April 28, 2004
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IRISH CLOSE OUT BIG EAST SCHEDULE WITH VISIT FROM SYRACUSE: The
Notre Dame women's lacrosse team returns to action on Saturday, May
1, when the Irish play host to the 14th-ranked Syracuse Orangewomen.
Game time at Moose Krause Stadium is set for 1:00 p.m. The game is
the final BIG EAST match up for both teams with second place on the
line in the final conference standings. The game could also have
NCAA tournament at-large bid implications as both squads are battling
for one of the final postseason spots. Notre Dame will be looking to
snap a four-game losing streak that has seen them fall from 10-0
overall to 10-4 on the season and from second in the national polls
to 13th. The Irish enter the game with a 3-2 mark in BIG EAST play.
Notre Dame dropped three games last week in a busy week of action.
The Irish fell 9-5 at #11 Northwestern on April 20. They returned
home for a Friday night tilt on April 23 and lost a 13-12 decision to
#9 Johns Hopkins. On Sunday, April 25, Notre Dame traveled to
Rutgers where the Irish lost another one-goal decision, this time
falling to the Scarlet Knights by a 7-6 score. Syracuse comes into
the week tied for 14th in the country with Yale. The Orange are
coming off a heartbreaking 13-12 four-overtime loss at Cornell on
April 27. Syracuse is 9-4 on the year and 4-1 in BIG EAST play. The
Orange had won two games in a row prior to the Cornell loss, downing
Boston College, 14-11, on April 18 and then Denver, 16-11, in their
final home game of the season on April 23. Following this weekend's
action, the Irish close out the regular season with a home game
versus 11th-ranked Vanderbilt on Saturday, May 8. Game time is 1:00
p.m.
IRISH VERSUS ORANGEWOMEN: The two teams have met six times in the
all-time series with Syracuse holding a 5-1 edge in the first six
games. At South Bend, the series is tied, 1-1. At Syracuse, the
Orange have won all three games. Last year, the two teams met in
Syracuse with the Orange taking a 9-6 decision. Notre Dame's only
win in the series came on April 3, 2002 as the Irish took a 12-7 win
in a game played at the Loftus Center. A Syracuse win on Saturday
gives the Orange a second-place finish in the BIG EAST. An Irish win
would give both teams a 4-2 mark in the BIG EAST with the Irish
taking second place. In the first three seasons of BIG EAST play,
Syracuse has finished second twice with the Irish taking second once
(2002).
HEAD COACH Tracy Coyne: Notre Dame head coach Tracy Coyne is in her
eighth season with the Irish and is the only coach the program has
ever known. Coyne owns a 67-47 (.588) record at Notre Dame and is
181-73 (.712) in her 17-year coaching career. She is 1-5 versus
Syracuse since taking at Notre Dame. In 2003, she led the Irish to
an 8-7 record and a 4-2 mark in the BIG EAST, good for third in the
league standings. In 2002, Coyne led the Irish to their first-ever
NCAA tournament bid as Notre Dame advanced to the quarterfinals
before losing to eventual champion, Princeton, 11-5. 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 as the head coach for the Canadian women's
lacrosse national team. She led the team to the medal round at the
2001 World Cup and will serve as head coach of Team Canada again for
the 2005 World Cup.
STREAKY IRISH: After starting the year with 10 straight wins and 14
straight dating back to last season, the Irish have now lost four
straight games. The losses have come at the hands of fifth-ranked
Georgetown (9-7), 11th-ranked Northwestern (9-5), ninth-ranked Johns
Hopkins (13-12) and at Rutgers (7-6). The four-game losing streak is
the longest for the Irish since a six-game run from March 16 to April
8, 2000. Prior to the losing streak, the Irish were averaging 14.40
goals per game. Over the last four games, the Irish have scored just
30 goals (7.50 per game).
