April 13, 2011
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format
– The Game: Notre Dame (5-7/2-2) vs. Connecticut (6-5/0-3)
– Date/Time/Site: Saturday, April 16, 2011 – Noon – Arlotta Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
– Internet: Notre Dame’s home game versus Connecticut will have live video streaming on the Notre Dame website at www.und.com. There is no charge to watch this game. The Notre Dame website also will have livestats available at und.com.
HOME COOKING: Notre Dame returns home for one game this week after going 1-1 on the road April 8-10. The Irish will play host to the University of Connecticut in a noon game on Saturday, April 16 at Arlotta Stadium. This is a key game for Notre Dame as the Irish try to get back on the winning track as they look to make a move in the drive for one of the four postseason playoff spots in the BIG EAST. Notre Dame is currently 5-7 overall and 2-2 in the BIG EAST after four games. That puts the Irish fourth in the conference, trailing Loyola, Georgetown and Syracuse in the standings as each of those teams go into the weekend with 4-0 or 3-0 records. Trailing the Irish are Louisville and Rutgers as each of those teams are 1-2 on the year. Connecticut enters the weekend with a 6-5 overall record and is 0-3 in conference play. The Huskies played just once last week, dropping a 17-9 decision at Syracuse. UConn’s losses in the BIG EAST have come to Rutgers, Georgetown and Syracuse. Following this weekend, the Irish will play twice next week as they travel to Vanderbilt on Wed., April 20 and then close out the home schedule on Sat., April 23 versus Georgetown in a 1:00 p.m. game at Arlotta Stadium. That game will be televised by CBS College Sports.
IRISH AND HUSKIES: Notre Dame and Connecticut have met 12 times in the all-time series with the Irish holding a 10-2 advantage, At Notre Dame, the Irish are 4-1 against the Huskies while at Storrs, Conn., they are 6-1. Last season, the teams met in Connecticut with Notre Dame taking a 16-9 win. Gina Scioscia `10, paced the Irish attack with seven points, scoring four goals with three assists. Maggie Tamasitis (Jr., Boyertown, Pa.) and Jenny Granger (East Setauket, N.Y.) added three goals each while Ansley Stewart (Sr., Alexandria, Va.) added a pair of goals in the win. The last time the Huskies won at Notre Dame was April 1, 2005, a 13-10 win.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK: April 8 – at Villanova – Betsy Mastropieri (So., Richmond, Va.) had a career-high, five-point game, scoring four goals with an assist, and was joined by nine other teammates on the scoreboard as Notre Dame ran off a 15-4 win in a steady rain at Villanova Stadium. Kaitlyn Brosco (Fr., Shoreham, N.Y.) and Kaitlin Keena (Sr., Vienna, Va.) each had two goals in the victory while Maggie Tamasitis (Jr., Boyertown, Pa.), Jenny Granger (So., East Setauket, N.Y.), Kailene Abt (Sr., Huntington, N.Y.), Shaylyn Blaney (Stony Brook, N.Y.), Ansley Stewart (Sr., Alexandria, Va.), Molly Shawhan (Fr., Fulton, Md.) and Grace Dooley (Fr., Chicago, Ill.) each scored a goal for Notre Dame. Justine Donodeo led Villanova with two goals while Shawna Giust and Rachel Lasda had single goals for the Wildcats. Notre Dame scored early and often in this game, building a 10-0 lead with 5:18 left in the first half. The Irish outshot Villanova, 37-12, in the game. Sophomore goalkeeper Ellie Hilling (Rochester, N.Y.) played 48:43 in the game, giving up three goals with three saves. Sophomore Adele Bruggeman (Cincinnati, Ohio) played the final 11:17, giving up one goal with no saves.
April 10 – at Syracuse – On Sunday, the Irish visited Syracuse and dropped a 12-7 decision to the 13th-ranked Orange. Senior Ansley Stewart led the Notre Dame attack with three goals, all in the first half as the Irish trailed, 8-5, after 30 minutes. Maggie Tamasitis added a goal and three assists while Kaitlyn Brosco added a goal and an assist. Megan Sullivan (Jr., Winchester, Mass.) and Shaylyn Blaney added single goals for the Irish. The Irish were held to just two goals in the second half with Brosco scoring early with 22:47 left and Tamasitis getting her goal with just 1:42 left on the clock. Katie Webster led Syracuse with three goals and Michele Tumolo had three points (2g, 1a). Catherine Rodriguez and Tee Ladouceur each had a pair of goals in the win. Sophomore goalkeeper Ellie Hilling (Rochester, N.Y.) did her best to keep Notre Dame in the game, making seven saves in each half for a career-high, 14-save game.
