April 2, 2010
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format 
– The Game: #14/#13 Notre Dame (5-3/1-0) at #15/#16 Georgetown (3-5/1-0)
– Date/Time/Site: Sat., April 3, 2010 – 1:00 p.m. – Multi-Sport Field – Washington, D.C.
– The Game: #14/#13 Notre Dame (5-3/1-0) at #13/#15 Loyola (Md.) (7-3/1-0)
– Date/Time/Site: Mon., April 5, 2010 – 12:00 p.m. – Ridley Athletic Complex – Baltimore, Md.
– Internet: Fans can follow Saturday’s game at Georgetown on April 3 via Hoya Vision All-Access at the Georgetown website – guhoyas.com. There is a charge of $9.95 for the live, streaming video.The game also can be followed via GameTracker at both school’s website’s – und.com and guhoyas.com. The game will be televised in the Washington, D.C. area on Verizon FiOS. For Monday’s game at Loyola, live streaming video will be available on Greyhounds All-Access on the Loyola website at loyolagreyhounds.com. There is a fee of $9.95 to watch the game. Both the Loyola and Notre Dame websites will have GameTracker live.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team continues its busy, holiday travel schedule this weekend with a pair of BIG EAST games at Georgetown on Sat., April 3 and at Loyola (Md.) on Mon., April 5. The Irish started the week on the road at Northwestern on Tues., March 30 where they dropped a 15-5 decision to the top-ranked Wildcats. The loss dropped Notre Dame to 5-3 on the season while the Irish are 1-0 in league play. Saturday’s game at Georgetown has a 1:00 p.m. start time. The Hoyas are 3-5 overall and 1-0 in the BIG EAST and are coming off a heartbreaking, 15-14, four overtime loss to Princeton on March 28. Loyola enters the weekend with a 7-3 overall record and 1-0 in league play. They will face Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon before playing Notre Dame at noon on April 5. All three teams are ranked this weekend. Notre Dame started the week ranked 14th in the IWLCA poll and 13th in the Inside Lacrosse poll. Georgetown is 15th in the IWLCA poll and 16th by Inside Lacrosse while Loyola is 13th in the IWLCA coaches’ poll and 15th by Inside Lacrosse.
IRISH VERSUS THE HOYAS: Notre Dame and Georgetown will meet for the 15th time in the all-time series this weekend with the Hoyas holding a 10-4 advantage in the series. Georgetown won the first seven meetings in the series and the Irish are 4-3 in the last seven games between the two schools. Last season, the teams met twice with the Hoyas winning the regular-season game at Notre Dame, 14-12. The teams then met in the BIG EAST Championship game at Georgetown, with Notre Dame winning its first BIG EAST title with a 12-10 victory. The Irish are 2-4 against Georgetown in Washington, D.C., 2-5 at Notre Dame and 0-1 on a neutral field.
IRISH VERSUS THE GREYHOUNDS: Notre Dame and Loyola have met four times in the all-time series that started in 2006 when the Greyhounds joined the conference. The Irish are 4-0 in the first four games of the series and won last year at home, taking a 16-13 victory at the Loftus Sports Center. At Loyola, the Irish are 1-0. Notre Dame is 2-0 at home and 1-0 on a neutral field versus the Greyhounds.
A LOOK AT THE HOYAS: For Georgetown, a 3-5 record to start the season is something that the Hoyas are not used to. To date, the five losses have come at Northwestern (15-10), at Duke (10-8), at Maryland (20-11), at home against North Carolina (13-6) and then earlier this week to Princeton (15-14 in 4 ot). The Hoya wins have come versus Johns Hopkins (15-9), at Florida (13-11) and versus Villanova (20-7). Molly Ford leads Georgetown in scoring with 27 goals and seven assists for 34 points. She is followed by Ashby Kaestner (16-6-22) and Jordy Kirr (10-6-16). The defense is led by goalkeeper Caitlin Formby who is 3-5 for the year with a 13.14 goals-against average and a .394 save percentage. <>A LOOK AT THE GREYHOUNDS: The Greyhounds have gotten off to a fast start and are in the midst of a five-game winnings streak on the way to the current 7-3 mark to begin the year. Loyola has defeated Virginia (15-11), UMBC (7-4), Delaware (15-9), Cornell (11-9), at Rutgers (18-6), at James Madison (12-8) and versus Stony Brook (18-7). Grace Gavin leads Loyola in scoring with 31 goals and nine assists for 40 points. She is followed by Emily Dixon (19-10-29) and Meg Decker (13-7-20). Kerry Stoothoof is 7-2 on the year with an 8.75 goals against average and a .527 save percentage
THE IRISH ALL-TIME: In this the 14th season of the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse program, Notre Dame brings a 131-85 all-time record (.606) into the weekend at Georgetown and Loyola. That record includes a 53-47 road record (.530). At home, the Irish are 64-31 (.674) with a 14-7 all-time ledger on neutral fields.