100 AND CLIMBING: Despite the losing streak, senior midfielder
Meredith Simon (Flemington, N.J.) continues her strong season as one
of the nation's premier point producers. In three games last week,
Simon had five goals and five assists for 10 points. She recorded
the 100th goal of her Notre Dame career in the 13-12 loss to Johns
Hopkins, a game she had three goals and three assists in. A first
team all-BIG EAST selection in 2003, Simon joins Danielle Shearer
(130) and Lael O'Shaughnessy (122) as the only Notre Dame players
with 100 or more goals. For the year, Simon now has 40 goals and 20
assists for 60 points. Her 40-goal season makes her just the second
player in program history to score 40 or more goals in a season (the
other is Lael O'Shaughnessy who had 50 goals in 1999). The 60
points make her just the third player to score 60 or more points in a
season (O'Shaughnessy with 69 in 1999 and Shearer with 61 in 2003 are
the others). For her career, Simon is third in goals (103), fourth
in assists (41) and fourth in points (144). She ranks 12th in the
nation with 4.29 points per game and is tied for 20th in assists with
1.43 per contest.
SIMON NAMED TEWAARATON CANDIDATE: Notre Dame senior midfielder,
Meredith Simon (Flemington, N.J.), has been named one of 20 finalists
for the fourth annual Tewaaraton Trophy that will be awarded in June.
Simon leads the Irish in scoring with career highs in goals (40),
assists (20) and points (60). She is the first Notre Dame player
ever to make the list of nominees. Last year, Danielle Shearer '03
was selected to the preseason watch list. The Tewaaraton Trophy is
awarded each year to the top male and female lacrosse players in the
country. In early May, the list of 20 will be cut to five finalists.
Simon is one of three BIG EAST players nominated for the honor as she
is joined by Georgetown's Michi Ellers and Syracuse's Leigh-Ann
Zimmer.
NOTRE DAME-RUTGERS RECAP: Rutgers' Maggie Bopp scored twice in the
final 1:09 of the game to give the Scarlet Knights a
come-from-behind, 7-6 win, versus Notre Dame on April 25 at
Piscataway, N.J. The loss was the second one-goal defeat for the
Irish in a span of three days. Rutgers scored the final three goals
of the game to wipe out a 6-4 Irish lead on the way to the win. Abby
Owen (Sr., Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) paced the Irish attack with two
goals and an assist. Lauren Fischer (Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) added a
pair of goals and Meredith Simon (Sr., Flemington, N.J.) had a goal
and an assist for Notre Dame. The loss extended Notre Dame's losing
streak to four in a row and dropped the Irish to 10-4 overall and 3-2
in BIG EAST play. Two first-half goals by Owen and Fischer and a
single goal by Kassen Delano (Sr., Alexandria, Va.) gave the Irish a
5-3 lead at halftime. Katie Batiuk opened the second half with a
Rutgers goal, but Simon's free-position goal with 14:35 left made it
6-4. Jamie Farewell scored with 11:36 left to make it 6-5. Neither
team would score until the final 1:09 when Bopp scored a pair with
the winner coming with 20 seconds left on the clock. Carol Dixon
(Jr., Pennsauken, N.J.) made seven saves for the Irish and Lyndsey
Feldman had eight for Rutgers on the afternoon.
BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE: In three of their four losses
during the current losing streak, the Irish have scored seven goals
or less. Georgetown started it by holding Notre Dame to seven goals
in a 9-7 loss. Northwestern held the Irish to five in a 9-5 loss and
Rutgers gave up just six goals (one in the second half) in last
Sunday's 7-6 loss in New Jersey.
VERSUS THE BEST: Three of Notre Dame's four losses this season have
come to nationally ranked teams. Prior to the loss to Georgetown
(4/17), the Irish had won six in a row versus the nation's best. The
three-game losing streak versus ranked teams has dropped the Irish to
4-3 this season versus ranked teams. All-time, Notre Dame is 13-31
versus teams that were ranked in the top 20. Among Notre Dame's wins
this season versus ranked teams are victories over #2 Duke and #6
James Madison. Those two wins came against the highest-ranked teams
the Irish have ever beaten. The previous highest-ranked team Notre
Dame beat was Yale (7th-ranked) in 2001 and in 2002, they downed
7th-ranked Syracuse. In 2003, the Irish were 3-7 versus teams ranked
in the top 20.
