April 27, 2011
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format
– The Game: Notre Dame (7-8/4-2) at Louisville (10-6/3-4)
– Date/Time/Site: Friday, April 29, 2011 – 5:00 p.m. – U of L Lacrosse Stadium – Louisville, Ky.
– The Game: Notre Dame (7-8/4-2) at Cincinnati (2-13/0-7)
– Date/Time/Site: Sunday, May 1, 2011 – Noon – Nippert Stadium – Cincinnati, Ohio
– Internet: Gametracker will be available for both games this weekend on the Notre Dame website at und.com, the Louisville website (uoflsports.com) and the Cincinnati website (gobearcats.com). There will be no video streaming for the Louisville game on Friday but Sunday’s game at Cincinnati will be streamed on the Bearcat website at gobearcats.com. There is a charge of $9.95 for this service.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Notre Dame closes out the 2011 women’s lacrosse schedule this weekend with a pair of road games. On Friday, April 29, the Irish travel to Louisville, Ky., to face the Louisville Cardinals in a 5:00 p.m. game that will be played at the U of L Lacrosse Stadium. On Sunday, May 1, Notre Dame visits the University of Cincinnati for the regular-season finale at noon. That game versus the Bearcats will be played at Nippert Stadium. The Irish enter the final two games of the season with a 7-8 overall record and a 4-2 mark in the BIG EAST, good for fourth place in the conference standings. They are coming off a big, upset win of No. 16 Georgetown (13-10) at Arlotta Stadium on Sat., April 23. That win moved Notre Dame into sole possession of fourth place ahead of Louisville in the race for the final spot in the 2011 BIG EAST Tournament. The Cardinals play just once this weekend as they face the Irish, hoping for a win on Friday and an Irish loss on Sunday to get them back into the race for the tournament. Louisville is 10-6 overall and 3-4 in the conference and is coming off back-to-back road losses last weekend at Syracuse (11-10) and at Connecticut (14-12). The Irish then visit Cincinnati on Sunday and will face a Bearcat team that only has the game with Notre Dame on the docket for this week. They are 2-13 overall and have an 0-7 mark in the BIG EAST. Cincinnati dropped a pair of games last week at Connecticut (19-9) on April 21 and at Syracuse (20-3) on April 23. The Irish will look to be in action next week at the BIG EAST Tournament that will be played in Washington, D.C., and hosted by Georgetown University. The semifinals will be played on Thursday, May 5 with the title game set for Saturday, May 7.
BIG EAST TOURNAMENT INFORMATION: With a 4-2 record heading into the final weekend of the BIG EAST schedule, Georgetown (6-1), Loyola (5-1) and Syracuse (5-1) have all clinched a berth. A Georgetown win versus Rutgers on Sunday will clinch first for the Hoyas as they own wins over both Loyola and Syracuse. Loyola will travel to Syracuse on Friday with the winner of that game still having a shot at first place should Georgetown lose on Sunday. Loyola will host Connecticut on Sunday while Syracuse is at Villanova. The Irish need just one win on the weekend to clinch fourth place in the standings. A win on Friday will knock Louisville out of the playoffs while a Cardinal victory would keep their hopes alive as Notre Dame would then need to defeat Cincinnati on Sunday.
NOTRE DAME AND LOUISVILLE: The Irish and the Cardinals have played twice in the all-time series with Notre Dame holding a 2-0 lead, winning once in South Bend and once at Louisville. In 2010, the teams met at Arlotta Stadium on March 27 with the Irish taking a hard-fought, 11-9 win, the first win for Notre Dame at the new stadium. Megan Sullivan (Jr., Winchester, Mass.) paced the Notre Dame attack with a career-high four goals in the game. Maggie Tamasitis (Jr., Boyertown, Pa.) had five points in the win, scoring twice with three assists while five others chipped in one goal each. Sullivan got the game winner with 16:00 left in the game. Goalkeeper Ellie Hilling (Fr., Rochester, N.Y.) made a then, career-high 12 saves in the Notre Dame win.
