Feb. 18, 2009
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format 
• The Game: #11 Notre Dame (1-0) vs #1/#1 Northwestern (2-0)
• Date/Time/Site: Friday, Feb., 20, 2009 • 7:00 p.m. • Loftus Sports Center • Notre Dame, Ind.
• The Game: #11 Notre Dame (1-0) vs Ohio State (2-0)
• Date/Time/Site: Sunday, Feb., 22, 2008 • 1:00 p.m. • Loftus Sports Center • Notre Dame, Ind.
• All Notre Dame home women’s lacrosse games can be seen live via video streaming at und.com; follow the Irish via GameTracker on und.com.
SEASON NO. 13 FOR THE IRISH: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team opens the home portion of the 2009 schedule this weekend with a pair of home games. On Fri., Feb. 20, the Irish will face the nation’s top-ranked team, the Northwestern Wildcats, in a 7:00 p.m. game at the Loftus Center. On Sunday afternoon, Feb. 22, the Ohio State Buckeyes visit the Loftus Center for a 1:00 p.m. game. Notre Dame opened the regular season on Sat., Feb. 14 with a 22-7 win at Duquesne University. The Irish were 12-7 last season with a 4-1 record in the BIG EAST. Northwestern is 2-0 in the new year with wins over Denver and Duquesne (20-6) on Tuesday afternoon in Pittsburgh, Pa. A year ago, the Wildcats were 21-1 overall and won their fourth consecutive NCAA championship. They knocked off Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA tournament last May. Ohio State has also opened the season with a 2-0 mark, winning games at American and George Washington. Last season, the Buckeyes were 10-8. Both games this weekend will feature live video streaming and can be seen on the Notre Dame website at und.com.
THE IRISH ALL-TIME: This weekend’s games are games two and three of the 13th season in the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse program’s history. The Irish (1-0 this year) come into the weekend with a 111-77 (.590) all-time record. That includes a 54-27 (.667) home mark and a 45-43 (.511) road mark. Notre Dame is 12-7 all-time on neutral fields. The win at Duquesne gives the Irish an 11-2 mark in season-opening games.
HEAD COACH Tracy Coyne: Tracy Coyne is in her 13th season at Notre Dame and her 22nd year in collegiate lacrosse. Coyne brings a 225-103 (.686) career record into the weekend against Northwestern and Ohio State. On Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008, she recorded her 100th career win at Notre Dame with a 16-4 win over Duquesne. As the only head coach in the Notre Dame program’s history, Coyne is 111-77 (.590). 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 four NCAA tournament appearances (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008) in the last seven seasons, including the school’s first-ever NCAA finals appearance in 2006. In her first 22 years of coaching, Coyne was 23-5 in two seasons at Denison (1988-89), 91-21 in seven years at Roanoke (1990-96) and 111-77 in this, her 13th season 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 2-7 all-time against Northwestern and 7-6 in her career against Ohio State.
NOTRE DAME VERSUS NORTHWESTERN: The Irish and the Wildcats have met nine times in the all-time series with Northwestern holding a 7-2 edge in the games played. At Notre Dame, the Irish are 1-2 versus their Midwestern neighbors. Last season, the two teams met twice, once in the regular season and once in the NCAA Tournament. On April 9, 2008, the teams met at Lakeside Field in Evanston, Ill., with the Wildcats taking a 16-2 victory. Just over a month later, on May 9, the two teams were back on the Northwestern campus, where the Irish dropped a 15-7 decision to end their season. The last Irish win at home against Northwestern came on April 26, 2003, a 13-9 Notre Dame win.
IRISH VERSUS THE BUCKEYES: Notre Dame and Ohio State have faced each other 13 times in the all-time series with the Irish owning a 7-6 edge to date. At Notre Dame, the Irish are 3-4 against the Buckeyes. The teams met last year in Columbus, Ohio on Feb. 24, with Notre Dame taking a 14-11 decision. The Irish have won the last three meetings between the two schools and their last win at home came on March 21, 2007, a 16-9 victory.
