May 7, 2009
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format 
FIRST ROUND NCAA TOURNAMENT
• The Game: #6/#6 Notre Dame (15-4) vs. #12/#13 Vanderbilt (10-6)
• Date/Time/Site: Sun., May 10, 2009 • 4:00 p.m. • Alumni Field • Notre Dame, Ind.
• Internet: The Notre Dame-Vanderbilt game will be streamed live at the Notre Dame website (und.com) live and free of charge. Gametracker also will be available at und.com.
NCAA TOURNAMENT TIME: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team makes its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, a first in the program’s history, on Sunday, May 10 when the Irish play host to the Vanderbilt Commodores in a 4:00 p.m. game at Alumni Field. For Notre Dame, this marks the third time in the last four years and the fifth time in the last eight seasons that the Irish have played in the NCAA Tournament. They have made prior appearances in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008. This will also be the third time that the Irish have hosted an NCAA tournament contest. In 2002, Notre Dame hosted an opening round game versus Ohio State, taking an 11-7 win. In 2006, the Irish hosted Cornell in a first round game and Georgetown in a quarterfinal matchup, winning both to advance to the Final Four in Boston. Those two seasons, the games were played at Moose Krause Stadium. Notre Dame brings a 15-4 record into Sunday’s game and are the sixth seed nationally. The Irish received the BIG EAST’s automatic bid after winning the conference tournament on April 26. Vanderbilt travels to South Bend with a 10-6 overall record. The Commodores lost in the semifinals of the American Lacrosse Conference Tournament (ALC) on May 1, falling to Northwestern, 15-10 in their last game. Notre Dame enters the tournament ranked sixth in both the IWLCA coaches poll and the Inside Lacrosse media poll. Vanderbilt is ranked 12th by the IWLCA and 13th by Inside Lacrosse. The winner of the Notre Dame-Vanderbilt contest will play on May 16 versus the winner of the third-seed North Carolina-Towson game being played in Raliegh, N.C., on Sunday.
IRISH VERSUS COMMODORES: Notre Dame and Vanderbilt have met 13 times in the all-time series with the Commodores holding a 9-4 advantage. Vanderbilt has won three straight in the series, including an 18-11 win in Nashville on April 15. In that game, the Commodores jumped out to a 10-3 lead at halftime before the Irish cut the lead to 11-7 with 16:17 left in the game. That would be as close as they would get though. dropping the seven-goal decision. Notre Dame is 3-3 all-time versus Vanderbilt in South Bend with the last win coming on May 7, 2006, a 12-11 victory at Moose Krause Stadium. The two teams have never met in NCAA Tournament play.
IRISH NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Notre Dame makes its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance this season and their first in an odd year. Prior to this season, the Irish had advanced in even years, making it in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008. The Irish own a 3-4 all-time record in NCAA action, including a 3-0 home mark (at Moose Krause Stadium), an 0-3 record on the road and an 0-1 mark on neutral fields. This season, the Irish are seeded sixth in the tournament, equaling their highest seed, set in 2006. In 2002, Notre Dame was a seventh seed in its first NCAA Tournament appearance.
2002 NCAA TOURNAMENT: 2004 NCAA TOURNAMENT5/9/02 - at Notre Dame 11, Ohio State 7 5/13/04 - at Northwestern 10, Notre Dame 85/12/02 - at Princeton 11, Notre Dame 5
2006 NCAA TOURNAMENT: 2008 NCAA TOURNAMENT5/14/06 - at Notre Dame 16, Cornell 8 5/11/08 - at Northwestern 15, Notre Dame 75/20/06 - at Notre Dame 12, Georgetown 95/27/06 - vs. Dartmouth 14, Notre Dame 8 (at Boston, Mass.)
