April 8, 2011
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format
– The Game: Notre Dame (4-6/1-1) at Villanova (4-4/0-1)
– Date/Time/Site: Friday, April 8, 2011 – 4:30 p.m. – Villanova Stadium – Villanova, Pa.
– The Game: Notre Dame (4-6/1-1) vs. #13/#15 Syracuse (3-6/1-0)
– Date/Time/Site: Sunday, April 10, 2011 – 1:00 p.m. – Carrier Dome – Syracuse, N.Y.
– Internet: Notre Dame’s game with Villanova will have live video streaming at Villanova’s website – villanova.edu/allaccess/. The game against Syracuse will be broadcast live on CBS College Sports at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.
TWO FOR THE ROAD: Notre Dame returns to the road this weekend for a pair of BIG EAST games on April 8 and April 10th. The Irish travel to Philadelphia, Pa., to face the Villanova Wildcats in a 4:30 p.m. game on Friday, April 8th at Villanova Stadium. On Sunday, April 10, Notre Dame moves to Upstate New York for a 1:00 p.m. game versus Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. The game versus the Orange will be televised live by CBS College Sports with Jason Knapp and Sheehan Stanwick Burch providing the play-by-play and color commentary. The Irish enter the week with a 4-6 overall record and a 1-1 record in BIG EAST play after playing twice last week at Arlotta Stadium. The Irish got their two-game homestand off to a strong start with an 11-6 win over Rutgers on April 1. They followed that with a 13-10 home loss to No. 5/4 Loyola. When Notre Dame faces Villanova on Friday, the Wildcats will bring a 4-4 overall record and an 0-1 BIG EAST mark into the game. They are in the midst of a two-game losing streak that includes a 17-12 BIG EAST loss at Georgetown and an 11-2 home loss to California. Syracuse is 3-6 on the season but 1-0 in the BIG EAST with an 11-7 win over Rutgers on March 26. The Orange opened the week with a 10-7 loss at Dartmouth on Monday and will play host to Connecticut on Friday afternoon before facing the Irish on Sunday.
IRISH VERSUS THE WILDCATS: Notre Dame and Villanova have met twice in the all-time series with the Irish holding a 2-0 edge. They are 1-0 at Villanova and 1-0 at home against the Wildcats. The teams met last season at Notre Dame on April 9 with the Irish blanking Villanova, 16-0, for the first shutout in the program and the BIG EAST’s history. Fourteen different players got on the scoresheet for Notre Dame in that win led by Ansley Stewart’s (Sr., Alexandria, Va.) three-goal game. Goalkeeper Ellie Hilling (So., Rochester, N.Y.) made eight saves in the shutout win.
NOTRE DAME AND SYRACUSE: The Irish and the Orange met 15 times in the all-time series with Syracuse holding a 10-5 advantage. At Syracuse, Notre Dame has never won as the Irish are 0-6 in the first six meetings. At Notre Dame, the Irish are 4-2 against the Orange and Syracuse has a 2-1 advantage in games played at neutral sites. The teams met twice last season, once in the regular season and once in the BIG EAST Tournament. During the regular season, the teams met on April 11 at Arlotta Stadium with Notre Dame taking a 6-5 victory in a game that saw the Irish take a 6-0 lead at halftime and then hold off a late Syracuse rally for the one-goal win. Gina Scioscia `10 led Notre Dame with two goals and an assist in that win. Ellie Hilling had six saves in the contest. The two teams then met on May 6 in the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals with Syracuse winning, 12-11, in four overtimes. The game was played at Piscataway, N.J. The teams played 72:58 for the longest game in Notre Dame and BIG EAST history. Syracuse’s Christina Dove scored the game winner at 2:02 of the fourth overtime period. Gina Scioscia and Shaylyn Blaney (Sr., Stony Brook, N.Y.) led the Irish with four goals each. Hilling made a then career-high 12 saves in the loss.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK: The Irish opened the week with an 11-6 win over Rutgers in the BIG EAST opener at Arlotta Stadium. Freshman midfielder Kaitlyn Brosco (Fr., Shoreham, N.Y.) led Notre Dame with a season-high three goals while teammates Kaitlin Keena (Sr., Vienna, Va.) and Kailene Abt (Sr., Huntington, N.Y.) also had three points with two goals and an assist in the game. Megan Sullivan (Jr., Winchester, Mass.), Ansley Stewart (Sr., Alexandria, Va.) and Shaylyn Blaney each scored one goal to snap a two-game losing streak. Kristen Anderson led Rutgers with three goals while Shawn Lopez scored twice and Lauren Sbrilli scored one for the Scarlet Knights. Notre Dame out shot Rutgers by a 37-17 margin in the game. Ellie Hilling had five saves in the victory. The Irish led 5-3 at halftime and broke the game open in the second half. With Notre Dame leading, 7-5, with 10:59 left, the Irish scored three times in a 34-second span to make it 10-5 with 10:14 left on the way to the 11-6 win. On Sunday, the Irish dropped a 13-10 decision to fifth-ranked Loyola. Junior Maggie Tamasitis (Boyertown, Pa.) paced the Irish with two goals and two assists whole Kailene Abt, Shaylyn Blaney and Jenny Granger (So., East Setauket, N.Y.) scored two goals each. Notre Dame trailed 6-4 at halftime before Granger and Kaitlin Keena scored 34 seconds apart to tie the game, 6-6, early in the second stanza. Loyola took the lead with 24:27 left in the half when Grace Gavin scored on a free-position goal to make it 8-7. Gavin had four goals and three assists in the contest. The Irish stayed close in the game but could never get closer than two goals the rest of the way. The Greyhounds out shot the Irish, 30-25, in the game. Hilling made eight saves while Loyola’s Kerry Stoothoff had six stops.