HEAD COACH Tracy Coyne: Tracy Coyne is in her 14th season at Notre Dame and her 23rd year in collegiate lacrosse. Coyne brings a 245-111 (.688) career record into this week’s games. As the only head coach in the Notre Dame program’s history, Coyne is 131-85 (.606) and has guided the Irish to five NCAA tournaments (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009) where her teams have advanced to the Final Four once (2006) and the quarterfinals twice (2002, 2009). The Irish have been in all three BIG EAST Tournaments to date, beginning in 2007 and they recorded their first BIG EAST title last season 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 131-85 in this, her 14th 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 4-10 in her coaching career against Georgetown and 4-0 all-time against Loyola.
NORTHWESTERN REVIEW: The Irish traveled to Evanston, Ill., on Tues., March 30 to face top-ranked Northwestern and were handed a 15-5 loss at Lakeside Field. The Wildcats scored the first six goals of the game to lead 6-0 with 10:27 left in the first half. Shaylyn Blaney broke through for the Irish with 9:31 left in the half with a free-position goal. Notre Dame trailed 9-2 at halftime. Gina Scioscia paced the Irish with two goals while Blaney, Kate Newall and Betsy Mastropieri scored single markers. Danielle Spencer paced the Wildcats with seven points (4g, 3a) and Shannon Smith finished the night with six points (4g, 2a). Northwestern out shot the Irish, 29-21, in the game. Ellie Hilling made six saves for Notre Dame while Brianne LoManto had 11 for the Wildcats.
GOT OUR NUMBER: Notre Dame’s 15-5 loss to Northwestern dropped the Irish to 2-9 all-time against the Wildcats. After winning the first two games of the all-time series, Notre Dame has now lost nine straight to Northwestern. The last time that the Irish defeated the Wildcats was April 26, 2003, a 13-9 win at Notre Dame.
DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN: For the second week in a row, Notre Dame freshman goalkeeper Ellie Hilling (Rochester, N.Y.) has been named the BIG EAST defensive player of the week. During the week that ended on March 28, Hilling made 18 saves in two games, including 12 in the 11-9 win over Louisville. The 12 saves were a career best for Hilling. In the two games, she was 1-1 with a 9.50 goals-against average and a .486 save percentage. On the season, Hilling is now 5-3 with 10.37 goals-against average and a .394 save percentage.
BIG EAST OPENERS: With the 11-9 win over Louisville on March 27, Notre Dame is now 7-3 all-time in BIG EAST season openers.
SCIOSCIA BY THE NUMBERS: Senior Gina Scioscia is quickly making her way up the Notre Dame scoring charts as she enters her final year.With two goals in the loss at Northwestern, she is ranked among the all-time leaders in goals, assists and points.
Goals1. Jillian Byers (2006-09) 2622. Crysti Foote (2003-06) 1613. Caitlin McKinney (2005-08) 1524. Danielle Shearer (2000-03) 1305. Lael O'Shaughnessy (1998-0 1226. Meredith Simon (2001-04) 1097. Shaylyn Blaney (2007- ) 1048. Gina Scioscia (2006- ) 919. Kerry Callahan (1997-99) 8310. Natalie Loftus (1999-02) 76
Assists1. Gina Scioscia (2007-) 842. Caitlin McKinney (2005-08) 803. Crysti Foote (2003-06) 764. Jillian Byers (2006- ) 745. Lael O'Shaughnessy (1998-01) 686. Danielle Shearer (2000-03) 667. Kerry Callahan (1997-99) 638. Meredith Simon (2001-04) 499. Maggie Tamasitis (2008-) 35 Heather Ferguson (2005-08) 35
Points1. Jillian Byers (2006-09) 3362. Crysti Foote (2003-06) 2373. Caitlin McKinney (2005-08) 2324. Danielle Shearer (2000-03) 1965. Lael O'Shaughnessy (1998-01) 1906. Gina Scioscia (2007- ) 1757. Meredith Simon (2001-04) 1588. Kerry Callahan (1997-99) 1469. Shaylyn Blaney (2008- ) 11710. Natalie Loftus (1999-02) 109
Nationally, she is seventh among active NCAA players in career assists (84). She is 21st among active players with 175 points.
ROAD WARRIORS: Notre Dame’s 15-5 loss at Northwestern on March 30 was the first road loss of the season for the Irish who are now 3-1 in road contests. Last year, the Irish were 6-3 away from home with the six road wins equaling the most the Irish have ever won on the road in the program’s 14-year history. In 2008, Notre Dame was 6-3 in nine road games. For the last two-plus seasons, the Irish are 15-7 on the road for a .682 winning percentage away from South Bend. Last season, the three road losses came at Syracuse (14-13) and at Vanderbilt (18-11) in the regular season and at North Carolina (16-10) in the NCAA Tournament.
AN ARLOTTA FIRST: Notre Dame’s 11-9 win over Louisville (March 27) marked the first Irish win at their new Arlotta Stadium. They are now 1-2 in the new stadium after opening with losses (12-8) to Dartmouth and (10-9) to Vanderbilt. The opening game of the season was a 15-10 win over Duquesne in a game played at the Loftus Sports Center.
