Senior Jillian Byers

Irish Close Out Three-Game Homestand With Visit From #16/#16 Stanford

Feb. 26, 2009

Notre Dame, Ind. –

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• The Game: #12 Notre Dame (2-1) vs #16/#16 Stanford (4-1/3-0 in MPSF)

• Date/Time/Site: Saturday, Feb., 28, 2009 • 2:00 p.m. • Loftus Sports Center • Notre Dame, Ind.

• All Notre Dame home women’s lacrosse games can be seen live via video streaming at und.com; follow the Irish via GameTracker on und.com.

HERE COME THE CARDINAL: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team closes out the month of February with a visit from the Stanford Cardinal on Sat., Feb. 28. Game time at the Loftus Sports Center is 2:00 p.m. Stanford, ranked 16th in both the IWLCA coaches’ poll and the Inside Lacrosse poll, is the second ranked team that Notre Dame will face this season. The Irish also have faced No. 1 Northwestern on Feb. 20, dropping a 21-5 decision to the Wildcats. Notre Dame is 2-1 overall for the season and bounced back from the Northwestern loss with a 14-11 victory over Ohio State on Feb. 22. Stanford enters Saturday afternoon’s game with a 4-1 overall record and a 3-0 mark in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). The Cardinal ran past UC-Davis on Wednesday night with a 20-3 conference win. Their only loss this season came on Feb. 20, a 15-10 home loss to Syracuse. The Irish enter the week ranked 12th in both the IWLCA coaches’ poll and the Inside Lacrosse poll. Following the Stanford game, the Irish take to the road to visit Dartmouth on Sat., March 7. The game with the Big Green will start at 12:00 noon.

NOTRE DAME VERSUS STANFORD: The Irish and the Cardinal have met nine times in the all-time series with Notre Dame holding a 6-3 advantage. The two teams met in Palo Alto, Calif., last season with Stanford taking a 13-9 decision. At home, the Irish are 2-2 all-time against the Cardinal. The last time the two teams battled at Notre Dame was Feb. 24, 2007 with the Irish winning a 12-11 overtime thriller at the Loftus Sports Center. Caitlin McKinney `08 got the game-winning goal in that game with seven seconds left in the second overtime.

HEAD COACH TRACY COYNE: Tracy Coyne is in her 13th season at Notre Dame and her 22nd year in collegiate lacrosse. Coyne brings a 226-104 (.685) career record into Saturday’s game against Stanford. On Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008, she recorded her 100th career win at Notre Dame with a 16-4 win over Duquesne. As the only head coach in the Notre Dame program’s history, Coyne is 112-78 (.589). A 1983 Ohio University graduate, Coyne recorded her 200th career win at the end of the 2006 season with a 16-8 win over Cornell in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. She has guided Notre Dame to four NCAA tournament appearances (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008) in the last seven seasons, including the school’s first-ever NCAA finals appearance in 2006. In her first 22 years of coaching, Coyne was 23-5 in two seasons at Denison (1988-89), 91-21 in seven years at Roanoke (1990-96) and 112-78 in this, her 13th 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. Coyne is 6-3 all-time against Stanford.

