May 6, 2011
Washington, D.C. –
Complete Release in PDF Format
– The Game: The BIG EAST Championship Game Notre Dame (10-8) vs. #9/#8 Loyola (15-2)
– Date/Time/Site: Sat., May 7, 2010 – 1:00 p.m. – Multi-Sport Field – Washington, D.C.
– Television: CBS College Sports with Jason Knapp and Sheehan Stanwick Burch calling all the action.
– Internet: Gametracker will be available on the Notre Dame website at und.com.
FOR ALL THE MARBLES: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s lacrosse team will meet the Loyola (Md.) Greyhounds in the BIG EAST Championship game on Saturday, May 7 at 1:00 p.m. at Georgetown’s Multi-Sport Field. The game will be televised on CBS College Sports with Jason Knapp and Sheehan Stanwick Burch calling all the action. For the Irish, this will be their second appearance in the BIG EAST title game as they played in the 2009 game, winning their first-ever BIG EAST Championship. Loyola will be making its first appearance in the championship game. Notre Dame advanced to Saturday’s game with a 15-12 win over the top-seeded Georgetown Hoyas in one semifinal game on Thursday night. The Greyhounds advanced on the strength of a 12-11 victory against second-seeded Syracuse. The Irish are now 10-8 on the season and were 6-2 in the BIG EAST, finishing in fourth place. Loyola is now 15-2 overall and finished third in the conference with a 6-2 mark. The Greyhounds took the third seed in the tournament as they defeated Notre Dame on April 3, with a 13-10 win over the Irish at Arlotta Stadium.
IRISH VERSUS LOYOLA: The Irish and the Greyhounds have met six times in the all-time series with Notre Dame holding a 5-1 advantage. Loyola’s lone win in the series came on April 3 of this year, a 13-10 win at Arlotta Stadium. The two teams have never faced each other in the BIG EAST Tournament.
IRISH BIG EAST TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Notre Dame’s 15-12 win over Georgetown on Thursday night improved the Irish to 3-3 all-time in the BIG EAST Tournament. Notre Dame has appeared in all five BIG EAST Tournaments to date, winning the championship in 2009.
2007 - (0-1) Georgetown 12, Notre Dame 10 (at Syracuse, N.Y.)2008 - (0-1) Georgetown 15, Notre Dame 14 (3ot) (at Notre Dame, Ind.)2009 - (2-0) Notre Dame 16, Syracuse 10 (at Washington, D.C.) Notre Dame 12, Georgetown 10 (at Washington, D.C.)2010 - (0-1) Syracuse 12, Notre Dame 11 (4ot) (at Piscataway, N.J.)2011 - (1-0) Notre Dame 15, Georgetown 12 (at Washington, D.C.)
IRISH SEMIFINAL RECAP: Senior midfielder Shaylyn Blaney (Stony Brook, N.Y.) scored four goals – two at the end of the first half, giving Notre Dame a 10-8 lead and two at the end of the second half – to lead Notre Dame to a 15-12 win over Georgetown on Thursday night to send the Irish to the BIG EAST Championship game. Eight different players scored for the Irish as Kaitlyn Brosco (Fr., Shoreham, N.Y.), Jenny Granger (So., East Setauket, N.Y.), Ansley Stewart (Sr., Alexandria, Va.) and Jaimie Morrison (So., Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) scoring twice with Betsy Mastropieri (So., Richmond, Va.), Jackie Doherty (Sr., Ellicott City, Md.) and Megan Sullivan (Jr., Wincehster, Mass.) scoring one goal each. Junior Maggie Tamasitis (Boyertown, Pa.) set up four goals with four assists in the contest. The Irish trailed 4-1, 5-2 and 8-5 in the first half before going on a 5-0 run over the final 14:11 of the first half to take a 10-8 lead at halftime. The Hoyas got the first two goals of the second half to tie the game at 10-10 before Brosco, Granger and Stewart each scored their second goals of the game to put Notre Dame ahead, 13-10. Georgetown scored twice to get as close as 13-12, but Blaney sealed the victory with her final two goals of the game for the 15-12 win. Ellie Hilling (So., Rochester, N.Y.) made six saves in the game, including five in the second half to seal the win.
THE IRISH ALL-TIME: Notre Dame is in the midst of a four-game winning streak, the longest streak of the season for the Irish. The Irish are now 147-97 in the 15th year of the women’s lacrosse program. Notre Dame now has an all-time winning percentage of .602. The record includes a 71-34 (.676) mark at home, a 62-54 (.534) record on the road and a 14-9 (.609) ledger on neutral fields.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: Loyola comes into the 2011 BIG EAST Tournament with the highest rankings of the four participating teams. The Greyhounds are ranked ninth in the IWLCA coaches’ poll and eighth in the Inside Lacrosse media poll. Notre Dame is not ranked in either poll this week.
