May 25, 2010
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team has announced its team award winners for the 2010 season that ended with an 11-7 overall record and a third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. In voting done by the players for four awards, junior midfielder Shaylyn Blaney (Stony Brook, N.Y.) was selected as the team’s Notre Dame Monogram Club Most Valuable Player. Junior defender, Jackie Doherty (Ellicott City, Md.), was named the winner of the team’s 2002 Award as the top defensive player. Sophomore midfielder Megan Sullivan (Winchester, Mass.) was named the team’s Most Improved Player and junior defender Lauren Fenlon (Dayton, Md.) was selected as the team’s Unsung Hero. The Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Scholar-Athlete Award that is given to each team’s top academic performer went to senior defender Rachel Guerrera (Wantagh, N.Y.).
Blaney finished the 2010 season as one of the top all-around midfielders in the nation as she turned in an outstanding season for the Irish at both ends of the field. Offensively, she led Notre Dame in goals with 40 and was third on the team in scoring with 43 points. A first team all-BIG EAST selection, she led the Irish with 37 draw controls, was second on the squad with 36 caused turnovers and third with 36 ground balls. The high-scoring midfielder has scored 40 or more goals in each of her first three seasons at Notre Dame. Her caused turnovers (2.0 per game) ranked her second in the BIG EAST and 12th in the nation.
A preseason Tewaaraton Trophy candidate, Blaney was named to the all-tournament team at the 2010 BIG EAST Tournament after leading the Irish with four goals in the 12-11, four-overtime loss to Syracuse. She has been named to the BIG EAST all-tournament team in two (2008 and 2010) of her first three seasons at Notre Dame.
A 2009 second team IWLCA All-American and a candidate for postseason honors this year, Blaney ended the 2010 campaign ranked fifth all-time in goals (127), ninth in points (143), tied for second in draw controls (126) and fifth in caused turnovers (76).
Guerrera was chosen as the winner of the team’s Rockne Scholar-Athlete award after turning in a 3.54 grade-point average while graduating on May 16th with degrees in American Studies and Film, Theatre and Television. A two-time BIG EAST Academic All-Star, Guerrera was a three-year starter on the Notre Dame defense and in 2010, helped the Irish to their lowest goals-against average (10.06) since the 2006 season. As a senior, Guerrera was fourth in ground balls (29) and third in caused turnovers (21) for the season and was a second team all-BIG EAST selection.
Junior defender Jackie Doherty led the BIG EAST in ground balls and caused turnovers during the 2010 season. She is the winner of the team’s 2002 Award as the top defensive player.
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A team captain along with Blaney in 2010, she finished her career, playing in 58 games, making 52 starts while grabbing 87 ground balls, 20 draw controls and 58 caused turnovers. A 2009 IWLCA West/Midwest Regional selection, Guerrera also was named to the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll last season.
Doherty was selected as the second winner of the 2002 Award – an award that started in 2009 to honor the team’s top defensive player. The 2002 Award recognizes members of the 2002 class who continue to hold many of the program’s top defensive honors. A first team all-BIG EAST selection in her junior year, Doherty is among the top defensive players in the nation. She led the Irish in ground balls (53) and caused turnovers (40) and was second with 30 draw controls on the year. The 53 ground balls equaled her career high set last season while the 40 caused turnovers marked her best season ever and were the second-highest single-season total in the program’s history.
Sophomore Megan Sullivan was named the women’s lacrosse team’s most improved player for 2010.
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Doherty led the BIG EAST in caused turnovers (2.22 per game) and is fourth best in the nation. Her 2.94 ground balls per game were best in the conference and ranked her 12th nationally. She helped lead a Notre Dame defense that turned in its best goals-against average since 2006.
In just three seasons at Notre Dame, Doherty is eighth in ground balls (121), 11th in draw controls (74) and seventh in caused turnovers (71). She also has scored 19 goals with 14 assists for 33 points in 54 career games.
Sullivan was selected by her teammates as the team’s most improved player in 2010 as she finished sixth on the team in scoring with 16 goals and six assists for 22 points from her midfield position. She added 21 ground balls, 12 draw controls and 10 caused turnovers, starting all 18 games for the Irish. As a freshman, she saw action in all 21 games and had four goals with one assist. On March 27th in an 11-9 home win over Louisville; Sullivan keyed the Notre Dame attack with a career-best four-goal game, including the winning goal on a free-position shot.
Junior defender Lauren Fenlon was named the 2010 women’s lacrosse team’s Unsung Hero.
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Rounding out the team’s award winners was Fenlon who was selected as the team’s unsung hero by her teammates. A tough, tenacious defender, she was a key member of Notre Dame’s defensive group that helped the Irish to their best goals-against mark since 2006. A two-year starter on defense, Fenlon was fifth in ground balls (27), grabbed six draw controls and caused 12 turnovers while making life in front of the Notre Dame goal tough for opposing defense.
Notre Dame played in its fourth consecutive BIG EAST Tournament in 2010 and the Irish saw their season come to an on May 15 in the NCAA Tournament with a 19-7 loss to five-time defending champion, Northwestern. They are currently ranked 14th in the IWLCA coaches’ poll.