May 12, 2006
Notre Dame, Ind. –
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2006 NCAA TournamentThe Game: #7/#6 Notre Dame (13-3) vs. #10/#11 Cornell (12-3)Where: Moose Krause Stadium • Notre Dame, IndianaGame Time: 1:00 p.m.Gametracker: Follow the action live at und.cstv.com
IRISH MEET CORNELL IN NCAA TOURNAMENT: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team returns to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the last five seasons at home on Sunday, May 14 when the Irish square off against the Cornell Big Red. Game time at Moose Krause Stadium is set for 1:00 p.m. Notre Dame brings a 13-3 overall record into the game and was seeded sixth in the tournament, the highest seeding that the Irish have ever had. The Irish closed the season by winning their final three games, the last two by one goal. Cornell will be making its second appearance at Notre Dame this season as the two teams met on March 5th indoors at the Loftus Center with Notre Dame winning a 17-15 decision. The Big Red were 12-3 on the year and were co-champions of the Ivy League along with Princeton. Cornell comes into Sunday’s game having won six of its last seven games with the lone loss, a one-goal loss to Stanford at Cambridge, Mass., April 30. Notre Dame is ranked seventh in the Bounce Entertainment/Inside Lacrosse poll while Cornell is ranked 10th by the coaches and 11th by Inside Lacrosse. The winner of Sunday’s game will play host to the winner of the Georgetown-Monmouth game on Saturday, May, 20th.
NOTRE DAME IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: This will be Notre Dame’s third trip to the NCAA Tournament in the program’s history and the third since 2002 (2002, 2004, 2006), a five-year span. The Irish are seeded sixth this season, the highest seed they have had in their three appearances (2002 – 8th; 2004 – 10th). All three trips to the NCAA Tournament have been via at-large bids. The Irish are 1-2 in NCAA action, winning their lone home game while losing twice on the road. Eleven members of this year’s team were on the Irish roster in 2004. Only goalkeeper Carol Dixon (Gr., Pennsauken, N.J.) has been a member of all three NCAA teams. She saw no action in the 2002 season, giving her a fifth year of eligibility this year.
2002 - at Notre Dame 11, Ohio State 7 at Princeton 11, Notre Dame 5 2004 - at Northwestern 10, Notre Dame 8
IRISH VERSUS CORNELL: This is the sixth meeting in the all-time series between Notre Dame and Cornell and the Big Red hold a 3-2 advantage in the first five games. At Notre Dame, the Irish are 2-1 while at Cornell, the Irish have yet to win (0-2). The Big Red have never played a game at Moose Krause Stadium with all three games played at the Loftus Sports Center. The two teams met on March 5 at Loftus where the Irish took a 17-15 victory. They combined for 19 goals in the first half alone as Notre Dame led 11-8 at the intermission. Notre Dame would build the lead to 17-11 in the second half before surrendering the last four goals of the game over a 9:25 span. Crysti Foote (Sr., Suffern, N.Y.) led the Notre Dame attack with five goals and three assists for eight points. Caitlin McKinney (So., Lafayette Hill, Pa.) added three goals and two assists while Mary Carpenter (So., Rochester, N.Y.) added three goals and an assist. Carol Dixon made 14 saves in goal for the Irish. Courtney Farrell paced the Big Red with six goals while Margaux Viola had three goals and one assist for four points. Maggie Fava had nine saves in the Cornell goal.
THE 2006 NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD: Duke is the top-seeded team in this year’s tournament followed by Virginia, Georgetown, Northwestern, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Dartmouth and James Madison. The Irish faced six teams in this year’s tournament – Duke, Georgetown, Northwestern, James Madison, Cornell and Stanford and was 3-3 versus those six teams with wins versus James Madison, Cornell and Stanford. The Tournament Field:
Holy Cross (14-6) at #1 Duke (16-2)Richmond (16-3) at #8 James Madison (14-4)Maryland (12-7) at #5 North CarolinaStanford (12-5) at #4 Northwestern (16-1)#3 Georgetown (13-3) at Monmouth (13-6)Cornell (12-3) at #6 Notre Dame (13-3)Boston Univ. (15-4) at #7 Dartmouth (11-5)Princeton (11-5) at #2 Virginia (15-3)
REACHING A MILESTONE: Notre Dame head coach Tracy Coyne goes into the game with Cornell needing just one win to reach the 200-win mark in her coaching career. She comes into the game with a 199-89 (.691) record.
