March 10, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team opens its 2000 home schedule this weekend when Ohio University and Richmond travel to the Loftus Sports Center. The Irish will meet Ohio on Sat., March 11, at 12:00 p.m., and Richmond on Sun., March 12, at 12:00 p.m. Notre Dame is coming off a season-opening 18-7 win at Denver on Sun., March 5.
HOME OPENER FOR THE IRISH: Notre Dame will meet Ohio for the first time on Saturday in the first home game of the season for the Irish. The Bobcats will open their season on Friday against Richmond before playing Notre Dame on Saturday. The Irish have a 1-2 record in home openers, beating Denver in 1997 and losing to Colgate in 1998 and Ohio State in 1999.
SPIDERS TRAVEL TO NOTRE DAME: Richmond will make its first trip to Notre Dame this weekend with a 1-1 record following a loss to Virginia and a win over Holy Cross. Richmond juniors Alexis Brandolini, Lacy Pica and Jessica Popham lead the team in scoring in 1999. The Spiders and Irish first met last year in a 14-13 double-overtime win for Notre Dame. Kathryn Perrella assisted on the game-tying goal in the first overtime and scored the game-winning goal in double overtime for the Irish.
DENVER RECAP: Junior Lael O’Shaughnessy and sophomore Alissa Moser each scored four goals to lead the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team to an 18-7 season-opening win at Denver on Sunday. The Irish used scoring streaks of six in the first half and five to start the second half to pull away from the Pioneers. Junior goalkeepers Tara Durkin and Carrie Marshall combined to make 17 saves while allowing just seven goals. Notre Dame led 5-4 at the 20:10 mark of the first half on two goals by O’Shaughnessy and freshman Angela Dixon. The Irish then used goals by six different players to lead 11-4 at 3:30 in the first half. Denver added a goal with 1:36 left to cut the lead to 11-5 at halftime. Notre Dame scored five goals in the first 6:48 of the second — including two by O’Shaughnessy — to break the game open with a 16-5 lead. Sophomore Kate Scarola and Moser closed out the scoring for the Irish. Dixon, Danielle Shearer and Kelly McCardell all started their first collegiate game as freshmen. Dixon finished with three goals and an assist, while Shearer scored twice an added three assists. The Irish finished with a 35-28 advantage in shots and 34-23 in groundballs.
ALMA MATER WEEKEND: Irish head coach Tracy Coyne and first-year assistant coach Christy Yarnell will square against their alma maters this weekend. Coyne graduated from Ohio University in 1983 and played lacrosse for the Bobcats from 1980-82. Saturday’s game will mark the first time Coyne has coached against Ohio’s lacrosse team.
Yarnell graduated from Richmond in 1999 as four-year starting goalkeeper for the Spiders. She left as the top goalkeeper in Richmond history after starting every game in her career, including Notre Dame’s 14-13 double-overtime win last year. Yarnell holds school records for career saves (678), single-season saves (252), career save percentage (.559) and single-season save percentage (.582).
BIG EAST WOMEN’S LACROSSE: The 2001 women’s lacrosse season will mark a new era in the brief history of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse when the sport becomes the 20th sponsored by the BIG EAST Conference. Boston College, Connecticut, Georgetown, Rutgers, Syracuse and Virginia Tech will join Notre Dame in the formation of BIG EAST women’s lacrosse. Five of the six teams will be on Notre Dame’s schedule in 2000. The teams will play a round-robin schedule against each of the other six teams. The BIG EAST also has applied for an automatic bid into the NCAA Championship for the conference winner.
“We now will have opportunity to compete in a quality all-sports conference and develop conference rivalries,” says Tracy Coyne, a large part in the driving force among the coaching community for the inclusion of women’s lacrosse under the BIG EAST Conference umbrella. “I expect the BIG EAST to become a very influential conference on the national level, particularly with the success a number of the teams have had already and the support that the newer programs receive. We can be as powerful as any other lacrosse conference.”
2000 SCHEDULE: Games against three of the 12 1999 NCAA tournament teams and five home games highlight the 15-game, Notre Dame women’s lacrosse schedule for the 2000 schedule. The Irish also will face six teams ranked in the preseason top 25, including second-ranked Duke and sixth-ranked Georgetown.