IRISH AND BEARCATS: Notre Dame and Cincinnati have met twice in the all-time series with the Irish taking one win at Arlotta Stadium and one at Nippert Stadium. In 2010, the teams met at Arlotta Stadium with the Irish taking a 15-5 win on April 17. Gina Scioscia `10 led Notre Dame with a career-high, seven-point game (3g, 4a) while Shaylyn Blaney (Sr., Stony Brook, N.Y.) and Jenny Granger (So., East Setauket, N.Y.) had three goals each. Goalkeeper Ellie Hilling gave up four goals while making just two saves as the win was the fourth straight for the Irish.
THE IRISH ALL-TIME: Notre Dame was 1-1 on the week of April 18, losing at No. 17 Vanderbilt, 12-10, in overtime before returning home for a 13-10 win over No. 16 Georgetown on April 23. That gives the Irish an all-time record to 144-97 in the 15th year of the women’s lacrosse program. Notre Dame now has an all-time winning percentage of .598. The record includes a 71-34 (.676) mark at home, a 59-54 (.522) record on the road and a 14-9 (.609) ledger on neutral fields.
HEAD COACH Tracy Coyne: Tracy Coyne is in her 15th season at Notre Dame and her 24th year in collegiate lacrosse. Coyne brings a 258-123 (.677) 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, making her just 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 144-97 (.598) 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 four 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 144-97 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 is 2-0 against both Louisville and Cincinnati since those schools started Division I lacrosse programs.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK: April 20 – at Vanderbilt – Freshman Kaitlyn Brosco (Shoreham, N.Y.) had a career-high, four-goal and five-point game but it wasn’t enough as Notre Dame dropped a 12-10 overtime decision at Vanderbilt on Wednesday. Sophomore Jaimie Morrison (Yorktown Hts., N.Y.) and senior Shaylyn Blaney scored twice in the game with Betsy Mastropieri (So., Richmond, Va.) and junior Maggie Tamasitis (Boyertown, Pa.) getting one each. Vanderbilt got two goals each from Courtney Kirk, Hannah Clark and Emily Franke to pace the Commodores. The Irish trailed by four goals twice in the first half but rallied on four consecutive markers by Brosco late in the opening stanza to take a 7-6 lead. Vanderbilt led 9-7 at halftime before Notre Dame tied the game in the second half on goals by Blaney and Tamasitis to make it 9-9. The Commodores took a 10-9 lead only to see Blaney tie the game with 10:02 left in the half. That would be the last scoring until overtime. Katherine Denkler scored 1:27 into the first OT and Paige Cahill got the final goal with 33 seconds left to give Vandy the 12-10 victory. The Commodores out shot Notre Dame, 27-24, in the game. Ellie Hilling finished with 11 saves in the game while Chelsea Pasfield had nine for Vanderbilt.
April 23 – Georgetown – Kaitlyn Brosco continued her goal scoring exploits as she equaled a career high with her second consecutive four-goal game in Notre Dame’s 13-10 upset win of No. 16 Georgetown. Maggie Tamasitis added four points – three goals and an assist – while Ansley Stewart (Sr., Alexandria, Va.), Kaitlin Keena (Sr., Vienna, Va.) and Shaylyn Blaney all had two goals on Senior Day in the Irish win. Sophomore goalkeeper Ellie Hilling turned in a career-best day, making 15 saves, including 11 in the second half versus the Hoyas. Sophia Thomas scored three for Georgetown while Kelyn Freeman and Kelsi Bozel added two each. Jordy Kirr, Dina Jackson and Hannah Franklin chipped in a goal each for the Hoyas. After falling behind 2-1 in the first half, Notre Dame ran off six goals in a 10-minute span with Brosco leading the way with three goals on the way to a 7-2 lead. Georgetown cut the lead to 7-4 at halftime with the final two goals of the half. The Irish got off to a fast start in the second stanza, notching the first four goals in a 6:26 span to make it 11-4 with 23:34 left in the game. Georgetown would go on a run of its own, getting the next five goals to cut the lead to 11-9 with 8:42 left in the half. Blaney scored her second goal of the game with 1:46 left and the teams added one each in the final 1:25 with the Irish taking the three-goal win. The Hoyas out shot Notre Dame, 34-27, in the game. Barb Black made eight saves in the Georgetown goal.
