Feb. 28, 2008
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format 
• The Game: #10 Notre Dame (3-0/0-0) at Stanford (3-2/2-1 in MPSF)
• Date/Time/Site: Sun.., March 2, 2008 • 1:00 p.m. (PST) • Cagan Stadium • Palo Alto, Calif.
• Television: The game will be televised live on CSTV with Jason Chandler handling the play-by-play and Sheehan Stanwick the color duties.
• Internet: All Notre Dame home women’s lacrosse games can be seen live via video streaming at und.com and you can follow the Irish via GameTracker on und.com.
IRISH TAKE TO THE ROAD: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team jumps into Spring Break with three road games in California in the coming week. The trip begins on Sunday, March 2 when the Irish travel to Palo Alto, Calif., to meet the Stanford Cardinal at Cagan Stadium. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. (PST)/4:00 p.m. in South Bend. The game will be televised live by CBS College Sports Network (CSTV) with Jason Chandler and Sheehan Stanwick calling the action. For the Irish, Sunday’s contest continues a four-game road trip that took them to Columbus, Ohio last Sunday (Feb. 24), to Palo Alto (March 2) and then on to San Diego (March 6) and Pasadena on March 8. Notre Dame brings a 3-0 record into the game with Stanford, having knocked off Canisius (22-10), Duquesne (16-4) and Ohio State (14-11). Stanford comes into Sunday’s game with a 3-2 overall mark and a 2-1 record in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). The Cardinal started the season with three straight wins – LeMoyne (14-6), Oregon (8-7) and UC-Davis (13-7 – before dropping a 16-9 game to Duke in Dallas, Texas and an 11-9 game at California. The Irish are ranked 10th in the IWLCA poll for Feb. 25 and ninth in the Inside Lacrosse weekly poll. Stanford is not ranked in either poll.
HEAD COACH Tracy Coyne: Tracy Coyne is in her 12th season at Notre Dame and her 21st year in collegiate lacrosse. Coyne brings a 216-96 (.692) career record into Sunday’s game at Stanford. On Sunday, Feb. 17, she recorded her 100th career win at Notre Dame with the 16-4 win over Duquesne. As the only head coach in the Notre Dame program’s history, Coyne is 101-70 (.591). A 1983 Ohio University graduate, Coyne recorded her 200th career win at the end of the 2006 season with a 16-8 win over Cornell in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. She has guided Notre Dame to three NCAA tournament appearances (2002, 2004, 2006), including the school’s first-ever NCAA finals appearance in 2006. In her first 20 years of coaching, Coyne was 23-5 in two seasons at Denison (1988-89), 91-21 in seven years at Roanoke (1990-96) and 98-70 in 11 seasons at Notre Dame. 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. Coyne also has coached on the international level as the head coach for the Canadian women’s lacrosse national team from 1999-2005. In June of 2005, 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 6-2 all-time against Stanford.
IRISH VERSUS CARDINAL: Notre Dame and Stanford have met eight times in the all-time series with the Irish having a 6-2 edge. At Palo Alto, Notre Dame is 4-0 with the last win coming on Feb. 26, 2006, a 12-11 overtime win. Last season, the teams met in South Bend, Ind., with the Irish taking another 12-11 overtime victory. Caitlin McKinney (Sr., Lafayette Hill, Pa.) led Notre Dame with six goals and one assist in the game and scored the game winner with seven seconds left in overtime. All-time, the Irish are 2-2 at home against Stanford. The last Stanford win in the series came on April 10, 2005, a 6-5 victory over Notre Dame in a game played indoors at the Loftus Center.
OHIO STATE RECAP: Freshman midfielder Shaylyn Blaney (Stony Brook, N.Y.) scored four goals and added an assist for five points and junior Jillian Byers (Northport, N.Y.) had her third game of four or more goals this season as Notre Dame defeated Ohio State, 14-11 on Feb. 24. Caitlin McKinney added two goals while Kaitlin Keena (Fr., Vienna, Va.), Kailene Abt (Fr., Huntington, N.Y.), Shannon Burke (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) and Jackie Doherty (Fr., Ellicott City, Md.) added single goals in the win. Maghan Beaudrault led the Buckeyes with four goals while Jessica Patane and Kristen Slahor had three each. Blaney scored the first three goals of the game and the Irish scored five straight on the way to an 8-3 halftime lead. Notre Dame would score four of the first five goals of the second half to build a 12-4 lead . Beaudrault and Abt traded goals to make it 13-5 with 13:42 left. From there, the Irish offense shut down, allowing the Buckeyes to score six straight goals in a 7:22 span to cut the lead to 13-11 with 1:34 left. Notre Dame closed the scoring with three seconds left as Burke scored her second goal of the season for the 14-11 final score. Ohio State’s Kristen Gilwee made 20 saves in the game, including 16 in the first half. Erin Goodman (Jr., Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) had 11 saves for the Irish.