RECORD-SETTING STREAK: Notre Dame's 14-game winning streak from
4/22/03 to 4/17/04 was the longest in the program's history and
included four games in the 2003 season along with 10 this season.
The previous longest winning streak for the Irish was six games from
3/13/01 to 3/31/01.
GAMES PLAYED LIST: Meredith Simon and Kassen Delano have moved into
the top 10 on Notre Dame's all-time games played list this season
with two more regular season games remaining. For her career, Simon
has now played in 61 career games to rank ninth all-time (the school
record is 63 games played held by six players). Delano has played in
59 career games to rank 10th on the all-time list.
DEFENSIVE STANDOUT: Senior Andrea Kinnik (West Chester, Pa.)
continues her outstanding play for the Irish defense. This season,
Kinnik has already set career highs for ground balls (46) and caused
turnovers (26) as she leads the team in both categories. As a
junior, she had 44 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers. Her 46
ground balls overall are tops in the BIG EAST and in five league
games, she has 18 to be tied for fifth, three behind the league
leaders. Last season, her defensive skills were recognized as she
was named first-team Brine/IWLCA all-Mid-Atlantic Region and
third-team All-America by womenslacrosse.com.
SCORING STREAKS: Meredith Simon has ran her scoring streak to 25
games with four goals and four assists versus Johns Hopkins and
Rutgers. Here are the current active Irish points streaks.
Meredith Simon - 25 games (62g, 27a, 89 pts)
Abby Owen - 3 games (4g, 2a, 6 pts)
Lauren Fischer - 3 games (3g, 1a, 4 pts)
Kassen Delano - 2 games (2g, 0a, 2 pts)
CAREER YEAR: You thought that midfielder Abby Owen had a breakout
season in 2003 when she had 15 goals and 10 assists for 25 points???
Well, in 2004, through the first 14 games of the year, Owen has
already scored 29 goals with nine assists for 38 points (a new career
high). She has four games this season with four points and four
games with three points on the year. She had a career-high four-goal
game versus Stanford on Feb. 29. She was named Inside Lacrosse
Magazine Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 29 and BIG EAST
Offensive Player of the Week for the week ending March 14.
SCORIN' LAUREN: Senior attacker Lauren Fischer has points in 13 of
Notre Dame's 14 games this season. For the year, Fischer has career
highs in goals (23), assists (9) and points (32). Fischer's
three-assist game on March 28 versus Boston College is a career high.
Her four-point versus Ohio State was her second of the season (March
7 vs. Cornell) and the third of her career and is a career high. The
three-goal game versus Ohio State was the third of the season and
fifth of her career. Fischer's previous career highs in goals (18),
assists (6) and points (24) were established last season.
ON THE RIGHT FOOTE: Crysti Foote (Sr., Suffern, N.Y.) has found her
scoring touch with points in eight of her last nine games (15 goals
and five assists for 20 points). On the season, Foote is fourth in
scoring with 19 goals and eight assists for 27 points on the year.
As a freshman, she finished third in scoring with 27 goals and 11
assists for 38 points. Foote played in all 15 games, starting the
final six of the season. In those six games, she racked up 18 goals
and eight assists for 26 points. She ended the year with an
eight-game scoring streak with 22 goals and nine assists for 31
points. Following the season, Foote became the first Notre Dame
women's lacrosse freshman to be named to the Brine/IWLCA
all-Mid-Atlantic region team.
IRISH ON THE NATIONAL SCENE: Notre Dame figures prominently in the
national statistics this week (through games of April 26):
Individuals:
Points per game: Meredith Simon, 12th, 4.29 ppg
Assists/game: Meredith Simon, 20th, 1.43 gpg
GAVG: Carol Dixon, 12th, 8.33 GAVG
Save Pct: Carol Dixon, 20th, .534 save pct.
