April 2, 2008
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format 
• The Game: #12/#12 Notre Dame (8-3) at #7/#7 Duke (7-3))
• Date/Time/Site: Thur., April 3, 2008 • 4:00 p.m. • Koskinen Stadium • Durham, N.C.
• Internet: All Notre Dame home women’s lacrosse games can be seen live via video streaming at und.com and you can follow the Irish via GameTracker on und.com for all home games and when available.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Notre Dame continues its role as road warriors as the Irish play their third of five consecutive road games this week when they visit the Duke Blue Devils on Thursday, April 3. Game time at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C. is set for 4:00 p.m. Notre Dame is in the midst of a three-game winning streak that has improved its record to 8-3 overall and 2-1 in BIG EAST play. Two of the three consecutive wins have come on the road at Hofstra (14-13) and Connecticut (18-11). Duke brings a 7-3 overall record into Thursday’s game and has lost two straight games to a pair of nationally ranked teams – North Carolina (16-14) and Virginia (13-9). The loss to Virginia on March 29, snapped a two-year, 19-game home winning streak for the Blue Devils. Duke is just the second ranked team that Notre Dame has played this season while the next four games are all against ranked teams.
NOTRE DAME VS. DUKE: The Irish have had their problems with the Blue Devils over the course of the series as Duke owns a 9-1 record in 10 meetings. The Irish are 0-5 at Durham, N.C. and 0-4 at home versus Duke. The lone win came in 2004 at Orlando, Fla., when the Irish took an 11-9 win over the second-ranked Blue Devils. That win was the highest-ranked team that Notre Dame has ever defeated. Last season, Duke downed the Irish, 20-10, at the Loftus Center.
NEXT FOR THE IRISH: The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Notre Dame as the Irish wrap up the five-game road streak by traveling to Evanston, Ill., on Wed., April 9 to face No. 1 ranked Northwestern. That game will begin at 6:00 p.m. (CDT). Following that game, the Irish travel to Washington, D.C., on Sat., April 12 to face sixth-ranked Georgetown. That game has a 1:00 p.m. starting time.
BIG EAST PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Notre Dame has seen two of its players selected as BIG EAST offensive and defensive players of the week over the past two weeks. Junior attack Jillian Byers (Northport, N.Y.) was named BIG EAST offensive player of the week for the week ending March 30 and freshman midfielder Kailene Abt (Huntington, N.Y.) was the BIG EAST defensive player of the week for March 23. Byers took honors last week by scoring 11 goals with two assists for 13 points in wins over Hofstra and Connecticut. She had four goals with one assist in the 14-13 win over Hofstra and then equaled her season best with an eight-point game (7g, 1a) in the 18-11 win at Connecticut. She had one ground ball, seven draw controls and one caused turnover in the two games. Abt took defensive honors the previous week, playing a key role off the bench in the 13-10 win over Loyola (Md.). In that game, Abt scored a goal, caused four turnovers, had two ground balls and two draw controls as the Irish limited the Greyhounds to just four second-half goals in the game.
CONNECTICUT RECAP: Notre Dame improved its BIG EAST record to 2-1 and the overall mark to 8-3 with an 18-11 win at Connecticut on March 29. The Irish were led offensively by junior Jillian Byers who scored seven goals with one assist for eight points. Caitlin McKinney (Sr., Lafayette Hill., Pa.) added three goals and three assists and freshman Shaylyn Blaney (Stony Brook, N.Y.) had three goals each. Gina Scioscia (So., Summit, N.J.) added a pair of goals while Alicia Billings (Jr., Potomac, Md.), Kaitlin Keena (Fr., Vienna, Va.) and Kailene Abt had single goals in the game. Notre Dame jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the game and then gave up seven goals in the second half for the final of 18-11. Junior Erin Goodman (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) played 49:22 in goal, making seven saves while giving up seven goals. Amy Winik (So., Freehold, N.J.) played the final 10:38 of the game and gave up four goals while making no saves. Robyn Pastuch led Connecticut with three goals and one assist in the game.
