April 12, 2003
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THE STANFORD GAME: Notre Dame returns home for the start of a five-game homestand that will
start with a visit from the 16th-ranked Stanford Cardinal on Sunday, April 13. Game time is 12:00
noon at Moose Krause Stadium. The Irish will look to get back on the winning track after dropping a
10-7 decision at #3 Duke on Friday afternoon. That loss drops the #15th-ranked Irish to 4-5 overall.
Stanford comes into Sunday's game, fresh off a 9-5 win at #20 Northwestern on Friday afternoon. The
Cardinal come into their game with the Irish with a 9-2 overall record. Notre Dame will next be in
action on Saturday, April 19th when the Irish play host to BIG EAST leading Georgetown. That game
is scheduled for 12:00 noon at Moose Krause Stadium.
IRISH VERSUS CARDINAL: Notre Dame and Stanford meet for the fourth time in the all-time series
with the Irish holding a 3-0 edge in the first three meetings. Notre Dame has beaten Stanford once at
home and twice at Stanford in the series. Last year, the two teams met on March 10 at Stanford with
Notre Dame taking a 10-5 win. Alissa Moser paced the Irish attack with four goals and one assist in
the game. Danielle Shearer (Sr., Hampstead, Md.) scored three goals while Natalie Loftus chipped
in a goal and an assist. Kassen Delano (Jr., Alexandria, Va.) and Kate Marotta added goals in the
win. Jen White (Sr., Annapolis, Md.) made 11 saves in the win that gave the Irish a 2-0 record on
the season.
HEAD COACH TRACY COYNE: Notre Dame head coach Tracy Coyne is in her seventh season with the
Irish and is the only coach the program has ever known. Coyne owns a 53-41 (.564) record at Notre
Dame and is 167-67 (.714) in her 16-year coaching career. She led the Irish to their first-ever NCAA
tournament bid in 2002 and advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion, Princeton,
11-5. Coyne is 3-0 in her coaching career versus Stanford. 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. A 1983 graduate of Ohio University, Coyne has coached on the international level
leading the Canadian women's lacrosse national team to the medal round at the 2001 World Cup in
England.
DUKE RECAP: For the second road game in a row, the Irish fell behind early, and were unable to ever
go in front as they dropped a 10-7 decision at #3 Duke on April 11. The Blue Devils scored three times
in the first seven minutes on the way to a 6-3 halftime lead. Meredith Simon (Jr., Flemington,
N.J.) led Notre Dame with two goals and an assist in the game. Crysti Foote (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) and
Lauren Fischer (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) added a goal and an assist in the game. Danielle Shearer,
Anne Riley (Sr., Marblehead, Mass.) and Abby Owen (Jr., Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) also scored single
goals in the game. The loss was the fifth of the season for the Irish in games versus ranked teams.
Trailing 7-3 in the second half, goals by Owen and Foote cut the lead to 7-5 with goals a minute-and-a-
half apart. Duke got a pair of goals to offset a Simon goal to make it 9-6, before Simon got her
second of the game to make it 9-7. That was as close as Notre Dame would get as the Blue Devils
scored with 41 seconds left for the 10-7 final. Jen White made seven saves in the game for Notre
Dame.
VERSUS THE BEST: Sunday's game versus Stanford will be the fourth consecutive game for the Irish
versus a nationally ranked team. After dropping a 10-7 decision to #3 Duke on Friday (April 11), the
Irish are now 1-5 this season versus top 20 teams. Notre Dame's lone win came versus #19 Connecticut
(15-7 on April 6). The five losses have come to #3 Duke (10-7), #8 Syracuse (9-6), #16 Ohio State (12-
9), #13 Yale (7-6) and #9 Cornell (13-5). All-time versus ranked teams, Notre Dame is 7-25 versus top
20 teams after going 4-5 last season. The highest ranked team the Irish have ever beaten was Yale
(7th-ranked) in 2001 and last season at home when they downed 7th-ranked Syracuse (April 3, 12-7).
TEWAARTON TROPHY CANDIDATE: Senior all-American candidate Danielle Shearer is one of 21
nominees for the Tewaarton Trophy that goes annually to the top player in men and women's lacrosse.
She becomes the first Notre Dame women's player ever nominated for the award. She currently leads
the Irish in scoring with 18 goals and 16 assists for 34 points in nine games. She was the team's top
scorer as a junior with 39 goals and 20 assists for 59 points.
