May 5, 2002

Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team received their first-ever NCAA women’s lacrosse tournament bid on Sunday evening and will play that first-round game on Thursday, May 9 at 4:00 p.m. versus the Ohio State Buckeyes at Moose Krause Stadium.

Notre Dame’s women’s lacrosse program, now in its sixth season, turned in its best year ever with a 12-4 overall record and a second-place finish in the BIG EAST. Ohio State finished the season with an 11-4 overall record and tied for second in the American Lacrosse Conference with a 4-2 record.

Irish head coach Tracy Coyne pointed out that this was the goal of the program when she got the program started in the 1996-97 school year.

“This has been our goal since the beginning,” said Coyne. “I always thought was possible because of the support we received from the university. I’m really happy for the players, especially the seniors who took a chance on us four years ago. They made a decision to come here when we weren’t even on the map. This is a great reward for them.”

Notre Dame and Ohio State have already met once this season on April 9th in Columbus with the Buckeyes taking a 12-11 win. The two teams have met six times in the all-time series with Ohio State having the 4-2 edge.

Coyne and her team look forward to hosting their first-ever NCAA game versus Ohio State.

“I think its great for women’s lacrosse in the Midwest and the game itself that both schools are in the tournament. It really shows how much the sport is growing,” says Coyne.

Tickets for Thurdsay’s NCAA tournament game are $3.00 for adults and $1.00 for students with school ID and for children 12 and under. For ticket information call the Notre Dame ticket office at (574) 631-7356.

2002 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Tournament


1. * Georgetown (14-1) vs. Lafayette (13-6)
* Duke (9-7) vs. Vanderbilt (10-5)
4. * Cornell (14-1) vs. Syracuse (10-5)
* Loyola (Md.) (15-3) vs. Maryland (10-9)
2. * Princeton (15-1) vs. LeMoyne (10-7)
* Notre Dame (12-4) vs. Ohio State (11-4)
3. * North Carolina (15-2) vs. Maryland-Balt. Co. (12-4)
* Virginia (14-3) vs. Temple (14-4)