THE IRISH ALL-TIME: Notre Dame’s 1-1 week for April 8-10 leaves the Irish with a 142-96 all-time record in the 15th year of the women’s lacrosse program. Notre Dame now has an all-time winning percentage of .597. The record includes a 69-34 (.670) mark at home, a 59-53 (.527) 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 256-122 (.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 142-96 (.597) 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 137-89 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 10-2 all-time against Connecticut.
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. Dooley missed the first 10 games of the season recovering from offseason surgery and is expected to see more action the remainder of the year.
OVER 30 CLUB: With a goal and three assists in the loss at Syracuse, Maggie Tamasitis became the fifth player in Notre Dame history to have a point-scoring streak reach 30 consecutive games. Tamasitis scored a point in all 18 games as a sophomore in 2010 and continued the run this season with at least one point in all 12 games this year. In her streak, Tamasitis has 32 goals and 51 assists for 83 points. Her four-point game at Syracuse on Sunday moved her into 11th on Notre Dame’s all-time scoring list with 45 goals and 71 assists for 116 career points.
TOP IRISH SCORING STREAKS:Caitlin McKinney (51 games)Gina Scioscia (37 games)Danielle Shearer (36 games)Jillian Byers (30 games)Maggie Tamasitis (30 games)
SHARE THE WEALTH: Notre Dame has eight players on the roster with 15 or more points and eight players with 12 or more goals. Maggie Tamasitis leads the team in points (39) and assists (25). Jenny Granger is tops on the squad with 18 goals this season.
STREAKY IRISH: Maggie Tamasitis saw her consecutive-point streak reach 30 games in the loss to Syracuse on April 10 when she had a goal and three assists for four points. She has now scored in all 18 games last season and all 12 games played to date. She is joined by four others with point streaks as they enter Saturday’s game with Connecticut.
<>Maggie Tamasitis - 30 games (32g, 51a, 83 pts)Jenny Granger - 15 games (23g, 11a, 34 pts.)Shaylyn Blaney - 7 games (10g, 2a, 12 pts.)Kaitlyn Brosco - 2 games (3g, 2a, 5 pts.)Ansley Stewart - 2 games (4g, 2a, 6 pts.)
MAKING THE STOPS: Sophomore goalkeeper Ellie Hilling has now started 30 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 5-7 with a 9.32 goals-against average and a .431 save percentage. She has played all but 11:34 this season. Against Syracuse, Hilling had a career-high 14 saves, making seven stops in each half. Her previous best was 13 in the season opener at California.
THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Senior defender Jackie Doherty (Elllicott City, Md.) continues to be a dominate force on the on Irish defense this season. She enters Saturday’s game with Connecticut leading the team in ground balls (34), is second in draw controls (22) and first in caused turnovers with 28.
CLOSE ONES: For those Irish fans with heart problems, watching Notre Dame women’s lacrosse could be hazardous to your health. Through the first 11 games of the season, Notre Dame has gone right down to the wire, losing three games by one goal, including one in double overtime and owns one win by two goals. That gives the Irish a 1-3 mark in “close ones” this season. 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.
ROAD WARRIORS: 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. Following the 1-1 week on the road last week, Notre Dame is now 3-3 o the road this season. Since the 2008 season, Notre Dame is 21-13 (.618) away from Arlotta Stadium.
SLOW START: Notre Dame’s 5-7 start after 12 games is the slowest start for the Irish since the 2005 campaign when they were 3-9 after 12 contests. Since the start of the 2006 season, Notre Dame is 70-35 for a .667 winning percentage. Three of Notre Dame’s losses this season have come to unranked opponents – Ohio State, Cornell and Hofstra. 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.
OVERTIME IRISH: The 6-5 double overtime loss to Cornell on March 20 was the 20th overtime game for Notre Dame in the program’s history and that dropped the Irish to 8-12 in games that go longer than 60 minutes. 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.
VERSUS THE BEST: Notre Dame has played four games this season against nationally ranked teams and is 0-4 in those contests. The Irish have lost 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). As of this week’s rankings, the Irish have two more games on the schedule against ranked teams – April 20 at #17/#19 Vanderbilt and April 23 vs. #20/nr Georgetown. In 2010, Notre Dame was 6-5 versus ranked teams.
CENTURY CLUB: 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. Tamasitis has now played in 51 career games and has 45 goals and 71 assists for 116 career points. She is 11th on the all-time points list at Notre Dame entering the game with Connecticut.