DUQUESNE RECAP: The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team got the 2009 season off to a fast start with a 22-7 win at Duquesne University on Feb. 14. Junior Gina Scioscia (Summit, N.J.) led the Irish in scoring with a seven-point game (4g, 3a). Sophomore Shaylyn Blaney (Stony Brook, N.Y.) also had four goals as 11 different players got on the scoresheet versus the Dukes. Three players had three goals, led by sophomore Ansley Stewart (Alexandria, Va.) who had three goals and one assist in her first career start. Jillian Byers (Sr., Northport, N.Y.) and Kailene Abt (Huntington, N.Y.) chipped in three goals in the win. Adding multi-point games were Maggie Tamasitis (Fr., Boyertown, Pa.) with a goal and two assists for three points while Jackie Doherty (So., Ellicott City, Md.), Kaitlin Keena (So., Vienna, Va.) and Shannon Burke (Sr., Timonium, Md.) had a goal and an assist. Sophomore Meredith Locasto (Pittsburgh, Pa.) scored her first collegiate goal for the final Irish marker of the game. Senior goalkeeper Erin Goodman (Cortlandt Park, Md.) played 47 minutes and made five saves, while giving up three goals. Junior Amy Winik (Freehold, N.J.) played 13 minutes, allowing four goals with two saves in the game.
IRISH FIRSTS: Three Notre Dame players recorded the first goals of their Irish careers in the win over Duquesne. Sophomore Ansley Stewart, who played in two games as a freshman, made her first career start versus the Dukes and scored three goals with one assist for four points from her spot on attack. Freshman Maggie Tamasitis came off the bench to pick up her first career goal and first multi-point game as she had a goal and two assists for three points in her collegiate debut. Sophomore Meredith Locasto, playing in front of a hometown crowd, picked up the first goal of her career in the win. She had played in just two games as a freshman. Joining Stewart in making her first start was defender Lauren Fenlon (So., Dayton, Md.) who had three ground balls and a caused turnover against Duquesne. Last season, she played in nine games off the Notre Dame bench. Also seeing their first collegiate action in the season opener were freshmen Megan Sullivan (Winchester, Mass.) and Kelly Driscoll (Andover, Mass.).
CAREER HIGH: Junior attack Gina Scioscia set a career high with four goals in the Duquesne game and then equaled a career best with seven points as she netted four goals and added three assists against the Dukes. The talented playmaker had a seven-point game last season against Rutgers with two goals and five assists. As a sophomore, Scioscia had 20 goals and 35 assists to finish third on the team with 55 points. She owns the biggest increase in points ever at Notre Dame as she moved from eight points as a freshman to 55 last season for a 47-point increase.
THE PLAYMAKER: Gina Scioscia finished her sophomore season with 35 assists, the second highest single-season total in the program’s history. In just her third season, she already rankes eighth on the school’s all-time assist list with 42.
Single Season Assists1. Crysti Foote (2006) 402. Gina Scioscia (2008) 353. Kerry Callahan (1999) 324. Meredith Simon (2004) 28 Lael O'Shaughnessy (2001) 286. Danielle Shearer (2003) 267. Jillian Byers (2006) 248. Caitlin McKinney (2006) 22 Lena Zentgraf (2007) 2210. Caitlin McKinney (2008) 22 Caitlin McKinney (2007) 21
MIDFIELD MASTER: Sophomore midfielder Shaylyn Blaney wasted little time getting her second season off to a fast start, scoring four goals in the season-opening win over Duquesne. She got her career off to a good start as a freshman in 2008, scoring 43 goals with nine assists for 52 points. That was the second best total for a Notre Dame freshman, trailing just Jill Byers 78-point campaign (52g, 24a) in 2006. Her 43 goals were the eighth best single-season output for the irish.
Irish Rookie Leaders1. Jillian Byers (2006) 54-24-782. Shaylyn Blaney (2008) 43-9-523. Courtney Calabrese (1998) 38-3-41 Lael O'Shaughnessy (1998) 27-14-415. Caitlin McKinney (2005) 28-12-406. Crysti Foote (2003) 27-11-38
SUPREME SOPHS: A pair of sophomores had who saw regular action last season had the best games of their young careers versus Duquesne. Midfielder Kailene Abt scored a career-high three goals and three points in the win. Her previous bests were one goal and one point games in 2008. Fellow midfielder Jackie Doherty had a pair of points on one goal and one assist for a career high in points.