BIG EAST SCORING: Danielle Shearer, Meredith Simon and Eleanor Weille rank 2-3-4 in BIG EAST
scoring after four games this season. Shearer, who leads the Irish in BIG EAST games with nine goals
and 11 assists for 20 points, is just four points behind league leader Leigh Anne Zimmer of Syracuse
who has 18 goals and six assists for 24 points in six games. Simon is third with 11 goasl and two
assists for 13 points and Weille is fourth with six goals and six assists for 12 points. Junior Abby
Owen is sixth in the league with five goals and five assists for 10 points.
ONE STOPPED, ONE STILL GOING: Notre Dame's
leading scorer, Danielle Shearer, was held to
just one goal in the 10-7 Irish loss at Duke on
April 11. That snapped a streak of 19 straight
games that Shearer had scored two or more
points going back to last season. By scoring at
least a point, Shearer extended her point scoring
streak to 30 games, a streak that started on
April 25, 2001 during her sophomore year.
During the streak, Shearer has accumulated 68
goals with 41 assists for 109 points.
SHEAR(ER) SCORER: Senior Danielle Shearer
has been a tough player to stop during her Notre
Dame lacrosse career. With the help of a 30-
game scoring streak, Shearer is also moving in
on the top spots all-time on the Notre Dame
scoring lists. She goes into her game with
Stanford ranked second all-time in goals (113),
third in assists (56) and second in points (169).
The school records in each category are held by
2001 graduate Lael O'Shaughnessy who had
122 goals and 68 assists for 190 career points.
CENTURY MARK: With her third goal of the
game versus Ohio University (3/11), Danielle
Shearer became just the second player in Notre
Dame history to reach 100 goals in her career.
SIMON SAYS: Junior Meredith Simon continues
her hot play with two goals and an assist in
the loss at Duke. Over her last five games, Simon
has 13 goals and four assists for 17 points. She
has collected three or more goals in a game four
times this season. She owns three goal games
versus Connecticut (4/6), Syracuse (4/2) and
Ohio University (3/11). She scored a career-high
four goals and two assists in Notre Dame's
16-13 win at Virginia Tech (March 29). For the
junior, the six-point game was her second this
season with six or more points as she turned in
a seven-point game (three goals and four assists)
in the 19-4 win at Ohio University. Her
previous best coming into this season was a five-point
game (3 goals, 2 assists) in Notre Dame's
NCAA first round win over Ohio State (11-7) in
May of 2003. A clutch scorer late in games a
year ago, Simon is tied for the team lead in
goals with 18 and is in second with assists (10)
and points (28).
SCORING STREAKS: Seven Irish players are in
the midst of scoring streaks going into the game
versus Connecticut:
Danielle Shearer -30 games (68g, 41a, 109 pts)
Meredith Simon - 5 games (13g, 4a, 17 pts)
Crysti Foote - 2 games (4 g, 1a, 5 pts)
Lauren Fischer - 2 games (2g, 2a, 4 pts)
Abby Owen - 2 games (2g, 1a, 3 pts)
Anne Riley - 2 games (2g, 0a, 2 pts)
Kristen Gaudreau - 2 games (1g, 1a, 2 pts)
ON THE RIGHT FOOTE: Freshman Crysti Foote
recorded her second career hat trick with three
goals versus Connecticut in the April 5th, 15-7
win over the Huskies. Her first three-goal game
came on March 11th when she scored three times
in the 19-4 win over Ohio University.
WILY WEILLE: Senior midfielder Eleanor
Weille has had a great deal of success this season
in BIG EAST games. On April 5, she collected
a career-high four assists in the win over
Connecticut. She also has two three-goal games
this season versus BIG EAST teams. She has
scored three goals this season versus Virginia
Tech and Boston College (three goals and two
assists for career-high five-point game). Only
Syracuse has held her off the scoreboard, shutting
her out on April 2 in a 9-6 loss. In four
BIG EAST games this season, Weille has six goals
and six assists for 12 points to rank fourth in
the league in scoring. On the year, she already
has equaled her career-high with eight goals
and has seven assists for 15 points.
BIG EAST CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE
WEEK: Senior Danielle Shearer has been selected
BIG EAST Co-Offensive Player of the Week
twice this season. She was honored by the conference
office on March 17 and March 31 for
her offensive exploits with the Irish.
SCORING MACHINE: Junior midfielder Abby
Owen continues to be a key in the Irish lineup
this season. After playing in just two games in
her first two seasons at Notre Dame, Owen has
made her presence felt in 2003. After being held
scoreless in her first game this season, Owen
has been one of Notre Dame's top scorers with
11 goals and six assists for 17 points over the
last eight contests. That ranks her third on the
Irish in scoring this season. She equaled a career-
best versus Virginia Tech with two goals
and two assists for four points. She did the
same thing in Notre Dame's 13-12 win over Boston
College. Owen picked up her first career
hat trick in the 7-6 loss to Yale (3/18).
