Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format 
– The Game: #14/#13 Notre Dame (11-5/6-2) vs. #11/#12 Syracuse (12-5/6-2)
– Date/Time/Site: Thur., May 6, 2010 – 8:00 p.m. – Yurcak Field – Piscataway, N.J.
– Television: Both semifinal games and the BIG EAST Championship will be televised live by CBS College Sports with Jason Knapp and Sheehan Stanwick Burch calling all the action.
– Internet: Livestats will be available at the BIG EAST website for all games of the tournament. The site can be accessed at http://www.bigeast.org.
– The Game: The BIG EAST Championship Game Winner of Notre Dame-Syracuse game vs. Winner of Georgetown-Loyola game
– Date/Time/Site: Sat., May 8, 2010 – 1:00 p.m. – Yurcak Field – Piscataway, N.J.
– Television: CBS College Sports with Jason Knapp and Sheehan Stanwick Burch calling all the action.
– Internet: Follow the BIG EAST Women’s Lacrosse Tournament on the BIG EAST website at www.bigeast.org.
TOURNAMENT TIME: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team returns to the BIG EAST Tournament for the fourth consecutive year and will open play on Thursday, May 6 against the Syracuse Orange. The game will be played at Rutgers’ Yurcak Field in Piscataway, N.J., and will start 45 minutes following the end of the first game. In that game that starts at 5:30 p.m., top-seeded Georgetown faces fourth-seed Loyola (Md.). Both games will be televised live by CBS College Sports. The Irish enter the tournament with an 11-5 overall record and a 6-2 mark in the BIG EAST, following the May 1, 16-9 win at Connecticut to close the regular-season schedule. Syracuse brings a 12-5 overall record into the tournament and also finished with a 6-2 mark in conference play. The Irish are the No. 2 seed due to their 6-5 win over the Orange on April 11 at Arlotta Stadium. Syracuse suffered its second BIG EAST loss on Saturday when the Orange fell at home to Georgetown, 10-9, last Saturday, May 1. Georgetown is the top seed in the tournament as the Hoyas finished the season with an 11-5 overall record and an 8-0 mark in conference action. Loyola (Md.) will make its first appearance in the tournament after finishing the year with an 11-6 mark and a 5-3 record in BIG EAST play. Notre Dame, Syracuse and Georgetown have appeared in all four BIG EAST Tournaments to date.
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS: Notre Dame enters the 2010 BIG EAST Tournament as the defending champions after winning the 2009 title at Georgetown last April. The Irish defeated Syracuse in the semifinals, 16-10, and then defeated Georgetown in the title game, 12-10. The championship was the first for the Irish in the three years that the tournament has been played. In 2007, at the first BIG EAST Tournament at Syracuse, the Irish fell to Georgetown in the semifinals, 12-10. In 2008, Notre Dame hosted the tournament at Notre Dame Stadium and lost in the semifinals again to Georgetown, 15-14 in three overtimes. In three tournament, the Irish have faced the Hoyas all three years and are 1-2 against them. They have faced Syracusce just once, winning in last year’s semifinal meeting. In last year’s title game against Georgetown, Jillian Byers `09 and Gina Scioscia led the Notre Dame attack with five-point games (2g, 3a) while Kaitlin Keena scored three times. Kailene Abt and Ansley Stewart each had two goals in the win. Goalkeeper Erin Goodman `09 had nine saves in the game as the Irish led, 9-2, at halftime and then held on for the win. In the semifinal win over Syracuse, Byers had four goals and three assists for seven points while Abt (4g, 1a) and Scioscia (2g, 3a) had five-point contests. Shaylyn Blaney and Stewart scored twice with Jackie Doherty and Keena scoring one goal each. Goodman had seven saves in the game and held the Orange to just two goals in the second half. Notre Dame led 9-8 at halftime and used a strong defensive effort in the second to win its first-ever BIG EAST Tournament game. Goodman was named to the all-tournament team and was the tournament’s most outstanding player. Joining her on the all-tournament team were Byers, Scioscia, Abt and defenders Shannon Burke `09 and Rachel Guerrera.
