April 17, 2003
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- Notre Dame will look to snap two-game losing streak.
- Irish are 1-6 this season versus nationally ranked teams.
- Notre Dame plays five of its last six games at home.
THE GEORGETOWN GAME: The Irish will look to get back on the winning track this weekend, but it won’t be easy as Notre Dame plays host to the fifth-ranked Georgetown Hoyas on Saturday, April 19 in a 12:00 noon contest. The Irish are in the midst of a two-game losing streak after losses last week to third-ranked Duke (10-7) and a heartbreaking double-overtime loss to 16th-ranked Stanford (14-13) on Sunday (April 13). The two losses dropped Notre Dame to 4-6 on the year (the Irish are 3-1 in BIG EAST play) and 16th in the most recent IWLCA Poll. Georgetown comes into the game with a 9-3 overall record and a 4-0 mark in BIG EAST play. Georgetown is coming off an 11-6 win at Boston College last Sunday. The Hoyas have one BIG EAST game left with Connecticut while the Irish will host Rutgers on April 27. Notre Dame’s lone BIG EAST lost came at Syracuse, while the Hoyas beat Syracuse on March 15. Following Sunday’s game, the Irish continue their five-game homestand with a visit from Davidson. That game is on Tuesday, April 22 and will begin at 4:00 p.m. at Moose Krause Stadium.
IRISH VERSUS HOYAS: Notre Dame and Georgetown meet for the fourth time in the all-time history of the series. The Hoyas hold a 3-0 edge in the first three contests. At Moose Krause Stadium, the Hoyas are 1-0 and in Washington, D.C., they own a 2-0 advantage. Last season, at Georgetown, the Hoyas handed the Irish a 17-8 loss, the only loss for the Irish in BIG EAST play in 2002. Danielle Shearer (Sr., Hampstead, Md.) led the Notre Dame attack in that game with three goals and an assist for four points. Kassen Delano (Jr., Alexandria, Va.) had a goal and an assist in the game while Eleanor Weille (Sr., Garden City, N.Y.) scored a goal among the returning players. Jen White (Sr., Annapolis, Md.) gave up all 17 goals and made seven saves in Notre Dame’s biggest loss of 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 53-42 (.558) record at Notre Dame and is 167-68 (.711) 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 0-3 in her coaching career versus Georgetown. 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.
DOUBLE-OVERTIME THRILLER: The Irish dropped a heartbreaking 14-13 double-overtime decision to 16th-ranked Stanford in Notre Dame’s last game on April 13. The Irish were led offensively by senior Angela Dixon (Pennsauken, N.J.) who scored three goals and Danielle Shearer who had two goals and two assists. Lauren Fischer (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.), Crysti Foote (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) and Meredith Simon (Jr., Flemington, N.J.) each had two goals for Notre Dame. The Irish fell behind early, trailing 3-0 just 5:28 into the game before the offense got into gear. Two goals by Shearer and one by Fischer in a span of 32 seconds tied the game at 3-3. Two goals by Stanford put the Cardinal ahead 5-3, but again the Irish roared back to take the lead 7-6 after goals by Anne Riley (Sr., Marblehead, Mass.), Simon and Dixon. Stanford scored with 10 seconds left in the half to tie the game 7-7. The Irish took the lead in the second half on two goals by Dixon and one each from Fischer and Simon only to see the Cardinal score with 1:32 left in the second to tie the game at 11-11. In overtime, Foote scored her second goal of the game and after Stanford tied it 12-12, Abby Owen (Jr., Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) scored her lone goal to put the Irish ahead 13-12 with 2:03 left. The Irish gained control of the draw but turned it over with 40 seconds left and Stanford tied the game at 13-13 with just 18 seconds left. In the second overtime, the Cardinal got the game winner with 2:35 left as Kelsey Twist got her fourth goal of the game.
VERSUS THE BEST: Saturday’s game with Georgetown will be the fifth consecutive game for the Irish versus a ranked opponent and the eighth on the season. The Irish are 1-6 in their first seven games this season against nationally ranked teams. The Irish are 1-3 in the first three games of the current five-game run having lost to #16 Stanford (14-13 in 2ot) , #3 Duke (10-7) and #8 Syracuse (9-6) while defeating #19 Connecticut (15-7). Notre Dame has also lost to #16 Ohio State (12-9), #13 Yale (7-6) and #9 Cornell (13-5). All-time versus ranked teams, Notre Dame is 7-26 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).
