Season Preview Coaching and Support Staff Head Coach Christine Halfpenny (Virginia Tech ’99) Halfpenny’s Record at Notre Dame 0-0 (.000, 1st Season) Halfpenny’s Overall Record 43-44 (.494, 5 Seasons) Assistant Coaches Nick Williams (Towson ’08) Sarah Dalton (Boston University ’09) Athletic Trainer Chantal Porter Strength and Conditioning Coach Hunter Treuchet Senior Student Manager Christian Roach Junior Student Manager Alex Clemente Media Relations Co-Contacts Russell Dorn Brent Henningfeld Team Information 2011 Record 10-9, 6-2 BIG EAST 2011 Postseason BIG EAST Tournament No. 4 Seed Notre Dame 15, No. 2 Seed Georgetown 12 (Semifinals) No. 3 Seed Loyola (Md.) 12, No. 4 Seed Notre Dame 10 (Finals) Monogram Winners Returning 16 (6 M, 3 D/M, 2 D, 4 A, 1 GK) Monogram Winners Lost 7 (2 A, 3 M, 1 D, 1 M/D) Top Returning Players Maggie Tamasitis (Sr., A) Megan Sullivan (Sr., M/D) Jordy Shoemaker (Sr., M/D) Kate Newall (Sr., M) Jaimie Morrison (Jr., A) Betsy Mastropieri (Jr., A) Ellie Hilling (Jr., GK) Jenny Granger (Jr., M) Margaret Smith (So., M) Kaitlyn Brosco (So., M) Top Newcomers Barbara Sullivan (Fr., D) Shauna Pugliese (Fr., M) Caitlin Gargan (Fr., M) Leah Gallagher (Fr., M) Allie Murray (Fr., GK) Eizabeth Driscoll (Fr., A)
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New Era Under Halfpenny Begins With High Expectations For Notre Dame Women’s Lacrosse With talent found throughout the field, the Irish take aim at BIG EAST and national goals. A new era begins on Feb. 19 against Stanford as the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team opens a campaign for the first time not under the direction of long-time head coach and program starter Tracy Coyne. Enter Christine Halfpenny, the former William & Mary head coach, who is charged with taking over a program that has won one BIG EAST Tournament title and advanced to six NCAA Tournaments, including the 2006 Final Four, since the program was founded in 1997. Halfpenny, who had four 10-win seasons with the Tribe, kept assistant Nick Williams and brought Tribe assistant Sarah Dalton along with her to help coach the team. “The offseason was used as a time to build on the foundation that has been set here the last 15 years, but at the same time rebuild some culture,” said Halfpenny. “We have been working on defining our team personality, which will help with team chemistry, and we have had a chance to put our systems and schemes in place.” The system Halfpenny mentions is her motion offense and attacking defense she brings to the Irish from William & Mary. The object on offense is for multiple players to see touches during a play, thus allowing an opportunity for all seven on the attack to have a chance to score on any given offensive possession. “We want the opponent to have to be ready for us at all seven points,” said Halfpenny. “We want opponents to expect that any of the seven offensive weapons could take a shot at any moment.” On defense Halfpenny likes to incorporate an attacking style that brings a lot of pressure to the opponent’s offense and looks to create a lot of turnovers. “We incorporate a high-pressure defense,” said Halfpenny.“We emphasize speed and conditioning so we can implement our team strategies effectively.” Another area that Halfpenny places great emphasis on is the draw. “If you can get the draw you are giving yourself more opportunities to be successful,” said Halfpenny. “We worked during the fall and winter on identifying individuals with great reaction ability that could be drawers or in the circle.” The Irish lost a lot from last year’s 10-9 squad, namely three-time second-team All-American Shaylyn Blaney and two-time first-team AllAmerican Jackie Doherty. All told, six of last year’s seniors tallied 147 of the team’s 345 points. However, not all of the team’s talent graduated, leaving life for a quick rebuilding process as a new era begins under the Golden Dome.
Leading the charge is senior attacker Maggie Tamasitis, who is a preseason third-team AllAmerican and first team all-BIG EAST performer while also representing Notre Dame on the Tewaaraton Watch List. Last year the Boyertown, Pa., native had a breakout year, tallying 21 goals and 46 assists for 67 points, on her way to third team All-America honors and first team all-BIG EAST and all-region accolades. “Maggie is a crucial playmaker for us,” said Halfpenny. “She brings so much to the table in the way of distributing skills and her athleticism. We expect her to have a monster senior season.” The midfield is stocked full of talent for the upcoming season. Anchoring the middle is senior Megan Sullivan, who had 33 ground balls, 20 draw controls and 16 caused turnovers as a junior. Joining her will be junior Jenny Granger, who hurt defenders with her offensive prowess (26 G, 12 A, 38 P) and her speed and stick work (12 ground balls, 18 draw controls), sophomore Margaret Smith, who tallied 32 ground balls, 21 draw controls and 15 caused turnovers and sophomore Kaitlyn Brosco, who earned second team allregion and all-BIG EAST honors after scoring 32 goals, scooping up 14 ground balls and gathering in 14 draw controls. “Meg is a wonderful leader for us,” said Halfpenny. “She has a strong desire to be the best. She is very fast and has great communication skills on defense. Kaitlyn has a great will to win and is a hard worker. Her communications skills are outstanding. She will help to get the motion offense started. She’ll see a lot of success if she keeps doing the things she is doing.” Other key returnees for the Irish are midfielders Jordy Shoemaker and Kate Newell and attackers Jaimie Morrison and Betsy Mastropieri. “Jordy is kind of the glue that keeps our defense together,” said Halfpenny. “We are expecting big things out of her this year. Betsy is a shifty attacker who can shake any defender. She has the ability to transition the ball up the field quickly and attack the defenders.” Expected to play a role in the rotation at defender is junior Emily Conner, while sophomores Molly Shawhan and Lindsay Powell are both expected to make big contributions to the midfield and attacker positions. Halfpenny highlighted Conner’s smarts on defense, and her ability to capitalize on opponent’s mistakes. “Molly is great at picking up 50/50 balls, and made her presence known against Duke and North Carolina by getting up and down the field. Lindsay is an athletic player, who worked extremely hard to return from a knee injury last season. She is an outstanding one-on-one attacker and has great shooting skills.”
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