Feb. 23, 2007
Notre Dame, Ind. –
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• The Game: #5/#8 Notre Dame (1-0/0-0) vs. #18/– Stanford (1-2/1-1 in MPSF)• Date/Time/Site: Saturday., Feb., 24, 2007 • 12:00 noon • Loftus Sports Center • Notre Dame, Ind.
IRISH OPEN HOME SCHEDULE: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team returns home after a successful season-opening win at James Madison to open the home schedule versus Stanford on Saturday, Feb. 24. Game time is set for 12:00 noon at the Loftus Sports Center. The Irish come into the game with a 1-0 record after winning vs. James Madison at Charlottesville, Va. on Feb. 18 in sudden-death overtime, 10-9. The home opener versus Stanford is the first of nine home games for the Irish. Notre Dame is ranked fifth in the IWCLA poll and eighth in the Inside Lacrosse Magazine preseason poll. Stanford started the season ranked 18th in both polls and the Cardinal bring a 1-2 record into their game with the Irish. They are 1-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). Stanford has losses to Oregon and Duke on their resume with a win over St. Mary’s (CA). Following the game with the Cardinal, Notre Dame is off until next Thursday night (March 1) when the Irish play host to the defending national champion Northwestern Wildcats in a 7:00 p.m. at the Loftus Center.
IRISH VERSUS CARDINAL: Notre Dame and Stanford have met seven times in the all-time series with the Irish holding a 5-2 edge in those meetings. At Notre Dame, the Irish are 1-2 versus the Cardinal while at Stanford, the Irish have a 4-0 record. The last time the two teams met at Notre Dame was April 10, 2005 with Stanford taking a 6-5 win in a game played at the Loftus Center.
HEAD COACH Tracy Coyne: Tracy Coyne is in her 11th season at Notre Dame and 20th year in collegiate lacrosse. Coyne brings a 202-90 (.692) career record into this afternoon’s game with the Cardinal and is 88-64 (.579) in her first 10 seasons at Notre Dame. The 1983 graduate of Ohio University recorded her 200th career win last season in the first round of the NCAA tournament in a 16-8 win against Cornell. She has guided Notre Dame to three NCAA tournament appearances (2002, 2004, 2006), including last year’s first-ever trip to the NCAA finals. In her first 19 years of coaching, Coyne was 23-5 in two seasons at Denison (1988-89), 91-21 in seven years at Roanoke (1990-96) and 87-64 in 10 seasons 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 5-2 all-time versus Stanford.
FOR OPENERS: With Notre Dame’s season-opening win at James Madison, Notre Dame is now 9-2 all-time in season openers overall and in road openers. In home openers, the Irish are 6-4 in season-opening home games.
Caitlin McKinney scored two goals in the final seconds of regulation and overtime versus James Madison to help send the game to overtime.
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JAMES MADISON RECAP: Notre Dame opened the season on the road at Charlottesville, Va., where the Irish faced #12/#13 James Madison. The game was moved from Harrisonburg, Va., due to snow and rain that made the Dukes’ home field unplayable. Jillian Byers (So., Northport, N.Y.) led the Irish with six goals, including the game winner with 16 seconds left in sudden death overtime. Senior Meghan Murphy (Centennial, Colo.) had two goals and an assist and Caitlin McKinney (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) scored twice in the win. Heather Ferguson (Jr., Newtown Square, Pa.) had three assists and Lena Zentgraf (Sr., Charlottesville, Va.) had two helpers in the win. Sophomore Erin Goodman (Cortlandt Park, N.Y.), making her first start in goal made seven saves in picking up her first career win. The Irish fell behind 4-0 in the first half before Byers and Murphy cut the lead to 4-2 before halftime. Byers then scored the first three goals of the second half to give Notre Dame a 5-4 lead.James Madison would score twice to make it 6-5 before Murphy’s second goal tied the game at 6-6. With 48 seconds left in the game, JMU’s Annie Wagner scored for a 7-6 lead. Notre Dame roared right back as McKinney scored with 19 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 7-7. In the first overtime, James Madison’s Kelly Berger scored twice for a 9-7 lead. The second overtime saw Notre Dame score twice with Byers scoring with 1:42 left and McKinney with nine seconds for a 9-9 game. In sudden death, Murphy set up Byers for the game winner with 16 seconds left for the 10-9 win.
TEWAARATON WATCH LIST: Sophomore Jillian Byers and junior Caitlin McKinney have been named to the 2007 Tewaaraton “Watch List.” They are among 34 Division I players, selected by a panel of coaches from around the country, eligible for women’s collegiate lacrosse’s top player award. The current duo join Crysti Foote `06 and Meredith Simon `04 who were named to the “Watch List” in 2006 and 2004 respectively. Foote went on to become one of five finalists for last seasons’ award.