HELPING HAND: Sophomore playmaker Maggie Tamasitis has scored at least one point in all eight games with the Irish this season, including seven games with at least one assist. Her 15 assists to date tie her for 22nd in the nation. With three assists in back-to-back games against Vanderbilt and Louisville, Tamasitis now has 5 games this season with two or more assists in a game, including a career-best, four-assist game on Feb. 27 versus Duquesne. For the season, she now has 15 assists on the year and in just 28 career games, already has 35 career assists to move into a tie for ninth all-time at Notre Dame with Heather Ferguson `08. Tamasitis currently leads the Irish in scoring with eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points.
CAREER DAY: Sophomore Megan Sullivan’s four-goal game on March 27 in the 11-9 win over Louisville was a career best for the midfielder from Winchester, Mass. She doubled her goal out put in one game as she had four to start the year. She now has eight goals and two assists for 10 points this season. Sullivan had four goals and one assist as a rookie last season.
CLOSE ONES: The 10-9 loss to Vanderbilt on March 24 was the third, one-goal game of the season and first one-goal loss for the Irish as they fall to 2-1 in close games. All-time, Notre Dame has been involved in 35 one-goal games in 14 seasons and is 17-18 overall. In 2006, the Irish played in six, one-goal games, going 4-2 in that season.
NEW FACES: Two different players scored their second career goals in the loss to Northwestern. Sophomore Kate Newall scored with just one second left in the first half, converting a feed from Maggie Tamasitis for her second of the year and freshman Betsy Mastropieri scored her second of the year in the second half.
COMMANDING COMMODORES: Vanderbilt has had Notre Dame’s number in recent seasons as the Irish have now lost four consecutive regular-season games to the Commodores. The streak started in 2007 and includes two losses at home and two in Nashville. The lone win in that span came on May 10, 2009, a 19-13 Irish win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Since the last win in 2006, the Irish are 1-4 against Vanderbilt and are now 5-10 all-time.
COAST-TO-COAST WINNING STREAK: Prior to the loss to Vanderbilt, Notre Dame had a two-game winning streak that got its start in Berkeley, Calif., and continued to Boston, Mass., on March 20th as the Irish won consecutive overtime games. On March 13, Notre Dame rallied from a 10-7 deficit versus California to tie, 10-10, in regulation before moving on to the 14-12 victory. Last Saturday in Boston, the Irish again rallied from a three-goal, second-half deficit to tie in regulation and win it in the third overtime. Notre Dame led 2-1 at halftime on goals by Maggie Tamasitis and freshman Jenny Granger. The Terriers ran off the first four goals of the second period to take a 5-2 lead.With 10:03 left in the game, Shaylyn Blaney scored a free-position goal and Kailene Abt scored 21 seconds later to make it 5-4. Traci Landy made it 6-4 for BU with 3:57 left before Blaney and Tamasitis scored in a 27-second span to make it 6-6 with 2:15 left on the clock. The teams would play 71:22 before Gina Scioscia got the game winner with 38 seconds left in the third overtime. Freshman goalkeeper made eight saves in goal for the Irish.
HITTING THE CENTURY MARK: Junior midfielder Shaylyn Blaney is the seventh player in the program’s history to score over 100 goals in her career. Blaney leads the Irish with 17 goals and is third in scoring with 18 points. Her two goals at Boston University on March 20 gave her 100 for her career. She now ranks seventh all-time with 104 career goals and ninth with 117 career points for the Irish.
STREAKING IRISH: With a pair of goals versus Northwestern, Gina Scioscia extended her point streak to 27 games. Here are the current Irish scoring streaks:
Gina Scioscia - 26 games (63g, 42a, 105 pts)Maggie Tamasitis - 8 games (8g, 15a, 23 pts)Shaylyn Blaney - 5 games (9g, 1a, 10 pts)
Junior Kailene Abt had her 21-game point streak snapped in the 11-9 win over Louisville as she was held scoreless. In her 21-game streak, she had 46 goals and 13 assists for 59 points.
IRISH AND OVERTIME: Notre Dame has now played two overtime games this season and is 2-0 in those contests. In the 14-year history of the program, the Irish have played overtime 16 times and are now 8-8 in those games.
DOHERTY FOR THE DEFENSE: Junior midfield/defense standout Jackie Doherty has been a guiding force on the Irish defense this season. In her first eight games, she has 26 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers to rank among the national leaders in per game average. Her 3.25 ground balls per game rank her 11th in the nation and her 2.63 caused turnovers rank her fifth in the nation. As a team, the Irish are 32nd in the nation with 10 caused turnovers per game and 32nd in ground balls with 19.86 per game.
FIRST START: Freshman defender Emily Conner made her first start on defense against Northwestern and turned in a strong performance, getting a career-best six ground balls with a pair of caused turnovers in the game. For the first eight games, Conner has nine ground balls and four caused turnovers.