April 30, 2003
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- Commodores are 10th ranked team Irish will play in 2003.
- Danielle Shearer named Warrior/Inside Lacrosse Player of the Week.
- Crysti Foote named womenslacrosse.com Rookie of the Week.
- Irish are 1-6 this season versus nationally ranked teams.
THE VANDERBILT GAME: Notre Dame closes the 2003 regular season with a visit to Nashville, Tenn., on Friday, May 2 to face the 15th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores. Friday night’s game will start at 7:00 p.m. (CDT). The Irish, ranked 18th in the most recent IWLCA poll, will take a three-game winning streak into the Vanderbilt game. The streak has improved the Irish to 7-7 on the year. Notre Dame, on the strength of its 13-6 win over Rutgers on April 27, has clinched third place in the BIG EAST with a 4-2 record. Vanderbilt comes into their regular season finale with a 7-7 record and a 4-2 mark in the American Lacrosse Conference. The Commodores dropped their last game on April 27, a 13-8 decision to Virginia.
IRISH VERSUS COMMODORES: Notre Dame and Vanderbilt meet for the seventh time in the all-time series on May 2. The Commodores hold a 5-1 edge in the first six meetings. The Irish are 1-2 at home versus Vanderbilt and 0-3 in Nashville. The lone Irish win in the series came last May 3, when Notre Dame won 10-9 in overtime at Moose Krause Stadium. Alissa Moser led the Irish with three goals and an assist and Natalie Loftus had two goals and an assist in the win. Loftus got the game winner with 1:49 left in the first overtime. Eleanor Weille (Sr., Garden City, N.Y.) and Danielle Shearer (Sr., Hampstead, Md.) each scored twice in the game. Jen White (Sr., Annapolis, Md.) made six saves in the win.
HEAD COACH TRACY COYNE: Notre Dame head coach Tracy Coyne is in her seventh season with the Irish and is the only coach the program has ever known. Coyne owns a 56-43 (.566) record at Notre Dame and is 170-69 (.711) in her 16-year coaching career. She led the Irish to their first-ever NCAA tournament bid in 2002 and advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion, Princeton, 11-5. Coyne is 1-5 in six meetings versus Vanderbilt. 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. A 1983 graduate of Ohio University, Coyne has coached on the international level leading the Canadian women’s lacrosse national team to the medal round at the 2001 World Cup in England.
SHEARER NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Notre Dame’s all-BIG EAST and All-American candidate, Danielle Shearer, was named Warrior/Inside Lacrosse Player of the Week for her play in three Irish wins last week. She was also selected as BIG EAST Co-Offensive Player of the Week for her exploits. In three games, Shearer scored nine goals and added four assists for 13 points. She had three goals and one assist in an 18-6 win over Davidson. That was followed by a two-assist performance in the 13-9 win over Northwestern. She capped the week with six goals and one assist in Notre Dame’s 13-6 BIG EAST win over Rutgers. Her BIG EAST honor marked the third time this season that she was selected as Offensive Player of the Week (Mar. 17, Mar. 31 and April 28).
FOOTE NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Freshman standout Crysti Foote (Suffern, N.Y.) was named womenslacrosse.com Rookie of the Week for her contributions in three wins for Notre Dame last week. The Irish scoring machine had eight goals and added six assists for 14 points in three games. The talented rookie started the week with three goals and three assists for six points in the 18-6 win over Davidson. She followed that with three goals and two assists in the 13-9 win over Northwestern and capped the week with a two-goal, one-assist performance in the 13-6 win over Rutgers.
RUTGERS RECAP: Notre Dame and Rutgers came into the April 27 game at Moose Krause Stadium with 3-2 records in the BIG EAST and third place in the league standings on the line. After Rutgers got the first goal of the game, Danielle Shearer took over for the Irish, getting five of her six goals in the game in the first half as the Irish took a 6-4 lead into the first intermission. Kelly McCardell (Sr., West Chester, Pa.) got the other Notre Dame goal in the opening stanza. Angela Dixon (Sr., Pennsauken, N.J.) recorded three assists in the first half on the way to a five-point afternoon. She opened the second half scoring to make it 7-4, before the Scarlet Knights scored twice to cut the lead to 7-6. That would be the last goal Rutgers would get as the Irish scored the final six goals of the game. Shearer’s sixth goal made it 8-6 Irish. Mary McGrath (Fr., Bryn Mawr, Pa.), Crysti Foote (two goals), Anne Riley (Sr., Marblehead, Mass.) and Dixon closed the scoring in the 13-6 win. Jen White (Sr., Annapolis, Md.) made nine saves in the win.