HEAD COACH Tracy Coyne: Tracy Coyne is in her 15th season at Notre Dame and her 24th year in collegiate lacrosse. Coyne brings a 261-123 (.680) career record into this week’s games. She recorded her 250th career win on April 22, 2010 in a 12-11 victory at Ohio State, to become the ninth coach in NCAA history to have 250 or more wins in her career. As the only head coach in the Notre Dame program’s history, Coyne is 147-97 (.602) and has guided the Irish to six NCAA tournaments (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010) where her teams have advanced to the Final Four once (2006) and the quarterfinals twice (2002, 2009). The Irish have participated in all five BIG EAST Tournaments to date, beginning in 2007 and they recorded their first BIG EAST title in 2009 with wins over Syracuse (16-10) and Georgetown (12-10). A 1983 Ohio University graduate, Coyne was 23-5 in two seasons at Denison (1988-89), 91-21 in seven years at Roanoke (1990-96) and 147-97 in this, her 15th season at Notre Dame. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native led Denison (1988) and Roanoke (1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996) to the NCAA Division III tournament during stops at those schools. Coyne also has coached on the international level as the head coach for the Canadian women’s lacrosse national team from 1999-2005. In June of 2005, she led Team Canada to a fourth-place finish at the 2005 World Cup, her second, fourth-place finish (2001) as Canada’s field boss. As a head coach, Coyne owns a 5-1 mark against Loyola. She is 3-3 all-time in the BIG EAST Tournament and guided the Irish to the 2009 championship.
FOUR STRAIGHT: Notre Dame enters the BIG EAST Championship game versus Loyola on a four-game winning streak overall. The four-game winning streak is the longest for the Irish this season. In fact, it is the only winning streak for Notre Dame this year. Prior to the streak, the Irish did not have back-to-back wins all season.
VERSUS THE BEST: Notre Dame’s win over Georgetown in the BIG EAST semifinals marked the second time this season that the Irish have defeated the Hoyas. The first win came on April 23. The two wins came with Georgetown ranked nationally and are the only two wins this season for the Irish versus ranked teams. For the year, Notre Dame is 2-5 against ranked teams. The Irish previously lost to #17/#20 Vanderbilt (12-10 in overtime), at #12/#13 Stanford (13-12), to #2/#2 Northwestern (14-11), to #5/#4 Loyola (13-10) and at #13/#15 Syracuse (12-7). In 2010, Notre Dame was 6-5 versus ranked teams.
SHARE THE WEALTH: Notre Dame has eight players on the roster with 20 or more points and eight players with 18 or more goals. Maggie Tamasitis leads the team in points (64) and assists (43). Shaylyn Blaney with 33 and Kaitlyn Brosco with 31 are the team leaders in goals.
THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Senior defender Jackie Doherty continues to be a dominate force on the Irish defense this season. She enters the BIG EAST Championship leading the team in ground balls (52), is second in draw controls (35) and first in caused turnovers with 46. She has had three games this season with six caused turnovers, tying the single-game Irish record held by Shannon Burke `09. Doherty even gets involved with the offense as she has two goals and four assists for six points.
STEALING AWAY: With five caused turnovers against Louisville and Cincinnati, senior defender Jackie Doherty set Notre Dame’s single-season mark with 45 caused turnovers this season. Teammate Shaylyn Blaney currently has the fourth-best single season mark with 38 caused turnovers this year. Shannon Burke `09 set the previous mark of 44 during the 2009 campaign. Doherty and Blaney added to their totals in the win over Georgetown with Doherty getting one caused turnover and Blaney two.
Caused TurnoversName (Season) CT1. Jackie Doherty (2011) 462. Shannon Burke (2009) 443. Jackie Doherty (2010) 404. Shaylyn Blaney (2011) 385. Shaylyn Blaney (2010) 366. Kathryn Lam (2000) 357. Andrea Kinnik (2004) 348. Shannon Burke (2008) 32 Holly Manthei (1998) 32 Becky Ranck (2006) 3111. Tina Fedarcyk (2001) 30
OVER 30 CLUB: Maggie Tamasitis extended her current point-scoring streak to 36 games with four assists in the 15-12 win over Georgetown on May 5. That ties her for the third longest point streak in the program’s history with Danielle Shearer, who did it over the 2002 and 2003 seasons. She is just one of five players in the program’s history to have a scoring streak of 30 games or more. In her streak, Tamasitis has 39 goals and 69 assists for 108 points. She is currently 10th on the all-time points list with 143 points on 54 goals and 89 assists.