TOO MANY GOALS: Through the first eight
games this season, the Irish have given up 12
or more goals four times (Cornell, Boston College,
Ohio State and Virginia Tech). Last season,
the Irish allowed 12 or more goals twice in
18 games - 12 to Ohio State and 17 to Georgetown.
NOTRE DAME IN NATIONAL STATS: As a team,
the Irish are among the top teams in several
categories in the NCAA statistics.
Team Offense - 20th, 11.13 goals per game
Draw Controls - tie for 13th, 11.75 per game
Individually, senior All-American candidate
Danielle Shearer is second in the nation in
assists per game (2.00) and ranks 10th in the
nation with 4.13 points per game.
THE GREAT WHITE WALL: Notre Dame goalkeeper
Jen White has given up just 22 goals
over the last three games (nine at Syracuse,
three versus Connecticut in 42:31 and 10 at
Duke) while making 24 saves in those three
games. That gives her a 8.12 goals-against average
and a .522 save percentage over those
two games. Earlier this season, White had a
career-high 16 saves in Notre Dame's 13-5 loss
at Cornell on March 2nd. Her previous best was
a 15-save performance in a 10-9 Irish loss to
Duke last season (April 12, 2002). In the Cornell
game, White became Notre Dame's all-time save
leader with 314 passing Carrie Marshall ('98-
'01) who had 309 in her Irish career. White
now has 377 saves in her Notre Dame career.
She is also the school's all-time leader in games
played (47) and goals-against average (8.91).
As a junior, White was 13-5 with a 7.49 goals
against average and gave Notre Dame the seventh-
best defense in the nation. A first-team
all-BIG EAST selection, White led the Conference
in goals-against average and save percentage.
She set a BIG EAST record when she lim-ited
Rutgers to just two goals in Notre Dame's
9-2 win on April 28.
FISCHER ON THE ATTACK: Junior attack
standout Lauren Fischer (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
has picked up where she left off last season in
the goal scoring department. Through her first
nine games this sesaon, Fischer has recorded
10 goals on 23 shots for the Irish for a .435
shooting percentage. Her two goals versus Ohio
State (3/25) give her three two-goal games this
season and seven in her career with two or
more goals. She now has 10 goals and two
assists for 12 points in the first nine games.
ONE GOAL LOSSES: Notre Dame's loss to Yale
was its first one-goal loss of the season and
makes the Irish 1-1 on the year in tight games
after beating Boston College 13-12. A year ago,
the Irish were 1-3 in one-goal games including
a 12-11 loss at Ohio State. All-time, the Irish
are 6-6 in one-goal games.
OPENING DAY LOSSES: Notre Dame's 13-5 loss
to Cornell on March 2, marked the first season-opening
loss for the Irish in the seven-year history
of the program. The game was also the
first season opener for Notre Dame versus a
nationally ranked team. The Irish are now 6-1
in season openers.
MULTIPLE POINTS: Several Irish players had
multiple-point games in the win over Ohio University.
Freshman Crysti Foote (Suffern, N.Y.)
scored three goals while Anne Riley (Sr.,
Marblehead, Mass.) had a two-goal game. Senior
attack Angela Dixon (Pennsauken, N.J.)
added a goal and and two assists in the game
while sophomore Jackie Bowers (Springfield,
Pa.) scored the first goal and the first assist of
her career for two points in the win.
IRISH FIRSTS: Several Notre Dame players recorded
"firsts" in the Irish victory at Ohio University.
Besides Crysti Foote (3 goals) and
Jackie Bowers (1g, 1a), midfielder Abby Owen
scored her first collegiate goal. Sophomore
Lindsay Shaffer (Seneca Falls, N.Y.) played
in her first collegiate game and picked up her
first assist. And, freshman Corey Samperton
(Bethesda, Md.) scored her first collegiate goal
in her first game for the Irish. Goalkeeper Carol
Dixon (So., Pennsauken, N.J.) also saw her
first collegiate action playing the final 17 minutes
of the game.