Meghan Murphy scored twice and then set up Jillian Byers game-winning goal versus James Madison.
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BIG EAST SCHOLARSHIP: Senior Meghan Murphy, along with Irish swimmer Ted Brown, has been selected as one of Notre Dame’s two BIG EAST post-graduate scholarship winners. The $2,000 scholarship goes toward post-graduate studies. Murphy has already been accepted to medical school. She was the women’s lacrosse team’s 2006 Rockne Scholar-Athlete and was also selected to the 2006 IWLCA Academic honor roll with a 3.74 grade-point average in her double major in anthropology and pre-professional studies. She was a third team ESPN The Magazine/CoSida Academic All-American on the spring at-large team in 2006. Murphy was also selected as one of Notre Dame’s Christopher Zorich Award winners for her involvement in community service work in the Notre Dame community and her home town of Denver, Colo.
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: Three members of the 2007 Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team have been selected to the Inside Lacrosse Magazine preseason All-American team. Attack standouts Jillian Byers and Caitlin McKinney have been selected to the preseason second team while defender Meaghan Fitzpatrick (Sr., Farmingdale, N.Y.) was a third team selection. Byers and McKinney were both selected as third team All-Americans at the end of the 2006 season by Inside Lacrosse.
PRESEASON HONORS: Three members of the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team have been selected to the preseason all-BIG EAST team. Senior defender Meaghan Fitzpatrick, junior midfielder/attack Caitlin McKinney and sophomore attack Jillian Byers were named to the 2007 team with McKinney and Byers being unanimous selections. Fitzpatrick, a 2006 second team all-BIG EAST selection, is a three-year starter on defense who started all 19 games last season, grabbing 39 ground balls while causing 20 turnovers. McKinney was a first team all-BIG EAST selection last year and a third team IWLCA All-American after scoring 42 goals with 22 assists for 64 points. Byers also was a first team all-BIG EAST choice and a second team IWLCA All-American while scoring 54 goals and 24 assists for 78 points, the second-best single-season totals and freshman records at Notre Dame.
HOME RECORD: The Irish closed out the 2006 home season with a 9-0 record in home games between Moose Krause Stadium and the Loftus Sports Center. That’s the most wins and the best record ever for the Irish at home as it surpasses the 8-2 home record in 2002. The 1.000 winning percentage is best since Notre Dame was 6-1 (.857) at home during the 2004 season.
OVERTIME NUMBERS: The Irish seem to play their share of overtime and one-goal games. In 2006, the Irish played two overtime games with both going to sudden death. On April 15, Notre Dame dropped an 11-10 decision at Georgetown. On Feb. 26, the Irish defeated Stanford, 12-11, in the sudden-death period. In this the 11th season of the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse program, the Irish have now played 12 overtime games in the program’s history and are 5-7 all-time in extra minutes play. In 2006, the Irish played in six games settled by one goal, going 4-2 in those games.
HELPING HAND: Junior Heather Ferguson (Newtown Square, Pa.) assisted on three goals in Notre Dame’s 10-9 win over James Madison. The three assists equaled a career high set March 25, 2006 against Canisius. Ferguson is coming off a break out season in 2006 when she finished fourth in scoring with 25 goals and 11 assists for 36 points, all career highs.
CLUTCH PERFORMER: Junior Caitlin McKinney was held to two goals in the win over James Madison but they both came at crucial times in the game. Trailing 7-6 with time running out in regulation, McKinney scored with 19 seconds left to tie the game at 7-7 and send the game to overtime. Her second goal came in the second overtime. With Notre Dame trailing 9-8, McKinney tied the game with nine seconds left to make it 9-9 and send the game to sudden death.
NICE START: Sophomore Jillian Byers wasted little time getting her second season at Notre Dame off to a strong start in the win at James Madison. The talented attack player equaled her career best, netting six goals in the 10-9 sudden-death overtime win. After getting just one goal in the first half, the Northport, N.Y., native scored three goals in the second half, added a fifth in the second overtime and then got the game winner with 16 seconds left in the third overtime. As a freshman, Byers had six goals in a game against Vanderbilt on May 7. She had 54 goals and 24 assists for 78 points in her rookie season.
GOOD FOR GOODMAN: Sophomore goalkeeper Erin Goodman made her first collegiate start versus James Madison and recorded her first career win. She surrendered nine goals in the game, making seven saves in the victory. The win came in her third career appearance. She saw action in two games as a freshman in relief of Carol Dixon `05, playing just over 48 minutes.