SHEAR(ER) SCORER: With seven points (six goals, one assist) versus Rutgers, Danielle Shearer became Notre Dame’s all-time goal-scoring leader (127) and all-time point producer (191). The Tewaarton Award candidate surpassed former Irish great Lael O’Shaughnessy (’01) who recorded 122 goals, 68 assists and 190 career points during her career. Shearer is second all-time in assists with 64 and is five behind O’Shaughnessy for the lead in that department. LUCKY SEVEN: Danielle Shearer’s seven-point game versus Rutgers was the third of her career. She recorded seven points (3g, 4a) versus George Mason (3/14/02) and seven (6g, 1a) versus Syracuse (5/5/01).
OFFENSIVE JUGGERNAUT: Notre Dame is in the midst of one of its best season’s offensively. The Irish have scored 168 goals in 14 games for a 12.00 goals per game average, the most they’ve scored per game since 1999. Last season, the Irish had 191 goals in 18 games for a 10.61 goal per game average. The Irish go into their final game with Vanderbilt with 92 assists on the year. The school record is 95 and was set in the 1999 campaign.
VERSUS THE BEST: Notre Dame’s game versus Vanderbilt will be the 10th game this season for the Irish versus a nationally ranked team. In the first nine meetings versus ranked teams, the Irish are 2-7. The two wins have come versus #20 Rutgers (13-6) and #19 Connecticut (15-7). The Irish went 1-4 in a recent run of five consecutive games versus ranked teams that ended with the Georgetown loss (April 19). All-time versus ranked teams, Notre Dame is 8-27 versus top 20 teams after going 4-5 last season. The highest ranked team the Irish have ever beaten was Yale (7th-ranked) in 2001 and last season at home when they downed 7th-ranked Syracuse (April 3, 12-7).
BIG EAST SCORING: In BIG EAST games this season, Notre Dame has five players in the top 12 scorers. Danielle Shearer finishes the season as the league scoring leader with 18 goals and 14 assists for 32 points. Meredith Simon is tied for fourth with 18 points on 12 goals and six assists. Eleanor Weille (Garden City, N.Y.), Crysti Foote and Angela Dixon are tied for seventh with 14 points each. Weille has seven goals and seven assists, Foote has 10 goals and four assists and Dixon rounds out the group with six goals and eight assists. Abby Owen (Jr., Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) follows with 13 points on six goals and seven assists.
TEWAARTON TROPHY CANDIDATE: Senior all-American candidate Danielle Shearer is one of 21 nominees for the Tewaarton Trophy that goes annually to the top player in men and women’s lacrosse. She becomes the first Notre Dame women’s player ever nominated for the award. She currently leads the Irish in scoring with 32 goals and 24 assists for 56 points in 14 games. Her 24 assists are a career high. Her career-best for goals (39) and points (59) came last season as a junior.
STREAKING ALONG: Notre Dame’s leading scorer, Danielle Shearer, ran her scoring streak to 35 consecutive games with her seven-point game versus Rutgers. The streak began on April 25, 2001 during her sophomore year. During the streak, Shearer has scored 82 goals, added 49 assists and has 131 points.
SCORING STREAKS: Several Irish players go into the final game of the season at Vanderbilt with active point-scoring streaks.
Danielle Shearer -35 games (82g, 49a, 131 pts)
Meredith Simon – 10 games (21g, 7a, 28 pts)
Crysti Foote – 7 games (18 g, 9a, 27 pts)
Mary McGrath – 5 games (5g, 3a, 8pts)
Angela Dixon – 4 games (8g, 7a, 15 pts)
Anne Riley – 3 games (4g, 0a, 4 pts)
ON THE RIGHT FOOTE: Freshman Crysti Foote continues her torrid scoring pace over the last seven games after a five-point game (3g, 2a) versus Northwestern and a three-point game (2g, 1a) versus Rutgers. In her last four games, Foote has 12 goals and eight assists for 20 points. In her current seven-game scoring streak, Foote has 18 goals and nine assists for 27 points. On the year, she is third on the Irish in scoring with 23 goals and 11 assists for 34 points. She moved into the starting lineup on April 13 versus Stanford.
