Irish goalkeeper Ellie Hilling has a 5.50 goals-against average and a .522 save percentage in her last two games.

Irish Women's Lacrosse Travels To Hofstra On Sunday

March 24, 2011

Notre Dame, Ind. –

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• The Game: #17/– Notre Dame (3-4) at Hofstra (3-5)

• Date/Time/Site: Sunday, March 27, 2011 • Noon • James M. Shuart Stadium • Hempstead, N.Y.

• Television: This game will be televised on Long Island via FiOS1 TV

•Internet: Live audio is available on the Hofstra website at www.gohofstra.com/liveEvents.Live Stats will also be available on the Hofstra website at www.gohofstra.com.

WORKING THINGS OUT: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team will play its second game away from home in the last week as the Irish travel to Hempstead, N.Y., on Sunday, March 27 to face the Hofstra Pride in a noon game. The contest at Hofstra will be televised in the Long Island area on FiOS1 TV. Notre Dame brings a 3-4 overall record into the game after losing last Sunday versus Cornell, 6-5 in double overtime, in a game played at Lutherville, Md. Hofstra is 3-5 on the season and is coming off a 15-6 home win over Fairfield University last Saturday. The Pride owns other wins this year versus Oregon and Denver. Their losses have come to Boston College, Albany, Pennsylvania, Rutgers and Penn State. For the Irish, the game at Hofstra closes out the month of March for Notre Dame and sets the Irish up to open BIG EAST play on Friday, April 1 at home against Rutgers and then Sunday, April 3 versus red-hot Loyola (Md.) at Arlotta Stadium.

IRISH VERSUS THE PRIDE: Notre Dame and Hofstra have met three times in the all-time series with the Irish winning all three games. The Irish are 1-0 versus the Pride in South Bend and 2-0 on Long Island. The two teams met in the season opener last year with Notre Dame pulling out a 13-12 win. Shaylyn Blaney (Sr., Stony Brook, N.Y.) led the Irish with a career-high six goals, including the game winner with 10:09 left in the game. That goal closed the scoring as Notre Dame was able to work the clock and kill off the final 10 minutes of the game for the win.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK: Notre Dame started the week with a big 14-5 victory at Arlotta Stadium against Boston University on March 20 and then the Irish were dealt a 6-5 double overtime loss to Cornell in a neutral site game (Lutherville, Md. – St. Paul’s School) on Sunday, March 20. Against Boston University, the Irish broke open a close game with a nine-goal second half on the way to their first win at home this season. Kailene Abt (Sr., Huntington, N.Y.) and Maggie Tamasitis (Jr., Boyertown, Pa.) paced the Irish attack with three goals and one assist in the game. Senior midfielder Kaitlin Keena (Vienna, Va.) added two goals while Shaylyn Blaney, Jenny Granger (East Setauket, N.Y.), Ansley Stewart (Sr., Alexandria, Va.), Kaitlyn Brosco (Fr., Shoreham, N.Y.), Megan Sullivan (Jr., Winchester, Mass.) and Jackie Doherty (Sr., Ellicott City, Md.) added one goal each. The Irish led 5-3 at halftime and in the second half scored seven goals in the final 5:31 to put the game away. On Sunday, the Irish traveled to Maryland to face Cornell and the first half was all Notre Dame as the lead was 4-0 after the first 30 minutes. The Big Red turned the tables in the second half, blanking the Irish and scoring four of their own for a 4-4 score after regulation time. In the first overtime, each team scored once and in sudden death, Cornell’s Jessi Steinberg scored 18 seconds into the second overtime for the win. Abt had two goals for the Irish while Keena, Blaney and Brosco had single goals in the game. Goalkeeper Ellie Hilling (So., Rochester, N.Y.) had seven saves in 66:18 of playing time.

THE IRISH ALL-TIME: Notre Dame enters its game with Hofstra on Sunday with an all-time record of 140-93 in the 15th year of the women’s lacrosse program. That gives the Irish a .601 winning percentage. That record includes a 68-33 (.673) mark at home, a 58-51 (.532) record on the road and a 14-9 (.609) ledger on neutral fields.

HOMECOMING: For five members of the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team, the game at Hofstra is a homecoming for each of them and their families. Seniors Shaylyn Blaney and Kailene Abt, junior defender Kristin DeRespiris (Locust Valley), sophomore Jenny Granger and freshman Kaitlyn Brosco all played their high school and club lacrosse on Long Island.

HEAD COACH Tracy Coyne: Tracy Coyne is in her 15th season at Notre Dame and her 24th year in collegiate lacrosse. Coyne brings a 254-119 (.681) 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 140-93 (.601) 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, she is 3-0 all-time against Hofstra.

SLOW START: Notre Dame’s 3-4 start is the worst for the Irish since starting the 2005 campaign with a 2-5 record. Since the start of the 2006 season, Notre Dame is 68-32 for a .680 winning percentage. Two of Notre Dame’s losses this season have come to unranked opponents – Ohio State and Cornell. The last time the Irish had two 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 the 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.

ROAD WARRIORS: With the win at Duquesne on Feb. 27, Notre Dame is 2-1 on the season away from home. A year ago, the Irish were 6-4 away from South Bend and have now had three consecutive seasons of at least six wins on the road. Since the 2008 season, Notre Dame is 20-11 (.645) away from Arlotta Stadium.

STREAKY IRISH: During the 2010 season two Notre Dame players – Maggie Tamasitis and Gina Scioscia `10 scored points in all 18 games. Scioscia finished her career with the second longest scoring streak in the program’s history – 37 games. Tamasitis has picked up where she left off last season and has now scored at least one point in each of her last 25 games. She is joined by five others with point streaks entering the game with Hofstra.

