May 11, 2004
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- Notre Dame close season with 11-8 win over #11 Vanderbilt.
- Meredith Simon named BIG EAST co-attack player of the year; Abby Owen named conference midfielder of the year and Tracy Coyne is BIG EAST coach of the year.
- Six Irish players named All-BIG EAST for 2004.
IRISH OPEN NCAA TOURNAMENT AT NORTHWESTERN: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team will make its second appearance in the last three seasons in the NCAA tournament, after receiving an at-large bid on Sunday evening. The Irish will open play at Northwestern on Thursday, May 13th with a 3:00 p.m. game at the Leonard B. Thomas Athletic Complex on the Northwestern campus. Notre Dame finished the 2004 regular season with a 12-4 overall record and will go into the national tournament ranked ninth in the most recent Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) poll. The Irish closed the year with an 11-8 win over 11th-ranked Vanderbilt at home on May, 8. Nortwestern comes into the game with a 14-2 overall record and are ranked eighth in the IWLCA poll. The Wildcats tied for first in the American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) with a 5-1 league record. They dropped their final regular-season game, a 10-9 overtime loss, to Vanderbilt on May 6. Northwestern defeated Notre Dame in their regular-season meeting on April 20, 9-5. The winner of the Notre Dame-Northwestern contest will advance to the NCAA quarterfinals on Sunday, May 16 versus the winner of the Virginia-Mt. St. Mary’s game.
NOTRE DAME NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Thursday’s game at Northwestern marks Notre Dame’s second trip to the NCAA tournament in the last three years and is the second trip in the eight-year history of the program. In 2002, the Irish received their first at-large bid and hosted Ohio State in the opening round. Notre Dame won that game, 11-7. In the quarterfinals, the Irish traveled to Princeton where they dropped an 11-5 decision to the eventual NCAA champions. Thirteen members of this year’s team were on the 2002 squad. Meredith Simon (Sr., Flemington, N.J.) led the Irish in scoring with five goals and two assists with five of those points (3g, 2a) coming in the win over Ohio State. Kassen Delano (Sr., Alexandria, Va.) scored two goals in the Ohio State victory.
2004 NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD: Princeton is the top seed in this year’s tournament with Virginia second, Maryland third and Loyola fourth. The Irish played six of the teams in this year’s tournament and recorded wins versus Vanderbilt, Duke and James Madison with losses to Johns Hopkins, Georgetown and Northwestern. The eight opening-round games will all be played on May 13.
IRISH VERSUS NORTHWESTERN: The two teams met on April 20 at Northwestern with the Wildcats taking a 9-5 win on a windy and rainy day in Evanston. Northwestern got three goals from Kristen Kjellman and two goals each from Jenny Bush and Sarah Albrecht in the win. The Wildcats led 3-2 at halftime and broke open the game with six of the first seven goals in the second half. Meredith Simon and Mary McGrath (So., Bryn Mawr, Pa.) each had a goal and an assist for the Irish. Carol Dixon (Jr., Pennsauken, N.J.) made seven saves in goal and Katie Linhares (Greenwich, Conn.) had one for the Irish. Ashley Gersuk made 10 saves for Northwestern. Notre Dame leads the all-time series, 2-1. The Irish are 1-1 in Evanston and 1-0 in South Bend versus the Wildcats. Notre Dame’s all-time leading scorer, Danielle Shearer ’03, is an assistant coach at Northwestern.
BIG EAST HONORS: Notre Dame had six players selected all-BIG EAST for the 2004 season, with three taking first-team honors and three picked for the second team. Senior Meredith Simon was a unanimous first team pick as was defensive standout Andrea Kinnik (Sr., West Chester, Pa.). Joining them on the first team was senior midfielder Abby Owen (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.). Simon was also named the BIG EAST co-attack player of the year and Owen was the BIG EAST midfielder of the year. Irish head coach Tracy Coyne was named the conference coach of the year. Selected second team all-BIG EAST were senior attack Lauren Fischer (Pittsburgh, Pa.), junior defender Jess Mikula (Chester, Md.) and sophomore attack Crysti Foote (Suffern, N.Y.). Simon was a first team selection in 2003 and Owen was a second-team choice a year ago.