THE IRISH ALL-TIME: Notre Dame enters its game with Villanova on Friday with a 141-95 mark in the 15th year of the women’s lacrosse program. That gives the Irish a .597 winning percentage. That record includes a 69-34 (.670) mark at home, a 58-52 (.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 255-121 (.678) 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 141-95 (.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 2-0 all-time versus Villanova and 5-10 against Syracuse.
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 28 games. She is joined by five others with point streaks entering the weekend versus Villanova and Syracuse.
Maggie Tamasitis - 28 games (30g, 47a, 77 pts)Jenny Granger - 13 games (22g, 8a, 30 pts.)Kailene Abt - 8 games (13g, 5a, 18 pts.)Shaylyn Blaney - 5 games (8g, 2a, 10 pts.)Kaitlin Keena - 2 games (3g, 1a, 4 pts.)Megan Sullivan - 2 games (2g, 1a, 3 pts.)
THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Senior defender Jackie Doherty (Elllicott City, Md.) continued to dominate on defense for the Irish in the games versus Rutgers and Loyola. In the two games last week, Doherty had seven ground balls, four draw controls and 10 caused turnovers. For the season, Doherty has 30 ground balls, 17 draw controls and 25 caused turnovers. She is first on the team in draw controls and caused turnovers and second in draw controls.
CLOSE ONES: For those Irish fans with heart problems, watching Notre Dame women’s lacrosse could be hazardous to your health. Through the first 10 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.
SLOW START: Notre Dame’s 4-6 start is the worst for the Irish since starting the 2005 campaign with a 3-7 record. Since the start of the 2006 season, Notre Dame is 69-34 for a .670 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.
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. The loss at Hofstra (3/27) dropped the Irish to 2-2 this year on the road after they were 6-4 a year ago. Since the 2008 season, Notre Dame is 20-12 (.625) away from Arlotta Stadium.
FOR STARTERS: Two members of Notre Dame’s highly touted freshman class made their first career starts in the game at Hofstra. Kaitlyn Brosco (Shoreham, N.Y.) and Margaret Smith (Westminster, Md.) were in the starting lineup against the Pride. Brosco has played in all 10 games this season and has 13 goals and two assists for 15 points this season. She had a career-best three goals in the 11-6 win over Rutgers. Smith made the start against Hofstra due to senior Lauren Fenlon (Dayton, Md.) sitting out with an injury. Smith also has seen action in all 10 games. She has seven ground balls, two draw controls and four caused turnovers in her rookie year.
ON A ROLL: Senior Kailene Abt had her fifth consecutive multiple-point game in the loss to Loyola, scoring two goals in the game. In the win over Rutgers, Abt had two goals and one assist, the same mark she had in the loss at Hofstra. That followed etting a pair of goals with one assist. That followed a two-goal game in the 6-5 double overtime loss to Cornell and three goals and one assist in the 14-5 win over Boston University. Abt has 11 goals and three assists for 14 points in her last five games, 13 goals and five assists for 18 points in an eight-game streak and is fourth this season in scoring with 15 goals and six assists for 21 points.
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 10 games off the bench, she already has eight goals and two assists for 10 points.
SHARE THE WEALTH: Notre Dame has eight players on the roster with 10 or more points six players with 12 or more goals this season. Maggie Tamasitis leads the team in points (33) and assists (21). Jenny Granger is tops on the squad with 17 goals this season.
ALL OVER THE FIELD: Senior midfielder Shaylyn Blaney showed people in the Hofstra game why she is one of the top midfielders in the country as she contributed all over the field. Offensively, Blaney had three goals and an assist while getting six shots on goal. She also grabbed a pair of ground balls, had five draw controls and caused four turnovers on the defensive side of the ball.
ANSLEY THE PLAYMAKER: Senior attack Ansley Stewart (Alexandria, Va.) 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 seventh on the team in scoring with nine goals and five assists for 14 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: After 10 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 10 games this season, the speedster is fifth in team scoring with 13 goals and three assists for 16 points. Keena’s best year for the Irish was 2009 when she had 19 goals and 15 assists for 34 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 10 games, Granger already has scored 17 goals with six assists for 23 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 12 goals and a team-high 21 assists for 33 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 sixth on the Irish all-time assist list with 67 for her career.
MAKING THE STOPS: Sophomore goalkeeper Ellie Hilling has now started 28 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 4-6 with a 9.50 goals-against average and a .411 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 five games, Hilling is just 2-3 but has given up just 7.84 goals-per game and has made 29 stops for a .420 save percentage.
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 142 for her career. She is just 10 behind third-place Caitlin McKinney `09 who finished with 152. Jackie Doherty has moved into third in ground balls with 144 and is now fourth in caused turnovers with 87. Blaney is now third all-time with 94 caused turnovers.