IRISH VERSUS TOURNAMENT TEAMS: Notre Dame owns a 2-1 record this season against the BIG EAST Tournament field. On April 3 at Georgetown, the Irish dropped a 12-10 decision to the Hoyas. On April 5, they traveled to Baltimore to face Loyola and took an 11-10 decision. Just six days later, on April 17 at home, Notre Dame handed Syracuse a 6-5 loss at Arlotta Stadium. All-time, the Irish are 5-9 versus Syracuse, including 1-0 in the BIG EAST Tournament. Against Georgetown, Notre Dame is 4-11 with a 1-2 mark in BIG EAST Tournament play and a 1-0 record in the NCAAs. Against Loyola, the Irish are 5-0 all-time and have never faced the Greyhounds in postseason play.
HEAD COACH Tracy Coyne: Tracy Coyne is in her 14th season at Notre Dame and her 23rd year in collegiate lacrosse. Coyne brings a 251-113 (.690) career record into this week’s game. 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 137-87 (.611) 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 participated in all four 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 137-87 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. In three previous trips to the BIG EAST Tournament, Coyne has a 2-2 record with one BIG EAST championship. As a head coach, she is 5-9 against Syracuse, 4-11 versus Georgetown and 5-0 against Loyola.
COACHING MILESTONE: Notre Dame head coach Tracy Coyne recorded her 250th victory in the 12-11 win at Ohio State on April 22. In 23 seasons, Coyne now has a career mark of 251-113 with a .690 winning percentage. She is now the ninth coach in college lacrosse history to have 250 or more wins in her career. Her 251 wins ranks her seventh among active coaches and the .690 winning percentage is 16th among active coaches with a minimum of 10 years coaching at a four-year school.
CONNECTICUT RECAP: The Irish closed out the 2010 regular season with a 16-9 win on the road at Connecticut on May 1 to finish the campaign with an 11-5 overall record and a 6-2 record in the BIG EAST. Senior attack standout Gina Scioscia led the way with a season-high four goals to go with three assists for seven points. Sophomore Maggie Tamasitis added a four-point game (3g, 1a) while freshman Jenny Granger added three markers in the game. Junior midfielder Shaylyn Blaney had a goal and two assists, her first multi-assist game of the season. Ansley Stewart added a pair of goals while Kailene Abt, Jackie Doherty and Megan Sullivan getting one goal each. The Irish scored seven of the first nine goals in the game on the way to a 9-4 halftime lead and followed with five of the first six goals in the second half to put the game away on the way to the 16-9 final score. Notre Dame out shot Connecticut, 36-20, in the game. Freshman goalkeeper Ellie Hilling had sevem saves in the game for the Irish.
2010 IRISH LEADERS:
Points - Gina Scioscia (54)Goals - Shaylyn Blaney (36)Assists - Maggie Tamasitis (23)Shots - Shaylyn Blaney (97)Ground Balls - Jackie Doherty (49)Draw Controls - Shaylyn Blaney (31)Caused Turnovers - Shaylyn Blaney (37)
RANKINGS: All four teams in this year’s BIG EAST Tournament come into the tournament ranked in both the IWLCA coaches’ poll and the deBeer/Inside Lacrosse media poll to start the week.
Team IWLCA deBeer/Inside LacrosseGeorgetown 9th 9thNotre Dame 14th 13thSyracuse 11th 12thLoyola 13th 14th
STREAKY IRISH: Five different Notre Dame players bring scoring streaks into the BIG EAST Tournament. The list includes:
Gina Scioscia - 35 games (83g, 60a, 143 pts)Maggie Tamasitis - 16 games (17g, 23a, 40 pts)Kailene Abt - 8 games (13g, 5a, 18 pts)Ansley Stewart - 8 games (10g, 2a, 12 pts)Shaylyn Blaney - 7 games (19g, 2a, 21 pts)
A LAND MARK HELPER: When all-BIG EAST and All-American candidate Gina Scioscia set up Jenny Granger’s goal with 10:59 remaining in the first half of the May 1 game with Connecticut, it not only gave the Irish a 6-1 lead, it cemented Scioscia’s place in the Irish record book. The assist was the 100th of the Summit, N.J., native’s career, making her the first Notre Dame player to record 100 assists in her career. It also made her the first player in Irish history to score 100 goals in a career and have 100 assists. She now has 111 goals and 102 assists for 213 points in her career.