QUICK ON THE DRAW: Notre Dame has three players who will be key players in winning draws this season. Last year seniors Jillian Byers (52) and Shannon Burke (51) broke the Irish record for draws (50, set by Kaki Orr `08 in 2008). Byers goes into this season ranked fourth all-time in draws with 99 for her career while Burke is tied for seventh with 90. Joining the group is sophomore Kailene Abt who had 20 draw controls as a freshman last season off the bench.
RECORDS WATCH: Senior Jillian Byers will continue her assault on the Notre Dame record books this spring. With three goals in the opening game at Duquesne, here’s where she ranks in goals, assists and points for the Irish.
<>Goals 1. Jillian Byers (2006- ) 182 2. Crysti Foote (2003-06) 161 3. Caitlin McKinney (2005- ) 152 4. Danielle Shearer (2000-03) 130 5. Lael O’Shaughnessy (1998-01) 122 6. Meredith Simon (2001-04) 109 7. Kerry Callahan (1997-99) 83 8. Natalie Loftus (1999-02) 76 9. Courtney Calabrese (1998-99) 69 10. Alissa Moser (1999-02) 67
Assists 1. Caitlin McKinney (2005-08) 80 2. Crysti Foote (2003-06) 76 3. Lael O’Shaughnessy (1998-01) 68 4. Danielle Shearer (2000-03) 66 5. Kerry Callahan (1997-99) 63 6. Meredith Simon (2001-04) 497. Jillian Byers (2006- ) 46 8. Gina Scioscia (2007-) 42 9. Heather Ferguson (2005-08) 35 10. Natalie Loftus (1999-02) 33
Points 1. Crysti Foote (2003-06) 237 2. Caitlin McKinney (2005-08) 2323. Jillian Byers (2006- ) 228 4. Danielle Shearer (2000-03) 196 5. Lael O’Shaughnessy (1998-01) 190 6. Meredith Simon (2001-04) 158 7. Kerry Callahan (1997-99) 146 8. Natalie Loftus (1999-02) 109 9. Lauren Fischer (2001-04) 85 Alissa Moser (1999-02) 85
MAKING THE STOPS: Senior goalkeeper Erin Goodman won her 24th career game in the win against Duquesne while making her 37th consecutive start since the start of the 2007 season. Goodman comes into her senior year ranked among the top goalkeepers at Notre Dame in several different categories.
Single SeasonGP - t1st (19) - 2008Wins - t3rd (12) - 2008Minutes - 1st (1,117:21) - 2008Saves - 4th (172) - 2008SV% - 9th (.454) - 2008GAVG - 7th (10.74) - 2008
CareerGP - 3rd (37)Wins - 3rd (24)Minutes - 3rd (2241:23)Saves - 3rd (316)GAVG - 3rd (9.96)
CAPTAINS: Seniors Shannon Burke (Timonium, Md.) and Jillian Byers (Northport, N.Y.) have been selected team captains for the 2009 season. Burke leads the Notre Dame defense and is coming off her best season ever as she had eight goals and three assists for 11 points while finishing second on the team in ground balls (33) and draw controls (51) and leading the team with 32 caused turnovers. She was a second team all-BIG EAST selection and is a preseason all-BIG EAST choice this year. Byers is a three-time, second-team All-American and has been a unanimous first team all-BIG EAST selection in each of her first three years. She led the Irish with 67 goals and 14 assists for 81 points last season and set a Notre Dame record with 52 draw controls. She is the school’s all-time goal scoring leader with 182 and is seventh in assists and third in points all-time.
DOUBLE-DIGIT WINS: With 12 wins during the 2008 season, the Irish ran their streak of double-digit win seasons to three in a row for the first time in the program’s 13-year history. Notre Dame had 15 wins in 2006, 11 in 2007 and 12 last year. Over the last three seasons, the Irish are 38-17 (.691) record.