sports

ND Women's Lacrosse: Team upsets rival Syracuse

By The Observer · Monday, April 12, 2010

After splitting a pair of close contests on the road at Georgetown and Loyola, the Irish returned home to turn in two of their most complete performances of the year, taking out Villanova Friday and upsetting No. 7 Syracuse Sunday. Sunday's match was a rematch of last year's Big East semifinals. The Irish (8-4, 4-1) dominated from over Villanova from the outset of Friday's match. They stormed to an 8-0 lead before the Wildcats could even muster a shot against freshman goalkeeper Ellie Hilling. From there, the rout was on as the Irish clamped down defensively en route to a 16-0 record-making victory. The win was the first shutout in Notre Dame women's lacrosse history and the first-ever shutout in Big East conference play. "The Villanova game was just an amazing performance," Irish coach Tracy Coyne said. "It was just a great defensive performance from everybody on our team." The Irish received balanced contributions on the offensive side of the ball as well, as 14 players got on the score sheet. Hilling continued her stellar play in the goal, recording eight saves and becoming the first ever Notre Dame goalie to record a shutout. "Ellie kept coming up with big saves to preserve the shutout," Coyne said. "We were extremely impressive on defense." Senior defensive captain Rachel Guerrera led the strong Irish defensive effort. "We really knew what we needed to do against Villanova," Guerrera said. "I think after winning at Loyola we went into Villanova knowing we were on the right track." Notre Dame was able to translate their dominating win at Villanova into a signature victory over No. 7 Syracuse. Just like against Villanova, the Irish defense was on top of its game with Notre Dame claiming a 6-0 lead at halftime. "Lacrosse is such a high scoring sport, and so the fact that we were able to keep teams scoreless for 90 minutes is truly impressive," Coyne said. "We went into Syracuse knowing we weren't going to be intimidated by them," Guerrera said. "They're the kind of team where if you jump on them early they'll get crushed mentally and that's what we did." Although the Orange answered back with five goals of their own in the second half, their comeback fell short as Notre Dame was able to hold on for a 6-5 victory. The stout Irish defense of Jackie Doherty, Lauren Fenlon, Emily Conner and Kate Newall were especially impressive in holding star Orange midfielder Christina Dove to zero goals. The Irish now turn their sights to Big East conference opponent Cincinnati. With only three more regular season games remaining, the Irish are confident they are playing their best at the right time. Their attempt to repeat as conference champions resumes next Saturday when they take on Cincinnati at 3 p.m.

Track and Field: Six runners post top times

By The Observer · Monday, April 12, 2010

The Irish came out of the Border Battle "Kentuckiana" event this weekend with an impressive six first places and 35 top times and distances, living up to the high standards they set two weeks ago at the Mike Poehlein Invitational at Purdue, where they finished with 23 top-five finishes and four first places. Notre Dame and Indiana paired up with Indiana University to take on a University of Louisville/University of Louisville team to make it Hoosierland vs. The Commonwealth at the Louisville-hosted meet. The Irish saw first place finishes from sophomore Molly Hirt, who went 17:06.71 in the women's 5,000-meter race, freshman Nevada Sorenson with a time of 13.67 seconds in the women's 100-meter hurdles, senior Joanna Schultz, who ran the women's 400-meter race in 59.29 seconds, senior Elise Knutzen in the women's javelin with a throw of 42.09 meters, senior Matt Schipper in the men's pole vault at 5.00 meters and junior Justin Schneider in the men's javelin at 51.41 meters. Hirt's first place finish was her first in the event, as she often runs the 1500-meter race. The longer distance didn't prove to be too much of a challenge for her though, especially with help from some friends cheering her on. "The thing I really did differently for this race was that I focused a lot on trying to relax and be patient," Hirt said. "My teammates were great and helped a lot throughout the race. It was great to help score some points for Hoosierland." Knutzen was also pleased with the meet's results, coming out with a positive outlook for upcoming competition. "It's always fun to win, but I mostly focus on my goals and how far I can throw each day," she said. "I'm just trying to build on each meet to get ready for Big East and Regionals." The Irish women had five top-three finishes, making a large impact for the team, but not enough to overcome the Kentucky teams, who won 103-99. Juniors Kelly Langhans and Natalie Johnson took second and third in the women's 800-meter race, finishing almost one-tenth of a second apart at 2:10.01 and 2:10.12, respectively. Freshman Rebecca Tracy came in second in the women's 1500-meter race at 4:20.18, only one-one hundredth of a second behind the winner, Indiana's Molly Beckwith. Junior Kali Watkins followed teammate Sorenson closely in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing third at 14.00. On the field, junior Jasmine Williams took third place in the triple jump at 11.60 meters. The Irish men also had five top-three finishes in various events. Sophomore Jack Howard and junior Kevin Labus came in within one hundredth of each other in the men's 800-meter, taking second and third at 1:50.94 and 1:50.95. Senior Daniel Clark took third in the men's 1500-meter at 3:45.24, junior Denes Veres took second in the men's shot put at 17.39 meters and sophomore Mitchell Gormley took third in the men's hammer throw at 54.47 meters. The Irish continue this week with a busy schedule, heading to Walnut, Calif., for the Mt. SAC Relays, West Lafayette for the Purdue Rankin Invitational and to Austin, Texas, for the Texas Twilight.

