Goalkeeper Carol Dixon owns 27-20 career record going into her final regular-season home game versus Vanderbilt.

No. 7 Notre Dame Closes Out Regular-Season Schedule Playing Host To Vanderbilt

May 4, 2006

Notre Dame, Ind. –

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• The Game: #7/#7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-3/4-1) vs. Vanderbilt Commodores (6-8/2-2)

• Date/Time/Site: Sunday, May 7, 2006 – 12:00 noon – Moose Krause Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.

CLOSING OUT THE REGULAR SEASON: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team wraps up the 2006 regular season on Sunday, May 7, when the Irish play host to the Vanderbilt Commodores. Game time at Moose Krause Stadium is 12:00 noon. Notre Dame is coming off a dramatic, last-second 11-10 win on April 29 versus BIG EAST foe, Syracuse. That win gives the Irish a 12-3 overall mark and a 4-1 record in the BIG EAST, good for second place overall. Going into Sunday’s game with the Commodores, the Irish have already equaled the school mark for wins in the regular season with 12 (2002, 2004). Vanderbilt wraps up the 2006 season at Notre Dame after facing top-ranked Northwestern on Friday afternoon in Evanston, Ill., in an American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) game. The Commodores go into the weekend with a 6-8 overall record and a 2-2 mark in conference play. Notre Dame comes into the weekend ranked seventh in the nation in both the IWLCA coaches poll and the Bounce Entertainment/Inside Lacrosse poll.

NOTRE DAME VERSUS VANDERBILT: The two teams have meet for the 10th time in the all-time series with Vanderbilt holding a 6-3 edge in the first nine meetings. At Notre Dame, the series is tied at 2-2. In Nashville, Tenn., the Commodores are 4-1 against the Irish. Last season, the two teams played at Vanderbilt on March 9 with the Commodores taking a 10-9 overtime win. The last time the two teams met in South Bend was May 8, 2004, with the Irish prevailing by an 11-8 score. This is the fourth time that the two teams have met in the regular-season finale (2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006) with three of those four games (`02, `03 and `06) played at Moose Krause Stadium.

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.

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Junior Meghan Murphy is the first women’s lacrosse player to win the Christopher Zorich Award for her community service work in the Notre Dame and South Bend Community.

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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 60 goals and 29 assists for 89 points. Her goal and point totals have set Irish single season records and she needs four assists to break the single-season mark in that category. She is currently tied for first in the nation with 4.00 goals-per-game and is second in points with 5.93 per game.

TURNAROUND SEASON: What a difference a year makes!! Last season, Notre Dame finished the year with a 3-12 overall record and a 1-4 mark in BIG EAST play. This year, the Irish have achieved a nine-game reversal in fortunes to go 12-3 heading into the Vanderbilt game. Notre Dame has also turned the tables in BIG EAST play, going 4-1 this season.

HOME RECORD: The Irish come into the regular-season finale with a 6-0 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.

TERRIFIC TRIO: The Irish threesome of Crysti Foote, Jillian Byers (Fr., Northport, N.Y.) 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 this weekend with 134 goals and 68 assists for 202 points in 15 games (13.47 points per game). The second-highest scoring trio previously the 1999 trio of Lael O’Shaughnessy (69), Kerry Callahan (67) and Courtney Calabrese (37) that had 173 points. Foote (1st), Byers (t5th) and McKinney (8th) have three of the top-10 single-season point-scoring marks in Notre Dame history this year.

GOAL-SCORING RAMPAGE: Through the first 15 games of the 2006 season, Notre Dame has scored 215 goals (14.33 goals per game). The 215 goals in a season sets a Notre Dame single-season record, surpassing the previous mark of 206 that was set in 2004. In five of 15 games this season, the Irish have scored 17 or more goals. A year ago, during the 2005 season, the Irish scored 145 goals in 15 games for a 9.67 goals-per-game average. As of May 2, the Irish were tied for 11th in the nation in total goals with 215. In the NCAA statistics, Notre Dame ranked fifth in the nation in goals-per-game with 14.33 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 15-game season is 13.33 and was set in 1999. The Irish have already set single-season marks for assists (121) and points (336) this year.