HEAD COACH Tracy Coyne: Notre Dame head coach Tracy Coyne is in her eighth season with the Irish and is the only coach the program has ever known. This season, she was named BIG EAST coach of the year for the first time in the four seasons that the conference has sponsored women’s lacrosse. This marks the fourth time in her career that she has been named conference coach of the year (twice at Roanoke and once at Denison). Coyne owns a 69-47 (.595) record at Notre Dame and is 183-73 (.715) in her 17-year coaching career. She is 1-1 all-time in NCAA Division I tournament action and 2-1 all-time versus Northwestern. This year’s trip to the NCAA’s will be her eighth as a coach as she led Denison in 1988 and Roanoke in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994 and 1996 to the NCAA Division III tournament. In 2002, Coyne led the Irish to their first-ever NCAA tournament bid as Notre Dame advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion, Princeton, 11-5. 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. She led the team to the medal round at the 2001 World Cup and will serve as head coach of Team Canada again for the 2005 World Cup.
SIMON NAMED TEWAARATON CANDIDATE: Notre Dame senior midfielder, Meredith Simon, has been named one of 20 nominees for the fourth annual Tewaaraton Trophy that will be awarded in June. Simon leads the Irish in scoring with career highs in goals (46), assists (26) and points (72). She is the first Notre Dame player ever to make the final list of nominees. The Tewaaraton Trophy is awarded each year to the top male and female lacrosse players in the country. In early May, the list will be cut to five finalists. Simon is one of three BIG EAST players nominated for the honor, joining Georgetown’s Michi Ellers and Syracuse’s Leigh-Ann Zimmer.
SIMON SAYS: Meredith Simon set Notre Dame’s single-season point scoring mark in the win versus Vanderbilt. Her four-point game gave her 72 points for the season (46g, 26a) as she passed Lael O’Shaughnessy’s ’01 mark of 69 set in 1999. Simon is also the second player in school history to record 40 or more goals in a season along with O’Shaughnessy. A first team all-BIG EAST selection in 2003 and 2004, Simon joins Danielle Shearer (130) and O’Shaughnessy (122) as the only Notre Dame players with 100 or more goals. She is the only player in the program’s history to score 70 or more points in a season. For her career, Simon is third in goals (109), fourth in assists (47) and third in points (156). She ranks 9th in the nation with 4.50 points per game, is 10th in assists with 1.63 per game and is 19th with 2.88 goals-per-game.
DEFENSIVE STANDOUT: Senior Andrea Kinnik is the leader of the Notre Dame defense. This season, Kinnik has already set career highs for ground balls (54) and caused turnovers (32) as she leads the team in both categories. She also leads the BIG EAST in ground balls and is second in caused turnovers. Nationally, Kinnik is 10th in ground balls with 3.38 per game and tied for 11th with 2.00 per game. The 54 ground balls is the fourth-highest single season total at Notre Dame and the 32 caused turnovers ties for the second most in a single season. The Notre Dame record for caused turnovers is 35 and was set in 2000 by Kathryn Lam ’02.
GAMES PLAYED LIST: Meredith Simon will become Notre Dame’s all-time leader in games played versus Northwestern when she plays in her 64th game for the Irish. She is currently tied for first with six other players as she has now played in 63 career games. Kassen Delano has now played in 61 career games and ranks 10th on the all-time list.
MIDFIELDER OF THE YEAR: Senior midfielder Abby Owen was a second team all-BIG EAST selection in 2003 in her first year as a starter. That season, she scored 15 goals and added 10 assists for 25 points. In 2004, she surpassed those totals with 33 goals and 10 assists for 43 points, the ninth-best single-season total for the Irish. Along the way, she was a first team all-BIG EAST selection and was the BIG EAST midfielder of the year. Owen has four games this season with four points and five games with three points on the year. She had a career-high four-goal game versus Stanford on Feb. 29. She was named Inside Lacrosse Magazine Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 29 and BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week for the week ending March 14.
SCORIN’ LAUREN: Senior attacker Lauren Fischer has points in 15 of Notre Dame’s 16 games this season. For the year, Fischer has career highs in goals (27), assists (12) and points (39). Fischer’s three-assist game on March 28 versus Boston College is a career high. Her four-point game versus Syracuse was her third of the season (March 7 vs. Cornell) and the fourth of her career and is a career high. The three-goal game versus Syracuse was the fourth of the season and sixth of her career. Fischer’s previous career highs in goals (18), assists (6) and points (24) were established last season.