HOFSTRA RECAP: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team traveled to Hempstead, N.Y., for a weekday game with the Hofstra Pride. In the end, it was a pair of Long Island natives that led the Irish to a 14-13 win on March 25. After being held off the scoreboard in the first half, junior Jillian Byers kept Notre Dame in the game in the second half as she scored four times in a 12:35 span. Freshman Shaylyn Blaney then scored the tying and winning goals in a 54-second span in the last five minutes of the game to wipe out a 13-12 Hofstra lead and give the Irish the 14-13 victory. Gina Scioscia and Jane Stoeckert (Jr., Mendham, N.J.) joined Blaney with two goals while Caitlin McKinney, Heather Ferguson (Sr., Newtown Square, Pa.), Shannon Burke (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) and Kailene Abt scored single goals for Notre Dame. Lauren Whitcomb led the Pride with four goals in the game. Corrine Gandolfi, Stephanie Rice, Ashley Jones and Sandy Wasserbach had two goals each. K’Leigh Vanaman rounded out the Hofstra scoring with a single goal. Erin Goodman had five saves in the win.
HEAD COACH Tracy Coyne: Tracy Coyne is in her 12th season at Notre Dame and her 21st year in collegiate lacrosse. Coyne brings a 221-99 (.691) career record into this week’s games with Duke. On Sunday, Feb. 17, she recorded her 100th career win at Notre Dame with the 16-4 win over Duquesne. As the only head coach in the Notre Dame program’s history, Coyne is 106-73 (.592). 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 three NCAA tournament appearances (2002, 2004, 2006), including the school’s first-ever NCAA finals appearance in 2006. In her first 20 years of coaching, Coyne was 23-5 in two seasons at Denison (1988-89), 91-21 in seven years at Roanoke (1990-96) and 98-70 in 11 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 1-9 against Duke in 10 games during her career.
200-POINT CLUB: Junior Jillian Byers became the third player in Irish history to go over 200 points in her career with her eight-point game versus Connecticut. Byers now has 161 goals and 43 assists for 204 career points. She joins current senior Caitlin McKinney (142-71-213) who went over 200 points earlier this season and Crysti Foote `06 who finished her career with 237 career points.
GOAL-SCORING MARK: Notre Dame’s career record goal-scoring mark could fall in the game against Duke. With seven goals in the win over Connecticut, Jillian Byers moved into a tie with Crysti Foote `06 for first on the all-time list with 161 career goals.
MORE BYERS: Jillian Byers started the week, leading the nation in goals with 49 and second in the country with 60 points. In the goal-scoring department, she leads Lehigh’s Lauren Dykstra (44) and Mt. St. Mary’s Katelyn Catanese (43). In the points department, Byers trails only Syracuse junior Katie Rowan who has 61 points this season.
PASSING FANCY: Sophomore Gina Scioscia ranks fourth on the team in scoring with 11 goals and 18 assists for 29 points this season. As a freshman, she recorded just four goals and four assists for eight points. She now has points in her last eight games and that includes three, five-point games on the season. She is just two assists away from breaking into the top 10 for single-season assists at Notre Dame.
BLANEY’S BACK: Freshman Shaylyn Blaney had just one point over a three-game stretch from March 6 – March 13 after starting the season with 16 points in the first four games. Since being held pointless on March 13, the talented midfielder has 11 goals and four assists for 15 points in her last four games. In the game at Hofstra, with the Irish trailing 13-12, she scored the final two goals of the game to give Notre Dame the 14-13 win. For the year, she ranks third in scoring with 24 goals and eight assists for 32 points in 11 games.
OVERTIME NUMBERS: Notre Dame’s overtime game with Syracuse on March 13 was the 14th overtime contest in the program’s 12-year history. In those games, the Irish are now 6-8. Last year, the Irish were 2-0 in overtime, taking a triple-overtime win versus James Madison (10-9) in the season opener on Feb. 18. In the second game of the year, on Feb. 24, at home, Notre Dame pulled off a 12-11 double overtime win against Stanford. In one-goal games, the Irish are 7-3 over the last two seasons and 14-17 in the program’s history.