Spring Scrimmage

By The Observer · Monday, April 12, 2010

Evaluation was the word of the day Saturday as the Irish held their first spring scrimmage after two weeks of practice. The team ran more than 50 plays as the coaching staff continued to assess the players and their progress. "We're trying to evaluate where that best is. Experimenting, I guess, is one way to look at it," Irish coach Brian Kelly said. "We're not really sure what's going to best fit our football team. I think we're still in that period. I think this scrimmage allows us to get away from the evaluation and say, ‘OK, here's where we believe his strengths to be." Few positions are set in stone at this point in the spring, and wide receivers coach Tony Alford said Friday the scrimmage could help distinguish some players. "There's a couple guys who are starting to show up a little more than others. But that's through the course of time. We're only six practices in," Alford said. Defensive backs coach Chuck Martin also said it would take more time to evaluate players. "I like all my top eight to 11 guys," Martin said. "I think they have shown signs that they can be pretty productive players at Notre Dame. I can probably put clips together to sell you on any of them, but I could also put a clip together or two and sell you that they can't play anybody in the country. "We're not really worried about the big picture evaluation yet, we're just trying to get better." However, Kelly said the staff is on its way to determining where the players will land on the depth chart. "Today was movement day for a number of guys relative to positions," he said. "We've got to say, ‘Alright, we can't move him again. Here's where he is, he stays here. Will we move him back to that other position?' I think we'll be able to, with this scrimmage, to really make some final decisions on personnel." Now halfway through the 14 spring practices leading to the Blue-Gold game, Kelly said the Irish are beginning to show positive developments. "We've still got a long way to go," Kelly said. "But again, I think our guys understand how to practice. Today was lively, no injuries, nobody was put in a compromising position so they're learning how to practice, which is really step one for us." Martin said learning is a main objective as practices continue. "I think our goal with all our groups, with my group, is just to keep getting better," Martin said. "Learn our system, learn each other, grow together, become more cohesive as a unit — coaches and players alike. "We're level one out of 1,000 levels so we've got a long, long ways to go but we're heading in the right direction."

ND Softball: Irish overheat South Florida

By The Observer · Monday, April 12, 2010

On a weekend when the warm weather and sunny skies stole the headlines at Notre Dame, the softball team did a little heating up of its own. The Irish stretched out their current winning streak to five after sweeping South Florida in a triple-header, including a one-hitter by junior pitcher Jody Valdivia Sunday. The wins also kept the Irish undefeated both in games at home and in Big East play. "South Florida is a fun team for us to play," Valdivia said. "Our rivalry with them really gets us fired up to play." The Irish continued to hit the ball impressively, beating the Bulls 4-2, 10-1 and 2-0 over the course of the weekend. They registered eight hits in their first two wins and three in the third. "We did a great job of jumping on their pitchers," Valdivia said. "We always took away the moment by scoring runs when we needed to." The Irish also showed off some impressive defense throughout the weekend's series. Valdivia pitched the bookend games of the weekend, including an impressive one-hit performance Sunday, and she improved her record to 22-3 on the season. Freshman pitcher Brittney O'Donnell also contributed with a one hit, one run performance of her own to seal up the Irish's 10-1 victory late Saturday. Despite impressive performances from the mound, Valdivia contributed much of the team's defensive success to their play in the field. "Everyone made phenomenal catches," she said. "There were some really great plays. Our outfield robbed them of hits and our infielders robbed them of their short game. We really kept them off balance." In addition to their on-field success, the Irish used this weekend to promote breast cancer awareness and raise money for research with their "Strikeout Cancer" promotion. "It always feels really good to do our breast cancer game," Valdivia said. "We get to wear our pink jerseys, and we love to put on those pink jerseys." Notre Dame will stay home this week to face Georgetown Wednesday and Cleveland State Thursday before heading to Louisville this weekend.