SCORING STREAKS: Meredith Simon ran her scoring streak to 27 games with two goals and two assists in the win over Vanderbilt. Here are the current active Irish points streaks.
Meredith Simon – 27 games (68g, 33a, 101 pts)
Abby Owen – 5 games (8g, 3a, 11 pts)
Lauren Fischer – 5 games (7g, 4a, 11 pts)
Crysti Foote – 2 games (5g, 0a, 5pts)
Jackie Bowers – 2 games (1g, 4a , 5 pts)
IRISH ON THE NATIONAL SCENE: Notre Dame figures prominently in the national statistics this week (through games of May 9):
Individuals:
Points per game: Meredith Simon, 9th, 4.50 ppg
Goals per game: Meredith Simon, 19th, 2.88 gpg
Assists/game: Meredith Simon, 10th, 1.63 gpg
Ground Balls: Andrea Kinnik, 10th, 3.38
Caused Turnovers: Andrea Kinnik, t11th, 2.00 ctpg
GAVG: Carol Dixon, 12th, 8.48 GAVG
Team:
Goals per game: 14th, 12.38 gpg
Team Defense: t13th, 8.50 opponent gpg
Margin of Victory: 9th, +3.88 gpg
Ground Balls: 8th, 26.38
Caused Turnovers: 6th, 11.00
ON THE RIGHT FOOTE: Crysti Foote has found her scoring touch with points in 10 of her last 11 games (20 goals and five assists for 25 points). On the season, Foote is fourth in scoring with 24 goals and eight assists for 32 points on the year. As a freshman, she finished third in scoring with 27 goals and 11 assists for 38 points. In the first 31 games of her Notre Dame career, Foote already has 51 goals and 19 assists for 70 career points. A second team All-BIG EAST selection in 2004, Foote was the first Notre Dame freshman selected to the Brine/IWLCA all-Mid-Atlantic region team following her strong freshman season in 2003.
HEIR APPARENT: Junior defender Jess Mikula has had a breakout season for the Irish on defense. In her first season as a starter, Mikula is fourth on the team in ground balls with 33 and is tied for second in caused turnovers with 21. She is second to Andrea Kinnik in both categories among defensive players in the Irish lineup. She was selected second team all-BIG EAST for her play this season.
IRISH HONORS: The following Notre Dame players have been honored during 2004.
Tracy Coyne – BIG EAST Coach of the Year
Carol Dixon – BIG EAST co-defensive player of the week (April 12).
BIG EAST co-defensive player of the week (Feb. 29)
Lauren Fischer -Second Team all-BIG EAST
Crysti Foote – Second Team all-BIG EAST
Andrea Kinnik – First Team all-BIG EAST
BIG EAST co-defensive player of the week (March 29)
Jess Mikula – Second Team all-BIG EAST
Abby Owen – BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year
First Team all-BIG EAST
BIG EAST offensive player of the week (March 14)
Inside Lacrosse Magazine Player of the Week (Feb. 29)
Meredith Simon- BIG EAST co-attack player of the year
First Team all-BIG EAST
BIG EAST offensive player of the week (May 2)
Inside Lacrosse Magazine player of the week (May 2)
BIG EAST offensive player of the week (April 12)
BIG EAST offensive player of the week (March 29)
BIG EAST co-offensive player of the week (March 8)
TWO FOR ONE: Notre Dame’s senior attack/midfielder Meredith Simon added to her list of honors this season when she was selected the BIG EAST offensive player of the week and Inside Lacrosse Magazine’s player of the week for the week ending May 2. All Simon did was record a career-high eight points (four goals, four assists) in Notre Dame’s 13-11 win over Syracuse. Simon had three goals and three assists in the first half as the Irish built a 9-3 lead at halftime. On the year, Simon has been selected BIG EAST offensive player of the week four times. That ties a BIG EAST record previously held by Georgetown’s Sheehan Stanwick.