NAIL BITERS: One thing that can be said about the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team is that they keep fans on the edge of their seats. In 10 of the team’s 16 games this season, the Irish the have gone to overtime in three of them while all 10 have been decided by one or two goals. Notre Dame is 2-1 in overtime, 5-2 in games decided by one goal and 7-3 in games decided by two goals or less. In the three meetings versus this year’s BIG EAST Tournament teams, the Irish have a two-goal loss (at Georgetown) and one-goal wins versus Syracuse (6-5) and Loyola (11-10).
NOTRE DAME HONORS: Irish senior midfielder Maggie Zentgraf was honored by the University of Notre Dame with a Christopher Zorich Award on April 28 at the annual O.S.C.A.R.S. (Outstanding Student-Athletes Celebrating Achievements & Recognition Showcase). The Zorich Award was created to recognize contributions of Notre Dame student-athletes to the University and community at-large. The award holds the name of the two-time Fighting Irish All-American and 1991 graduate who went on to play in the National Football League for both the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins before receiving his law degree from Notre Dame in 2002. Zentgraf is a senior captain with the Fighting Irish women’s lacrosse team who has been a tremendous role model for her teammates and fellow student-athletes during her four seasons at Notre Dame, becoming the second women’s lacrosse player to earn the Zorich Award. A two-time monogram winner, she is one of the University’s top student-athletes in the area of community service. Now in her third year as a member of the school’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council, she serves as that group’s liaison to the Notre Dame Monogram Board. A member of two NCAA Tournament teams (2008, 2009) and the 2009 BIG EAST Championship team, Zentgraf played 46 career games as a midfielder and attack player before her season came to an end on April 17, 2010, due to a knee injury. Known for her ability to motivate teammates and others to action, Zentgraf puts in countless hours of community service work in the South Bend community and her hometown of Charlottesville, Va. She has volunteered and interned at the Center for the Homeless in South Bend. Following Hurricane Katrina, she and her family spent 10 days in Biloxi, Miss., helping in the recovery efforts. A BIG EAST All-Academic Team choice in 2009, she works at a summer lacrosse camp for underprivileged kids in her hometown and through her church she has participated in trips to southwest Virginia to work on Habitat for Humanity projects.
10 OR MORE: Notre Dame’s win at Connecticut improved the Irish to 11-5 for the season. The 11 wins makes this year’s senior class of Rachel Guerrera, Gina Scioscia and Maggie Zentgraf the second class in the program’s history to have four 10-win seasons for their careers as they join the 2009 class. With one at least one more game this season, the 2010 senior class is 50-23 for a .685 winning percentage. The 2009 seniors were 54-22 for a .711 winning percentage.
200 CLUB: Over the last four regular season games, Gina Scioscia has 13 goals and nine assists, giving her 111 goals and 102 assists for 213 career points at Notre Dame. Versus Ohio State, she became the fourth player in school history to reach 200 points for her career, joining Jillian Byers `09, Crysti Foote `06 and Caitlin McKinney `08.
MAGIC 100: With her first-half goal at Rutgers, junior midfielder Kailene Abt became the 11th player in the history of the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse program to reach 100 points for her career. Abt’s goal was the 79th of her career and moved her into 10th place on Notre Dame’s all-time goal-scoring list. She also has 21 assists in her three years with the Irish. Abt is the second Notre Dame player to go over 100 points this season as she joins fellow junior Shaylyn Blaney who recorded her 100th point in the season opener at Hofstra.
VERSUS THE BEST: Notre Dame’s 12-11 win over 18th-ranked Ohio State improved the Irish to 5-4 against teams ranked nationally. So far this season, the Irish have wins over No. 11 Boston University, No. 19 Louisville, No. 13 Loyola and No. 7 Syracuse. During the 2009 season, the Irish were 8-5 against ranked teams.
THE IRISH ALL-TIME: In this the 14th season of the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse program, Notre Dame brings a 137-87 all-time record (.611) into this week’s BIG EAST Tournament. That record includes a 56-49 road mark (.533). At home, the Irish are 67-31 (.684) with a 14-7 all-time ledger on neutral fields.