NOTHING NEW: Notre Dame’s 3-0 start this season marks the seventh time in the 12-year history of the program that Notre Dame has started the season with a 3-0 record. The Irish have advanced to 4-0 in three of the past 11 seasons.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Notre Dame’s highly ranked freshman class accounted for seven of the team’s 14 goals in the 14-11 win over Ohio State. Shaylyn Blaney scored four goals while Kaitlin Keena, Kailene Abt and Jackie Doherty had one goal each.
ON A ROLL: Senior Caitlin McKinney extended here school-best, point-scoring streak to 42 games with two goals and an assist in the 14-11 win over Ohio State. During her 42-game streak, McKinney has scored 102 goals with 47 assists for 149 points. Her streak started during her freshman season in 2005. Going into the game at Stanford, the following Irish players are in the midst of scoring streak.
Jillian Byers - 20 games (73g, 10a, 83 pts.)Jane Stoeckert - 18 games (22g, 18a, 40 pts.)Shaylyn Blaney - 3 games (10g, 3a, 13 pts.)Kaitlin Keena - 3 games (4g, 4a, 8 pts.)Heather Ferguson - 3 games (2g, 3a, 5 pts.)Jackie Doherty - 3 games (3g, 0a, 3 pts.)Kailene Abt - 2 games (1g, 1a, 2 pts.)Julie Foote - 2 games (1g, 1a, 2 pts.)
SLAMMING THE DOOR: Notre Dame’s defense has gotten off to a strong start through the first three games of the season. The Irish have allowed 25 goals in those games for an 8.33 goals-per-game average. In the three games, the Irish have given up just 67 shots on goal (22.33 per game).
MAKING THE STOPS: Junior goaltender Erin Goodman has picked up three wins this season, giving her 14 for her career. In 2007, she was 11-6 overall record and a 10.32 goals-against average and a .444 save percentage. She finished just one win behind Carol Dixon `06 for the most wins by an Irish goalkeeper in her first year as a starter as Dixon had 12 in 2004. Goodman set a BIG EAST record on March 25, 2007 when she held Loyola (Md.) to just one goal in an 11-1 Irish win, setting the league mark for the fewest goals given up in a game. Goodman had three games on the year with a career-best 14 saves – vs. Cornell (13-7 win), vs. Yale (9-7 win) and against Loyola (11-1 win).
CONTROLLING THE DRAW: One question mark the Irish had coming into the 2008 season was controlling the draw due to the graduation of Kaki Orr `07 who set the single-season mark in 2007 with 51 draw controls. So far this season, the Irish have won 46 of 81 draws for a 56.8% success rate. Leading the team is Shaylyn Blaney with 10. She is followed by Jillian Byers (9) and Shannon Burke (8).
HOME SWEET HOME: The Irish started the season with two wins at home at the Loftus Center. Last season, Notre Dame was 6-3 at home, going 3-2 at the Loftus Sports Center adn 3-1 at Moose Krause Stadium. In 2006, the Irish were 9-0 at home and are now 17-3 (.850) between the Loftus Center and Moose Krause Stadium over the last three years.
PRESEASON HONORS: Senior midfielder Caitlin McKinney and junior attack standout Jillian Byers have been named to the Tewaaraton Trophy preseason “Watch List.” They also were selected preseason All-Americans by Inside Lacrosse on Feb. 19. The dynamic duo were unanimous preseason all-BIG EAST selections earlier this winter. Both have gotten off to fast starts in the first three games of the season. Byers has 15 goals and two assists for 17 points while McKinney has eight goals and three assists for 11 points.
TOP-RANKED PLAYERS: Senior midfielder Caitlin McKinney (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) and junior attack standout Jillian Byers (Northport, N.Y.) have been ranked among the top 20 players by Inside Lacrosse magazine in its preseason edition. McKinney, a two-time All-American was ranked as the 14th best player in the country. Byers, also a two-time All-American, was ranked as the ninth-best player in the nation by the magazine. Both players also have been selected as unanimous preseason all-BIG EAST selections in voting by the league’s coaches.
THE CAPTAINS: Seniors Caitlin McKinney and Becky Ranck (Radnor, Pa.) have been selected team captains for the 2008 season. McKinney was second on the team in scoring last year with 44 goals and 21 assists for 65 points and was a second team IWLCA All-American. Ranck is the leader of the Notre Dame defense and a three-time monogram winner during her career. In three seasons, she played in 47 career games with 46 ground balls, 29 draw controls and 54 caused turnovers in her career.