THE IRISH ALL-TIME: The 2008-09 season is the 13th campaign for the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse program. The Irish (2-1 this year) come into the weekend with a 112-78 (.589) all-time record. That includes a 55-28 (.663) home mark and a 45-43 (.511) road record. Notre Dame is 12-7 all-time on neutral fields. The win in the season opener at Duquesne gives the Irish an 11-2 mark in season-opening games.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK: Notre Dame was 1-1 for the week of Feb. 16-22, dropping a 21-5 decision to Northwestern before bouncing back with a 14-11 win versus Ohio State. Against Northwestern, the Irish gave up the first five goals of the game and trailed 11-2 at halftime. Jillian Byers (Sr., Northport, N.Y.) led the Irish with two goals while Kailene Abt (So., Huntington, N.Y.), Shaylyn Blaney (So., Stony Brook, N.Y.) and Maggie Tamasitis (Fr., Boyertown, Pa.) had single goals on the night. Erin Goodman (Sr., Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) played the entire game in goal for Notre Dame, making nine saves while giving up 21 goals. Notre Dame has now lost eight straight games to the Wildcats. On Sunday, the Irish faced Ohio State at the Loftus Center and scored five unanswered goals in the first 4:29 of the second half to snap a 7-7 tie on the way to the 14-11 win. Abt (2), Byers, Gina Scioscia (Jr., Summit, N.J.) and Blaney scored in the five-goal run with two of the goals coming on free-position shots. In the game, Abt led the way with a career-high four goals while Byers and Blaney scored three goals each. Scioscia and Ansley Stewart (So., Alexandria, Va.) added two goals each in the victory. Senior goalkeeper Erin Goodman had six saves in the win.

THE SHOOTIST: Sophomore midfielder Kailene Abt has taken a prominent role in the Notre Dame attack during the 2009 season. Through the first three games, she has already equaled her output from last season. As a freshman, she saw action in 17 games, making two starts and scored seven goals with two assists for nine points. This year, in the first three games, Abt has scored eight goals with one assist for nine points. She leads the Irish in shots on goal this season with 26, after getting 28 all of last year. In both games last weekend, Abt had 10 shots on goal to lead the Irish.

RECORDS WATCH: With five goals in two games last week, senior Jillian Byers moved into second on Notre Dame’s all-time points list, moving one ahead of Caitlin McKinney `08. Here’s where Byers ranks in goals, assists and points at Notre Dame.

Goals1.   Jillian Byers (2006- )             1872.   Crysti Foote (2003-06)             1613.   Caitlin McKinney (2005- )          1524.   Danielle Shearer (2000-03)         1305.   Lael O'Shaughnessy (1998-01)       1226.   Meredith Simon (2001-04)           1097.   Kerry Callahan (1997-99)            838.   Natalie Loftus (1999-02)            769.   Courtney Calabrese (1998-99)        6910.  Alissa Moser (1999-02)              67
Assists 1. Caitlin McKinney (2005-08) 802. Crysti Foote (2003-06) 763. Lael O'Shaughnessy (1998-01) 684. Danielle Shearer (2000-03) 665. Kerry Callahan (1997-99) 636. Meredith Simon (2001-04) 497. Jillian Byers (2006- ) 468. Gina Scioscia (2007-) 439. Heather Ferguson (2005-08) 3510. Natalie Loftus (1999-02) 33
Points1. Crysti Foote (2003-06) 2372. Jillian Byers (2006- ) 2333. Caitlin McKinney (2005-08) 2324. Danielle Shearer (2000-03) 1965. Lael O'Shaughnessy (1998-01) 1906. Meredith Simon (2001-04) 1587. Kerry Callahan (1997-99) 1468. Natalie Loftus (1999-02) 1099. Lauren Fischer (2001-04) 85 Alissa Moser (1999-02) 85

THE PLAYMAKER: Junior attack standout Gina Scioscia finished her sophomore season with 35 assists, the second highest single-season total in the program’s history. She has four assists in her first three games this season to tie for the team lead in helpers. For the year, Scioscia leads Notre Dame in scoring with six goals and four assists for 10 points. In just her third season, she already rankes eighth on the school’s all-time assist list with 43.