2003 SCHEDULE: Notre Dame's 2003 schedule
features nine games versus teams ranked in the
IWLCA poll. They are: Duke (#3), Georgetown
(#6), Cornell (#7), Syracuse (#8), Ohio State
(#11), Yale (#14), Stanford (#16), Vanderbilt
(#17) and Northwestern (#20). The Irish came
into the season ranked in the top 10, as they
were picked seventh in the IWLCA poll and fifth
by Inside Lacrosse Magazine.
A LOOK AT THE IRISH: Notre Dame returns
seven starters and 11 monogram winners from
its 2002 team. The Irish must replace five four-year
starters including their top three defenders
in Tina Fedarcyk, Maureen Henwood and
Kathryn Lam and midfielders Natalie Loftus and
Alissa Moser. Among Notre Dame's top returnees
are senior midfielder Danielle Shearer, who
is the team's top returning scorer after a 39-
goal, 20-assist campaign last season. Seniors
Kelly McCardell (West Chester, Pa.) and Elizabeth
Knight (Baltimore, Md.) are the leaders
of the defense while Angela Dixon and Lauren
Fischer are the top returnees at attack. All-American
candidate Jen White played all 18
games last season and set school records for
wins (13), goals-against average (7.49) and save
percentage (.545).
RECORD SETTING SEASON: The 2002 women's
lacrosse season will go down as the finest season
in the program's six-year history. Going
into the NCAA quarterfinals at Princeton, the
Irish have set program-bests for wins (13), for
BIG EAST wins (5) and for the highest ranking
(7th) that the program has ever achieved. The
Irish have also set records for lowest goals
against (7.49), save percentage (.545) and
ground balls (516). Notre Dame also won its
first game at home versus a ranked team when
the Irish defeated 7th-ranked Syracuse, 12-7,
on April 3. The Irish also won their first-ever
NCAA tournament game when they defeated
Ohio State on May 9 by an 11-7 score.
NOT WASTING ANY TIME: Freshman Mary
McGrath (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) wasted little time
getting on the scoresheet for the Irish as she
scored her first collegiate goals versus Cornell
with 12:57 left in the first half to tie the game
at 2-2. She scored again in Notre Dame's 19-4
win at Ohio University.
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: Two members
of the Notre Dame women's lacrosse program
have been selected to Inside Lacrosse Magazine's
preseason all-American teams. Midfielder
Danielle Shearer was a first-team selection
while goalkeeper Jen White was chosen to the
second team. Shearer, along with graduated
defender Kathryn Lam were the first two all-Americans
in Notre Dame history last season as
both were chosen to the second team. Shearer
was the BIG EAST midfielder of the year as she
led Notre Dame with 39 goals and 20 assists for
59 points. White was a first-team all-BIG EAST
selection as she set school records for wins (13),
goals-against average (7.49) and save percent-age
(.545) in her junior year.
THE CAPTAINS: The Irish will have three new
players serving as captains this season. Seniors
Elizabeth Knight (Baltimore, Md.), Kelly
McCardell (West Chester, Pa.) and Danielle
Shearer will serve as the team's captains this
season.
NEW ASSISTANTS: Irish head coach Tracy Coyne
added two new assistants to her staff during
the summer. Brooke Crawford, a 1999 gradu-ate
of North Carolina where she was a three-time
all-American on defense. She served as
an assistant last season at George Mason and
prior to that was at the University of Connecticut
for two seasons. Jen Newitt, a 2002 graduate
of Dartmouth where she led the Big Green
in scoring with 39 goals and 18 assists on the
way to all-American honors. Crawford will work
with the defense while Newitt handles the offense.
MORE NEW FACES: Notre Dame added 11 new
faces to its roster with one of its biggest recruiting
classes ever.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Lacrosse runs in the Simon
family as junior Meredith Simon is joined at
Notre Dame by brother, Eric, who is a member
of the Notre Dame men's lacrosse program. The
senior is one of three team captains in the 2003
season. The women's team also includes one
set of sisters as senior attack player Angela
Dixon and sophomore goalkeeper Carol Dixon
are the second set of sisters to play for the Irish.
They join Amy and Mara Grace who were team
members in the first year of the program (1997-
98).
THE LONGEST GAME: Notre Dame's heartbreaking
10-9 loss to 7th-ranked Duke (April 12) in
three overtimes goes down as the longest game
in the history of the women's lacrosse program.
The total time for the game was 71:45 as Duke
got the winning goal with 15 seconds left in
the third overtime period. In that game the
Irish trailed 8-6 and got goals from Maureen
Henwood and Meredith Simon with 1:40 left
to send the game to overtime. Simon's goal came
with 19 seconds left in the game. The Irish
have played three overtime games in their history
and are 2-1 in those games.