A TEWAARATON FINALIST: Senior attack standout Jillian Byers (Northport, N.Y.) has been selected as one of five finalists for the Tewaaraton Trophy that goes to the top male and female collegiate players in the country. The award will be presented in Washington, D.C., on May 28. Byers joins former teammate, Crysti Foote `06, as the two Notre Dame players to advance to the finalist stage. Byers currently leads Notre Dame with 74 goals and 26 assists for 100 points this season, all career highs. Her 74 goals equal Foote’s single-season Notre Dame record and she is just the second player in the program’s history to record 100 or more points in a season (Foote -114 in 2006). Byers is second in the nation in goals and points and led the BIG EAST in both categories this season. She is Notre Dame’s all-time leader in goals (253), points (325) and draw controls (149) while ranking fourth in assists (72) for her career. Joining Byers as finalists are Duke’s Carolyn Davis, North Carolina’s Amber Falcone, Maryland’s Caitlyn McFadden and Northwestern’s Hannah Nielsen.
NCAA TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS:
Massachusetts (11-7) at #1 Northwestern (19-0)Georgetown (13-5) at #8 Princeton (13-3)
Virginia (11-7) at #5 Duke (14-5)Fairfield (17-2) at #4 Penn (13-2)
Towson (13-5) at #3 North Carolina (13-4)Vanderbilt (10-6) at #6 Notre Dame (15-4)
Boston University (15-3) at #7 Syracuse (13-4)Colgate (14-4) at #2 Maryland (19-0)
NOTRE DAME NCAA SCORING STATS:Player GP G A PTSJillian Byers 4 7 4 11Gina Scioscia 1 3 0 3Shannon Burke 4 0 2 2Rachel Guerrera 1 0 0 0Kailene Abt 1 0 0 0Beth Koloup 1 0 0 0Shaylyn Blaney 1 0 0 0Jackie Doherty 1 0 0 0Kaitlin Keena 1 0 0 0
Goalkeepers GP W-L GAVG SV%Erin Goodman 1 0-1 15.00 .375
REGULAR SEASON WRAPUP: Notre Dame closed out the 2009 regular season on May 2 with an 11-9 win at Cornell. Jillian Byers led the Notre Dame attack with four goals and two assists for six points. She was followed by Gina Scioscia (Jr., Summit, N.J.) with two goals and two assists. Sophomore Kailene Abt (Huntington, N.Y.) had a pair of goals in the game while Ansley Stewart (So., Alexandria, Va.), Kaitlin Keena (So., Vienna, Va.) and Shaylyn Blaney (So., Stony Brook, N.Y.) had one goal each. Maggie Tamasitis (Fr., Boyertown, Pa.) had a pair of assists in the win. The Irish got off to a slow start in the game, falling behind 6-3 at the half before surrendering the first goal of the second for a four-goal deficit at 7-3. From there, Byers rallied the troops with the Irish running off six straight goals in a 15:20 span to take a 9-7 advantage. Byers had two goals and two assists in the run. Cornell’s Jessica Wiegand cut the lead to 9-8 with 9:41 left but Byers and Blaney each scored for an 11-8 lead. The Big Red scored with two minutes left to cut the score to 11-9, but the Irish held on for the win. Notre Dame out shot Cornell, 32-18. Erin Goodman (Sr., Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) finished the game with five saves on the afternoon.
MAKING THEIR MARKS: With four goals in the win over Cornell, Jillian Byers equaled the Notre Dame single-season record for goals in a season with 74, tying Crysti Foote’s record set in 2006. That wasn’t the only Foote mark to be tied. With a pair of assists in the win, Gina Scioscia now has 40 assists this season to tie Foote’s single-season assist record set in 2006. While not tying a record held by the talented midfielder, defender Shannon Burke (Sr., Timonium, Md.) equaled Notre Dame’s single-game record for caused turnovers when she forced six in the Cornell win. That ties the mark set by Jess Mikula `05 on March 22, 2005 versus California.
SCORING BARRAGE: Notre Dame enters the NCAA Tournament already having set school records for goals and points in a season. The Irish have scored 292 goals in the first 19 games for a 15.37 average that is fifth best in the nation. The previous record was 263 goals in 19 games during the 2006 season. Notre Dame now has 429 points this season (292 goals and 137 assists) surpassing the mark of 407, set in 2006.
4 X 40: For the first time in the history of the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse program, the Irish have four players with 40 or more goals. Jillian Byers leads the way with 74 and is followed by Gina Scioscia with 49. Sophomores Kailene Abt and Shaylyn Blaney round out the group with 40 goals each. The previous mark was three players with 40 or more goals and was set in 2006. During that season, Crysti Foote had 74 goals, Byers had 54 and Caitlin McKinney `08 had 42 goals.
