March 12, 2008
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format 
• The Game: #12/#16 Notre Dame (4-2/0-0) vs. Delaware (3-1/0-0 in CAA)
• Date/Time/Site: Thur., March 13, 2008 • 3:00 p.m. • Loftus Sports Center • Notre Dame, Ind.
• The Game: #12/#16 Notre Dame (4-2/0-0) vs. #6/#8 Syracuse (4-1/0-0 in BIG EAST)
• Date/Time/Site: Sun., March 16, 2008 • 1:00 p.m. • Loftus Sports Center • Notre Dame, Ind.
• 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 for all home games and when available on the road.
HOME AGAIN: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team returns to Indiana to open a three-game home stand this week when the Irish play host to the University of Delaware on Thurs., March 13. Game time at the Loftus Sports Center is 3:00 p.m. The second game of the week will be played on Sunday, March 16 when Notre Dame faces Syracuse in the BIG EAST opener for both teams. That game has a 1:00 p.m. start time and will be played at the Loftus Center. Notre Dame brings a 4-2 overall record into the week after going 2-2 on its four games away from home. Last week, the Irish were 1-1 in the East West Challenge, dropping a 14-13 decision to Oregon on Thur., March 6 in San Diego before taking an 18-8 game from California on Saturday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The Delaware Blue Hens will bring a 3-1 overall record into Thursday’s game. They played on Monday at home, taking a 16-8 decision versus UMBC. Syracuse starts the week ranked sixth in the IWLCA poll and eighth in the Inside Lacrosse poll as the Orange are 4-1. They are off until facing the Irish on Sunday.
IRISH VERSUS BLUE HENS: Notre Dame and Delaware have met twice in the series history with the Fighting Irish holding a 2-0 edge in the two contests. The first meeting between the two schools was on March 31, 2001 in Nashville, Tenn. Delaware came into the game ranked 17th in the nation and Notre Dame took a 13-11 win. The victory was the first for the Irish against a ranked opponent in their then, five-year program history. The two teams would tangle again on March 26, 2002 at Notre Dame with the Irish taking a 9-7 victory.
NOTRE DAME VERSUS SYRACUSE: The two teams will open the 2008 BIG EAST schedule on March 16. The Irish and Orange have met 10 times in the all-time series with Syracuse holding a 7-3 edge. At Notre Dame, the Irish are 3-1 all-time while at Syracuse, N.Y., they have never won, losing all five meetings. Syracuse also owns a win on neutral turf with that game being played on March 16, 2000 in Cocoa Beach, Fla. Last season, the two teams met in Syracuse where the Orange won 16-13. The Irish led 13-12 with 18:22 left in the game but did not score the rest of the way as Syracuse got the last four goals for the final 16-13 verdict.
WELCOME BACK: A familiar face returns to the Loftus Center on Thursday, March 13 but she will be on the University of Delaware sideline. Former Irish defensive standout, Kristin Hopson `07, returns in her first season as an assistant coach with the Blue Hens. A three-year starter on the Notre Dame defense, Hopson played in 55 games during her career, making 46 starts. She grabbed 60 ground balls, had 13 draw controls and 31 draw controls in her Notre Dame career. She also was a two-time IWLCA Scholar-Athlete selection (2006, 2007) and was the winner of the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Scholar-Athlete Award winner for lacrosse in 2007. Hopson is one of 10 former Irish players coached by Tracy Coyne currently coaching women’s lacrosse.
OREGON RECAP: Notre Dame faced the University of Oregon for the first time ever as part of the East West Challenge in San Diego, dropping a tough, 14-13, decision to the Ducks. Jillian Byers (Jr., Northport, N.Y.) led the Irish attack with six goals and two assists while Caitlin McKinney (Sr., Lafayette Hill, Pa.) added three goals and two assists for a five-point game. Alicia Billings (Jr., Potomac, Md.) scored two goals while Heather Ferguson (Sr., Newtown Square, Pa.) and Gina Scioscia (So., Summit, N.J.) added one goal each. Notre Dame took a 13-12 lead in this game with 4:38 left on Byers’ sixth goal of the night. That would be the last goal the Irish would get as Oregon scored twice in the final 15 seconds on free-position goals to pull out the 14-13 win. Junior Ilsa van den Berg, who had five goals and an assist for the Ducks, got the game winner with just three seconds left in the game. Erin Goodman (Jr., Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) made 14 saves for Notre Dame as the Irish dropped their second consecutive game on the three-game California road trip.