MAKING THE STOPS: Freshman goaltender Ellie Hilling enters the BIG EAST Tournament with an 11-5 record and a 9.11 goals-against average with a .425 save percentage in her rookie season. The 5-2 netminder’s goals-against average is currently the third-best single-season mark in the program’s history:
Goals-Against Leaders1. Jen White (2002) 7.492. Carol Dixon (2004) 8.573. Ellie Hilling (2010) 9.114. Jen White (2001) 9.255. Jen White (2003) 9.866. Carol Dixon (2006) 9.987. Erin Goodman (2007) 10.328. Erin Goodman (2008) 10.749. Carol Dixon (2005) 11.0410. Erin Goodman (2009) 11.11
DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE: Over a three-game span from April 9 to April 17, the Notre Dame defense gave up just 10 goals (0 to Villanova, 5 to Syracuse and 5 to Cincinnati) for a 3.33 goals-against average. As a team, the Irish are 18th in the nation, giving up 9.38 goals per game.
GETTING IT DONE: Junior defender Jackie Doherty is in the midst of a strong season for the Irish. She currently leads the team in ground balls (49) and caused turnovers (36) and is second in draw controls with 29. Second to her in both categories is junior midfielder Shaylyn Blaney who has 34 ground balls and 35 caused turnovers while leading the team with 31 draw controls.
RECORD SETTER: Junior midfielder Shaylyn Blaney is known for her goal-scoring ability as she already has well over 100 goals for her career. In the 15-5 win over Cincinnati on April 17, she put on a clinic at both ends of the field. Blaney scored three goals in the game while grabbing six ground balls, winning four draw controls and causing a Notre Dame school-record with seven caused turnovers versus the Bearcats.
ONE-TWO PUNCH: A warning to opposing offenses. You may want to stay away from Notre Dame juniors Jackie Doherty and Shaylyn Blaney. The Irish duo are among the BIG EAST league leaders in ground balls and caused turnovers. Doherty, Notre Dame’s defensive whiz, leads the Irish in ground balls (49, 3.06 per game) and caused turnovers (36, 2.25 per game) to lead the BIG EAST in both categories. Blaney checks in with 34 ground balls (2.11 per game) and 35 caused turnovers (2.19). She is second in caused turnovers. Nationally, Doherty is 12th in ground balls and fourth in caused turnovers while Blaney is sixth in caused turnovers.
THE PLAYMAKER: Sophomore attack standout Maggie Tamasitis is second in scoring for Notre Dame with 17 goals and a team-high 23 assists for 40 points, career highs in all three categories. As a freshman, the playmaker had 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points. In just 37 career games, Tamasitis already has 43 career assists to rank ninth on Notre Dame’s all-time assist list.
BLANEY DOES IT ALL: Junior midfielder Shaylyn Blaney enters the BIG EAST Tournament ranked first in goals (36) and third in points (39). But Blaney’s game isn’t all about offense. The talented midfielder gets in done at both ends of the field. She currently leads the Irish with 31 draw controls, is second with 34 ground balls and is second in caused turnovers with 35.
KEY CONTRIBUTOR: Sophomore Megan Sullivan has become a key contributor to the Irish offense this season. She already has career highs in goals (13), assists (5) and points (17). In the 11-9 win over Louisville on March 27, Sullivan had a career-high four goals versus the Cardinals.
ROAD WARRIORS: Through the first 16 games of the 2010 season, Notre Dame is 6-3 on the road to give the Irish three consecutive 6-3 road marks since the 2008 season. Over the last three seasons, Notre Dame is 18-9 (.667) away from home.
TEN-GOAL OUTBURST: Notre Dame’s 10 goals in the second half at Rutgers marked the fourth time this season that the Irish scored 10 or more goals in a half. The first time came Feb. 27 when the Irish scored 11 versus Duquesne in a 15-10 Notre Dame win. The second time was on April 9 when they got 10 versus Villanova in the 16-0 win over the Wildcats with the third time coming on April 17 with 11 in the first half of a 15-5 win over Cincinnati.