BIG EAST TOURNAMENT HISTORY: With two wins in the 2009 BIG EAST Tournament, the Irish improved to 2-2 overall as they have participated in each of the first three postseason events.
2007 - Georgetown 12, Notre Dame 12 (at Syracuse, N.Y.)2008 - Georgetown 15, Notre Dame 14 (3ot) (at Notre Dame, Ind.)2009 - Notre Dame 16, Syracuse 10 Notre Dame 12, Georgetown 10 (at Washington, D.C.)
BIG EAST CHAMPIONS: Notre Dame won its first-ever BIG EAST Championship on April 26 at Georgetown’s Multi-Sport Facility, downing the host team Hoyas, 12-10, in the title game. By winning the BIG EAST Championship, Notre Dame takes the BIG EAST’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Irish advanced to the championship game on the strength of a 16-10 win over Syracuse on April 24 in the semifinals. Goalkeeper Erin Goodman was named the tournament’s most outstanding player and was an all-tournament team selection. She was joined by Jillian Byers, Gina Scioscia, Kailene Abt, Shannon Burke and Rachel Guerrera (Jr., Wantagh, N.Y.). Byers paced the Irish with six goals and six assists in the two games. Scioscia had back-to-back five-point games, getting four goals with six assists for 10 points. Goodman combined for 17 saves on the weekend, making eight versus Syracuse and nine in the win over Georgetown.
TOP IRISH PERFORMANCE: Jillian Byers’ seven-point night (4g, 3a) in the semifinal win over Syracuse sets a Notre Dame record for points in a BIG EAST Tournament game. The previous mark was five points, set by Caitlin McKinney `08 who had five goals in the 2007 tournament loss to Georgetown and Shaylyn Blaney who had five goals in the loss to the Hoyas in 2008.
WEARING THE GREEN: Notre Dame head coach Tracy Coyne pulled out all stops in the BIG EAST semifinals against Syracuse, including issuing her team green kilts prior to the game as a surprise.It has been a tradition for all Irish athletic teams to wear green for important games. This was the second time the Irish women’s lacrosse team has worn green in its history. On April 15, 2006, the Irish wore green jerseys in a game at Georgetown for the first time ever. Up until that game, they had never defeated the Hoyas in the all-time series. That game resulted in an 11-10 overtime loss.
KARDIAC KIDS: In Notre Dame’s regular season finale at Cornell, the Irish trailed 7-3 with 28:35 left in the second half before rallying for the 11-9 win. That marks the fourth time this season that Notre Dame has trailed by four or more goals in a game and rallied for a victory. On April 11, Notre Dame trailed Syracuse, 11-1, with 11:05 left in the game and rallied, only to lose, 14-13 in the game. Here’s a look at the four come-from-behind wins this season:
5/2 at Cornell: Notre Dame gave up the first three goals of the game and trailed the Big Red, 6-3, at halftime. They scored the opening goal of the second half to build a 7-3 lead only to see the Irish rally for the win. Notre Dame ran off six straight goals in a 15:20 span (26:04 to 10:44) to take a 9-7 lead on the way to the 11-9 victory.
3/29 vs. Loyola (MD): For the third time this season, Notre Dame fell behind in a game during the first half, trailed at halftime and then went on to win the game in the second half against Loyola (Md.). In the game the Irish fell behind by four goals in the first half at 6-2 and 7-3 before rallying to cut the lead to 8-7 at halftime in favor of the Greyhounds. After giving up the first goal of the second half, to trail 9-7, the Irish scored five consecutive goals for a 12-9 lead on the way to the 16-13 win. Other come-from-behind wins include:
3/10 vs. James Madison (at Orlando, Fla.): The Irish trailed 5-2 with over 18 minutes left in the first half before they rallied to trail just 9-7 at halftime. They then opened the second half with four consecutive goals for an 11-9 lead. The closest that the Dukes would get was 11-10 as Notre Dame pulled out a second close win.