FIELD OF DREAMS: Arlotta Stadium will become the new home of the Notre Dame men’s and women’s lacrosse programs upon completion in June of 2009. Construction of the facility will begin in August of 2008. Conceptual plans suggest a 2,000 seat, lighted stadium that would include an artificial-turf field, locker rooms, restrooms and concession areas. The state-of-the-art facility is named after Notre Dame graduate John Arlotta, president and chief executive officer of Denver-based Coram, Inc. He and his wife, Bobbie, pledged the lead gift toward the stadium that will be built to the east of the Joyce Center as part of the University’s new athletics quadrangle. The Arlotta children – Mindy, Andy and Jon – have pledged and additional gift from the Arlotta Family Foundation toward the project. In addition to their generous donation, alumni and friends of the lacrosse programs have donated over two million dollars.
RECORDS WATCH: Senior Caitlin McKinney and junior Jillian Byers continue their assaults on the Notre Dame record books this spring. The dynamic duo continues to move up the goals, assists and points lists. Here’s where they going into this weekend’s game at Stanford:
Goals 1. Crysti Foote (2003-06) 1612. Danielle Shearer (2000-03) 1303. Jillian Byers (2006- ) 1274. Caitlin McKinney (2005- ) 122 Lael O'Shaughnessy (1998-01) 1226. Meredith Simon (2001-04) 1097. Kerry Callahan (1997-99) 838. Natalie Loftus (1999-02) 769. Courtney Calabrese (1998-99) 6910. Alissa Moser (1999-02) 67
Assists1. Crysti Foote (2003-06) 762. Lael O'Shaughnessy (1998-01) 683. Danielle Shearer (2000-03) 664. Kerry Callahan (1997-99) 635. Caitlin McKinney (2005-) 586. Meredith Simon (2001-04) 497. Jillian Byers (2006- ) 348. Natalie Loftus (1999-02) 339. Kathryn Perrella (1998-00) 2610. Eleanor Weille (2000-03) 25
Points1. Crysti Foote (2003-06) 2372. Danielle Shearer (2000-03) 1963. Lael O'Shaughnessy (1998-01) 1904. Caitlin McKinney (2005- ) 1805. Jillian Byers (2006- ) 1615. Meredith Simon (2001-04) 1587. Kerry Callahan (1997-99) 1468. Natalie Loftus (1999-02) 1099. Lauren Fischer (2001-04) 85 Alissa Moser (1999-02) 85
CAREER FIRSTS: Several veteran Notre Dame players scored career firsts in the wins against Canisius and Duquesne. Junior defensive midfielder Shannon Burke scored her first career goal with 14:38 left in the second half of the win against Canisius. Fellow junior Lauren deMello (Manlius, N.Y.) picked up her first career goal when she scored with 4:09 left in the win versus Duquesne. Sophomore goalkeeper Amy Winik (Freehold, N.J.) made her first appearance in goal, playing 8:52 versus Duquesne, making one save and giving up one goal.
USA…USA…USA: Notre Dame freshman Shaylyn Blaney helped the U.S. Under-19 team win the gold medal at the Under-19 World Championships this past summer. The three-time U.S. Lacrosse high school All-American scored 16 goals with one assist for 17 points in six games to help the U.S. team to the gold medal. Blaney became the first Notre Dame player to play on the Under-19 team since Kelly McCardell `03, was a member of the 1999 Under-19 team. Fellow freshmen Kailene Abt (Huntington, N.Y.) and Lauren Fenlon (Dayton, Md.) were alternates for the Under-19 team.
CAREER YEAR: Junior midfielder Jane Stoeckert (Mendham, N.J.) turned in the best year of her career for Notre Dame in 2007 as she finished fourth in scoring with 21 goals and 15 assists for 36 points, career highs in all three categories. This season, in her first three games, Stoeckert has been able to keep her scoring streak alive, running it to 18 games with a goal and three assists in the first three games. For her career, Stoeckert has played in 39 games and has 33 goals, 27 assists and 60 career points.
BIG EAST SCHOLAR ATHLETE: Senior midfield/attack standout Caitlin McKinney has been selected as Notre Dame’s female BIG EAST/Aeropostale Scholar-Athlete Award winner. She received the honor along with baseball player Brett Lilley and will receive a $2,000 award toward graduate studies. McKinney owns a 3.522 grade-point average with a double major in sociology and film, television and theatre at Notre Dame. A two-time IWLCA All-American, McKinney was selected to the IWLCA academic honor roll following the 2007 season.
IRISH TO HOST 2008 BIG EAST TOURNAMENT: Notre Dame will play host to the 2008 BIG EAST Tournament, April 25-27 with the games to be played at Notre Dame Stadium. The conferences top four teams will meet in the historic stadium in two semifinal games on Friday, April 25. Game one begins at 5:30 p.m. with the second game starting 45 minutes after the end of game one. The championship game is set for Sunday, April 27 with the time to be determined. This will be the first women’s varsity event ever held in Notre Dame Stadium.