April 24, 2008

Game Notes

Washington, D.C. - The seventh-ranked Georgetown University women's lacrosse team (10-5, 3-2 BE) travels to South Bend, Indiana to take on No. 10 Notre Dame in the second of two BIG EAST Tournament semifinal games. The No. 3 seeded Hoyas and the No. 2 seeded Irish will square off for the second time in two weeks. The first draw is set for approximately 7:45 p.m. on Friday, April 25 inside Notre Dame Stadium - or 45 minutes after the first semifinal game. The teams will duel after the first semifinal game between No. 1 seed Syracuse and No. 4 seed Rutgers (5:30 p.m. start).

Both semifinal games can be seen live at www.bigeast.tv for no charge. Live stats will also be available on the BIG EAST Conference Championship Central page.

Georgetown is looking to avenge a regular-season home loss to Notre Dame, 10-8 on April 12.

For the second straight season, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Rutgers and Syracuse make up the Tournament field. The Tournament's Championship Game will be held on Sunday April 27 at noon.

What's at Stake ... Sunday's winner will received one of the six automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Tournament is a 16-team, single-elimination tournament. Eight conferences receive a berth via automatic qualification (AQ). The remaining teams are selected at large.

The AQ conferences are: American Lacrosse Conference (ALC), Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Atlantic-10 Conference (A-10), BIG EAST Conference, Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) and the Ivy League.

The winner of the Northeast Conference (NEC) at American East Conference play-in game and the winner of the Metro Atlantic Conference (MAAC) at Patriot League play-in game also receive AQ bids.

Schedule Strength ... The Hoyas have a strength of schedule ranked No. 1 in the nation by www.laxpower.com. Notre Dame is ranked No. 13. The Hoyas have played six games vs. teams ranked in the top 10, including a stretch of four straight games (No. 5 Syracuse, No. 4 Virginia, No.10 Notre Dame and No. 3 Maryland) from Apr. 5 through Apr. 16.

Series with Notre Dame ... Georgetown leads the all-time series, 8-3 but the Georgetown-Notre Dame rivalry as really become more intense over the last few years as the Irish has won three of the last four games between the schools. Three of those games have been decided by three goals or less.

This is the third straight season that the teams have met during the regular season as well as in the post-season.

Georgetown was victorius during the 2006 regular-season, 11-10 in overtime in the nation's capital. Notre Dame avenged the 2006 regular-season meeting with a 12-9 win in South Bend in the NCAA Quarterfinals.

Last season, Notre Dame topped the visiting Hoyas 13-8 to snap Georgetown's 37-game BIG EAST regular-season win streak. Two weeks later, Georgetown avenged the regular-season loss with a 12-10 win over the Irish in the first ever BIG EAST Tournament in the semifinals.

The Hoyas will be looking to avenge a home loss to ND, 10-8 on April 12.

"Friends of Jaclyn" Challenge ... Georgetown participated in the second annual "Friends of Jaclyn" Pediatric Brain Tumor Awareness Lax Challenge at Northwestern. Both Georgetown and Northwestern have adopted children diagnosed with brain tumors. The Hoyas have adopted 16-year old Alli Mendofik while the Wildcats have adopted 13-year old Jaclyn Murphy. The teams are two of a host of NCAA institutions that have helped to raise public awareness for pediatric brain tumors. One hundred percent of the Northwestern-Georgetown gate went towards the foundation and approximately $30,000 was raised during a banquet the night before the game. More information can be found at www.friendsofjaclyn.org.

Quick Hits ... 136 of the team's 156 goals have been scored by underclassmen. Fifty-eight percent of the Georgetown's total offensive production has come from sophomores Ashby Kaestner (43 G, 11 A) and Molly Ford (34 G, 15 A) and freshman Jordy Kirr (15 G, 29 A).

-- The current Hoya freshman class, the class of 2011 was the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in the nation according to Inside Lacrosse Magazine. Seven of the 11 players were Under Armour All Americans.

-- Freshman Jordy Kirr notched a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after posting career-highs with three goals and eight points in the win at Connecticut. Kirr also matched a career-best with five assists vs. UConn, a feat she's accomplished three times. Kirr's 29 assists continues to lead the nation's freshmen and the 29 helpers ranks third on GU's single-season assist list with a minimum of two games to go this season.

-- Ashby Kaestner, the team leader in goals (43), points (54) and caused turnovers (29), was held without a point for the first time this season at Maryland. She followed the game against the Terps with a four-goal performance at Connecticut. She has 11 multi-goal games this season Kaestner ranks 29th in the nation with 2.87 goals per game.

-- Freshman Allie Hubschmann has scored two goals in two of the last three games. Hubschmann netted two second half goals in the first meeting with Notre Dame before scoring two second half goals in her first career start at Maryland. Hubschmann, the younger sister of former Notre Dame men's lacrosse standout, Brian, has five goals this season.

-- Junior Megan Bloomer earned on a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll two weeks ago after totaling four goals vs. UVA and the Irish. Bloomer notched two markers in the comeback win over No. 4 Virginia, including the game winner with 27 seconds left and two more in the loss to No. 10 Notre Dame. Bloomer ranks fifth on the team with 12 goals this season. Her three multi-goal games have come against Northwestern, Virginia and Notre Dame.

-- Georgetown has used the same starting lineup in 10 of the team's 15 games.

