Feb. 14, 2007
Notre Dame, Ind. –
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• The Game: #5/#8 Notre Dame (15-4/4-1 in 2006) vs. #12/#13 James Madison (15-5/6-1 in 2006)
• Date/Time/Site: Sunday., Feb., 18, 2007 • 12:00 noon • JMU Lacrosse Complex • Harrisonburg, Va.
IRISH OPEN 2007 SEASON: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team will do its best to escape the winter storm that has hit the South Bend area this week and start the 2007 season when the Irish travel to Harrisonburg, Va., to face the James Madison Dukes on Sunday, Feb. 18 in a 12:00 noon contest. Notre Dame is coming off its most successful season ever as the Irish finished 15-4 in 2006 and advanced to the NCAA finals for the first time in the program’s history. The Irish had their year come to an end in the NCAA semifinals with a 14-8 loss to Dartmouth. The 2006 season saw Notre Dame experience the biggest turnaround in NCAA history as the Irish bounced back from a 3-12 season on the way to the 15-4 mark, a +10 turnaround from the previous year. James Madison opens its season after a successful 2006 campaign that saw the Dukes go 15-5 and advance to the NCAA tournament where they fell in the opening round to Duke. The Dukes were 6-1 in the CAA and won the postseason tournament. The Irish were 4-1 in the BIG EAST and finished second in the conference.
IRISH VERSUS DUKES: Notre Dame and James Madison have met four times in the all-time series with each team winning twice. The Irish won last season’s meeting at the Loftus Sports Center, a 12-11 thriller. Notre Dame is 1-0 against James Madison at home, 0-2 at James Madison and 1-0 at neutral sites.
HEAD COACH Tracy Coyne: Tracy Coyne begins her 11th season at Notre Dame and 20th year in collegiate lacrosse. Coyne brings a 201-90 (.691) career record into this afternoon’s game with the Dukes and is 87-64 (.576) 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 2-2 all-time versus James Madison.
FOR OPENERS: Notre Dame is 8-2 all-time in season openers after defeating the University of California last season. The Irish are 8-2 in road openers and 6-4 in home openers after the taking an 18-6 home win versus Ohio University to start the 2006 home schedule.
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 (Farmingdale, N.Y.), junior midfielder/attack Caitlin McKinney (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) and sophomore attack Jillian Byers (Northport, N.Y.) 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.
Sophomore Jillian Byers set Irish freshman records for goals (54), assists (24) and points (78) in 2006.
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RECORD TURNAROUND: 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).
ALL-AMERICANS: For the second time in the program’s history, Notre Dame had three players selected All-American during the 2006 season. Senior Crysti Foote became the school’s first two-time All-American as she was selected first team by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA). Foote led the Irish and the nation in scoring with 74 goals and 40 assists for 114 points. She was a third team pick in 2005. Joining Foote in 2006 were sophomore Caitlin McKinney and freshman Jillian Byers. McKinney was selected third team IWLCA All-American while Byers was a second team choice. They became the eighth and ninth All-Americans in the program’s history.
2005- Crysti Foote (third team)2004 - Meredith Simon (first team)2004 - Andrea Kinnik (second team)2004 - Abby Owen (third team)2003 - Jen White (third team)2002 - Kathryn Lam (second team)2002 - Danielle Shearer (second team)
Foote, Byers and McKinney were also selected to the Inside Lacrosse and womenslacrosse.com All-American teams.
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.
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.
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 34 career games, McKinney had 70 goals and 34 assists for 104 career points. After two seasons, she already ranks in the top 10 in several offensive categories. McKinney is seventh in goals (70), sixth in assists (34) and seventh in points (104).
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.
SIMPLY THE BEST: Notre Dame midfield/attack standout Crysti Foote ( a 2006 graduate) and head coach Tracy Coyne each received national recognition last season as the BIG EAST attack player of the year and coach of the year respectively and later the IWLCA attack player of the year and the national coach of the year. Foote, a Tewaaraton Trophy candidate, led the nation in scoring with 74-40-114 and was a first team All-American. Coyne engineered the biggest turnaround in NCAA history, guiding the Irish to a 15-4 record and a first-ever trip to the NCAA semifinals.