VERSUS THE BEST: Notre Dame’s win over Georgetown was the first of the season for the Irish versus a nationally ranked team. The win over the 16th-ranked Hoyas improved Notre Dame to 1-5 this year against the top teams on their schedule. 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.
WOMENSLAX.COM ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Freshman midfielder Kaitlyn Brosco was named WomensLax.com rookie of the week for her play in games versus Vanderbilt and Georgetown last week. 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 leads Notre Dame in goals with 26 goals and is third in points with 32.
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 then added a pair of caused turnovers in the 13-10 win over Georgetown to give her 40 for the season and 111 for her career, passing Tina Fedarcyk’s `02 career mark of 107. Doherty leads the BIG EAST with 40 and is third in the NCAA with 2.67 per game. Teammate Shaylyn Blaney is right behind her with 30 on the year and ranks second in the BIG EAST and sixth in the nation with 2.00 per game. The duo has combined for 71 of Notre Dame’s 146 caused turnovers this season (48.6%). All-time, they are now first and fourth on Notre Dame’s list with 111 and 105 respectively.
ON THE VERGE: Senior defender Jackie Doherty has equaled a career high with 40 caused turnovers this season, reaching the same amount she had last year in 18 games. Her 40 caused turnovers are just four off the school record of 44 in a season set by Shannon Burke `09 in the 2009 campaign.
Caused TurnoversName (Season) CT1. Shannon Burke (2009) 442. Jackie Doherty (2011) 40 Jackie Doherty (2010) 404. Shaylyn Blaney (2010) 365. Kathryn Lam (2000) 356. Andrea Kinnik (2004) 347. Shannon Burke (2008) 32 Holly Manthei (1998) 329. Shaylyn Blaney (2011) 31 Becky Ranck (2006) 3111. Tina Fedarcyk (2001) 30
THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Senior defender Jackie Doherty continues to be a dominate force on the Irish defense this season. She enters Friday’s game at Louisville leading the team in ground balls (45), is second in draw controls (31) and first in caused turnovers with 40. She has had three games this season with six caused turnovers, tying the single-game Irish record held by Shannon Burke `09.
MAKING THE STOPS: Sophomore goalkeeper Ellie Hilling has now started 33 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 7-8 with an 9.19 goals-against average and a .457 save percentage. She has played all but 11:34 this season. 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.
OVER 30 CLUB: Maggie Tamasitis extended her current point-scoring streak to 33 games with three goals and an assist versus Georgetown on April 23. That gives her the fourth longest point streak in Notre Dame history. 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 36 goals and 59 assists for 95 points. She is currently 10th on the all-time points list with 130 points on 51 goals and 79 assists.
TOP SCORING STREAKS (30 or more):Caitlin McKinney (51 games)Gina Scioscia (37 games)Danielle Shearer (36 games)Maggie Tamasitis (33 games)Jillian Byers (30 games)
STREAKY IRISH: While Tamasitis’s streak has reached 33 games, she is joined by three other players with active point streaks for the Irish. Going into Friday’s game with Louisville, these players have point streaks for the Irish.
Maggie Tamasitis - 33 games (36g, 59a, 95 pts)Shaylyn Blaney - 10 games (18g, 5a, 23 pts.)Kaitlyn Brosco - 5 games (13g, 4a, 17 pts.)Ansley Stewart - 5 games (9g, 3a, 12 pts.)Kaitlin Keena - 2 games (2g, 4a, 6 pts)
ROAD WARRIORS: With two road games left on the regular-season schedule, Notre Dame is now 3-4 this year away from South Bend, Ind. The Irish close the regular season on the road at Louisville (April 29) and Cincinnati (May 1). The Irish have had their share of success on the road since the 2008 season, winning six road games in each of the last three campaigns. Since the 2008 season, Notre Dame is 21-14 (.600) 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.