3/3 at Dartmouth: Irish gave up the first six goals of the contest and trailed 8-2 late in the first half before coming alive. They scored three late goals in the opening half and then rolled off eight more in the second before Dartmouth responded for a total of 11 consecutive goals. Bouncing back from the six-goal deficit was the largest deficit that the Irish have ever recovered from.
ROAD WINS: Notre Dame’s regular-season finale at Cornell, improved the Irish to 6-2 on the road this season. The six wins away from Notre Dame equal the most the Irish have ever won on the road in the program’s 13-year history. In 2008, the Irish were 6-3 in nine road games. The Irish are also 2-0 in neutral site games this season for a total of eight wins away from Alumni Field and the Loftus Center. The two road losses this season came at Syracuse (14-13) and at Vanderbilt (18-11).
ON THE DEFENSIVE: Notre Dame’s defense rose to the occasion in the BIG EAST Tournament, shutting down two of the conference’s top offenses for one half in each game. Leading the semifinal game with Syracuse, 9-8 at halftime, the Irish held the Orange to just two goals in the second half, giving up just eight total shots while scoring seven times for the 16-10 win. In the 12-10 championship game win over Georgetown, the Irish gave up just two goals in the first half on the way to a 9-2 lead after 30 minutes. Erin Goodman made six of her nine saves in the win in the opening stanza. From there, Notre Dame held on for the 12-10 victory. The Irish followed the BIG EAST tournament by holding Cornell to just three goals in the second half of the 11-9 Notre Dame win on May 2.
NATIONAL LEADERS: Senior captain Jillian Byers enters the final weekend of the regular season with career highs in goals (74), assists (26) and points (100). Her goal and point totals lead the BIG EAST and rank her second in both categories on the national level. Junior Gina Scioscia also is among the BIG EAST and national leaders in scoring with her 49 goals and 40 assists for 89 points (all career highs). The 49 goals are fourth in the BIG EAST while the 40 assists are second and the 89 points are third. Nationally, Scioscia is seventh in assists and seventh in points.
VERSUS THE RANKED: Notre Dame owns three consecutive wins over ranked teams, knocking off #19 Cornell and #7 Georgetown and #8 Syracuse in the BIG EAST Tournament. That improves the Irish to 7-4 versus teams ranked in the IWLCA poll when they face the Irish. The Irish now own wins over #7 Georgetown, #8 Syracuse, #16 Stanford, #13 Dartmouth, #17 James Madison, #13 Loyola and #19 Cornell. The losses have come to #1 Northwestern, #6 Georgetown, #9 Syracuse and #12 Vanderbilt.
BIG EAST HONORS: Three Notre Dame players – Shaylyn Blaney, Shannon Burke and Jillian Byers were named first team all-BIG EAST on Thursday, April 23 at the Annual Awards Banquet while Gina Scioscia was named second team all-BIG EAST. For Byers it was the fourth consecutive year that she was a unanimous first team selection. Blaney and Burke were second team choices in 2008 and Scioscia was a first time honoree. Byers was selected as the league’s co-attack player of the year along with Syracuse’s Katie Rowan. The duo finished 1-2 in league scoring with Byers finishing with 42 points (including 31 goals) in league play with Rowan getting 47.
STREAKY IRISH: Six members of the Notre Dame lineup come into the NCAA Tournament with point-scoring streaks:
Jillian Byers - 19 games (74g, 26a, 100 pts)Shaylyn Blaney - 19 games (40g, 3a, 43 pts)Gina Scioscia - 17 games (45g, 37a, 82 pts)Kailene Abt - 12 games (26g, 7a, 33 pts)Kaitlin Keena - 4 games (8g, 1a, 9 pts)Ansley Stewart - 4 games (6g, 1a, 7 pts)
Byers has 16 games this season with three or more goals while Scioscia and Blaney each has eight with three or more.
