Jan. 12, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame women’s lacrosse coach Tracy Coyne has announced that seniors Shaylyn Blaney (Stony Brook, N.Y.) and Jackie Doherty (Ellicott City, Md.) have been selected as team captains for the 2011 season. Blaney returns as captain after filling the role in 2010 while Doherty will be serving as captain for the first time.
“I am very pleased that the team has selected Shay (Shaylyn Blaney) and Jackie (Doherty) to serve as our captains this season,” said head coach Tracy Coyne who begins her 15th season as the women’s lacrosse coach at Notre Dame.
“It is without question both are outstanding players but talent alone doesn’t make you a great leader. Shay and Jackie have worked very hard to develop the leadership skills necessary to handle the responsibilities of this position. What sets them apart is their commitment to bringing out the best in their teammates while also setting a very high individual standard. They both play to win and give their heart and soul to the program. This type of dedication has earned them the trust and respect of their teammates. I am confident Shay and Jackie will work together to create an environment on the practice field and in the locker room that will make the 2011 season very special. It should be a great year.”
Blaney is a three-time monogram winner at Notre Dame and is recognized as one of the top all-around midfielders in both the BIG EAST and the nation. A two-time second team IWLCA All-American (`09, `10), Blaney is an impact player at both ends of the field.
She was the 2010 team’s Notre Dame Monogram Club most valuable player award winner after leading the Irish in goals (40) while finishing third in scoring with 43 points for the year. A first team all-BIG EAST selection in 2010, Blaney has now scored 40 or more goals in each of her first three seasons at Notre Dame.
Defensively, Blaney led Notre Dame with 37 draw controls, was second on the squad with 36 caused turnovers and third with 36 ground balls. Her caused turnovers (2.0 per game) ranked her second in the BIG EAST and 12th in the nation.
Blaney finished the 2010 season by being named to the all-tournament team at the BIG EAST Tournament after leading the Irish with four goals in the 12-11, four-overtime loss to Syracuse. She has been named to the BIG EAST all-tournament team in two (2008 and 2010) of her three seasons at Notre Dame.
For her career, Blaney has been selected all-BIG EAST three times (second team in `08 and first team in `09 and `10), along with two second team IWLCA All-American honors. She enters the 2011 campaign ranked fifth all-time in goals (127), ninth in points (143), is tied for second in draw controls (126) and fifth in caused turnovers (76). She is the fourth player in the program’s history to be named an IWLCA All-American two or more times, joining Jillian Byers `09 (four times), Caitlin McKinney `08 (three times) and Crysti Foote `06 (two times). Blaney also has been selected to the IWLCA West/Midwest all-regional team in each of her first three seasons.
Doherty came into her own in 2010, becoming just the second Notre Dame defensive player to be named first team IWLCA All-American along with former teammate Shannon Burke `09 (2009). A tough, tenacious defender, Doherty was selected first team all-BIG EAST in 2010 and ranks among the top defensive players in the nation. The winner of Notre Dame’s 2002 Award as the team’s top defender, Doherty led Notre Dame in ground balls (53) and caused turnovers (40) and was second in draw controls with 30. Her 53 ground balls equaled her career high set as a sophomore in 2009, while the 40 caused turnovers marked her best season ever and were the second-highest single-season total in the program’s history.
In BIG EAST play, she led the conference in caused turnovers (2.22 per game) and was fourth best in the nation. Her 2.94 ground balls per game were the best in the conference and ranked 12th nationally. Doherty’s leadership on defense helped the Irish to their lowest goals-against average (10.06) since the 2006 season.
In her first three seasons at Notre Dame, Doherty is eighth in ground balls (121), 11th in draw controls (74) and seventh in caused turnovers (71). She has scored 19 goals with 14 assists for 33 points in 54 career games.
Blaney and Doherty along with their Irish teammates will begin training for the 2011 season next week when they return to Notre Dame from the Christmas break. The Irish women’s lacrosse team will open the regular season on the road as the Irish travel to California to face the University of California on Friday, Feb. 11 and Stanford University on Sunday, Feb. 13. The first home game for the Irish is set for 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 19 at the Loftus Center when they face Northwestern. Notre Dame enters the new season ranked 10th in the U.S. Lacrosse Magazine’s preseason poll.
Notre Dame is coming off an 11-7 season in 2010 and was 6-2 in the BIG EAST to finish in second place and finished the year ranked 12th in the nation in the final IWLCA poll. The Irish advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season (a first for the 15-year old program) where they fell in the opening round to Northwestern.