SIMON SAYS: Junior Meredith Simon (Flemington, N.J.) continues her strong play this season as she is in the midst of a 10-game scoring streak that has seen her net 21 goals and seven assists for 28 points. She has collected three or more goals in a game four times this season. She owns three goal games versus Connecticut (4/6), Syracuse (4/2) and Ohio University (3/11). She scored a career-high four goals and two assists in Notre Dame’s 16-13 win at Virginia Tech (March 29). For the junior, the six-point game was her second this season with six or more points as she turned in a seven-point game (three goals and four assists) in the 19-4 win at Ohio University. Her previous best coming into this season was a five-point game (3 goals, 2 assists) in Notre Dame’s NCAA first round win over Ohio State (11-7) in May of 2003. A clutch scorer late in games a year ago, Simon is second on the team in goals (26), assists (14) and points (40). Her career bests came last season when she had 28 goals, six assists and 34 points.
THE GREAT WHITE WALL: Notre Dame goalkeeper Jen White recorded a career-best 19 saves in the 16-15 overtime loss to Georgetown on April 19. Earlier this season, White had a then, career-high 16 saves, in Notre Dame’s 13-5 loss at Cornell on March 2nd. Her previous best was a 15-save performance in a 10-9 Irish loss to Duke last season (April 12, 2002). In the Cornell game, White became Notre Dame’s all-time save leader with 314 passing Carrie Marshall (’98-’01) who had 309 in her Irish career. White now has 423 saves in her Notre Dame career. She is also the school’s all-time leader in games played (52) and goals-against average (8.82). As a junior, White was 13-5 with a 7.49 goals against average and gave Notre Dame the seventh-best defense in the nation. A first-team all-BIG EAST selection, White led the Conference in goals-against average and save percentage. She set a BIG EAST record when she limited Rutgers to just two goals in Notre Dame’s 9-2 win on April 28, 2002.
LONGEST GAME: Notre Dame’s double-overtime loss to Stanford becomes the longest game in Notre Dame history as the team’s played a total of 72 minutes (60 regulation minutes and four three-minute overtime stanzas). The previous longest game came last season versus Duke as the Irish played 71:45 before losing a 10-9 decision. That game ended in sudden-death with the winning goal coming with just 15 seconds left in the fourth three-minute overtime. Notre Dame is now 2-2 all-time in overtime games.
STRONG FINISH FOR DIXON: Senior Angela Dixon has become an offensive force for the Irish in the last two weeks. In her last four games, she has recorded eight goals and seven assists for 15 points. Included in that tear are a pair of five-point games (2g, 3a) versus Georgetown and Rutgers. On the season, Dixon has 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points in 12 games. Off the field, Dixon is also getting it done in the classroom. A seven-time Dean’s List selection, she has been nominated for Verizon Academic All-American honors on the At-Large team.
WILY WEILLE: Senior midfielder Eleanor Weille has had a great deal of success this season in BIG EAST games. On April 5, she collected a career-high four assists in the win over Connecticut. She also has two three-goal games this season versus BIG EAST teams. She has scored three goals this season versus Virginia Tech and Boston College (three goals and two assists for career-high five-point game). In six BIG EAST games this season, Weille has seven goals and seven assists for 14 points and is tied for seventh in league scoring. On the year, she has career-highs in goals (11), assists (10) and points (21).
COREY’S THE STORY: Freshman Corey Samperton (Bethesda, Md.) turned in the first multiple goal game of her young career when she scored a pair of goals in the 18-6 win over Davidson. Samperton has three goals on the season in limited playing time.
SCORING MACHINE: Junior midfielder Abby Owen continues to be a key in the Irish lineup this season. After playing in just two games in her first two seasons at Notre Dame, Owen has made her presence felt in 2003. After being held scoreless in her first game this season, Owen has been one of Notre Dame’s top scorers with 14 goals and eight assists for 22 points over the last 12 contests. That ranks her fourth on the Irish in scoring this season. She equaled a career-best versus Virginia Tech with two goals and two assists for four points. She did the same thing in Notre Dame’s 13-12 win over Boston College. Owen picked up her first career hat trick in the 7-6 loss to Yale (3/18).
TOO MANY GOALS: Through the first 14 games this season, the Irish have given up 10 or more goals seven times (Cornell, Boston College, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Duke, Stanford and Georgetown). Last season, the Irish allowed 10 or more goals five times in 18 games.
NOTRE DAME IN NATIONAL STATS: Notre Dame goes into the Vanderbilt game ranked in two team national categories while All-American Danielle Shearer is among the national leaders in two categories. As a team, the Irish are seventh in draw controls (12.29 per game) and tied for 13th in goals per game with 12.00. Shearer is tied for 10th in points per game (4.00) and ninth in assists (1.71) per game.