LONGEST GAME: Notre Dame’s double-overtime loss to Stanford becomes the longest game in Notre Dame history as the team’s played a total of 72 minutes (60 regulation minutes and four three-minute overtime stanzas). The previous longest game came last season versus Duke as the Irish played 71:45 before losing a 10-9 decision. That game ended in sudden-death with the winning goal coming with just 15 seconds left in the fourth three-minute overtime. Notre Dame is now 2-2 all-time in overtime games.
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 20 goals and 18 assists for 38 points in ten 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 (Sr., Garden City, N.Y.) 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. She got back on track with a four-point game versus Stanford. She also extended her point scoring streak to 31 games, a streak that started on April 25, 2001 during her sophomore year. During the streak, Shearer has accumulated 70 goals with 43 assists for 113 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 31-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 Georgetown ranked second all-time in goals (115), third in assists (58) and second in points (173). 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.
SCORING STREAKS: Several Irish players take scoring streaks into the Georgetown game.
Danielle Shearer -31 games (70g, 43a, 113 pts)
Meredith Simon – 6 games (15g, 4a, 19 pts)
Crysti Foote – 3 games (6 g, 1a, 7 pts)
Lauren Fischer – 3 games (4g, 3a, 7 pts)
Abby Owen – 3 games (3g, 1a, 4 pts)
Anne Riley – 3 games (3g, 1a, 4 pts)
SIMON SAYS: Junior Meredith Simon continues her strong play this season after her two-goal game with Stanford. Over her last five games, Simon has 15 goals and four assists for 19 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 20 and is in second with assists (10) and points (30).
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. Foote made her first career start versus Stanford, scoring two goals, including one in overtime.
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 12 goals and six assists for 18 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 10 games this season, the Irish have given up 10 or more goals six times (Cornell, Boston College, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Duke and Stanford). Last season, the Irish allowed 10 or more goals five times in 18 games.
NOTRE DAME IN NATIONAL STATS: Notre Dame goes into the Georgetown game ranked in one team national category while All-American Danielle Shearer is among the national leaders in two categories. As a team, the Irish are 11th in draw controls (11.9 per game). Shearer is 15th in points per game (3.8) and sixth in assists (1.80) per game.
ONE GOAL LOSSES: The one-goal loss to Stanford was the second of the season for the Irish (Yale was the other) and gives Notre Dame a 1-2 record this season in one-goal games. The Irish defeated Boston College 13-12 earlier this season for a one-goal win. 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 6-7 in one-goal games.
KINNIK FOR THE DEFENSE: Junior Andrea Kinnik (West Chester, Pa.) has become a key player on the Irish defense this season. She recorded a career-high six ground balls in the loss at Duke (April 11). For the year, she leads the Irish with 25 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers. She has also come up with 10 draw controls this season.
THE GREAT WHITE WALL: Notre Dame goalkeeper Jen White struggled versus Stanford, giving up five first-half goals in the game. She was lifted in favor of freshman Carol Dixon (So., Pennsauken, N.J.) in the first half and then returned to play in the second stanza. She finished the game giving up nine goals with five saves in 42:29 of action. 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 382 saves in her Notre Dame career. She is also the school’s all-time leader in games played (48) and goals-against average (8.98). 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 limited 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 10 games this sesaon, Fischer has recorded 12 goals on 27 shots for the Irish for a .444 shooting percentage. Her two goals versus Stanford (4/13) give her four two-goal games this season and eight in her career with two or more goals. She now has 12 goals and three assists for 15 points in the first 10 games.
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 (#5), Ohio State (#9), Syracuse (#11), Cornell (#12), Yale (#13), Stanford (#15), Vanderbilt (#17) and Rutgers (#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.
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. She now has four goals and two assists on the season.
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 percentage (.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 graduate 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).
TEAM USA: Notre Dame is represented on the U.S. National Developmental Team by four players. Current Irish standout Danielle Shearer is the only active team member on the squad. She is joined by defender Kathryn Lam (’02) who is a two-year member of the team. Current Irish assistant coaches, Brooke Crawford and Jen Newitt, are also team members.