SHARE THE WEALTH: Notre Dame has eight players on the roster with 18 or more points and eight players with 15 or more goals. Maggie Tamasitis leads the team in points (51) and assists (33). Freshman Kaitlyn Brosco is tops on the squad with 26 goals this season. No freshman has ever led Notre Dame in goals for a season in the 15-year history of the program.
CAREER DAYS: Freshman midfielder Kaitlyn Brosco and sophomore midfielder Jaimie Morrison turned in career-best performances in the loss at Vanderbilt. 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. With that four-goal game, Brosco moved into the team lead in goals with 26 and is now third in points with 32. Morrison also has career highs in goals (4), assists (3) and points (7) this season.
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 (Huntington, N.Y.) 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. That gave her 101 career goals. For her career, Abt is 11th all-time in scoring with 128 career points in 71 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 54 career games and has 51 goals and 79 assists for 130 career points. She is 10th on the all-time points list at Notre Dame entering this weekend’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 161 with two games left in the regular season. 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 tied for third all-time in goals (152), seventh in points (176), seventh in ground balls (124), first in draw controls (161) and fourth in caused turnovers (105).
CAREER YEAR: Sophomore midfielder Jenny Granger (East Setauket, N.Y.) has already put up career numbers for the Irish in her second season. Through 15 games, Granger has scored 18 goals with nine assists for 27 points, all career highs. As a freshman in 16 games during the 2010 campaign, she had 12 goals and three assists for 15 points. Included in her season is a career-high four-goal, two-assist, career-best six-point game at California in the season opener.
AHEAD OF PACE: With two goals and two assists in the 13-10 win over Georgetown, senior midfielder Kaitlin Keena (Vienna, Va.) 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 17 goals and eight assists for 25 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. Last weekend she moved into 10th on Notre Dame’s all-time assist list when she notched her 40th career helper.
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. FOR STARTERS: Freshman defender Margaret Smith (Westminster, Md.) moved into the Irish starting lineup on March 27th and has is starting to make her presence felt on the Notre Dame defense. She has played in all 15 games this season, making seven starts. She is currently fifth in ground balls (25), seventh in draw controls (12) and third in caused turnovers (13) in her first year at Notre Dame.
CLOSE ONES: Through the first 15 games of the 2011 season, Notre Dame has been involved in five “close” games – contests decided by one or two goals. In those games, the Irish are 1-4, 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.
NOT WHAT THEY HOPED FOR: Notre Dame’s 7-8 record is the worst for the Irish since starting the 2005 season with a 3-12 record after 15 games. Since the start of the 2006 season, Notre Dame is 72-36 for a .667 winning percentage. Three of Notre Dame’s losses this season have come to unranked opponents – Ohio State, Cornell and Hofstra with the Cornell and Hofstra losses coming in back-to-back games. The last time the Irish had two consecutive losses to unranked teams in one season was 2008 when they lost at Stanford (3/2) and to Oregon (3/6) on a neutral field.
DOME DOLDRUMS: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team won’t be disappointed to not see the Carrier Dome in Syracuse until the 2013 season. With the 12-7 loss on April 10 versus the Orange, Notre Dame is now 0-8 all-time at the Dome. The Irish are 0-7 versus Syracuse there and they also have a loss to Georgetown in the 2007 BIG EAST Tournament to add another bad memory to the all-time record.
BLANKING THE WILDCATS: A year ago, Notre Dame pitched a shutout versus Villanova, blanking the Wildcats, 16-0, at Arlotta Stadium on April 9, 2010. This season, the Irish continued the shutout streak against Villanova, holding the Cats off the scoreboard until the 2:52 mark of the first half. That gave the Irish, and goalkeeper Ellie Hilling, an 87:08 shutout streak versus Villanova over the last two seasons.
FRESHMEN FIRSTS: A pair of freshmen picked up the first goals of their careers in the win at Villanova. Molly Shawhan (Fulton, Md.), who has seen action in 10 games this season recorded her first goal, while fellow midfielder Grace Dooley (Chicago, Ill.), scored a goal in her first career game.