TOP SCORING STREAKS (30 or more):Caitlin McKinney `08 (51 games)Gina Scioscia `10 (37 games)Maggie Tamasitis (36 games)Danielle Shearer `03 (36 games)Jillian Byers `09 (30 games)
STREAKY IRISH: While Tamasitis’s streak has reached 35 games, she is joined by five other players with active point streaks for the Irish. Going into Saturday’s title game with Loyola, these players have point streaks for the Irish.
Maggie Tamasitis - 36 games (39g, 69a, 108 pts)Shaylyn Blaney - 13 games (26g, 6a, 32 pts.)Ansley Stewart - 6 games (11g, 3a, 14 pts.)Jenny Granger -3 games (7g, 3a, 10 pts)Jaimie Morrison -3 games (5g, 0a, 5 pts)Megan Sullivan - 3 games (3g, 0a, 3 pts)
REACHING THE SUMMIT: With four assists against Georgetown, Maggie Tamasitis has climbed into second on Notre Dame’s all-time assist list with 89. She now trails Gina Scioscia `10 by 17 assists with one year left to play at Notre Dame.
Assists 1. Gina Scioscia (2007-10) 1062. Maggie Tamasitis (2008-) 893. Caitlin McKinney (2005-08) 80
With 43 assists this season, Tamasitis has tied Scioscia for first on Notre Dame's single-season record of 43.
Single-Season Assists1. Maggie Tamasitis (2011) 43 Gina Scioscia (2009) 433. Crysti Foote (2006) 404. Gina Scioscia (2008) 35
MAKING HER MARK: Freshman defender Margaret Smith (Westminster, Md.) had a career best six draw controls in the 15-12 win over Georgetown. She moved into the Irish starting lineup on March 27th and has made her presence felt on the Notre Dame defense. She has played in all 18 games this season, making nine starts. She is tied for fourth in ground balls (31), fourth in draw controls (20) and (14) and third in caused turnovers (15) in her first year at Notre Dame.
WLAX.COM ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Freshman midfielder Kaitlyn Brosco (Shoreham, N.Y.) was named WomensLax.com rookie of the week for her play in games versus Vanderbilt and Georgetown (week of April 25). In the two games, Brosco scored eight goals and added one assist for nine points. In the 12-10 overtime loss at Vanderbilt on April 20, Brosco had a career-high four goals and five points. In the upset win over No. 16 Georgetown on April 23, Brosco equaled her career high with four goals in the 13-10 win over the Hoyas. For the season, she is second in goals with 31 and third in points with 39. Her 39 points is the sixth best all-time for a freshman at Notre Dame.
BALL HAWKS: Senior defender Jackie Doherty became Notre Dame’s all-time leader in caused turnovers versus Vanderbilt after being credited with four swipes versus the Commodores on April 20. She now has 117 for her career as she has passed Tina Fedarcyk’s `02 career mark of 107. Doherty leads the BIG EAST with 46 and is third in the NCAA with 2.53 per game. Teammate Shaylyn Blaney is right behind her with 38 on the year and ranks third in the BIG EAST and ninth in the nation with 2.06 per game. The duo has combined for 84 of Notre Dame’s 180 caused turnovers this season (46.7%). All-time, they are now first and second on Notre Dame’s list with 117 and 113 respectively.
MAKING THE STOPS: Sophomore goalkeeper Ellie Hilling has now started 36 consecutive games in goal for Notre Dame. As a freshman she played all but 2:17 of the season and was 11-7 with a 9.69 goals-against average and a .421 save percentage. This season, she is 10-8 with a 9.54 goals-against average and a .430 save percentage. This season has seen Hilling record her three top save performances in a game. On April 23 against Georgetown, the sophomore from Rochester, N.Y., had a career-best 15 saves in the 13-10 win. That was one more than her 14-save game at Syracuse on April 10 in a 12-7 loss. She opened the year with a then-career high 13 saves in the 20-6 win at California on Feb. 11.
ROAD WARRIORS: Notre Dame has now won three straight games on the road to improve the Irish record on the road to 6-4 this season. Notre Dame has had its share of success on the road since the 2008 season, winning six road games in each of the last four campaigns. Since the 2008 season, Notre Dame is 24-14 (.632) away from Arlotta Stadium.
OVERTIME IRISH: Notre Dame’s 12-10 overtime loss to Vanderbilt on April 20 was the second overtime loss for the Irish this season. On March 20, they dropped a 6-5 double overtime decision to Cornell. Notre Dame has now played 21 overtime games in the program’s history and is now 8-13 in those games. Last season, Notre Dame played in four overtime games, including the longest game in BIG EAST history, a 72:58 affair against Syracuse in the conference semifinals, and was 2-2 in those games.
