June 7, 2007
Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame women’s lacrosse players Jillian Byers (So., Northport, N.Y.) and Caitlin McKinney (Jr., Lafayette Hill, Pa.) have been selected to two more All-American teams for their play during the 2007 season. Both players were selected to teams selected by Inside Lacrosse magazine and womenslacrosse.com.
Byers was selected third team All-America on both teams for the 2007 season while McKinney was a third team choice by Inside Lacrosse and a second team selection by womenslacrosse.com. The two Irish attack standouts become the first Notre Dame women’s lacrosse players to be named to all three All-American teams (IWLCA, Inside Lacrosse and womenslacrosse.com) twice in their careers. They join Crysti Foote `06 (first team on all three teams in 2006) and Meredith Simon `04 (first team IWLCA and second team Inside Lacrosse and womenslacrosse.com) as the only players named to all three teams since the awards began.
Byers continued her impressive two-year Irish career in 2007 by scoring 58 goals with eight assists to lead the team in scoring with 66 points, finishing fourth in the BIG EAST scoring race. She became the first Notre Dame player to score 50 goals in a season twice in her career and now has 112 markers in her first two years for the Irish. A unanimous first team all-BIG EAST selection for the second year in a row, Byers also is a two-time first team IWLCA all-Region choice and was a second team IWLCA selection in each of the first two years of her career. A year ago, Byers was selected second team Inside Lacrosse and third team womenslacrosse.com. This season, she scored at least three points in 12 of the team’s 17 games and had 13 games with three or more goals. A two-time BIG EAST offensive player of the week, she reached both the 100-point plateau and the 100-goal mark quicker than any player in Notre Dame history, hitting the “Century” mark for points in 24 games and goals in 33.
McKinney trailed only Byers in scoring this season as she finished second on the Irish score sheet with 44 goals and 21 assists for 65 points and was fifth in the BIG EAST in scoring. The speedster finished the year on a Notre Dame record 39-game point streak that started on April 24, 2005 during her freshman year. A unanimous first team all-BIG EAST selection for the second year in a row, McKinney has been a three-time IWLCA all-region selection during her career. A year ago, she was a third team IWLCA All-American and moved to a second team pick by the coaches this season. She also was a third team selection by both Inside Lacrosse and womenslacrosse.com in 2006. McKinney recorded three or more points in 12 of the team’s 17 games and had 12 games with two or more goals. For her career, she is fourth in goals (114), fifth in assists (55) and fourth all-time in points with 169.
Notre Dame finished the 2007 season with an 11-6 overall record and was 3-2 in BIG EAST play. The Irish closed the year ranked 13th in the IWLCA poll and 12th in the Inside Lacrosse.com rankings. Both players are currently on the team’s tour of Ireland and England that will end on June 10th.