April 12, 2010
Notre Dame, Ind. – Three members of the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team have been honored for their outstanding play last week in helping the Irish to a 3-0 record with all three wins coming in BIG EAST Conference play.
Junior midfielder Shaylyn Blaney (Stony Brook, N.Y.) has been selected as the BIG EAST offensive player of the week for the week ending April 11. She was joined by junior midfielder Jackie Doherty (Ellicott City, Md.) who was selected by the BIG EAST as the defensive player of the week.
Joining those two is freshman goalkeeper Ellie Hilling (Rochester, N.Y.) who was selected by WomensLax.com as its Division I rookie of the week for the past week.
During the week, the Irish won an 11-10 decision at No. 13 Loyola on Monday, Apr. 5. Notre Dame then returned home to defeat Villanova, 16-0, on Friday, Apr. 9 and the shutout was followed by a 6-5 victory over seventh-ranked Syracuse on Sunday, Apr. 11 at Arlotta Stadium.
Blaney took BIG EAST offensive honors as she scored six goals on the week while grabbing seven ground balls, five draw controls and eight caused turnovers. In the 11-10 win over Loyola, Blaney scored three goals in the second half, leading the Irish rally from an 8-5 deficit. Her first two goals cut the Greyhound lead to 8-7 and her third goal made it 10-8 in favor of Notre Dame. She added two ground balls, one draw control and three caused turnovers in the victory.
On Friday, versus Villanova, the junior had two goals in the first-ever BIG EAST shutout as the Irish blanked the Wildcats, 16-0. She chipped in three ground balls, three draw controls and two caused turnover.
Blaney closed her week with just one goal, the game-winning goal in the 6-5 win over Syracuse. With the Irish leading 5-0 in the first half, she got the ball with time ticking down and drove to the goal where she was fouled. She converted with 5.3 seconds left on the free-position shot to make it 6-0 in the eventual 6-5 victory. She added two ground balls, one draw control and three caused turnovers in the Notre Dame win.
For the year, Blaney leads Notre Dame with 23 goals and is fourth in points with 24 to rank fourth on the team in scoring. She is second on the team in ground balls (26), first in draw controls (24) and second in caused turnovers (24) through 12 games.
Doherty led a Notre Dame defense that went 98:33 over three games without giving up a goal as the Irish recorded the BIG EAST’s first-ever shutout with a 16-0 win over Villanova. Her week started with a standout performance in the win at Loyola as she had six ground balls, four draw controls and four caused turnovers versus the Greyhounds. Trailing 8-5 in the second half, she and the defense held Loyola to just six shots in the second half as Notre Dame pulled out the 11-10 victory.
Against Villanova, Doherty had two ground balls and one caused turnover as the Irish limited the Wildcats to 16 shots in the first shutout in the program’s 14-year history. The defensive midfielder turned in her biggest game in the win over Syracuse as she shut down the Orange’s top goal scorer Christina Dove, holding her to one assist in the 6-5 Irish win. She finished the game with three ground balls, two draw controls and two caused turnovers.
In the three games, Doherty had 11 ground balls, six draw controls and seven caused turnovers. She leads Notre Dame with 40 ground balls and 28 caused turnovers and is third with 19 draw controls. The junior is among the BIG EAST leaders in ground balls and caused turnovers.
Freshman goalkeeper Ellie Hilling turned in a 3-0 week with a 9.19 goals-against average and a .545 save percentage to collect Womenslax.com rookie of the week honors.
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Hilling continued her strong rookie season as she was selected as WomensLax.com’s rookie of the week. Already this season, the freshman goalkeeper has been selected as the BIG EAST defensive player of the week. In three conference wins, Hilling gave up 15 goals for a 5.00 goals-against average and made 18 saves for a .545 save percentage.
Against Loyola, Hilling made just four saves, including one in the second half with 1:49 left to save a 10-10 tie before the Irish would score with six seconds left for the 11-10 win. The final goal Hilling surrendered came with 4:38 left in the second half.
The shutout win over Villanova was the first for Hilling, Notre Dame and the BIG EAST as the Irish blanked the Wildcats, 16-0. The freshman goalkeeper made eight saves in the game, including seven in the second half after Notre Dame built a 10-0 first-half advantage. That gave Hilling a shutout run of 64:38 over the first two games of the week.
Hilling wrapped up the week with an impressive effort versus high-scoring Syracuse. In the 6-5 win, Notre Dame shutout the Orange for the first 30 minutes of the game, building a 6-0 lead. In the second half, Hilling surrendered her first goal of the game, 3:55 into the second half, to end her shutout streak at 98:33, the longest in the history of the Irish women’s lacrosse program. She would finish the win with six saves in the contest.
For the season, Hilling has started and played all 12 games in goal and is 8-4 on the year. She owns a 9.19 goals-against average and a .436 save percentage.
Blaney, Doherty and Hilling along with their Notre Dame teammates will return to action on Saturday, April 17 when they close out the regular-season schedule with a 3:00 p.m. BIG EAST game against Cincinnati at 3:00 p.m. The Irish will honor the 2010 senior class – Rachel Guerrera, Gina Scioscia and Maggie Zentgraf – prior to the start of the game.