GIVING THEM FITZ: Senior defender Meaghan Fitzpatrick opened the season with a strong game at James Madison. Fitzpatrick had three ground balls, two draw controls and a team-high four caused turnovers.
LEAN ON LENA: Senior midfielder Lena Zentgraf returned to the starting lineup versus James Madison and had a pair of assists in the sudden death win. She also had four ground balls and three caused turnovers in the game.
IRISH STREAKS: Two Notre Dame players come into the 2007 season on scoring streaks. They are:
Caitlin McKinney – 23-game streak (52-23-75)
Heather Ferguson – 14 games (20-12-32)
DRAWING IT UP: Senior midfielder Kaki Orr (Darien, Conn.) set a Notre Dame single-game record with nine draw controls in the win over Vanderbilt on May 7. She was second on the team with 41 draw controls in 2006, the second-best single-season total at Notre Dame. She opened the season with one draw control against James Madison. For her career, Orr now has 60 draw controls.
QUICKEST TO 100: Junior speedster Caitlin McKinney reached 100 points faster than any player in Notre Dame history in 2006 when she scored her 100th point (67g-33a) in the 33rd game of her career. In 35 career games, McKinney has 72 goals and 34 assists for 106 career points. After two seasons, she already ranks in the top 10 in several offensive categories. McKinney is seventh in goals (72), sixth in assists (34) and seventh in points (106).
TURNAROUND SEASON: Notre Dame’s dramatic turnaround from 2005 (3-12) to 2006 (15-4), a +10 differential, is the largest turnaround in NCAA women’s lacrosse history, according to the NCAA record book. The previous biggest changes were seven-game turnarounds by American University (0-14 in 1996 to 8-8 in 1997) and Holy Cross (4-12 in 2000 to 13-7 in 2001). Notre Dame also turned the tables in BIG EAST play, going 4-1 last season and finishing second after going 1-4 in 2005 and finishing in fifth place.
RECORD-SETTING SEASON: Notre Dame’s 2006 season was a record-setting campaign. The Irish set team records for wins (15), goals (263), assists (144), points (407) and draw controls (273). Crysti Foote set individual team records for goals (74), assists (40), points (114) and draw controls (44).
SISTER ACTS: Notre Dame has had eight sets of sisters in the program’s 11-year history and has two sets on this year’s team. Heading the group are twin sisters, juniors Heather and Lindsey Ferguson (Newtown Square, Pa.). They are joined by senior Lena Zentgraf and her younger sister Maggie (Charlottesville, Va.). Three other members of this year’s team have sisters who played at Notre Dame. Junior Julie Foote (Suffern, N.Y.) was preceded by her sister, Crysti `06 while sophomores Lauren deMello (Manlius, N.Y.) and Kelly Gaudreau (Annapolis, Md.) were preceeded by sisters Meghan deMello `06 and Kristen Gaudreau `04. Other sisters duos to play for the Irish include: Carol `06 and Angela `03 Dixon and Mary `06 and Annemarie McGrath. The sisters that started the tradition are Amy (`98) and Mara (`98) Grace. They each played in the first two seasons of the program.
THE KID WAS ALRIGHT: Sophomore attack standout Jillian Byers turned in an outstanding rookie season in 2006. Byers set Notre Dame freshmen records for goals (54), assists (24) and points (78) in a season. Her 78 points were the second-best point total in the program’s history, trailing Crysti Foote (114 in 2006). Her 54 goals trailed just Foote’s 74 set in 2006. Byers was selected as a unanimous first team all-BIG EAST selection in her freshman year, a first for any Notre Dame rookie. She was named a second team IWLCA and womenslacrosse.com All-American and a third team Inside Lacrosse Magazine All-American. She owns the freshman record for points in a game with nine points (5g, 4a) versus Lehigh. Her nine-point game also tied an Irish record for points in a home game, matching the nine points recorded by Kerry Callahan `99 (6g, 3a) on March 24, 1997 versus Stanford and Lael O’Shaughnessy `01 (6g, 3a) on March 28, 1999 vs. Connecticut.
HAMMER TIME: Junior midfielder Mary Carpenter (Rochester, N.Y.) was selected second team all-BIG EAST for the 2006 season after turning in a strong year at midfield. In 19 games, Carpenter had career highs in goals (12), assists (10), points (20), ground balls (51), draw controls (30) and caused turnovers (23). She led the team in ground balls, tied for third in draw controls and was second in caused turnovers. Her 51 ground balls were the sixth-best single-season total for the Irish. In the season opener against James Madison, Carpenter had two ground balls, one draw control and two caused turnovers.