Maggie Tamasitis - 25 games (26g, 41a, 67 pts)Jenny Granger - 10 games (18g, 8a, 26 pts.)Kailene Abt - 5 games (7g, 3a, 10 pts)Kaitlyn Brosco - 2 games (2g, 1a, 3 pts.)Kaitlin Keena - 2 games (3g, 0a, 3 pts.)Shaylyn Blaney - 2 games (2g, 1a, 3 pts.)

FINDING HER GAME: Senior Kailene Abt had two strong games for the Irish last week, scoring five goals with one assist in the win and the loss. In the win over Boston University, Abt had a season-high three goals and four points in the 14-5 win over the Terriers. She led the team with two goals in the 6-5 loss to Cornell.

A SCORING MACHINE: Sophomore Betsy Mastropieri had a career-high, four-goal game in the 13-8 loss to Ohio State. As a freshman, Mastropieri played in 15 games and scored seven goals. This year, in seven games off the bench, she already has seven goals and one assist for eight points. Her previous best was a two-goal game on April 3, 2010 at Georgetown.

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 fifth on the team in scoring with eight goals and five assists for 13 points. The four-point game was the third of her career.

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: Just seven games into her senior season, 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 just seven games this season, the speedster is sixth in team scoring with 10 goals and two assists for 12 points. Keena’s best year for the Irish was 2009 when she had 19 goals and 15 assists for 34 points.

FAST STARTER: Freshman midfielder Kaitlyn Brosco (Shoreham, N.Y.) scored a goal in each of the games against Boston University and Cornell. Her goal versus the Big Red came in overtime and gave the Irish a brief 5-4 lead. In seven games this season, Brosco already has 10 goals and two assists for 12 points.

NICE STARTS: Sophomore midfielder Jenny Granger and junior attack Maggie Tamasitis have wasted little time in getting their 2011 seasons off to fast starts. Through seven games, Granger already has scored 13 goals with six assists for 19 points. As a freshman in 16 games last year, she had 12 goals and three assists for 15 points. Included in her fast start is a career-high four-goal, two-assist, career-best six-point game at California in the season opener. Granger helped Notre Dame to a 12-10 win at Duquesne with two goals and an assist for three points. Leading the team in scoring is Tamasitis with eight goals and a team-high 15 assists for 23 points. A year ago, she was second on the team with 18 goals and 26 assists for 44 points. After getting career highs in assists (4) and points (5) against Northwestern on Feb. 19, Duquesne held the slick playmaker to just one assist in the 12-10 Irish win on Feb. 27. Versus Ohio State, Tamasitis had a goal and three assists for a four-point game. She is already eighth on the Irish all-time assist list with 61 for her career.

HERE WE GO AGAIN?: During the 2010 season, Notre Dame saw 11 of its 18 games decided by two goals or less. Three times this season, the Irish have seen it happen. First was the 13-12 loss at Stanford on Feb. 13 and then Notre Dame pulled out a 12-10 win at Duquesne on Feb. 27. Last Sunday, the Irish lost another one-goal game, falling to Cornell, 6-5, in double overtime. Last season, the Irish had four overtime contests, eight games decided by one goal and 11 decided by two goals or less. In overtime, the Irish were 2-2. They were 5-3 in one goal games and 7-4 in games decided by two or less. In the BIG EAST Tournament, the Irish dropped a 12-11, four overtime game to Syracuse in the semifinals. That game was decided after 72:58, the longest game in Notre Dame history and the longest in the history of the BIG EAST Tournament. So far this season, the Irish are 1-2 in “close” games.MAKING THE STOPS: Sophomore goalkeeper Ellie Hilling has now started 25 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 3-4 with an 9.44 goals-against average and a .427 save percentage. She has played all but 17 seconds this season. Against California, Hilling turned in a career-high 13 saves while giving up a season-low six goals. Over the last two games, Hilling has given up just 5.50 goals-per game and has made 12 stops for a .522 save percentage.

THE CAPTAINS: Senior midfielder Shaylyn Blaney (Stony Brook, N.Y.) 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 136 for her career. She is just 16 behind third-place Caitlin McKinney `09 who finished with 152. Jackie Doherty has moved into third in ground balls with 141 and is now fourth in caused turnovers with 87. Blaney is now third all-time with 90 caused turnovers.

FOR OPENERS: The Irish are now 13-2 all-time in season openers after defeating California, 20-6, on Feb. 11. Notre Dame is now 14-1 in road-opening games. The loss to Northwestern in the home opener on Feb. 19 dropped the Irish to 9-6 all-time in home openers.

THREE FOR ANSLEY: Senior attack Ansley Stewart scored a season-high three goals in the win over Duquesne and has picked up points in three of the team’s four games this season. For the season, she has six goals and two assists for eight points.

RUNNING THE SHOW: With the graduation of attack standout Gina Scioscia `10, look for junior Maggie Tamasitis to run the Irish offense in 2011. Tamasitis finished second on the Irish in scoring last season with career highs in goals (18), assists (26) and points (44). The senior playmaker leads the team in scoring with eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points. Tamasitis is eighth on the all-time assist list with 61.

SPEAKING OF ASSISTS: Senior Shaylyn Blaney is known for putting the ball in the net as she has 136 goals to her credit as the Irish prepare for Hofstra. This season, she has become the passer as she has a pair of three-assist games versus California and Duquesne. This season, Blaney has seven assists after getting just three all last season. Her career-best season was nine as a freshman in 2008.

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 (Westminster, Md.) 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.