Team:
Goals per game: 14th, 12.43gpg
Team Defense: 13th, 8.36 opponent gpg
Margin of Victory: 11th, +4.07 gpg
Ground Balls: 10th, 26.29
Caused Turnovers: 8th, 10.93
HIGH-SCORING IRISH: Notre Dame saw its goals per game average fall
to just 12.43 goals per game since the start of the four-game losing
streak. The Irish have scored 174 goals through 14 games this
season. The school record for goals is 200, set during the 1999
season.
IRISH HONORS: The following Notre Dame players have been honored during 2004.
Carol Dixon - BIG EAST co-defensive player of the week (April 12).
BIG EAST co-defensive player of the week (Feb. 29)
Andrea Kinnik - BIG EAST co-defensive player of the week (March 29)
Abby Owen - BIG EAST offensive player of the week (March 14)
Inside Lacrosse Magazine Player of the Week (Feb. 29)
Meredith Simon - BIG EAST offensive player of the week (April 12)
BIG EAST offensive player of the week (March 29)
BIG EAST co-offensive player of the week (March 8)
FIVE FOR BOWERS: Just when you thought that the Irish didn't have
enough goal scorers in the lineup, Jackie Bowers (Jr., Springfield,
Pa.) joined the attack versus Virginia Tech (March 26). All the
junior attack player did was rack up a career-best five goals in the
win. For the weekend versus Virginia Tech and Boston College, Bowers
had six goals and one assist for seven points. On the year, Bowers
has 13 goals and seven assists for 20 points. All are career highs.
Bowers had three goals and one assist for four points in limited
action last season.
NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN: Junior goalkeeper Carol Dixon took over the
reins in goal for the Irish in 2004 from All-American Jen White
('03) and has turned in a strong first season in goal for Notre Dame.
She started with a 10-game winning streak and has been in the top 20
in the nation in goals-against average and save percentage all
season. For the year, Dixon is 10-4 with an 8.33 goals against and a
.534 save percentage. Nationally, she ranks 12th in goals-against
average and 20th in save percentage. Twice this season, Dixon has
been named the BIG EAST co-defensive player of the week (Feb. 29 and
April 12). When the Irish opened the 2004 season at Cal-Berkeley,
Dixon became the first goalkeeper to start a game for the Irish other
than White since the final game of the 2000 season. White started
48 consecutive games for Notre Dame, between 2001-2003. Dixon served
as White's backup the previous two seasons and saw action in five
games last year, playing 121 minutes with a 8.93 goals-against
average and a .571 save percentage. She was 0-0 on the year.
SLAMMING THE DOOR: Through 14 games this season, Notre Dame's
defense has given up just 117 goals for an 8.36 goals-against
average. The best goals against in the program's previous seven
seasons was 7.49 and that came during the 2002 campaign. Only three
teams - Duke and Virginia Tech with 11 goals and Johns Hopkins with
13 - have scored in double figures versus the Irish this season.
GOING ON THE OFFENSIVE: Notre Dame's defense has even joined in on
the goal scoring this season. The Irish defense had a goal and an
assist in the 13-8 win over Ohio University on April 6. Andrea
Kinnik set up one goal and sophomore Kerry Van Shura (Bel Air, Md.)
scored her first collegiate goal in the contest. In nine games this
season, Irish defenders have 12 goals and three assists on the year.
Kristen Gaudreau (Sr., Annapolis, Md.) leads the defense with six
goals and an assist for seven points. Andrea Kinnik has four goals
and two assists while Van Shura and Jess Mikula (Jr., Chester, Md.)
have one goal each.
THE CAPTAINS: Serving as captains for the Notre Dame women's
lacrosse team in 2004 will be seniors Andrea Kinnik and Meredith
Simon. For both players are first-year captains for the Irish.
NEW KIDS: Freshman goalkeeper Katie Linhares (Greenwich, Conn.) saw
her first action in goal for the Irish in the 9-5 loss to
Northwestern. She played 3:28 while Carol Dixon was serving a yellow
card. Linhares made one save on the only shot she faced. Midfielder
Meghan Murphy (Fr., Centennial, Colo.) has stepped right into the
Notre Dame lineup and has played like a veteran through the first 12
games of the season. Murphy had a career-high three goals and four
points in the win over Cornell (Mar. 7), just her third game in an
Irish uniform. For the season she has 10 goals and two assists for
12 points and is seventh on the team in scoring. Fellow freshman
defender Meaghan Fitzpatrick (Farmingdale, N.Y.) made her first
career start versus Connecticut and has seen action in all 12 games
on defense. Sophomore Brittany Fox (So., Annapolis, Md.) scored her
first career goal in the win over Cornell in her second career game.