OVERTIME NUMBERS: The Irish played two overtime games in 2006 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 11 overtime games in the program’s history and are 4-7 all-time in extra minutes play.
FERGUSON FACTS: Junior Heather Ferguson (Newtown Square, Pa.) had a break out season in 2006 as she finished fourth in scoring last season with 25 goals and 11 assists for 36 points, all career highs. She will be counted on in 2007 to pick up some of the slack offensively due to the graduation of top scorer Crysti Foote.
GETTING IT DONE ON AND OFF THE FIELD: Senior Meghan Murphy (Centennial, Colo.) who finished fifth in scoring with the Irish (14g, 9a) in 2006 was just as successful off the field. The winner of Notre Dame’s Rockne Scholar-Athlete Award, Murphy was a third team ESPN The Magazine/CoSida Academic All-American with a 3.70 grade-point average with a double major in anthropology and pre-professioan studies. She has already been accepted to medical school for the fall of 2007. Murphy also received the prestigious Christopher Zorich Award at Notre Dame’s annual O.S.C.A.R.S. awards program. The award was created in 1998 to recognize the contributions of Notre Dame student-athletes to the University and community at large. The award holds the name of Christopher Zorich, a two-time football All-American and 1991 graduate. He went on to play in the National Football League for both the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins and received his law degree from Notre Dame in 2002. Murphy has been involved in community service work during her three seasons at Notre Dame. She organized the team’s community service work this season and has been involved with the YWCA Women’s Shelter Spring Cleaning, the Cavanaugh/Zahm Winter Carnival and several projects at the Center for the Homeless, including cooking and serving meals, spending time at Thanksgiving with the children and helping coordinate a shoebox assembly first as part of a class project and then as a Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) project that delivered several carloads of personal-use items for use at the Center. Working with children has been a focus for Murphy as she has been involved with holiday parties for kids at both the St. Joseph’s Pediatric and Memorial Hospital Pediatric wings, as well as, Notre Dame’s annual Christmas Pediatric Party. In October of 2006, she helped organize a trip with Notre Dame students to go to New Orleans over fall break to assist in the recovery of the city in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: Sophomore goalkeeper Erin Goodman (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) takes over in goal for the Irish this season following the graduation of Carol Dixon. Goodman saw action in two games as a freshman with a 2.84 goals-against average and a .500 save percentage. She played 48:12, giving up two goals on four shots in limited action.
Senior Kristin Hopson is one of Notre Dame’s top defensive players.
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THE DEFENSE RESTS: Notre Dame’s terrific trio on defense – Meaghan Fitzpatrick (Sr., Farmingdale, N.Y.), Kristin Hopson (Sr., Rosemont, Pa.) and Becky Ranck (Jr., Radnor, Pa.) returns for their third season together. The threesome combined for 86 ground balls, 39 draw controls and 64 caused turnovers during the 2006 season. They helped the Irish hold the opposition to less than 10 goals per game.
IRISH STREAKS: Two Notre Dame players come into the 2007 season on scoring streaks. They are:
Caitlin McKinney -22-game streak (50-23-73)
Heather Ferguson – 13 games (20-9-29)
DRAWING IT UP: Senior midfielder Kaki Orr (Darien, Conn.) set a Notre Dame single-season 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. For her career, Orr now has 59 career draw controls.
SUPPORTING CAST: While Notre Dame’s “Big Three” of Crysti Foote, Jillian Byers and Caitlin McKinney carried the bulk of the scoring load for the Irish in 2006, several other players were valuable contributors to the attack. Heather Ferguson became a clutch scorer and playmaker with career highs in goals (25), assists (11) and points (35) and had 29 points over the final 13 games. Meghan Murphy ranked fifth in scoring with 14 goals and nine assists for 23 points and has at least one point in 13 of 18 games this season. Junior Kaki Orr was sixth in scoring with 15 goals and six assists while Mary Carpenter (Jr., Rochester, N.Y.) checked in with 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points and Jane Stoeckert (So., Mendham, N.J.) had 11 goals with nine assists for 20 points.
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 for the Irish. 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.