GET OUT OF THE WAY: With her seven goals versus Connecticut, Jillian Byers has moved into a tie for first on Notre Dame’s all-time goal list with 161 career goals. Senior Caitlin McKinney has moved into third on the all-time goal list with 142 goals in her career.
Goals 1. Crysti Foote (2003-06) 161 Jillian Byers (2006- ) 1613. Caitlin McKinney (2005- ) 1424. 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
RECORDS WATCH: Caitlin McKinney and Jillian Byers continue their assaults on the Notre Dame record books this spring. The dynamic duo continues to move up the assist and points lists.
Assists 1. Crysti Foote (2003-06) 762. Caitlin McKinney (2005-) 713. Lael O'Shaughnessy (1998-01) 684. Danielle Shearer (2000-03) 66 Kerry Callahan (1997-99) 636. Meredith Simon (2001-04) 497. Jillian Byers (2006- ) 438. Natalie Loftus (1999-02) 339. Kathryn Perrella (1998-00) 2610. Eleanor Weille (2000-03) 25
Points1. Crysti Foote (2003-06) 2372. Caitlin McKinney (2005- ) 2133. Jillian Byers (2006- ) 2044. 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
DRAWING THINGS OUT: Jillian Byers and junior defender Shannon Burke (Baltimore, Md.) have become Notre Dame’s top draw control specialists through the first 11 games of the season. Byers already has a career best mark of 37 draw controls while Burke has passed her career high with 30 this season. With 84 career draw controls, Byers is now seventh on the all-time list while Burke, with 69, is 13th all-time.
SETTING THE MARK: Gina Scioscia cleared up some space in the Notre Dame record books with her five-assist game versus Delaware on March 13. The five assists is the most by an Irish player in a home game and breaks a mark held by 12 different players, including current teammates Caitlin McKinney and Jillian Byers. McKinney was the last to do it, getting four helpers on April 14, 2007 at Moose Krause Stadium against Georgetown. Scioscia shared the wealth, setting up four different players – Byers, Beth Koloup, McKinney (twice) and Kailene Abt. She had two in the first half and three in the second. Koloup’s goal was the first of the junior’s career. The Notre Dame record for assists in a game is six and was set by Kerry Callahan `99 on March 17, 1999 against Gannon.
ON A ROLL: Senior Caitlin McKinney extended her school-best, point-scoring streak to 50 games with three goals and three assists in the win over Connecticut. During her 50-game streak, McKinney has scored 122 goals with 60 assists for 182 points. Her streak started during her freshman season in 2005. Going into the game with Duke, the following Irish players are in the midst of scoring streak.
Jillian Byers - 28 games (117g, 19a, 136 pts.)Gina Scioscia - 8 games (10g, 16a, 26 pts.)Shaylyn Blaney - 4 games (11g, 4a, 15 pts.)Kailene Abt - 4 games (4g, 0a, 4 pts.)
FIRST TIMERS: Two Notre Dame players recorded the first goals of their careers in the games against Delaware and Syracuse. In the March 13 game against the Blue Hens, junior midfielder Beth Koloup scored her first career goal after being set up by Gina Scioscia to give the Irish a 6-0 lead in the first half. On March 16 against Syracuse, Maggie Zentgraf came off the bench to get her first career goal in the second half, converting a Scioscia pass with 13:33 left for a 12-11 lead. Another first came against Delaware with Shannon Burke had the first two-goal game of her career.
GETTING INTO THE ACT: Senior attack Heather Ferguson is in the midst of a strong senior season that has her ranked fourth in scoring on the team with 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points. Her point total is the second best mark in her career. Versus California on March 8, she equaled her single-game assist and points marks with a goal and three assists for four points. Against Delaware, Ferguson equaled her single-game marks for goals (3) and points (4) while chipping in another assist for four goals and four assists for eight points in the two games.