SMC Tennis: Belles look to bounce back against Chicago

By The Observer · Monday, April 12, 2010

Coming off of a hard-fought 6-3 loss to Calvin last week, the Belles look to get back on the winning track tonight when they travel to the University of Chicago. The Maroons are ranked third in the nation, providing a challenge for the Belles (8-4, 2-1) in their second-to-last non-conference match of the season. "We're hoping to play pretty well," junior singles player Kate Grabarek, an Observer sports writer, said. "The University of Chicago is a talented team. We know they are good, and that is shown by their ranking. They'll be solid up and down the lineup." With the MIAA championships to be held in less than three weeks, matches like the one Saint Mary's will be participating in against Chicago will give the team experience against tough opponents. "We're bonding pretty well and getting ready for the MIAA conference championships," Grabarek said. "We need to work on doubles and stay focused on singles. This time of year is busy because school is winding down and the tournament is approaching." The match at Chicago is the first of three contests this week for the Belles. They will travel to Albion Wednesday and to Kalamazoo Saturday for two conference competitions. "We can't train as hard as we normally do because of the three matches this week," Grabarek said. "Usually Monday is our day off, but we took Sunday off this week because of our match against Chicago. Also, it gives us only one day to prepare for Albion, which will show us where we are as a team." With the end of the season in sight, the Belles have been working especially hard to improve upon last year's conference finish of fifth in the consolation round. The Belles will face the Maroons at 6 p.m. in Chicago.

Men's Lacrosse: Irish not able to hold on to strong first half

By The Observer · Monday, April 12, 2010

After a stellar first half, the No. 19 Irish were not able to follow through in the second half, falling 11-8 to Big East foe and No. 9 Georgetown Saturday in Washington, D.C. The loss can most certainly be blamed on the disparity in performances between the two halves. Before the game, Irish coach Kevin Corrigan said he wanted his team to play solid lacrosse for 60 minutes. Unfortunately, that did not happen. "We played a great first half and a terrible second half," Corrigan said. The first half saw Notre Dame (5-5, 0-3 Big East) hit the back of the net eight times, including a career high four goals handed in by senior Grant Krebs and a strong defensive performance against the athletic Hoya attack. The Irish went into the break leading 8-6. The second half was a different story. The Hoyas rallied for five unanswered goals in the final 30 minutes to clinch the victory and hand the Irish their third straight loss. This loss also leaves Notre Dame without a Big East win in the inaugural season for the conference and brings the Irish closer to being knocked out of contention for a berth in the NCAA tournament. Despite the loss, the Irish will continue to move forward and are working to get better every day, Corrigan said. The team's schedule does not get any easier, however, as it will face Providence, St. John's and No. 3 Syracuse in upcoming games. "I don't expect to see any difference in our approach," Corrigan said. "I don't want to see any decrease in our work ethic either." Other than Krebs' career-high performance, senior Neal Hicks, sophomore Nicholas Beattie and junior Zach Brenneman each had one goal and an assist. Freshman Steve Murphy added a goal and sophomores Max Pfeifer and Sean Rogers each tallied an assist. Senior goalkeeper Scott Rodgers started for the Irish, making four saves in the first half. Freshman John Kemp finished the game and made six stops between the pipes. Although the Irish have had their ups and downs this season, Corrigan said he remains focused on the team's work ethic and improvement. "We need to go be best team we can be," Corrigan said. "The job is what it is. Our job is to get the best out of our players." The Irish return to Arlotta Stadium Saturday to face Providence in a noon game.

ND Women's Tennis: Irish take out No. 19 Bulls in home match

By The Observer · Monday, April 12, 2010

The third-ranked No. 1 Irish doubles team of sophomore Kristy Frilling and senior Kali Krisik won their 16th straight match in Notre Dame's 7-0 defeat over South Florida Friday. "South Florida is a very good team," Irish coach Julia Scaringe said. "They are a lot better than they were last year and I was thinking it was going to be a much closer match than it was." The No. 6 Irish extend their overall record to 17-3 while the No. 19 Bulls received their sixth loss of the season. South Florida brought a very different team to South Bend than Notre Dame saw last season, as their top three players have moved up in the lineup past last year's top singles player, Janette Bejlkova. The No. 2 Irish doubles team, senior Cosmina Ciobanu and Shannon Mathews, were the first to finish doubles play as they defeated their Bulls opponents, 8-6, just before Frilling and Krisik clinched the doubles point with an 8-6 victory. The No. 3 doubles team of junior Kristen Rafael and freshman Chrissie McGaffigan shut out their opponents to finish the doubles competition for the afternoon. "The girls look like they're starting to gel with each other on doubles," Scaringe said. "I really like the direction our doubles teams are going." The first three singles competitions were easy victories for the Irish as two-set victories from Mathews, Krisik and McGaffigan grabbed the win. Ciobanu won the fourth singles contest as her opponent was forced to quit due to an injury. "We have been working on singles play a lot," Scaringe said. "The girls went out there a took care of business." Though both of the remaining singles matches headed into a third set, No. 18 Frilling at No. 1 singles and Rafael at No. 6 singles, each pulled through for an Irish sweep. With only two matches left before the Big East tournament and the NCAA Championships, the team has just a few more practices to perfect their game and prepare for the most important part of the season. "We're going to get a lot of individual play in this week in practice," Scaringe said. The Irish will return to the courts Friday to take on DePaul at Notre Dame's Eck Tennis Pavilion.