Dec. 17, 2010
Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame women’s lacrosse coach Tracy Coyne has announced the 2011 women’s lacrosse schedule for the upcoming spring season.
As usual, Coyne’s squad will play an ambitious schedule that features nine teams that finished the 2010 season ranked in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches’ Association (IWLCA) top 20. Among those nine are six teams that advanced to the 2010 NCAA Tournament, including five-time national champion, Northwestern, who lost in the title game to Maryland.
Eight of Notre Dame’s contests will come against teams from the nine-team BIG EAST Conference on the way to the 2011 BIG EAST Tournament that will be hosted by Georgetown in Washington, D.C. from May 5-7, 2011.
“We can’t wait for the season to begin,” said Coyne who is in her 15th season as the only coach the program has ever had.
“Our goal is to vie for a BIG EAST title and make a long run in the NCAA Tournament. We know there will be challenges along the way because we play some of the best teams in the country. The combination of dynamic youth and experienced veterans gives us a perfect blend of talent to compete against the nation’s top teams. As usual, the BIG EAST will provide us with our toughest competition. We look forward to facing our traditional rivals. Those games are always exciting.”
Notre Dame will open the regular season on the road as the Irish travel to California the weekend of Feb. 11 and 13 to face the University of California (Feb. 11) and Stanford (Feb. 13) to get the season underway.
They return home for their lone February home game on Sat., Feb. 19 for a 5:00 p.m. game at the Loftus Center against Midwest-rival Northwestern. A week later, Notre Dame closes out February (Feb. 26) at Pittsburgh, Pa., where the Irish will battle the Duquesne Dukes.
Notre Dame opens March with a pair of home games at Arlotta Stadium on March 10 and 15 as the Irish will play host to Boston University and Ohio State in games that will start at 4:00 p.m.
On Sunday, March 20th, the Irish will face Cornell in a game that will be played in Brooklandville, Md., at St. Paul’s School. The time for that game has yet to be determined. They then close the month on Sunday, March 27 with a trip to Long Island to face Hofstra University.
April is the busiest month for the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team as they play eight games with seven of them being BIG EAST Conference games. The BIG EAST schedule includes home games with Rutgers (April 1), Loyola (Md.) on April 3, Connecticut (April 16) and Georgetown (April 23). Road conference games include trips to Villanova (April 8), Syracuse (April 10) and Louisville on April 29. The lone non-league contest is set for Wednesday, April 20 when the Irish travel to Nashville, Tenn., for a game with Vanderbilt.
The regular season finale is set for Sunday, May 1 when Notre Dame travels to Cincinnati to face the Bearcats.
The top four teams will then advance to Washington, D.C. for the BIG EAST Tournament at Georgetown on May 5-7.
The nine ranked teams that finished 2010 ranked in the IWLCA top 20 teams include: Northwestern (#2), Syracuse (#4), Georgetown (#9), Vanderbilt (#10), Stanford (#13), Hofstra (#15), Loyola (#16, Boston University (#18) and Rutgers (#19).
From that group of ranked teams, Northwestern, Georgetown, Syracuse, Stanford, Vanderbilt and Boston University participated in the NCAA Tournament. The Irish finished the 2010 campaign ranked 12th overall and advanced to the NCAA Tournament where they lost in the opening round at Northwestern.
2011 Notre Dame Women's Lacrosse Schedule
FebruaryFriday 11 at California 5:00 p.m. (PT)Sunday 13 at Stanford 11:00 a.m. (PT)Saturday 19 Northwestern (at Loftus Center) 5:00 p.m.Saturday 26 at Duquesne Noon
MarchThursday 10 Ohio State 4:00 p.m.Tuesday 15 Boston University 4:00 p.m.Sunday 20 vs. Cornell (at St. Paul's School - TBA Brooklandville, Md.)Sunday 27 at Hofstra Noon
AprilFriday 1 Rutgers * 7:00 p.m.Sunday 3 Loyola (Md.) * 1:00 p.m.Friday 8 at Villanova * 4:30 p.m.Sunday 10 at Syracuse * 1:00 p.m.Saturday 16 Connecticut * NoonWednesday 20 at Vanderbilt 1:00 p.m.Saturday 23 Georgetown * 1:00 p.m.Friday 29 at Louisville * 5:00 p.m.
MaySunday 1 at Cincinnati * Noon at BIG EAST Tournament (at Washington, D.C.)Thursday 5 at BIG EAST Semifinals TBASaturday 7 at BIG EAST Championship TBA
* BIG EAST Conference gameBold denotes home game.Home games played at Loftus Sports Center and Arlotta StadiumAll times are local.