ONE GOAL LOSSES: The Irish have played in four one-goal games this season and are 1-3 in those contests. Notre Dame suffered back-to-back overtime losses to Stanford (14-13 in 2ot) and Georgetown (16-15 in ot). The other one-goal loss came at Yale early in the season. The Irish defeated Boston College 13-12 earlier this season for a one-goal win. A year ago, the Irish were 1-3 in one-goal games. All-time, the Irish are 6-8 in one-goal games.
KINNIK FOR THE DEFENSE: Junior Andrea Kinnik (West Chester, Pa.) has become a key player on the Irish defense this season. She recorded a career-high six ground balls in the loss at Duke (April 11). For the year, she leads the Irish with 41 ground balls and 18 caused turnovers. She has also come up with 16 draw controls this season.
FISCHER ON THE ATTACK: Junior attack standout Lauren Fischer (Pittsburgh, Pa.) has picked up where she left off last season in the goal scoring department. Through her first 14 games this season, Fischer has recorded 16 goals on 41 shots for the Irish for a .390 shooting percentage. Her two goals versus Davidson (4/22) give her five two-goal games this season and nine in her career with two or more goals. She now has 16 goals and five assists for 21 points in 14 games. The four assists and 21 points are career highs and the 16 goals is one off her career-high of 17 set last season.
IRISH FIRSTS: Several Notre Dame players recorded “firsts” in the Irish victory at Ohio University. Besides Crysti Foote (3 goals) and Jackie Bowers (1g, 1a), midfielder Abby Owen scored her first collegiate goal. Sophomore Lindsay Shaffer (Seneca Falls, N.Y.) played in her first collegiate game and picked up her first assist. And, freshman Corey Samperton (Bethesda, Md.) scored her first collegiate goal in her first game for the Irish. Goalkeeper Carol Dixon (So., Pennsauken, N.J.) also saw her first collegiate action playing the final 17 minutes of the game.
2003 SCHEDULE: Notre Dame’s 2003 schedule features 10 games versus teams ranked in the IWLCA poll. They are: Duke (#4), Georgetown (#5), Yale (#9), Ohio State (#10), Syracuse (#11), Cornell (#13), Stanford (#14) and Vanderbilt (#15). Connecticut was ranked 19th when they played the Irish and Rutgers was ranked 20th. The Irish came into the season ranked in the top 10, as they were picked seventh in the IWLCA poll and fifth by Inside Lacrosse Magazine.
RECORD SETTING SEASON: The 2002 women’s lacrosse season will go down as the finest season in the program’s six-year history. Going into the NCAA quarterfinals at Princeton, the Irish have set program-bests for wins (13), for BIG EAST wins (5) and for the highest ranking (7th) that the program has ever achieved. The Irish have also set records for lowest goals against (7.49), save percentage (.545) and ground balls (516). Notre Dame also won its first game at home versus a ranked team when the Irish defeated 7th-ranked Syracuse, 12-7, on April 3. The Irish also won their first-ever NCAA tournament game when they defeated Ohio State on May 9 by an 11-7 score.
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: Two members of the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse program have been selected to Inside Lacrosse Magazine’s preseason all-American teams. Midfielder Danielle Shearer was a first-team selection while goalkeeper Jen White was chosen to the second team. Shearer, along with graduated defender Kathryn Lam were the first two all-Americans in Notre Dame history last season as both were chosen to the second team. Shearer was the BIG EAST midfielder of the year as she led Notre Dame with 39 goals and 20 assists for 59 points. White was a first-team all-BIG EAST selection as she set school records for wins (13), goals-against average (7.49) and save percentage (.545) in her junior year.
THE CAPTAINS: The Irish will have three new players serving as captains this season. Seniors Elizabeth Knight (Baltimore, Md.), Kelly McCardell (West Chester, Pa.) and Danielle Shearer will serve as the team’s captains this season.
NEW FACES: Notre Dame added 11 new faces to its roster with one of its biggest recruiting classes ever.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Lacrosse runs in the Simon family as junior Meredith Simon is joined at Notre Dame by brother, Eric, who is a member of the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse program. The senior is one of three team captains in the 2003 season. The women’s team also includes one set of sisters as senior attack player Angela Dixon and sophomore goalkeeper Carol Dixon are the second set of sisters to play for the Irish. They join Amy and Mara Grace who were team members in the first year of the program (1997-98).
TEAM USA: Notre Dame is represented on the U.S. National Developmental Team by four players. Current Irish standout Danielle Shearer is the only active team member on the squad. She is joined by defender Kathryn Lam (’02) who is a two-year member of the team. Current Irish assistant coaches, Brooke Crawford and Jen Newitt, are also team members.