RECORD-SETTING DAY: Senior attack standout Jillian Byers set a Notre Dame and BIG EAST single-game record with 12 points in Notre Dame’s 20-5 win over Connecticut on April 18. Byers equaled a career high with seven goals while setting personal bests in assists (5) and points (12) in the win. Byers had two goals and one assist in the first half and then had a hand in nine of Notre Dame’s 10 second-half goals, getting five goals and four assists – an Irish record for points in a half. The previous Notre Dame mark was 11 points and held by Crysti Foote `06, who had nine goals and two assists on Feb. 24, 2006 versus California. The previous BIG EAST record of 11 points in a conference game was held by Kate McHarg of Loyola who had 11 points in a win over Rutgers (3/12/06) and Katie Rowan of Syracuse who did it against Georgetown (4/5/08).
SUPER SOPHOMORES: The Irish have gotten strong play from their sophomore scorers this season. The group of five – Shaylyn Blaney (40g, 3a), Kailene Abt (40g, 8a), Ansley Stewart (29g, 10a), Kaitlin Keena (18g, 12a) and Jackie Doherty (6g, 10a) have accounted for 133 goals and 43 assists for 176 points. The five have 133 of the team’s 292 goals (45.5%), 43 of 137 assists (31.3%) and 176 of 429 points (41.0%) this season.
ABT TO SCORE: Sophomore midfielder Kailene Abt has become a major scoring threat for the Irish in her second season. The Huntington, N.Y., native is third in scoring with career highs in goals (40), assists (8) and points (48). During the BIG EAST Tournament, she had six goals and one assist, including a five-point game (4g, 1a) in the semifinal win over Syracuse. For her play, she was selected to the all-tournament team. Earlier this year, she recorded a career-high six-point game in Notre Dame’s 20-4 win over California, scoring four goals and two assists. Over the last 12 games, Abt has 26 goals and seven assists for 33 points.
SECOND FIDDLE: Junior attack standout Gina Scioscia has become an offensive force for the Irish over the last two seasons as she has surpassed her career high in points (55, set last season) and now has 89 (49g, 40a) on the season to rank second to Jillian Byers. She is currently third in the BIG EAST in scoring with 89 points behind Byers (100) and Syracuse’s Katie Rowan who has 94 points. Her 49 goals put her fourth in the conference while her 40 assists rank second to Rowan’s 50. In the BIG EAST Tournament, Scioscia had four goals and six assists for 10 points, getting two goals and three assists each game. She also recorded the game-winning goal in both games, giving her a team high six on the year. In 2008, Scioscia had 20 goals and 35 assists for 55 points, all career highs at the time. That came after a freshman year that saw her get just eight points on four goals and four assists. The 47-point improvement is the most ever for a Notre Dame player from from one season to the next. On March 17 versus Rutgers, Scioscia had a career-high eight-point game, scoring twice with six assists. The six assists tied a Notre Dame single-game record. On March 29 versus Loyola, she had a career-high six-goal game in the 16-13 win over the Greyhounds. Scioscia has one three-point game, three games with four points, seven games with five points, three with six points, one seven-point game and one with eight this season. Scioscia is 11th among active NCAA players with 79 career assists.
RAPID IMPROVEMENT: As a freshman, Ansley Stewart, now a sophomore, saw action in just two games for the Irish. This season, the Alexandria, Va., native has started all 19 games and ranks fifth in team scoring with 29 goals and 10 assists for 39 points. She teams with senior Jillian Byers (74-26) and junior Gina Scioscia (49-40) for a potent Irish attack trio with 152 goals and 76 assists this season.
SECRET WEAPON: Freshman midfield/attack Maggie Tamasitis (Boyertown, Pa.) continued her strong freshman season with her second three-goal game of the year in the win over Connecticut (4/18). She now has seven games with three or more points on the season. Tamasitis has come off the bench in all 19 games and leads the freshmen class in scoring with 14 goals and 20 assists for 34 points. Her 20 assists are third best on the team while she is sixth in overall scoring. She picked up career-high four-point games in back-to-back wins against Cincinnati and Louisvile (Apr. 3 and 5). Against the Bearcats, Tamasitis had two goals and two assists for four points. Versus the Cardinals, she had a career-high three-goal game with an assist for four points.
A WINNING LEGACY: Notre Dame’s 15 wins this season equal the school record of 15 set in the 2006 season when that Irish squad also was 15-4. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Irish are 53-21 (.716).