May 28, 2004
Towson, Md. – Three Notre Dame women’s lacrosse players have been named to Inside Lacrosse Magazine’s 2004 All-American teams. Senior attack standout Meredith Simon (Flemington, N.J.) was selected second team All-American while midfielder Abby Owen (Sr., Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) and defender Andrea Kinnik (Sr., West Chester, Pa.) were named third team. This marks the first time in the program’s eight-year history that the Irish have had three players selected to one All-American team.
The Irish led all BIG EAST teams in players named to the Inside Lacrosse All-American teams as a total of six conference players were recognized. Michi Ellers of Georgetown was the lone first team selection and was also the magazine’s defensive player of the year. Georgetown’s Gloria Lozano and Syracuse’s Leigh-Ann Zimmer joined Simon on the second team.
Andrea Kinnik is one of three Notre Dame players named to Inside Lacrosse Magazine’s 2004 All-American team. She was a third team selection.
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Simon joins Kathryn Lam (2002) and Danielle Shearer (2002) as Irish players who were named second team Inside Lacrosse All-Americans during their Irish careers. The senior co-captain saved her best for last in her final year at Notre Dame. She was named the BIG EAST co-attack player of the year after leading the Irish in scoring with a single-season record of 74 points on 46 goals and 28 assists. A four-time BIG EAST offensive player of the week, Simon tied for the league-lead in scoring with 74 points overall and also tied for the league-lead in scoring in BIG EAST games with 29 points. Her 46 goals were second in the conference and her 28 assists were tops among league playmakers. She finished her Notre Dame career with a 28-game scoring streak (68 goals and 35 assists for 103 points). Simon was named Inside Lacrosse player of the week for May 2 after recording a career-high eight points (four goals and four assists) in the 13-11 win over Syracuse. In four seasons as a starter for the Irish, Simon finished third in goals (109), fourth in assists (49) and third in points (158). She finished tied for fourth in ground balls with 123 and tied for third in draw controls with 90. Her 64 career games played are a school record. This marks the first time that Simon has received All-American honors.
Kinnik and Owen join Shearer (2003) as third team Inside Lacrosse All-Americans during their careers. Notre Dame’s top defensive player over the last two seasons, Kinnik led the Irish to the 15th-best goals-against average (8.59) in the nation. She led the Irish in ground balls (56) and caused turnovers (34). Her totals led the BIG EAST in ground balls and were second in the caused turnovers category. Nationally, she was 12th in the country in ground balls with 3.29 per game and tied for 10th with 2.00 per game. She also had four goals and two assists for six points from her defensive spot on the field. For her career, the speedy Kinnik is tied for fourth all-time (with Meredith Simon) with 123 ground balls. Her 63 career caused turnovers rank her fifth on Notre Dame’s all-time list. Kinnik was selected third-team All-American by womenslacrosse.com in 2003.
Abby Owen finished second on the Irish in scoring with 34 goals and 11 assists for 45 points. She was named third team All-American by Inside Lacrosse Magazine.
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Owen, a two-year starter for the Irish, turned in the best season of her Notre Dame career, as she had career highs in goals (34), assists (11) and points (45). The senior midfielder led the Irish with four game-winning goals and also recorded 29 ground balls, 22 caused turnovers and 14 draw controls on the year. She was selected as the BIG EAST midfielder of the year and was a first team all-BIG EAST selection. Her 45 points ranked her sixth overall among BIG EAST scorers and was the ninth-best single-season point total at Notre Dame. In 34 career games, Owen had 49 goals and 21 assists for 70 points. She was Inside Lacrosse player of the week for the week of Feb. 29 when she had seven goals in wins over California and Stanford.
The Irish were 12-5 overall and 4-2 in the BIG EAST during the 2004 season. They finished the season ranked ninth in the nation and saw their season end in a 10-8 NCAA loss at Northwestern.