April 5, 2003
Notre Dame, Ind. – Tracy Coyne’s 15th-ranked women’s lacrosse team went into Saturday’s BIG EAST home game with 19th-ranked Connecticut looking for a 60-minute effort to get back on the winning track after dropping three of its last four games.
Playing indoors at the Loftus Center, Coyne got a strong effort from her team as the Irish got goals from 11 different players and strong goalkeeping from senior All-American candidate Jen White (Sr., Annapolis, Md.) as they rolled to a 15-7 win over the Huskies.
Senior All-American Danielle Shearer (Hampstead, Md.) paced the Irish attack with a goal and four assists for five points while Crysti Foote (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) and Meredith Simon (Flemington, N.J.) each scored three goals in the win. The key to the Irish victory was jumping out to a 7-1 halftime lead.
“This was a big win for us. I really expected a close game with Connecticut,” said Irish head coach Tracy Coyne.
“We really got off to a strong start. We came at them hard in the opening minutes of the game and that really set the tone for us. Our shooting was on early and that helped us build the lead.”
The Irish took a 4-0 lead on goals by Simon, Kelly McCardell (Sr., West Chester, Pa.), Anne Riley (Sr., Marblehead, Mass.) and Shearer scoring goals. After a free-position goal by UConn’s Karianne Lauri cut the lead to 4-1, the Irish ran off the final three goals of the half as Foote scored twice and Lauren Fischer (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) got her only goal of the game. Shearer contributed three assists in the half and Eleanor Weille (Sr., Garden City, N.Y.) picked up two of her four assists in the game.
Foote completed her hat trick just 17 seconds into the second half to make it 8-1. Heather Levins got the Huskies on the board just 31 seconds later (29:12) but the Irish answered with a free-position goal from Kristen Gaudreau (Jr., Annapolis, Md.) and Simon’s second goal of the game at 22:13 to make it 10-2.
UConn cut the lead to 10-3 when Jacqui Hamilton scored with 17:29 left in the game. With the game well in hand, Coyne pulled White from the Irish goal to give sophomore Caroline Dixon (Pennsauken, N.J) playing time.
“We really got a big game from Jen White in goal today. She was strong early in the game and may have played her best game this season,” said Coyne.
The Huskies scored four of the next six goals, to cut the lead to 12-7, but Abby Owen (Jr., Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.), Mary McGrath (Fr., Bryn Mawr, Pa.) and Simon closed the scoring for the 15-7 win.
Shearer’s five-point game extends her scoring streak to 29 games dating back to April 25, 2001. On this day, the Irish goal-scoring leader became a playmaker with her four assists.
“Danielle (Shearer) did a great job of opening things up offensively for us,” said Coyne.
“She handled their double-teams and found the open shooter all day. When she does that, she really opens our entire offense.”
The win improved Notre Dame to 4-4 overall and 3-1 in the BIG EAST. Connecticut falls to 5-3 on the year and 0-2 in BIG EAST play. The win was also the first of the season for the Irish versus a ranked team as they had dropped their first four games versus ranked teams this season.
White finished the game with five saves while Dixon made two for the Irish. UConn’s April Pollock gave up the first six Irish goals, making four saves. Jennifer Wong played the final 32:27 for the Huskies and gave up nine goals while making seven saves.
Notre Dame is next in action on Friday, April 11 when the Irish travel to Duke to face the Blue Devils in a 4:00 p.m. game in Raliegh, N.C.
GAME SUMMARY
First-Half ScoringTeam Time Score Goal AssistND 29:05 1-0 Meredith SimonND 21:31 2-0 Kelly McCardell Eleanor WeilleND 18:46 3-0 Anne Riley Danielle ShearerND 16:04 4-0 Danielle ShearerUC 12:59 4-1 * Karianne LauriND 9:53 5-1 Crysti Foote Danielle Shearer (2)ND 2:27 6-1 Lauren Fischer Danielle Shearer (3)ND 1:34 7-1 Crysti Foote (2) Eleanor Weille (2)
Second-Half ScoringTeam Time Score Goal AssistND 29:43 8-1 Crysti Foote (3) Lauren FischerUC 29:12 8-2 Heather LevinsND 22:58 9-2 * Kristen GaudreauND 22:13 10-2 Meredith Simon (2) Abby OwenUC 17:29 10-3 Jacqui HamiltonND 16:35 11-3 Angela Dixon Danielle Shearer (4)UC 12:07 11-4 Heather Bliss Heather McHughND 9:01 12-4 Jackie Bowers Mary McGrathUC 7:31 12-5 * Tracy MullaneyUC 7:16 12-6 Heather McHugh Tracy MullaneyUC 6:24 12-7 Tanya KotowiczND 5:04 13-7 Abby OwenND 3:42 14-7 Mary McGrath Eleanor Weille (3)ND 0:23 15-7 Meredith Simon (3) Eleanor Weille (4)
* indicates free position goal
Scoring: 1st 2nd FinalConnecticut (5-3, 0-2) 1 6 7Notre Dame (4-4, 3-1) 7 8 15
GoalkeepersConnecticut: April Pollock (27:33 minutes, 6 goals against, 4 saves) Jennifer Wong (32:27 minutes, 9 goals against, 7 saves)ND: Jen White (42:31 minutes, 3 goals against; 5 saves) Carol Dixon (17:29 minutes, 4 goals against, 2 saves
Shots on GoalUC 19ND 31
Free Position ShotsUC 2 of 2ND 1 of 3
Ground BallsUC 19ND 19
Draw ControlsUC 13ND 11