A WIN OVER THE ORANGE: Junior Meghan Murphy scored as time expired to give Notre Dame an 11-10 win come-from-behind win on April 29 versus BIG EAST foe Syracuse. Murphy took a pass from Heather Ferguson (So., Newtown Square, Pa.) with 2.3 seconds on the clock and whipped it past Syracuse goalkeeper Jennifer Kasel as time expired for the win. Ferguson, who had a career-high three goals to go with the game-winning assist scored the game-tying goal with 5:54 left in the second half. Crysti Foote led Notre Dame with five goals in the game while Jane Stoeckert (Fr., Mendham, N.J.) and Caitlin McKinney (So., Lafayette Hill, Pa.) also had single goals in the win. The Irish led 6-5 at halftime and fell behind 9-8 and 10-9 before pulling out the victory. The Irish out shot Syracuse, 28-25, in the game. Carol Dixon (Sr., Pennsauken, N.J.) made nine saves in goal for the Irish. The win gave Notre Dame sole possession of second place in the BIG EAST.

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 84-63 (.571) record at Notre Dame and is 198-89 (.690) in her 19-year coaching career, putting her just two wins away from 200. After starting the season 7-0, the Irish are currently 12-3 on the year with a 4-1 mark in conference play. In 2005, her Irish team lost seven games by three goals or less, including four by one goal on the way to a 3-12 record and a 1-4 ledger in the BIG EAST. The year before, 2004, Coyne led the Irish to a 12-5 overall record and second place in the BIG EAST with a 4-2 record. She was selected the 2004 BIG EAST coach of the year. Notre Dame advanced to the NCAA tournament for the second time in the program’s history, 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 3-6 all-time versus Vanderbilt.

NCAA TOURNAMENT INFO: The NCAA will extend its tournament bids for the women’s lacrosse tournament on Monday, May 8 at 8:00 p.m. The selection show will be televised by College Sports Television (CSTV) and the bracket will be posted on ncaasports.com immediately following the show. CSTV can be found on local cable outlets and on the Dishnetwork (Channel 152) or DirecTV (Channel 610). The first round tournament games will be played on Sunday, May 14.

NCAA APPEARANCES: Notre Dame has made two appearances in the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Tournament in the 10-year history of the program. In 2004, the Irish lost in the first round at Northwestern by a 10-8 score. In 2002, the Irish advanced for the first time, defeating Ohio State at Moose Krause Stadium, 11-7, before losing to top-ranked Princeton, 11-5, in the quarterfinals.

CLOSE ONES: 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. In 2005, Notre Dame lost seven games by a total of three goals or fewer. Four of those games were one-goal losses and two came in overtime. In seven of the 12 losses, the Irish lost by a combined 13 goals (1.86 goals per game) and in the 12 losses for the season, they were out scored by a total of 42 goals (3.50 per loss).

SENIOR DAY: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team will honor its senior class and their parents prior to the start of Sunday’s game. The senior class of 2006 includes: Meghan deMello (Manlius, N.Y.), Carol Dixon (graduate student), Crysti Foote, Brittany Fox (Annapolis, Md.), Katie Killeen (Manhasset, N.Y.) and Kerry Van Shura (Bel Air, Md.).

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 15 games this season, Foote has already recorded career highs in goals (60), assists (29) and points (89). As of May 2, she was tied for third in the nation in points to Denver’s Kristie Leggio (99), Johns Hopkins’ Mary Key (92) and Boston University’s Jenny Hauser (89). Her 60 goals tie her for third behind Leggio (63) and Hauser (62), with Loyola’s Kate McHarg (60). Both Leggio and Hauser have played in 17 games. Foote and 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             147 2.  Danielle Shearer `03         130 3.  Lael O'Shaughnessy `01       122
Career Points: 1. Crysti Foote `06 212 2. Danielle Shearer `03 196 3. Lael O'Shaughnessy `01 190
Career Assists: 1. Lael O'Shaughnessy `01 68 2. Danielle Shearer `03 66 3. Crysti Foote `06 65
Career Draw Controls: 1. Alissa Moser `02 126 2. Crysti Foote `06 98 3. Tina Fedarcyk `02 96 4. Meredith Simon `04 91 5. Kathryn Lam `02 90
Single Season Goals: 1. Crysti Foote (2006) 60 2. Lael O'Shaughnessy (1999) 50 3. Meredith Simon (2004) 46
Single-Season Assists: 1. Kerry Callahan (1999) 32 2. Crysti Foote (2006) 29 3. Lael O'Shaughnessy (2001) 28 Meredith Simon (2004) 28 5. Danielle Shearer (2003) 26
Single-Season Points: 1. Crysti Foote (2006) 89 2. Meredith Simon (2004) 74 3. Lael O'Shaughnessy (1999) 69
Single-Season Draw Controls: 1. Crysti Foote (2006) 41 2. Alissa Moser (2001) 40 3. Mara Grace (1998) 37
She also is tied for 10th in caused turnovers with 40 in her career.
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Senior Crysti Foote comes into her final regular-season game for the Irish with 147 goals and 65 assists for 212 career points.

