COLLEGE PREVIEW 2014 NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S TOP 20 11 C
Enemy Lines WHAT RIVAL COACHES SAY
“Cortney Fortunato has finally arrived and has everyone excited to see if she can carry this team to a national championship… Lots of talent, but they haven’t lived up to the hype in recent years. Maybe 2014 changes that?... Allie Murray will be a player to watch in the cage…They had a few head-scratching losses last season. Fortunato could be enough to turn a few of those games into wins.”
Notre Dame FIGHTING IRISH
2013 RECORD: 12-5 (5-3 BIG EAST) COACH: CHRISTINE HALFPENNY (3RD YEAR) ) • RECORD AT NOTRE DAME: 25-10
09 10 11 12 13 Cortney Fortunato
Key Game You could circle any ACC
game, as Notre Dame ventures into the new mega-conference. But this game will be an early non- conference barometer of how the Irish will keep pace with run-and-gun teams.
Schedule Feb 12 Feb 15 Feb 22 Feb 27 Mar 5 Mar 8
Mar 11 Mar 15 Mar 19 Mar 23 Apr 5
Apr 11 Apr 19
Cincinnati
Boston College Stony Brook
at North Carolina at Northwestern Louisville
at Richmond at Maryland Marquette at Villanova Virginia Duke
Syracuse
Projected Starters A Cortney Fortunato (Fr.) G: 82
hristine Halfpenny knew she wasn’t the splashy hire when Notre Dame tabbed her as its women’s lacrosse coach in
July 2011. Sure, she guided William & Mary to four consecutive 10-win seasons. And perhaps Notre Dame knew her ACC savvy, having played at Virginia Tech and coached as an assistant at Duke, would come in handy. But could she attract top-level recruits
to South Bend? Halfpenny silenced her detractors three
months later when she secured Cortney Fortunato, most
the sought-
after player in the country since she turned heads as an eighth-grader at
Northport
(N.Y.) High. “I remember
being in a little bit of a whirlwind. It
was late
[summer] and I had to basically
uproot my family,” Halfpenny said. “I was on my front porch down in Williamsburg, Virginia. I have movers and boxes and a 3-year-old that’s trying to figure out what’s going on and a soon-to-be kindergartner getting excited to move to the middle of the country. I am saying, ‘OK, Cortney Fortunato, a 15-year-old that was the all-
62 LACROSSE MAGAZINE February 2014 >>
A Kiera McMullan (So.) G: 6
X-Factor M CASEY PEARSALL (FR.)
Connecticut’s top player as a junior sat out her senior season after tearing an ACL playing basketball last February.
world highest scorer in the U19 World Cup. Like, this is a priority. Get [the kids] situated so I can focus on the future of the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team.” Halfpenny’s pitch to Fortunato, who had
been in discussions with previous Irish coach Tracy Coyne and assistants Crysti Foote and Nick Williams, was simple: “I came to Notre Dame to win.” Halfpenny went on to tell Fortunato
that she believed in providing “the ultimate
student-athlete experience,”
that she wanted to play fast and creative on the field, that she had a strategy for combatting face guards and that Notre Dame had eyes on joining the ACC. Fortunato was Halfpenny’s first call that
day. The next call was from Casey Pearsall, the top player in Connecticut out of Wilton High. And then Alex Dalton, the top player in Massachusetts out of Notre Dame Academy. When Fortunato verbally committed to
Notre Dame in late October 2011, it had a domino effect on the others, yielding a star-studded recruiting class that will debut this spring. “I love playing freshmen,” Halfpenny —Matt DaSilva
said. A Publication of US Lacrosse
A Rachel Sexton (So.) G: 3
M Julia Giorgio (Sr.) DC: 4
M Molly Shawan (Sr.)* GB: 18
M Stephanie Toy (So.) G: 11
CT: 4 CT: 7 A: 4
M Casey Pearsall (Fr.) G: 41
M Alex Dalton (Fr.) G: 70
D Barbara Sullivan (Jr.)* DC: 67
D Leah Gallagher (Jr.)* GB: 23
G Allie Murray (Jr.) GAA: 7.37
* returning starters
Top Returner D BARBARA SULLIVAN (JR.)
The youngest first-team All-American in Notre Dame history will anchor the Irish’s high-pressure defense, continue to take the draw and get the toughest 1-on-1 assignments. Look for entertaining matchups against Maryland’s Taylor Cummings, Duke’s Taylor Trimble and others.
Power Ratings (SCALE OF 1-5)
3 4 3 4 OFFENSE DEFENSE GOALIE DRAW
D Stephanie Peragallo (So.)* GB: 38
SV%: 60.0
A: 77 (at Wilton in 2012) GB: 79 (at ND Academy) CT: 34 CT: 31 DC: 11
Tournament Trend
A: 36 (at Northport) A: 5 A: 1
QUARTERS 1ST RD
1ST 1ST
RD RD
©AJ MAST (CF); ©TIM CASEY (CP); ©TD PAULIUS (BS); ©GREG SHEMITZ (MR)
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