’s coaches.

Foote was named the BIG EAST attack player of the year to cap her record-setting senior season. The All-American and Tewaaraton Trophy candidate, she currently ranks second in the nation in scoring (6.00 points per game) and is tied for the national lead in goals per game (4.00). Notre Dame’s senior captain has paced the Irish in scoring all season long and through 17 games has 68 goals and 34 assists for 102 points. All three marks are Irish single-season records. For her career, Foote is Notre Dame’s all-time leader in goals (155), assists (70) and points (215). She also set the school’s single-season mark for draw controls as she leads the team with 42. In BIG EAST conference play, Foote led the league in scoring with 30 points, points per game (6.00), assists (12), assists per game (2.40) and was third in goals (18) and goals per game (3.60). The talented point producer was also a unanimous first team selection to the all-BIG EAST team. She was a unanimous first team all-BIG EAST selection in 2005 and a second team choice as a sophomore in 2004.

Coyne was selected as the BIG EAST coach of the year for the second time in the last three years as she also won the honor in 2004. This season, she engineered the largest won-loss turnaround in NCAA history, guiding Notre Dame to a 14-3 record after finishing 2005 with a 3-12 record, a 10-game turnaround. The 2006 Irish finished second in the BIG EAST in 2006 with a 4-1 record after finishing 1-4 in the previous year. Notre Dame’s 14 wins this season are a school record and the Irish are participating in their third NCAA Tournament in the last five seasons. The NCAA first round win over Cornell (16-8) on May 14 was the 200th win of Coyne’s career and gives her a record of 200-89 (.692). In 10 seasons at Notre Dame, Coyne’s teams are 86-63 (.577). The Irish have advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals for the second time in school history and will face BIG EAST foe, Georgetown, on Saturday, May 20.

Rounding out the major BIG EAST awards are Georgetown goalkeeper Maggie Koch, who was selected as the BIG EAST defensive player of the week and Loyola’s Kate McHarg, the conference midfielder of the year.

Four other Irish players were also selected to the all-BIG EAST teams. Joining Foote as unanimous first team selections are freshman Jillian Byers (Northport, N.Y.) and sophomore Caitlin McKinney (Lafayette Hill, Pa.). Named to the second team were sophomore Mary Carpenter (Rochester, N.Y.) and junior defender Meaghan Fitzpatrick (Farmingdale, N.Y.).

Byers is one of two freshmen who were unanimous first team all-BIG EAST selections. The high-scoring attack standout has obliterated Notre Dame’s freshman scoring records with 51 goals and 22 assists for 73 points in her first 17 career games. Included in her 51 goals are four game winners. The All-American candidate’s 51 goals are the second-highest total in Notre Dame history, behind Foote’s (68) and her 73 points are the third-best single-season mark ever at Notre Dame, trailing only Foote (102) and Meredith Simon `04 (74). Among BIG EAST players, she is second in points, fourth in goals and fourth in assists overall. In five conference games, Byers was fifth in scoring with 18 points on 12 goals and six assists. She is the first Notre Dame freshman ever selected first team in the BIG EAST.

McKinney rounds out Notre Dame’s three unanimous first team selections. The speedy attack standout was a second team selection in her freshman year (2005). This season, McKinney has career highs in goals (36), assists (20) and points (56) while teaming with Foote and McKinney for 155 goals and 76 assists for 236 points to form the highest scoring trio in the program’s 10-year history. McKinney ranks sixth in the BIG EAST in overall scoring with 56 points and in five league games had 11 goals and four assists for 15 points.

Carpenter had a break out season for the Irish in her sophomore season at midfield. She recorded career highs in goals (11), assists (9) and points (20) to finish seventh on the team in scoring. The hard working midfielder took care of the little things to help the Irish control the midfield. She led Notre Dame with 48 ground balls, tied for third with 29 draw controls and was second on the team with 23 caused turnovers for the year. Lightening quick, Carpenter played a key role in the Irish transition game as she helped move the ball from the defense to the high-scoring attack.

Fitzpatrick was the anchor of the Notre Dame defense all season. The team’s top match-up defender, she set career highs in ground balls (39), draw controls (9) and caused turnovers with 19 while finishing third on the team in both categories. As the leader of the Notre Dame back line, Fitzpatrick usually drew the assignment of shutting down the opposition’s top scorer and turned in a strong season leading the Notre Dame back line. She also added two assists at the offensive end of the field.


2006 BIG EAST Women's Lacrosse Awards
Attack Player of the Year
Crysti Foote, M/A, Sr., Notre Dame
Midfielder of the Year Kate McHarg, M, Jr., Loyola (Md.)
Defensive Player of the Year Maggie Koch, Jr., Goalkeeper, Georgetown
Coach of the Year Tracy Coyne, Notre Dame
All-BIG EAST First Team All-BIG EAST Second Team*Katie Batiuk, M, So., Rutgers Chloe Asselin, Jr., D, Georgetown*Shannon Burke, M/A, Jr., UConn Stephanie Bissett, So., D, Syracuse*Jillian Byers, A, Fr., Notre Dame Kristin Brady, So., M/A, Syracuse*Crysti Foote, M/A, Sr., Notre Dame Mary Carpenter, So., M, Notre Dame*Gaddy Fortune, M, Jr., Syracuse Laura Cipro, Jr., D, Georgetown Maura Kenny, A, So., Loyola (Md.) Kate Filippelli, M, So., Loyola (Md.)*Maggie Koch, GK, Jr., Georgetown Meaghan Fitzpatrick, D, Jr., Notre Dame*Kate McHarg, M, Jr., Loyola (Md.) Kristen Haldeman, GK, Sr., Connecticut*Caitlin McKinney, A, So., Notre Dame Kathryn Lawrence, M, Fr., Rutgers Lucy Poole, M, Sr., Georgetown Anne Marchitello, M/D, Jr., Rutgers*Kathryn Rowan, A, Fr., Syracuse Chelsea Strodel, D, Jr., Syracuse*Coco Stanwick, A, Jr., Georgetown Laura Trzasko, M/D, Jr., Connecticut Stephanie Zodtner, D, Sr., Georgetown Abbey VanDeusen, M/A, Sr., Connecticut
*denotes unanimous selection