HITTING THE CENTURY MARK: With three goals in the 15-5 win over Cincinnati, senior Gina Scioscia became the eighth player in Notre Dame history to reach 100 goals for her career as she joined midfielder Shaylyn Blaney who reached the “Century Mark” on March 20 at Boston University. Scioscia now has 111 career goals, 102 assists and 213 career points while Blaney has moved to sixth with 122 goals in her career. Blaney is now ninth with 136 career points for the Irish. The Stony Brook, N.Y., native has now scored 36 or more goals in each of her three seasons at Notre Dame.
CAREER LISTS: Senior Gina Scioscia has carried the hot hand for Notre Dame over the last eight games (20 goals, 18 assists, 38 points) and the Irish are 6-2 in them. For her career, Scioscia now has 111 career goals with 102 assists for 213 career points. Her 102 assists rank her fifth among active NCAA players and her 213 points tie her for 15th among active players. For the Irish all-time, Scioscia is eighth in goals, first in assists and fourth in points.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Three Notre Dame players were honored by the BIG EAST and WomensLax.com for their play in the three Irish wins the week of April 5-11. Notre Dame swept the BIG EAST awards with Shaylyn Blaney getting the offensive player of the week and Jackie Doherty the defensive player. Blaney had six goals on the week, getting three in the second-half comeback at Loyola and the game winner versus Syracuse. She added seven ground balls, five draw controls and eight caused turnovers. Doherty anchored the Notre Dame defense that gave up five goals per game. She had 11 ground balls, six draw controls and seven caused turnovers. Ellie Hilling was named WomensLax.com’s rookie of the week as she won all three games and turned in 98:33 minutes of shutout play, including a 16-0 blanking of Villanova. Hilling had a 5.00 goals against average and a .545 save percentage for the three games.
SLAMMING THE DOOR: On April 5 in the 11-10 win at Loyola, the Irish gave up the Greyhounds’ final goal of the game with 4:38 left on the clock. Notre Dame would then shutout Villanova for the full 60 minutes and then added 30 minutes in the first half versus Syracuse. When Michelle Tumolo scored just 3:55 into the second half for the Orange, it ended Ellie Hilling and the Notre Dame defense’s shutout string at 98:33, the longest scoreless streak by the Irish in the program’s 14-year history.
SHUTOUT NOTES: Notre Dame’s 16-0 shutout of Villanova was the first in the program’s 14-year history. The shutout was the second this season at the Division I level as Penn blanked St. Joseph’s, 14-0, on March 17, 2010. Prior to getting the shutout versus Villanova, Notre Dame owned the BIG EAST record for fewest goals in a game as the Irish did it twice, giving up two goals in a 9-2 win over Rutgers on April 28, 2002 and then reduced the mark to one goal in an 11-1 defeat of Loyola on March 25, 2007.
BENCH STRENGTH: Of the 16 goals scored by Notre Dame in the win over Villanova, nine of them were scored by Irish players who came off the bench. Ansley Stewart led the way with three goals. Jordy Shoemaker scored twice and Flannery Nangle, Kelly Driscoll, Jaimie Morrison and Betsy Mastropieri each had one goal. Amy Bernier and Jenny Granger each had assists in the game.
MARGIN OF VICTORY: The last time that Notre Dame won a game by a 16-goal margin came on March 22, 2009 when the Irish defeated California, 20-4. Notre Dame’s largest margin of victory in the 14-year history of the program is 19 goals, a mark that was reached on March 10, 2000 when the Irish defeated Ohio, 22-3.
CLOSE ONES: The 12-11 overtime loss at Rutgers was the seventh one-goal game of the season for the Irish. That gives them a 5-2 record in one-goal contests. All-time, Notre Dame has been involved in 39 one-goal games in 14 seasons and is 20-19 overall. The seven, one-goal games this season are a school record, passing the mark of six set in 2006. The Irish were 4-2 that season.
IRISH AND OVERTIME: Notre Dame has now played three overtime games this season and is 2-1 in those contests. In the 14-year history of the program, the Irish have played overtime 17 times and is now 8-9 in those games.
A WINNING LEGACY: Notre Dame’s 16 wins in 2009 are the most in a single season for the Irish, surpassing the mark of 15-4 set in 2006. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Irish are 63-27 (.700).