May 8, 2006
Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame midfielder Kaki Orr (Jr., Darien, Conn.) has been selected the BIG EAST defensive player of the week for her play in the 12-11 regular-season finale win against Vanderbilt on May 7.
Orr helped the Irish control the midfield in the game by grabbing nine of Notre Dame’s 17 draw controls. The nine draw controls breaks the Irish record of eight that was done twice by Mara Grace `98. Grace turned in the feat on April 6, 1997 against Ohio State and then again on April 11, 1998 versus Syracuse. The Irish had a 17-8 edge in the game against Vanderbilt.
Orr also picked up two ground balls and caused a pair of turnovers in the come-from-behind win. The No. 7 Irish trailed 11-10 with less than two minutes left until freshman Jillian Byers (Northport, N.Y.) scored twice in the final 1:47 of the game with the game winner coming with just 18 seconds left in the game.
For the season, the hard-working midfielder has career highs in goals (13), assists (6), points (19) and draw controls (31) on the year. She is tied for sixth in scoring with the 19 points and her 31 draw controls are second on the team.
The win over Vanderbilt helped the seventh-ranked Irish finish the season with a 13-3 record, the best regular-season mark in the program’s history.
Orr and her teammates will return to action on Sunday, May 14 when they open the NCAA Tournament versus Cornell. Game time against the Big Red at Moose Krause Stadium is 1:00 p.m. This is the third time in the last five seasons that the Irish have advanced to the NCAA Tournament (2002, 2004, 2006).