Single Season Assists1.   Crysti Foote (2006)              402.   Gina Scioscia (2008)             353.   Kerry Callahan (1999)            324.   Meredith Simon (2004)            28     Lael O'Shaughnessy (2001)        286.   Danielle Shearer (2003)          267.   Jillian Byers (2006)             248.   Caitlin McKinney (2006)          22     Lena Zentgraf (2007)             2210.  Caitlin McKinney (2008)          22
CAREER HIGH: Junior attack Gina Scioscia set a career high with four goals in the Duquesne game and then equaled a career best with seven points as she netted four goals and added three assists against the Dukes. The talented playmaker had a seven-point game last season against Rutgers with two goals and five assists. As a sophomore, Scioscia had 20 goals and 35 assists to finish third on the team with 55 points. She owns the biggest increase in points ever at Notre Dame as she moved from eight points as a freshman to 55 last season for a 47-point increase.
MAKING THE STOPS: Senior goalkeeper Erin Goodman won her 25th career game in the 14-11 win over Ohio State on Feb. 22 in making her 39th consecutive start. Goodman ranks among the top Notre Dame goalkeepers in several different categories.
Single SeasonGP - t1st (19) - 2008Wins - t3rd (12) - 2008Minutes - 1st (1,117:21) - 2008Saves - 4th (172) - 2008SV% - 9th (.454) - 2008GAVG - 7th (10.74) - 2008
CareerGP - 3rd (39)Wins - 3rd (25)Minutes - 3rd (2,361:23)Saves - 3rd (336)GAVG - 3rd (10.54)
QUICK ON THE DRAW:  In the win against Ohio State, the Irish  dominated on the draw, winning 20 while losing seven.  Jill Byers led the way with six in the game to equal a career high.  She was followed by Shaylyn Blaney with a career-high five draw controls while Jackie Doherty (So., Ellicott City, Md.) had a career-high three in the game. Maggie Zentgraf (Jr., Charlottesville, Va.) also equaled a career high with two in the contest.   Byers is now third all-time with 109 draw controls and trails Kaki Orr `08 (110) and Alissa Moser `02 (126).
TEWAARATON WATCH LIST: Two members of the Notre Dame women's lacrosse team have been named to the Tewaaraton Trophy "Watch List" for the 2009 season. Senior Jillian Byers and sophomore Shaylyn Blaney were among the 45 players selected to the watch list. That group will be cut down later in the season to a candidates list followed by a list of finalists. For Byers, this is her third year on the watch list while Blaney is making her first apperarance. She is the sixth Notre Dame player to be named to the Watch List in the 13-year history of the Notre Dame women's lacrosse program.
WELCOME BACK: Former Irish midfield standout Kassen Delano `04 has returned to the Irish sideline as a member of Tracy Coyne's coaching staff. Delano is a volunteer assistant this season as she also works as an academic counselor in Academic Services for Student-Athletes at Notre Dame. In four seasons with the Irish, Delano had 50 goals and 17 assists for 67 points in 62 games from 2001-04.
MIDFIELD MASTER: Sophomore midfielder Shaylyn Blaney has wasted little time getting her second season off to a fast start as she is tied for the team lead in goal scoring with eight goals in her first three games. Blaney is coming off a freshman year that saw her score 43 goals with nine assists for 52 points. That was the second best total for a Notre Dame freshman, trailing just Jill Byers 78-point campaign (52g, 24a) in 2006. Her 43 goals were the eighth best single-season output for the irish.
IRISH FIRSTS: Three Notre Dame players recorded the first goals of their Irish careers in the season-opening win over Duquesne. Sophomore Ansley Stewart, who played in two games as a freshman, made her first career start versus the Dukes and scored three goals with one assist for four points from her spot on attack and through the first three games has five goals with one assist for six points. Freshman Maggie Tamasitis came off the bench to pick up her first career goal and first multi-point game as she had a goal and two assists for three points in her collegiate debut. Sophomore Meredith Locasto, playing in front of a hometown crowd, picked up the first goal of her career in the win. She had played in just two games as a freshman. Joining Stewart in making her first start was defender Lauren Fenlon (So., Dayton, Md.) who had three ground balls and a caused turnover against Duquesne. Last season, she played in nine games off the Notre Dame bench. Also seeing their first collegiate action in the season opener were freshmen Megan Sullivan (Winchester, Mass.) and Kelly Driscoll (Andover, Mass.) while Kate Newall (Middlesex, England) made her first career appearance against Northwestern.