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RECORDS WATCH: Just when you thought that there were no more records left for Crysti Foote to break, she is on the verge of taking over at the top in two more categories. The Tewaaraton Trophy candidate has 29 assists on the season with the single-season mark being 32, set by Kerry Callahan in 1999. Foote also has 65 assists for her career and that ranks her third all-time behind Danielle Shearer (66) and Lael O’Shaughnessy (68) in that category. Against Syracuse, Foote broke the Notre Dame single-season mark for draw controls as she had three to give her 41 on the season. The previous record was 40 and was set by current Notre Dame assistant Alissa Moser in 2001.

TERRIFIC TRIO: Notre Dame’s high-scoring trio of Crysti Foote, Jillian Byers and Caitlin McKinney came into the week ranked second, 17th and 48th respectively in points-per-game nationally. Through the first 15 games of the season, the trio has combined for 134 goals and 68 assists for 202 points. Foote leads the way with 60 goals and 29 assists. Byers is second with 41 tallies and 20 assists for 61 points while McKinney has 33 goals and 19 assists for 52 points. Byers has three game-winning goals, McKinney two and Foote, one on the season.

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 (18), assists (10) and points (28) and has 21 points over the last nine 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 15 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.

IRISH RECORD: The 12-3 record for the Irish is the best in the program’s history after 15 games. The 2002 team that finished 13-5 was 11-4 after 15 games and the 2004 team that started the year 10-0 was also 11-4 after 15 games. The most wins the Irish have ever had in the regular season is 12, set in both 2002 and 2004. The single-season record for wins is 13 and was set in 2002.

HELPING HANDS: The Irish added four more assists in the win versus Syracuse to give them 121 on the year (8.07) to set a single-season record for assists at Notre Dame. The previous record was 101 and set during the 2003 season.

VERSUS THE BEST: Seven teams currently ranked in the top 20 in this week’s IWLCA poll are on the Notre Dame schedule this season. The list includes No. 1 Northwestern, No. 3 Duke and No. 4 Georgetown. Those three are followed by Cornell (No. 10), James Madison (No. 13), Stanford (No. 16) and Syracuse (No. 18). This season, the Irish are 4-3 against those teams with the losses coming against Northwestern, Duke and Georgetown. Only Cornell, Loyola (Md.), Northwestern, Duke, Georgetown and Syracuse were ranked in the IWLCA poll when the Irish faced them. All-time, Notre Dame is 18-41 versus teams ranked in the IWCLA polls.

DIXON IN GOAL: Senior goalkeeper Carol Dixon has now started 47 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 27-20 with a 9.77 goals-against average and a .489 save percentage. On the year, she is 12-3 with an 9.84 goals against and a .509 save percentage. Dixon also has a career-high 39 ground balls this season and her 108 career ground balls are ninth on the all-time list.

CARPENTER WATCH: Sophomore midfielder Mary Carpenter (Rochester, N.Y.) picked up a career-high seven ground balls in the Notre Dame win over Ohio State (April 5). She currently leads the team with a career high 45 ground balls and is fifth with 22 draw controls and tied for the team lead with 22 caused turnovers. Carpenter had a six-game scoring streak (5-4-9) snapped by Syracuse. Earlier this season, she had the first three-goal game of her career and first four-point game in the 17-15 win over Cornell.

IRISH STREAKS: Several Notre Dame players have scoring streaks going into the game with Connecticut. Some carry over from last season, the others just started in 2006:

Crysti Foote - 25-game streak (86-41-127)Caitlin McKinney - 18-game streak  (41-20-61)Jillian Byers - 15 games (41-20-61)Heather Ferguson - 9 games (13-8-21)Meghan Murphy - 2 games (1-1-2)

Former Irish attack standout, Danielle Shearer `03 holds the Notre Dame record by scoring in 36 consecutive games between 4/25/01 and 5/1/03, getting 85 goals and 51 assists for 136 points in her streak. The streak was still active when her collegiate career ended. Foote’s 25- game streak is the fifth longest in Notre Dame history.