VERSUS THE BEST: The Irish opened the season with four straight wins versus nationally ranked teams. They followed that with three straight losses before bouncing back to end the season with two straight wins over Syracuse and Vanderbilt. For the year, the Irish were 6-3 versus top 20 teams, the first time that Notre Dame has had a winning record versus the best teams in the nation. The previous best was the 2002 season when the Irish were 4-5. In 2003, Notre Dame went 3-7 in games versus top 20 teams. All-time, the Irish are 15-31 versus top 20 teams. Among Notre Dame’s wins this season versus ranked teams are victories over #2 Duke and #6 James Madison. Those two wins came against the highest-ranked teams the Irish have ever beaten. The previous highest-ranked team Notre Dame beat was Yale (7th-ranked) in 2001 and in 2002, they downed 7th-ranked Syracuse.
RECORD-SETTING STREAK: Notre Dame’s 14-game winning streak from 4/22/03 to 4/17/04 was the longest in the program’s history. The previous longest winning streak for the Irish was six games from 3/13/01 to 3/31/01.
STREAKY IRISH: After starting the year with 10 straight wins, and 14 straight dating back to last season, the Irish followed with a four-game losing streak. The losses came at the hands of fifth-ranked Georgetown (9-7), 11th-ranked Northwestern (9-5), ninth-ranked Johns Hopkins (13-12) and at Rutgers (7-6). The four-game losing streak was the longest for the Irish since a six-game run from March 16 to April 8, 2000. Prior to the losing streak, the Irish were averaging 14.40 goals per game. During the four-game skid, the Irish averaged just 7.50 goals per game. Notre Dame has now won two in a row after knocking off Syracuse, 13-11, and Vanderbilt, 11-8.
BOWERS POWERS: Junior attacker Jackie Bowers turned in a career-high three assist game in the win over Syracuse. She followed that with a goal and an assist in the win over Vanderbilt. The Springfield, Pa., native continues her strong first season in the Notre Dame lineup. On March 26 versus Virginia Tech, Bowers scored a career-best five goals. For that weekend versus Virginia Tech and Boston College, Bowers had six goals and one assist for seven points. On the year, Bowers has 14 goals and 11 assists for 25 points and is fifth in team scoring. All are career highs. Bowers had three goals and one assist for four points in limited action last season. OUT-FOXED: Sophomore attack Brittany Fox (So., Annapolis, Md.) made the most of her playing time in the win over Vanderbilt. Fox played just over four minutes, but scored what would become the game-winning goal with 11:29 left in the game to give the Irish a 9-6 lead. The goal was the second of the season for Fox who also scored against Cornell in her second career game. In five games this season, Fox has two goals and no assists.
THE LAST TIME OUT: The last time Notre Dame and Vanderbilt met (May 1, 2003), the Irish set a school record for goals in an away game with 22, in a 22-11 win over the Commodores in the 2003 season finale. The 22-goal outburst broke the previous road mark of 20 set at Gannon (20-10) and equaled the school record of 22 set in a 2000 home win over Ohio University (22-3). The 22 goals are the most that Notre Dame has ever scored versus a ranked team. Vanderbilt was ranked 15th in the nation at the time of the game.
SLAMMING THE DOOR: Through 16 games this season, Notre Dame’s defense has given up 136 goals for an 8.45 goals-against average. The best goals against in the program’s previous seven seasons was 7.49 and that came during the 2002 campaign. The Irish have only given up double-digit goals in four games this season – Syracuse, Duke and Virginia Tech with 11 goals and Johns Hopkins with 13.
HIGH-SCORING IRISH: The Irish have scored 198 goals through 16 games this season. The school record for goals is 200, set during the 1999 season. Notre Dame leads the BIG EAST in scoring with the 198 markers.
THE CAPTAINS: Serving as captains for the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team in 2004 will be seniors Andrea Kinnik and Meredith Simon. For both players are first-year captains for the Irish.
NEW KIDS: Freshman goalkeeper Katie Linhares saw her first action in goal for the Irish in the 9-5 loss to Northwestern. She played 3:28 while Carol Dixon was serving a yellow card. Linhares made one save on the only shot she faced. Midfielder Meghan Murphy (Fr., Centennial, Colo.) has stepped right into the Notre Dame lineup and has played like a veteran through the first 16 games of the season. Murphy had a career-high three goals and four points in the win over Cornell (Mar. 7), just her third game in an Irish uniform. For the season she has 11 goals and three assists for 14 points and is eighth on the team in scoring. Fellow freshman defender Meaghan Fitzpatrick (Farmingdale, N.Y.) made her first career start versus Connecticut and has seen action in all 15 games on defense. Junior midfielder Maura Costello (Manhasset, N.Y.) and sophomore defender Katie Killeen (Manhasset, N.Y.) both saw their first action for the Irish women’s lacrosse team versus Cornell. Kristin Hopson (Fr., Rosemont, Pa.) saw her first action versus Virginia Tech while Megan O’Shaughnessy (Fr., Englewood, Colo.) and Kaki Orr (Fr., Darien, Conn.) saw their first career action versus Boston College.
NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN: Junior goalkeeper Carol Dixon took over the reins in goal for the Irish in 2004 from All-American Jen White (’03) and has turned in a strong first season in goal for Notre Dame. She started with a 10-game winning streak and has been in the top 20 in the nation in goals-against average and save percentage all season. For the year, Dixon is 12-4 with an 8.45 goals against and a .511 save percentage. Nationally, she ranks 12th in goals-against average. Twice this season, Dixon has been named the BIG EAST co-defensive player of the week (Feb. 29 and April 12). When the Irish opened the 2004 season at Cal-Berkeley, Dixon became the first goalkeeper to start a game for the Irish other than White since the final game of the 2000 season. White started 48 consecutive games for Notre Dame, between 2001-2003. Dixon served as White’s backup the previous two seasons and saw action in five games last year, playing 121 minutes with a 8.93 goals-against average and a .571 save percentage. She was 0-0 on the year.
GOING ON THE OFFENSIVE: Notre Dame’s defense has even joined in on the goal scoring this season. The Irish defense had a goal and an assist in the 13-8 win over Ohio University on April 6. Andrea Kinnik set up one goal and sophomore Kerry Van Shura (Bel Air, Md.) scored her first collegiate goal in the contest. In nine games this season, Irish defenders have 12 goals and three assists on the year. Kristen Gaudreau leads the defense with six goals and an assist for seven points. Andrea Kinnik has four goals and two assists while Van Shura and Jess Mikula have one goal each.
THE LONGEST GAME: Notre Dame’s overtime win versus California was the seventh overtime game in the program’s history. The Irish are now 3-4 in games that go beyond regulation. On April 13, 2003, Notre Dame played the longest game in its history, a double-overtime loss to Stanford (14-13) as the two team’s battled for 72 minutes (60 regulation minutes and four three-minute overtime stanzas). The previous long game came in 2003 versus Duke as the Irish played 71:45 before losing a 10-9 decision. That game ended in sudden-death as the winning goal was scored with just 15 seconds left in the fourth three-minute overtime.
CLOSE ONES: The Irish suffered back-to-back one-goal losses in their games versus Johns Hopkins and Rutgers (April 23 and April 25). For the year, Notre Dame is 1-2 in one-goal decisions with the win coming in the season opener at California, 12-11, in overtime. In the program’s eight-year history, the Irish are 7-10 all-time in one-goal games. During the 2003 season, Notre Dame was 1-3 in one-goal games with two of the losses coming in back-to-back overtime contests.
FUTURE IRISH: Head coach Tracy Coyne has announced that six players will join the Irish women’s lacrosse squad for the 2004-05 school year.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Two members of the Notre Dame lacrosse team have family ties to the program and two others have ties to the men’s lacrosse program. Junior goalkeeper Carol Dixon got to play two seasons with her sister, Angela, who graduated in May of 2003. The duo gave Notre Dame its second set of sisters to play on the women’s lacrosse team, joining Amy and Mara Grace who played in the first year of the program. Freshman midfield/attack player, Megan O’Shaughnessy is the cousin of Irish scoring great Lael O’Shaughnessy, a 2001 graduate. Senior Meredith Simon follows in her brother Eric’s footsteps. A 2003 graduate, Eric served as one of the captains of the 2003 men’s lacrosse team while Meredith is a co-captain of the women’s team in 2003. Senior defender Bridget Higgins (Wilton, Conn.) older brother, Kevin, played lacrosse at Notre Dame and served as team captain for the 2000 season. Sophomore defender Lena Zentgraf (Charlottesville, Va.) is the niece of men’s lacrosse coach Kevin Corrigan and the granddaughter of former Notre Dame athletic director Gene Corrigan.