FOOTE FOR TEWAARATON TROPHY: Senior Crysti Foote (Suffern, N.Y.) is one of 21 women’s lacrosse players nominated for the 2006 Tewaaraton Trophy that is emblematic of the top men’s and women’s lacrosse players in the United States. She becomes the second Irish women’s lacrosse player nominated for the top award, joining Meredith Simon `04, who was a nominee fro the 2004 award. Foote currently leads Notre Dame in scoring with 64 goals and 32 assists for 96 points. She has now set single-season marks for goals, assists and points this season. She is currently tied for first in the nation with 4.00 goals-per-game and is second in points with 6.00 per game.
TURNAROUND SEASON: What a difference a year makes!! This time last year, the Irish were pointing to this season after finishing with a 3-12 overall record and a 1-4 mark in BIG EAST play. This year, the Irish have achieved a 10-game reversal in fortunes, going 13-3 as they head into the NCAA Tournament versus Cornell. Notre Dame also turned the tables in BIG EAST play, going 4-1 this season and finishing second.
HOME RECORD: The Irish come into Sunday’s game with Cornell sporting a 7-0 record at home during the 2006 season. Notre Dame has never gone undefeated at home during the 10-year history of the women’s lacrosse program. The previous best record came in 2004 when the Irish were 6-1 at the Loftus Center and Moose Krause Stadium. The most wins the Irish have ever had at home in one season was 2002 when they went 8-2 on home turf.
GOAL-SCORING RAMPAGE: Through the first 16 games of the 2006 season, Notre Dame has scored 227 goals (14.19 goals per game). The 227 goals in a season sets a Notre Dame single-season record, surpassing the previous mark of 206 that was set in 2004. Five times this season, the Irish scored 17 or more goals in a game. A year ago, during the 2005 campaign, the Irish scored 145 goals in 15 games for a 9.67 goals-per-game average. As of May 8, the Irish were 12th in the nation in total goals with 227. In the NCAA statistics, Notre Dame ranked fifth in goals-per-game with 14.19 per game, trailing Northwestern, Denver, Duke and LeMoyne. The Notre Dame record for goals-per-game in a season is 13.56 (nine games) and was set in the program’s first season, 1997. The school record in a 16-game season is 13.33 and was set in 1999. The Irish have already set single-season marks for assists (126) and points (353) this year.
BIG EAST HONORS: Junior midfielder Kaki Orr (Darien, Conn.) was named the BIG EAST defensive player of the week for her play versus Vanderbilt on May 7. Orr grabbed a Notre Dame record nine draw controls while adding two ground balls and two caused turnovers in the victory over the Commodores. For the year, Orr ranks second on the team with a career-best 31 draw controls. Freshman attack standout Jillian Byers (Northport, N.Y.) was named to the conference honor roll with a career-best six-goal game. She scored twice in the last two minutes, including the game winner with 18 seconds left in the game in the 11-10 win.
ZORICH AWARD WINNER: Congratulations to junior Meghan Murphy (Centennial, Colo.) who was named one of three winners of the prestigious Christopher Zorich Award on Wednesday, May 3 at Notre Dame’s annual O.S.C.A.R.S. awards program. The award was created in 1998 to recognize the contributions of Notre Dame student-athletes to the University and community at large. The award holds the name of Christopher Zorich, a two-time football All-American and 1991 graduate. He went on to play in the National Football League for both the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins and received his law degree from Notre Dame in 2002. Murphy has been involved in community service work during her three seasons at Notre Dame. She organized the team’s community service work this season and has been involved with the YWCA Women’s Shelter Spring Cleaning, the Cavanaugh/Zahm Winter Carnival and several projects at the Center for the Homeless, including cooking and serving meals, spending time at Thanksgiving with the children and helping coordinate a shoebox assembly first as part of a class project and then as a Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) project that delivered several carloads of personal-use items for use at the Center. Working with children has been a focus for Murphy as she has been involved with holiday parties for kids at both the St. Joseph’s Pediatric and Memorial Hospital Pediatric wings, as well as, Notre Dame’s annual Christmas Pediatric Party.
TERRIFIC TRIO: The Irish threesome of Crysti Foote, Jillian Byers and Caitlin McKinney (So., Lafayette Hill, Pa.) is the most prolific single-season scoring trio in the 10-year history of the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse program. The triumvirate comes into the game versus Cornell with 144 goals and 72 assists for 216 points in 16 games (13.50 points per game). The second-highest-scoring trio was the 1999 group of Lael O’Shaughnessy (69), Kerry Callahan (67) and Courtney Calabrese (37) that had 173 points. Foote (1st), Byers (4th) and McKinney (8th) have three of the top-10 single-season point-scoring marks in Notre Dame history this year.