-- Sophomore goalie Caitlin Formby ranks 9th in the nation with a goal-against average of 8.61. The Towson native has started in all 15 games after spending her rookie season as a backup to All-American Maggie Koch. She boasts six double-figure save outings this season. (10 at Denver, 11 at Hopkins, 12 vs. W&M, 10 at Northwestern, 11 vs. UVA, 10 vs. ND)

-- Sophomore Blake Sheehan came off the bench in the Virginia game and helped the Hoyas win the game's last four draw controls.

-- Georgetown saw six players make their first career starts over the first two games of the season, including sophomore GK Caitlin Formby.

-- Backup goalie Lauren Thomas has seen action in four games. Thomas came off the bench, playing the final 7:35 in the season opeing win at GW, making three saves, including two in the final 32 seconds as the Hoyas held on for a win over the Colonials.

-- The Hoyas have trailed at halftime only five times (at Denver (6-5), at Duke (7-5), at Syracuse (10-1) vs Notre Dame (5-1), and 9-2 at Maryland). GU was tied 4-4 at halftime against Rutgers, tied at halftime at Northwestern, 3-3 and tied at halftime vs. Virginia, 3-3.

-- The Blue and Gray has allowed just two or fewer goals in a half on seven different occasions.

-- The GU-Syracuse game was the first-ever Division I game where two teams ranked in the top ten were coached by men.

-- The Hoyas graduated 10 players from last season's team and 62 percent of its scoring output, including All Americans, attacker Coco Stanwick and goalie Maggie Koch.

Ashby Kaestner Making an Impact ... Sophomore midfielder Ashby Kaestner stormed out of the gate this season. She has started in every game and leads the team and with 43 goals while ranking 29th in the nation with 2.87 goals per game. She had eight straight multi-goal games to start the season (11 this season) and posted a career-high six goals in the season-opening win at GW.

Kaestner was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week on Feb. 5 after tallying 11 goals in the season's first two games, surpassing the 10 goals she netted during her entire freshman season.

Kaestner was recently named to the Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List.

Built Molly Ford Tough ... Sophomore attacker Molly Ford ranks second on the team with 49 points on 34 goals and 15 assists. Ford has at least three goals in eight of the team's 15 games this season after scoring two goals as a freshman in 2007.

Ford was named BIG EAST Offensive player of the Week after totaling five goals on seven shots in the Hoyas's 14-7 win against No.17 George Mason.

She was held without a point only once, against William & Mary.

Ford tallied a career-high seven points (4 G, 3 A) vs. Loyola.

Jordy Jumpstarting the Offense ... Freshman Jordy Kirr has started in 14 of the first 15 games and handed out 29 assists already. She leads the nation's freshmen in helpers.

Kirr, who was highly-touted coming out of high school, ranks third on the team with 44 points.

Kirr has posted seven multi-assist games this season with three different five-assist efforts and already ranks third on Georgetown's single-season assist list (29) at least two games to go.

Showing Her Form-by ... Sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Formby has started in all 15 games thus far after playing behind All-American Maggie Koch last season.

Formby saw just 5:29 worth of playing time as a freshman but has posted a 8.61 goals-against-average, ranking 9th in the nation.

Formby is averaging 8.0 saves per game and in both of the Mason and Loyola (Md.) games, the Towson native yielded just one goal in the first half.

Formby made a career-high 12 saves vs. William & Mary vs Virginia. She has six double-figure save outings (10-Denver, 11 at JHU, 12 vs WM, 10 at NW, 12 vs UVa., 10-ND).

Preseason Accolades ... Senior midfielder Patty Piotrowicz and junior defender were named to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team.

Piotrowicz earned All-BIG EAST second team honors last season as a junior after leading the team with 31 ground balls. She started in every game in 2006 and 2007 and in all 14 games this season, Piotrowicz has seven goals, seven assists and ranks third on the team with 27 draws.

Trautman has started in every game since her arrival on the Hilltop, a stretch of 51 games. Trautman saw the majority of her time at midfield as a freshman in 2006. Last season, the Mystic, Conn. native moved the defensive line when injuries hampered the Hoyas.

Trautman leads the team with 40 ground balls while anchoring the back line.

Winning After a Loss ... Before last season, the Hoyas had never lost consecutive games Coach Fried (7-0). Last season though, Georgetown dropped back-to-back games three times, at No. 2 North Carolina and vs. No. 3 Maryland - at No. 5 Virginia and at No. 11 Notre Dame - vs Syracuse (BE Tourney Finals) and at Princeton.

The Hoyas are 15-4 under Fried in games following a loss since Fried's tenure began in 2005.

In Nailbiters ... Georgetown is 6-2 in overtime games under head coach Ricky Fried. The Hoyas won a 12-11 OT thriller at No. 15 Denver, a game that saw the Hoyas hold the lead just two times - 11-10 and 12-11.

Commitment to Excellence ... Georgetown has had a winning record in 14 straight seasons dating back to 1994. It is the third longest active streak in the nation behind Maryland (26) and Dartmouth (16).

The Hoyas have had ten straight seasons with double-figure wins and have made three appearances in the Final Four (2000, 20001, 2004).

Friendly Confines ... The Hoyas finished 2006 with a perfect 7-0 record at home after posting a 6-2 home record in 2005. After going 5-3 on the Hilltop last season, Georgetown has a 23-6 record in home games under fourth-year head coach Ricky Fried.

The Hoyas are 5-1 at home this season.