Junior midfielder Maura Costello (Manhasset, N.Y.) and sophomore
defender Katie Killeen (Manhasset, N.Y.) both saw their first action
for the Irish women's lacrosse team versus Cornell. Kristin Hopson
(Fr., Rosemont, Pa.) saw her first action versus Virginia Tech while
Megan O'Shaughnessy (Fr., Englewood, Colo.) and Kaki Orr (Fr.,
Darien, Conn.) saw their first career action versus Boston College.
THE LONGEST GAME: Notre Dame's overtime win versus California was the
seventh overtime game in the program's history. The Irish are now
3-4 in games that go beyond regulation. On April 13, 2003, Notre
Dame played the longest game in its history, a double-overtime loss
to Stanford (14-13) as the two team's battled for 72 minutes (60
regulation minutes and four three-minute overtime stanzas). The
previous long game came in 2003 versus Duke as the Irish played 71:45
before losing a 10-9 decision. That game ended in sudden-death as
the winning goal was scored with just 15 seconds left in the fourth
three-minute overtime.
CLOSE ONES: The Irish have suffered back-to-back one-goal losses in
their last two games versus Johns Hopkins and Rutgers. For the year,
Notre Dame is 1-2 in one-goal decisions with the win coming in the
season opener at California, 12-11, in overtime. In the program's
eight-year history, the Irish are 7-10 all-time in one-goal games.
During the 2003 season, Notre Dame was 1-3 in one-goal games with two
of the losses coming in back-to-back overtime contests.
GREAT GOALS: Notre Dame ended the 2003 season by setting a school
record for goals in an away game when the Irish scored 22 at #15
Vanderbilt (22-11) in the season finale. The 22-goal outburst broke
the previous road mark of 20 set at Gannon (20-10) and equaled the
school record of 22 set in a 2000 home win over Ohio University
(22-3). The 22 goals were the most scored versus a ranked team,
surpassing the mark of 15 set earlier in the season versus
Connecticut and Georgetown (ot).
FUTURE IRISH: Head coach Tracy Coyne has announced that six players
will join the Irish women's lacrosse squad for the 2004-05 school
year.
PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS: The Irish were picked in BIG EAST
coaches voting to finish third in the BIG EAST this coming season
behind Georgetown and Syracuse. The coaches also named Meredith
Simon and Andrea Kinnik to their preseason all-BIG EAST team. Inside
Lacrosse Magazine ranks the Irish 16th in the nation in their
preseason poll.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Two members of the Notre Dame lacrosse team have
family ties to the program and two others have ties to the men's
lacrosse program. Junior goalkeeper Carol Dixon (Pennsauken, N.J.)
got to play two seasons with her sister, Angela, who graduated in May
of 2003. The duo gave Notre Dame its second set of sisters to play
on the women's lacrosse team, joining Amy and Mara Grace who played
in the first year of the program. Freshman midfield/attack player,
Megan O'Shaughnessy (Englewood, Colo.) is the cousin of Irish scoring
great Lael O'Shaughnessy, a 2001 graduate. Senior Meredith Simon
follows in her brother Eric's footsteps. A 2003 graduate, Eric
served as one of the captains of the 2003 men's lacrosse team while
Meredith is a co-captain of the women's team in 2003. Senior
defender Bridget Higgins (Wilton, Conn.) older brother, Kevin, played
lacrosse at Notre Dame and served as team captain for the 2000
season. Sophomore defender Lena Zentgraf (Charlottesville, Va.) is
the niece of men's lacrosse coach Kevin Corrigan and the
granddaughter of former Notre Dame athletic director Gene Corrigan.
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