HEAD COACH Tracy Coyne: Notre Dame head coach Tracy Coyne is in her 10th season as the head coach of the Irish and is the only coach in the program’s Division I history. Coyne owns an 85-63 (.574) record at Notre Dame and is 199-89 (.691) in her 19-year coaching career, putting her just two wins away from 200. After starting the season 7-0, the Irish are currently 13-3 on the year, setting a regular-season record for wins. Coyne will be making her third trip to the NCAA Tournament at Notre Dame after making six (five with Roanoke and one with Denison) before coming to South Bend. In 2004, she was selected as the BIG EAST coach of the year as her team was 12-4 overall and 4-1 in the conference. Notre Dame advanced to the NCAA tournament for the second time that season, dropping a 10-8 decision at Northwestern. 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 as the head coach for the Canadian women’s lacrosse national team since 1999. Last year, 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. Coyne is 1-2 at Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament and 2-3 all-time against Cornell.
LIVING ON THE EDGE: Notre Dame’s last two regular-season games went right down to the wire, giving the Irish a pair of one-goal wins. Versus Vanderbilt (May 7), the Irish trailed 11-10 with less than two minutes left. Jillian Byers scored twice in the final 1:47 (game winner with 18 seconds left) to give the Irish the 12-11 win. A week earlier, Meghan Murphy scored as time expired to give the Irish an 11-10 win over Syracuse. The Irish have been involved in six games decided by one goal this season and are 4-2 in “close” ones. The losses have been by 11-10 scores to both Duke and Georgetown (loss to the Hoyas was in sudden-death overtime), while the Irish have three 12-11 wins – versus Vanderbilt, Stanford (in sudden death) and James Madison – and an 11-10 win over Syracuse.Notre Dame’s 11-10 win over Syracuse was the fifth one-goal decision that the Irish were involved in this season. That gives the Irish a 3-2 mark in “close” ones. They have lost twice by 11-10 scores – to Duke (April 9) and Georgetown (April 15). The Irish also have two 12-11 wins on the year – versus Stanford, 12-11 in overtime, and against James Madison.
FOOTE PRINTS: Senior Crysti Foote, Notre Dame’s all-BIG EAST, all-American and Tewaaraton Trophy nominee continues to shatter Irish records. Through the first 16 games this season, Foote has already recorded career highs in goals (64), assists (32) and points (96). As of May 8, she was fourth in the nation in points behind Denver’s Kristie Leggio (104 in 20 games), Johns Hopkins’ Mary Key (101 in 16 games) and Boston University’s Jenny Hauser (100 in 19 games). Her 64 goals tie her for third behind Hauser (68) and Leggio (67) . Foote and Loyola’s Kate McHarg are tied for first in goals-per-game with 4.00. In the Irish record books, Foote ranks:
Career Goals:1. Crysti Foote `06 1512. Danielle Shearer `03 1303. Lael O'Shaughnessy `01 122
Career Points:1. Crysti Foote `06 2192. Danielle Shearer `03 1963. Lael O'Shaughnessy `01 190
Career Assists:1. Crysti Foote `06 68 Lael O'Shaughnessy `01 683. Danielle Shearer `03 66
Career Draw Controls:1. Alissa Moser `02 1262. Crysti Foote `06 983. Tina Fedarcyk `02 964. Meredith Simon `04 915. Kathryn Lam `02 90
Single Season Goals:1. Crysti Foote (2006) 642. Lael O'Shaughnessy (1999) 503. Meredith Simon (2004) 46
Single-Season Assists:1. Crysti Foote (2006) 32 Kerry Callahan (1999) 323. Lael O'Shaughnessy (2001) 28 Meredith Simon (2004) 285. Danielle Shearer (2003) 26
Single-Season Points:1. Crysti Foote (2006) 962. Meredith Simon (2004) 743. Lael O'Shaughnessy (1999) 694. Jillian Byers (2006) 67
Single-Season Draw Controls:1. Crysti Foote (2006) 412. Alissa Moser (2001) 403. Mara Grace (1998) 37
She also is tied for 10th in caused turnovers with 40 in her career.
FRESHMAN PHENOM: Freshman standout Jillian Byers has set Notre Dame freshmen records for goals (47), assists (20) and points (67) in a season. Her 67 points are the fourth-best single-season point total in the program’s history, trailing Crysti Foote (96 in 2006), Meredith Simon (74 in 2004) and Lael O’Shaughnessy (69 in 1999). Besides the rookie goal, assist and point marks, Byers owns the freshman record for points in a game with nine points (5g, 4a) versus Lehigh. Her nine-point game also tied an Irish record for points in a home game, matching the nine points recorded by Kerry Callahan `99 (6g, 3a) on March 24, 1997 versus Stanford and Lael O’Shaughnessy `01 (6g, 3a) on March 28, 1999 vs. Connecticut.