FOR STARTERS: Two members of Notre Dame’s highly touted freshman class made their first career starts in the game at Hofstra (3/27). Kaitlyn Brosco (Shoreham, N.Y.) and Margaret Smith (Westminster, Md.) were in the starting lineup against the Pride. Brosco has played in all 12 games this season, making five starts, and has 16 goals and four assists for 20 points this season. She had a career-best three goals in the 11-6 win over Rutgers. Smith has played in all 12 games, making four starts. Versus Villanova, she had a career-best four caused turnovers. This season, Smith has 14 ground balls, eight draw controls and eight caused turnovers in her rookie year.
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.
A SCORING MACHINE: Sophomore Betsy Mastropieri turned in a career-best five-point game (4g, 1a) in the 15-4 win at Villanova on April 8. Her four-goal game equaled a career-high set in the 13-8 loss to Ohio State (3/10). As a freshman, Mastropieri played in 15 games and scored seven goals. This year, in 12 games off the bench, she has 12 goals and three assists for 15 points.
ANSLEY THE PLAYMAKER: Senior attack Ansley Stewart dished out a career-best three assists as part of her four-point game in the 13-8 loss to Ohio State. She is now sixth on the team in scoring with 13 goals and seven assists for 20 points. The four-point game was the third of her career. Stewart has had a hot hand for the Irish over the last two games, picking up four goals with two assists versus Villanova and Syracuse.
SIX-POINTS: Senior midfielder Shaylyn Blaney equalled career highs for points (6) and assists (3) in the 12-10 win over Duquesne. The three-assist game was Blaney’s second of the season as she opened the year with three at California (2/11). The six-point afternoon matched a six-point game she had in the season opener with Hofstra in 2010. She also added two ground balls and three caused tunrovers versus the Dukes.
AHEAD OF PACE: After 12 games this season, senior midfielder Kaitlin Keena has already passed her goal output of the 2010 season. One of Notre Dame’s fastest players, Keena had four goals and eight assists for 12 points as a junior. In 11 games this season, the speedster is fifth in team scoring with 15 goals and four assists for 19 points. Keena’s best year for the Irish was 2009 when she had 19 goals and 15 assists for 34 points.
CAREER YEAR: Sophomore midfielder Jenny Granger has already put up career numbers for the Irish in her second season. Through 12 games, Granger already 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.
THE CAPTAINS: Senior midfielder Shaylyn Blaney and senior defender Jackie Doherty (Ellicott City, Md.) will serve as team captains of the 2011 Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team. Blaney served as one of the team’s captains in 2010 while this is the first season for Doherty. Blaney is a two-time second team IWLCA All-American and leads the Irish offense. Doherty guides the defense and was selected as a first team IWLCA All-American in her junior year.
PRESEASON HONORS: Three members of the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team were selected by the BIG EAST coaches as members of the 2011 preseason all-BIG EAST team. Leading the group is Shaylyn Blaney who is a three-time all-BIG EAST selection (first team twice and second team once) in her career. She is joined by senior defender Jackie Doherty who was a first team choice last season. Joing those two is midfielder Kailene Abt who was a second team all-BIG EAST selection last season.
CHART CLIMBERS: Senior Shaylyn Blaney is currently fourth on Notre Dame’s all-time goals list with 143 for her career. She is just nine behind third-place Caitlin McKinney `09 who finished with 152. Jackie Doherty has moved into third in ground balls with 146 and is now fourth in caused turnovers with 89. Blaney is now third all-time with 96 caused turnovers.
NEW KIDS: Head coach Tracy Coyne’s eight-member freshman class was ranked as the fourth-best freshman class in the nation by Inside Lacrosse in September. Three members of the class were ranked among the top 25 freshmen in the country – midfielders Kaitlyn Brosco, Margaret Smith and Grace Dooley (Chicago, Ill.) with a fourth midfielder, Molly Shawhan (Fulton, Md.) named to the magazine’s “Watch List,” that listed 40 other top women’s lacrosse players who will play their first Division I season this spring. Ranked ahead of the Irish in the team rankings were Georgetown, North Carolina and Maryland while Northwestern, Syracuse, Virginia, Duke, Penn State and Johns Hopkins rounded out the top 10. Brosco was listed as the number three freshman, Smith, seventh and Dooley, 23rd overall.
BALL HAWKS: Seniors Jackie Doherty and Shaylyn Blaney are among the best in the nation when it comes to caused turnovers entering this week’s action. Doherty leads the team with 28 and is fifth in the NCAA with 2.33 per game. Blaney has 23 and ranks 12th in the NCAA with 1.92 per game. In the BIG EAST, Doherty is tops with 2.33 per game and Blaney is third with 1.92 per game.