SCORING BY CLASS:
Year (#players) Goals Assists PointsJuniors (6 71 19 90Seniors (5) 41 27 68Freshmen (7) 42 19 61Sophomores (4) 12 20 32Totals 166 85 251
FIELD OF DREAMS: Arlotta Stadium will become the new home of the Notre Dame men’s and women’s lacrosse programs upon completion in June of 2009. Construction of the facility will begin in August of 2008. Conceptual plans suggest a 2,000 seat, lighted stadium that would include an artificial-turf field, locker rooms, restrooms and concession areas. The state-of-the-art facility is named after Notre Dame graduate John Arlotta, president and chief executive officer of Denver-based Coram, Inc. He and his wife, Bobbie, pledged the lead gift toward the stadium that will be built to the east of the Joyce Center as part of the University’s new athletics quadrangle. The Arlotta children – Mindy, Andy and Jon – have pledged and additional gift from the Arlotta Family Foundation toward the project. In addition to their generous donation, alumni and friends of the lacrosse programs have donated over two million dollars.
HISTORIC STADIUMS: During the 2008 women’s lacrosse season, Notre Dame will play in two of college football’s most historic stadiums. On March 8, the Irish will face California, in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. They will follow that up by hosting the 2008 BIG EAST Championship at Notre Dame Stadium, home of the Fighting Irish football team. That will occur on April 25 and 27 should the Irish make the conference tourney. The tournament will be held at Notre Dame Stadium due to construction on the Irish campus.
MAKING THE STOPS: Junior goaltender Erin Goodman has picked up eight wins this season, giving her 19 for her career. That total ranks her third all-time at Notre Dame in career wins. In 2007, she was 11-6 overall record and a 10.32 goals-against average and a .444 save percentage. She finished just one win behind Carol Dixon `06 for the most wins by an Irish goalkeeper in her first year as a starter as Dixon had 12 in 2004. Goodman set a BIG EAST record on March 25, 2007 when she held Loyola (Md.) to just one goal in an 11-1 Irish win, setting the league mark for the fewest goals given up in a game. Goodman now has four games in her career with 14 saves – vs. Cornell (13-7 win), vs. Yale (9-7 win) and against Loyola (11-1 win) last season and on March 13 versus Delaware. As a junior, Goodman is 8-3 with a 10.49 goals-against average and a .469 save percentage.
RANCK AND FILE: Senior defender Becky Ranck (Radnor, Pa.) leads the team with 19 caused turnovers this season, leading Caitlin McKinney (18) by one. As a team, the Irish have caused 137 turnovers while the opposition has just 71.
VERSUS THE BEST: Notre Dame’s game against Duke is just the second game this season that the Irish will face a team ranked in the top 20 nationally. The 2008 schedule features seven teams that are currently ranked in the March 31 IWLCA rankings. The list includes: #1 Northwestern, #5 Syracuse, #6 Georgetown, #7 Duke, #16 Stanford, #17 Vanderbilt and #18 Oregon. The loss to Syracuse gives the Irish an 0-1 mark against ranked teams.
HOME SWEET HOME: The loss to Syracuse on March 16 dropped the Irish to 3-1 on the year at home in the Loftus Center. Last season, Notre Dame was 6-3 at home, going 3-2 at the Loftus Sports Center and 3-1 at Moose Krause Stadium. In 2006, the Irish were 9-0 at home and are now 18-4 (.818) between the Loftus Center and Moose Krause Stadium over the last three years.
CLOSE ONES: The 14-13 loss to Oregon on March 6 with three seconds left marked the second one-goal loss in a row for the Irish with less than 10 seconds left. The last one-goal loss came on April 21, 2007, an 8-7 loss to Rutgers that saw the Scarlet Knights score with 8.8 seconds left. The Irish broke that streak with the 14-13 win over Hofstra on March 25. Notre Dame is now 1-1 on the year in one-goal games and 15-17 all-time in one-goal games.