CALIFORNIA RECAP: The Irish played game two of the East West Challenge at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, facing the California Golden Bears. Notre Dame got back on the winning track with an 18-8 victory that was sparked by a 12-4 goal-scoring binge in the first half. Leading the first half splurge was junior Jane Stoeckert (Mendham, N.J.) who scored four goals with an assist, all in the first half as Notre Dame built the eight-goal lead. Jillian Byers chipped in five goals while Gina Scioscia had the first five-point game (2g, 3a) of her career in the win. Caitlin McKinney had four points (2g, 2a) as did Heather Ferguson (1g, 3a). Alicia Billings, Kaitlin Keena (Fr., Vienna, Va.), Jackie Doherty (Fr., Ellicott City, Md.) and Shaylyn Blaney (Fr., Stony Brook, N.Y.) added single goals in the win. California would cut the lead to 14-7 at the 15:49 mark of the second half but that would be as close as they would get as Notre Dame would score four of the last five games for the 10-goal win. Erin Goodman made 12 saves in the win for the Irish. The victory improved them to 5-0 all-time against the Bears.
HEAD COACH Tracy Coyne: Tracy Coyne is in her 12th season at Notre Dame and her 21st year in collegiate lacrosse. Coyne brings a 217-98 (.689) career record into this week’s games with Delaware and Syracuse. 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 102-72 (.586). 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 2-0 all-time against Delaware and 3-7 in 10 meetings with Syracuse.
CHANGING SIDES: When Notre Dame and Delaware meet on March 13, an interesting dynamic will occur on the sidelines. Serving as an assistant coach for the Irish is 2003 Delaware graduate Kateri Linville who is now in her third season at Notre Dame. Serving as an assistant for Delaware is 2007 Notre Dame graduate Kristin Hopson. She is in her first year as an assistant coach at Delaware.
SCORING MACHINE: Jillian Byers continued her torrid early-season pace on the trip to California as she recorded 11 goals and two assists for 13 points. Byers had six goals and two assists for eight points versus Oregon and followed with a five-goal game versus Cal. In six games this season, Byers has 30 goals and five assists for 35 points. Her goal and point totals lead both the BIG EAST and the nation. The six-goal game against Oregon was the fourth of her career and the eight-points was the second of her career with eight or more points (set career best with nine points on March 8, 2006 against Lehigh). This season, Byers has one four-point game, two five-point contest, one with six, one with seven and one with eight.
CAREER DAYS: Notre Dame’s 18-8 win over California included a pair of career-high scoring days for Gina Scioscia and Jane Stoeckert. Scioscia had a career-best five-point game with two goals and three assists, setting career marks for assists and points in a game. Stoeckert had four goals versus the Bears, a new career-best for her.
MAKING THE STOPS: Junior goalkeeper Erin Goodman equaled her career high for saves in a game in the 14-13 loss to Oregon. Goodman had 14 saves in the game to equal her career best total that she set three times in the 2007 season.
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.
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.
GET OUT OF THE WAY: With her 11 goals versus Oregon and California last week, Jillian Byers has moved into second on Notre Dame’s all-time goal-scoring list with 142 goals in just 42 career games. Senior Caitlin McKinney has moved into fourth on the all-time goal list with 128 in her career.
Goals1. Crysti Foote (2003-06) 1612. Jillian Byers (2006- ) 1423. Danielle Shearer (2000-03) 1304. Caitlin McKinney (2005- ) 1285. 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
RECORDS WATCH: Caitlin McKinney and Jillian Byers continue their assaults on the Notre Dame record books this spring. The dynamic duo continues to move up the assist and points lists.