CAREER DAYS: Freshman midfielder Kaitlyn Brosco and sophomore midfielder Jaimie Morrison turned in career-best performances in the loss at Vanderbilt on April 20. Brosco had personal highs with four goals and five points in the 12-10 loss, getting all four goals in a 2:31 span of the first half, turning a 6-3 deficit into a 7-6 Notre Dame lead. Morrison recorded her single-game bests with two goals and one assist for three points. Brosco wasted little time in equaling her career best for goals in a game as she scored four more times in the 13-10 win over Georgetown on April 23. Brosco is second on the team with 31 goals and third in points with 39. Morrison also has career highs in goals (9), assists (3) and points (12) this season.
JENNY’S BACK: After going without a point in four straight games, sophomore midfielder Jenny Granger has points in three straight games. In the 16-15 win over the Louisville, Granger scored four goals in a game for the third time this season. She got the game winner in that one with less than one second on the clock. In the 17-6 win over Cincinnati, Granger had a career-high three assists and her second, four-point game of the weekend. She added two goals in the 15-12 win over Georgetown on Thursday. She is fourth in team scoring with 25 goals and 12 assists for 37 points, all career highs.
GETTING ON THE SCORESHEET: Senior defender Lauren Fenlon got offensive in her final regular season game against Cincinnati. Known more for her shutdown style of defense, Fenlon scored the first goal of her career with 27 seconds left in the 17-6 win over the Bearcats. She has played in 65 career games for the Irish. Fellow defender Emily Conner also got on the scoreboard, getting the third goal of her career, hers coming with 1:58 left in the game.
A SIX PACK: Maggie Tamasitis equaled a pair of Notre Dame single-game records in the 15-5 win over Connecticut on April 16. Her six-assist game tied a mark set by Gina Scioscia `10 on March 17, 2009 against Rutgers and by Kerry Callahan `99 on March 17, 1999 versus Gannon. Tamasitis had four assists in the first half to tie a mark set by Jillian Byers `09 in the second half against Connecticut on April 18, 2009 and by Callahan in the first half versus Gannon.
CENTURY CLUB: Senior midfielder Kailene Abt became just the ninth player in the history of the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse program to score 100 goals in her career. She reached the “Century” mark on April 16 when she scored three goals in the win over Connecticut. She now has 107 career goals and is ninth all-time inthat department. For her career, Abt is 11th all-time in scoring with 134 career points in 73 career games. Junior Maggie Tamasitis became the 12th player in the 15-year history of the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse program to score 100 or more points in her career earlier this season. Tamasitis has now played in 57 career games and has 54 goals and 89 assists for 143 career points. She is 10th on the all-time points list at Notre Dame entering this week’s action.
TOP OF THE LIST: With five draw controls in the win over Connecticut, senior midfielder Shaylyn Blaney became Notre Dame’s all-time leader in draw controls with 156. That moved her past Jillian Byers `09 who had 154. Blaney now has 163 going into the BIG EAST Tournament. She continues to show that she is one of the top midfielders in the nation and a standout performer all over the field. At Notre Dame, she is now third all-time in goals (160), seventh in points (186), fifth in ground balls (133), first in draw controls (164) and second in caused turnovers (112).
SPEAKING OF ASSISTS: Senior Shaylyn Blaney is known for putting the ball in the net as she has 160 goals to her credit on the year. This season, she has become the passer as she has a pair of three-assist games versus California and Duquesne. With an assist in the win over Cincinnati, Blaney has a career high 10 assists this season and 25 assists for her career.
AHEAD OF PACE: With two goals and two assists in the 13-10 win over Georgetown, senior midfielder Kaitlin Keena equaled a season high for points in a game set earlier this season at Stanford. The speedster is seventh on the team in scoring this season with 19 goals and 10 assists for 29 points. A year ago, she had four goals and eight assists for 12 points in 18 games. Keena’s best year for the Irish was 2009 when she had 19 goals and 15 assists for 34 points. She is 10th on Notre Dame’s all-time assist list with 42 in her career.
SEASON LOW: The four goals scored by Villanova on April 8 was a season low defensively for the Irish. The 12 shots that Notre Dame surrendered in the game also was a season low as were the seven shots on goal by the Wildcats.
CLOSE ONES: Through the first 18 games of the 2011 season, Notre Dame has been involved in six “close” games – contests decided by one or two goals. In those games, the Irish are 2-4, losing three games by one goal and one by two goals. Included in those totals are a pair of overtime losses. During the 2010 campaign, the Irish got in this habit as 11 of their 18 games were decided by two goals or less with eight decided by one goal, three by two goals and four games going to overtime. Notre Dame was 5-3 in one-goal games, 7-4 in games decided by two goals or less and 2-2 in overtime.