Freshman Scoring Leaders:1. Jillian Byers (2006) 47-20-672. Courtney Calabrese (1998) 38- 3-41 Lael O'Shaughnessy (1998) 27-14-414. Caitlin McKinney (2005) 28-12-405. Crysti Foote (2003) 27-11-38
THE ELUSIVE ONE: Sophomore Caitlin McKinney has passed her season-point output of last season (40 points – 28g, 12a) with 33 goals and 20 assists for 53 points in 16 games this season. So far this season, the speedy attack standout has recorded five games with five or more points. As a freshman, she finished the year by being named second team all-BIG EAST, the lone freshman on that team, and was a second-team all-Mid-Atlantic region choice. Following the season, McKinney was also named to the U.S. National Developmental Team.
SUPPORTING CAST: While Notre Dame’s “Big Three” has carried the bulk of the offensive load for the Irish this season, several others have been valuable contributors to the Irish offensive attack. Sophomore Heather Ferguson has become a clutch scorer and playmaker for the Irish with career highs in goals (20), assists (10) and points (30) and has 23 points over the last 10 games. Her three-goal, one-assist game against Syracuse gave her a career best in goals and a the four-point game equaled a career high. Junior Meghan Murphy ranks fifth in scoring with 14 goals and eight assists for 22 points and has at least one point in 12 of 16 games this season. Junior Kaki Orr (Darien, Conn.) is tied for sixth in scoring with 13 goals and six assists while sophomore Mary Carpenter (Rochester, N.Y.) checks in with 11 goals and eight assists for 19 points and freshman Jane Stoeckert (Mendham, N.J.) has 10 goals with nine assists for 19 points.
TAKING OVER: Senior goalkeeper Carol Dixon is now Notre Dame’s all-time leader in minutes played (2,977:34) and saves (465). She is currently among the top two in every category, accept one. Dixon in the Notre Dame record books:
Career Games Played:1. Carol Dixon `06 53 Jen White `03 53
Career Wins:1. Jen White `03 312. Carol Dixon `06 28
Career Minutes:1. Carol Dixon `06 2,977:342. Jen White `03 2,789:15
Saves:1. Carol Dixon `06 4652. Jen White `03 432
Save Percentage:1. Tara Durkin `01 .5312. Jen White `03 .5143. Carrie Marshall `01 .5124. Beth Murray `98 .4945. Carol Dixon `06 .489
Goals-Against Average:1. Jen White `03 8.792. Carol Dixon `06 9.79
Games (Season)1. Jen White (2002) 182. Carol Dixon (2004) 173. Carol Dixon (2006) 164. Five with 15
Saves (Season)1. Tara Durkin (2000) 1762. Jen White (2002) 1643. Carol Dixon (2006) 158 Carrie Marshall (1999) 158
Wins (Season)1. Carol Dixon (2006) 13 Jen White (2002) 13
Minutes (Season)1. Jen White (2002) 1,097:452. Carol Dixon (2004) 1,022:323. Carol Dixon (2006) 931:54
Goals-Against Average (Season)1. Jen White (2002) 7.492. Carol Dixon (2004) 8.573. Jen White (2001) 9.254. Jen White (2003) 9.865. Carol Dixon (2006) 9.92
DIXON IN GOAL: Senior goalkeeper Carol Dixon has now started 48 straight games for the Irish since taking over the goalkeeping duties in the 2004 season. In that streak, Dixon has missed just 55:38 minutes of playing time. For her career, she is now 28-20 with a 9.79 goals-against average and a .489 save percentage. On the year, she is 13-3 with an 9.92 goals against and a .506 save percentage. Dixon also has a career-high 41 ground balls this season and her 110 career ground balls are ninth on the all-time list.
IRISH RECORD: The 13-3 record for the Irish is the best in the program’s history after 16 games. The 2002 team that finished 13-5 was 12-4 after 16 games and the 2004 team that started the year 10-0 was also 12-4 after 16 games. This season’s 13-win regular season mark is the best in the program’s history and ties the entire season mark of 13 wins set in 2002.
HELPING HANDS: The Irish added five more assists in the win versus Vanderbilt to give them 125 on the year (7.81) to set a single-season record for assists at Notre Dame. The previous record was 101 and set during the 2003 season.