Assists1. Crysti Foote (2003-06) 762. Lael O'Shaughnessy (1998-01) 683. Danielle Shearer (2000-03) 664. Caitlin McKinney (2005-) 63 Kerry Callahan (1997-99) 636. Meredith Simon (2001-04) 497. Jillian Byers (2006- ) 378. 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. Caitlin McKinney (2005- ) 1914. Lael O'Shaughnessy (1998-01) 1905. Jillian Byers (2006- ) 1796. 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
HISTORIC STADIUMS: During the 2008 women’s lacrosse season, Notre Dame will play in two of college football’s most historic stadiums. On March 8, the Irish will face California, in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. They will follow that up by hosting the 2008 BIG EAST Championship at Notre Dame Stadium, home of the Fighting Irish football team. That will occur on April 25 and 27 should the Irish make the conference tourney. The tournament will be held at Notre Dame Stadium due to construction on the Irish campus.
ON A ROLL: Senior Caitlin McKinney extended her school-best, point-scoring streak to 45 games with five goals and four assists in the games against Oregon and California. During her 45-game streak, McKinney has scored 108 goals with 52 assists for 160 points. Her streak started during her freshman season in 2005. Going into the game with Delaware, the following Irish players are in the midst of scoring streak.
Jillian Byers - 23 games (88g, 13a, 101 pts.)Kaitlin Keena - 6 games (6g, 8a, 14 pts.)Alicia Billings - 6 games (6g, 2a, 8 pts.)Gina Scioscia - 3 games (4g, 4a, 8 pts.)Heather Ferguson - 2 games (2g, 3a, 5 pts.)Jane Stoeckert - 2 games (4g, 2a, 6 pts.)Julie Foote - 2 games (1g, 1a, 2 pts.)
MAKING THE STOPS: Junior goaltender Erin Goodman has picked up four wins this season, giving her 15 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). As a junior, Goodman is 4-2 with a 10.00 goals-against average and a .504 save percentage. She currently leads the BIG EAST with the .504 save percentage and her 60 saves on the year ranks seventh in the nation.
OUTDOING THE OPPOSITION: Through the first six games of the 2008 season, Notre Dame has out shot the opposition by a 219-159 margin or 36.5 to 26.5. The Irish have also outscored opponents by a 92-60 advantage – 15.33 goals-per-game to 10.00 per game.
CONTROLLING THE DRAW: Jillian Byers equaled a career high with six draw controls in the win over California. On the season, she leads Notre Dame with 18. For the season, the Irish have won 53.8% (86 of 160). Following Byers are Shaylyn Blaney (15) and Shannon Burke (15).
SCORING BY CLASS:Year (#players) Goals Assists PointsJuniors (6) 44 12 56Freshmen (7) 24 14 38Seniors (5) 19 15 34Sophomores (4) 5 7 12Totals 92 48 140
RANCK AND FILE: Senior defender Becky Ranck (Radnor, Pa.) leads the Irish with 12 caused turnovers this season. The Irish have an 80-36 edge in caused turnovers this season.
BAD NEWS BILLINGS: Junior Alicia Billings has scored a point in every game for the Irish this season, getting six goals with two assists for eight points. The speedy midfielder has already equaled her career high for goals with six.
VERSUS THE BEST: Notre Dame’s 2008 schedule features seven teams that are currently ranked in the top 20 of the March 10 IWLCA rankings. The list includes: #1 Northwestern, #5 Duke, #6 Syracuse, #9 Georgetown, #10 Vanderbilt , #11 Stanford and #16 Oregon. Cornell and Ohio State are receiving votes.
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.
CLOSE ONES: The 14-13 loss to Oregon on March 6 with three seconds left marked the second one-goal loss in a row for the Irish with less than 10 seconds left. The last one-goal loss came on April 21, 2007, an 8-7 loss to Rutgers that saw the Scarlet Knights score with 8.8 seconds left. Notre Dame is now 14-17 all-time in one-goal games. The Irish were 3-1 last season.
OVERTIME NUMBERS: During the first 11 seasons of the women’s lacrosse program, Notre Dame has played a total of 13 overtime games and is 6-7 in those games. Last year, the Irish were 2-0 in overtime, taking a triple-overtime win versus James Madison (10-9) in the season opener on Feb. 18. In the second game of the year, on Feb. 24, at home, Notre Dame pulled off a 12-11 double overtime win against Stanford. In one-goal games, the Irish are 7-3 over the last two seasons and 14-17 in the program’s history.