June 5, 2009
Notre Dame, Ind. – Three members of Notre Dame’s highly successful 2009 women’s lacrosse team have been selected to play in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches’ Association (IWLCA)/Under Armour North-South Senior All-Star game.
Seniors Shannon Burke (Timonium, Md.), Jillian Byers (Northport, N.Y.) and Erin Goodman (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) are among the 43 Division I seniors selected to play in the game that is part of the IWLCA’s Champions’ Cup Tournament that will be played on Saturday, June 13 at the United Sports Training Center in Downington, Pa. The tournament will feature senior all-star teams from Division I, II and III.
The Division III game, featuring 40 women, will be played at 12:00 noon to open the day’s events. The Division II game with 35 players representing schools from the north and the south will be played at 1:00 p.m. and the Division I game has a 2:00 p.m. start time. The players were nominated by their coaches based on availability and were then selected by virtue of their playing career.
This marks the first time that the Irish have had three players selected to the North-South Senior All-Star game and the Irish trio gives Notre Dame a total of 12 players to have participated in the game since 1999. They will play for the North team that is coached by Boston University’s Liz Robertshaw. Maryland head coach Cathy Reese will lead the South team.
Burke, Byers and Goodman are three of nine BIG EAST players participating in the all-star team. They will be joined on the North team by Bridget Looney of Syracuse and Whitney Michele of Connecticut. Four BIG EAST players will play for the South team. That group includes Jen Heup of Louisville, Colleen O’Keefe of Loyola (Md.), Michelle Poole of Rutgers and Jordan Trautman of Georgetown.
Defensive standout Shannon Burke is one of three Notre Dame players who will play in the North-South Senior All-Star game on June 13.
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Burke was a first team IWLCA All-American and the first Notre Dame defender ever selected first team All-American. One of the BIG EAST’s most dominant defenders over the last two seasons, she was a first team all-BIG EAST selection and a first team all-region pick in 2009. As a junior in 2008, Burke was a second team all-BIG EAST defender and selected second team all-region.
In 2009, Burke served as a team captain and turned in career highs in ground balls (60) and caused turnovers (44), setting a Notre Dame single-season record in that category while her 34 draw controls were fifth on the team. A four-time monogram winner and three-year starter, Burke was selected by her teammates as the winner of the team’s 2002 Award as the team’s top defensive player.
During the season, Burke had 16 games with two or more ground balls and caused turnovers in 17 of 21 games on the season. In the final regular season game of the year versus Cornell, she set career highs with six ground balls and six caused turnovers with the turnovers tying a Notre Dame school record in that category.
For her career, she finished third on the all-time ground ball list with 139, was third in draw controls with 124 and was second, just one off the school record of 107, with 106 career caused turnovers.
Byers capped her brilliant Notre Dame career by being named first team All-American for the 2009 season and along with Burke joins Meredith Simon (2004), Crysti Foote (2006) and Caitlin McKinney (2008) as first team All-Americans at Notre Dame. She also is the first four-time All-American for the Irish as she was selected second team IWLCA All-American in three consecutive years (2006-08).
A finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy and the Honda Sports Award, Byers set a Notre Dame single-season record for goals (83) and draw controls (55) in a season while recording career highs in assists (28), points (111), ground balls (34) and caused turnovers (26). The 83 goals ranked her second in the nation and the 111 points were third best in the country.
A four-time unanimous first team all-BIG EAST selection, she was the BIG EAST co-attack player of the year as she led the conference in goals and was second in points.
For her career, Byers, the 2009 team captain and team Most Valuable Player, is Notre Dame’s all-time leader in games played (76), goals (262), points (336) and draw controls (154). She is the BIG EAST’s all-time leader in goals for a single season (31 in 2009) and career goals with 78. Her 42 points this season are the second-highest single-season total and her 101 career points are the second-best total in BIG EAST history. During her senior year, Byers set the conference’s single-game point mark with 12 (seven goals and five assists) in an April 18 win over Connecticut. In NCAA history, she ranks sixth all-time in goals with 262 and 10th in career points with 336.
Goodman was a three-year starter in goal for the Irish and set numerous goalkeeping records during her Notre Dame career. As a senior, she turned in a 16-5 overall mark with an 11.11 goals-against average and a .426 save percentage while leading the Irish to their first-ever BIG EAST championship. At the BIG EAST, Goodman was an all-tournament selection and the Most Outstanding Player in wins over Georgetown and Syracuse. On March 29, she became the winningest goalkeeper in the program’s history, picking up her 32nd win to move past Jen White `03. She finished her career with 56 consecutive starts in goal and an all-time record of 39-17 for a .696 winning percentage.
For her career, Goodman owns Notre Dame records ranks first for games in a season (21), wins in a season (16), minutes played in a season (1,171:55) and is fourth, sixth and eighth for saves in a single year. Her career records include: games played (59), wins (39), minutes played (3,366:18), second all-time in saves (477) and third in goals-against average (10.61).
During their four seasons at Notre Dame, the trio saw the Irish go 54-22 (.710) and played in three NCAA Tournaments (2006, 2008 and 2009), advancing to the NCAA Final Four in 2006.
They join nine other Notre Dame women’s lacrosse players that have played in the North-South senior all-star game:
1999 – Kerry Callahan; 2001 – Lael O’Shaughnessy; 2002 – Kathryn Lam and Tina Fedarcyk; 2003 – Jen White; 2004 – Andrea Kinnik and Meredith Simon and 2008 – Caitlin McKinney and Becky Ranck.
Notre Dame finished the 2009 season with a 16-5 overall record and was 5-2 in the BIG EAST, good for third place in the conference. The Irish won the conference tournament and advanced to their fifth NCAA appearance in the last eight years, losing in the quarterfinals to North Carolina. The Irish closed the year with their highest ranking ever as they were sixth in both the final IWLCA poll and Inside Lacrosse rankings.