June 10, 2008
Notre Dame, Ind. – Senior Notre Dame women’s lacrosse players Caitlin McKinney (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) and Becky Ranck (Radnor, Pa.) have been selected to play in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches’ Association North-South Senior All-Star Game. The game will be played as part of the IWLCA Champions’ Cup and will be held on Saturday, June 14 at the United Sports Training Center in Downington, Pa. Players were nominated by their coaches based on availability and were then selected by virtue of their playing career.
McKinney and Ranck become the first Notre Dame players to play in the North-South game since 2004 when Andrea Kinnik `04 and Meredith Simon `04 represented the Irish. In all, a total of nine Notre Dame players have participated in the game since 1999.
The two Irish players will play on the North squad that will be coached by Syracuse head coach Gary Gait and his assistant, John Battaglino. The South team will be led by George Mason head coach Amy Bokker and her assistant, Liz Schaffner.
McKinney is the lone first team IWLCA All-American on the North team that features Ranck and four other BIG EAST players – Syracuse defender Christina Gibson and Loyola players Alicyn Brunnett, Kate Fillippelli and Kristen Stone.
McKinney closed out her Notre Dame career in 2008, finishing second on the team in scoring with 38 goals and 25 assists for 63 points. A four-time all-BIG EAST selection, she was named the conference’s midfielder of the year and was a unanimous first team all-BIG EAST selection for the third consecutive season. McKinney finished her career as Notre Dame’s all-time assist leader with 80 and is second in points (232) and third in goals (152). A finalist for the 2008 Tewaaraton Trophy, McKinney was named a first team IWLCA All-American this season, making her the third first team All-American in the program’s history. She, along with teammate Jillian Byers (Sr., Northport, N.Y.), also becomes the first three-time All-Americans in Notre Dame women’s lacrosse history. Selected to the BIG EAST all-tournament team in 2008, McKinney owns the longest point streak in school history as she scored in 51 consecutive games from April 24, 2005 to April 9, 2008. McKinney was selected as a BIG EAST Aeropostale Scholar-Athlete Award winner for 2007-08 and captured Notre Dame’s Francis Patrick O’Connor Award that goes to the senior student-athlete who best exemplifies the true spirit of Notre Dame.
Ranck was a three-year starter for the Irish and the leader of Notre Dame’s defense. A second team all-BIG EAST selection, Ranck posted career highs with 30 ground balls and 29 caused turnovers, finishing tied for third and second in each category respectively. She closed out her career at Notre Dame ranked second on the all-time caused turnover list with 83 for her career. A team captain in 2008 along with McKinney, she was a respected team leader and a steady performer during her Irish career.
Besides Kinnik and Simon in 2004, five other Notre Dame women’s lacrosse players have played in the North-South game: 1999 – Kerry Callahan; 2001 – Lael O’Shaughnessy; 2002 – Kathryn Lam and Tina Fedarcyk and 2003 – Jen White.
Notre Dame finished the 2008 season with a 12-7 overall record and was 4-1 in the BIG EAST, good for second place in the conference. The Irish advanced to their fourth NCAA appearance in the last seven years, losing in the first round to Northwestern on May 12. The Irish closed the year ranked 12th in both the IWLCA poll and Inside Lacrosse rankings.