Irish look to stop 5-game slide with successful road trip
By SARAH RYKOWSKI
Sports Writer
The Irish women's lacrosse team has two chances this weekend to stop its losing streak, which was stretched to a fifth game after a loss to Georgetown on Wednesday.
"This week is a tough week for us," Irish head coach Tracy Coyne said. "We've been going through a difficult phase."
Notre Dame's women's lacrosse team travels first to face the Connecticut Huskies on Saturday before competing against Boston College Eagles on Sunday.
"We want to win games this weekend," Coyne said. "As long as we focus on the areas of our game we've been talking about, the weakness exposed in the games against the nationally ranked teams, we can be successful."
The Irish are currently 3-5 on the season, after winning their first three and dropping the last five in a row. Connecticut is a surprising 6-1 thus far after finishing up in 1999 4-10. Connecticut's single loss came against the Syracuse Orangewomen.
The Orangewomen also defeated Notre Dame this season 9-3 to start the Irish on their current skid.
"We've been practicing really well," Coyne said. "Obviously it's not been tranferring onto the field [in games]."
This will be the second meeting between the Irish and the Hustkies. In the first contest, the Irish came away victorious at home, defeating the Huskies 18-6. Lael O'Shaughnessy had a career high six goals and three assists in that game.
O'Shaughnessy's fellow tri-captain this season, Kathryn Perrella, scored four goals in the same game.
O'Shaughnessy led the Irish in scoring and points last year and leads them again this year in those same categories. Her scoring streak reached 17 games before it was snapped in the Irish loss to Georgetown.
Last week, Tara Durkin was ranked among the top 10 goalies in the NCAA.
"Tara Durkin's been doing a good job," Coyne said. "[Wednesday] Angela Dixon played really well."
Dixon had two goals and an assist in the 14-4 loss to Georgetown.
The Huskies are led by sophomores Pamela Lowie and Heather Levins and junior defenseman Abby Morgan.
Lowie had 33 goals and four assists to lead her team last season. Freshman goalie April Pollock has played in all contests for the Huskies.
Bonnie Rosen is in her third year as head coach for Connecticut, with an overall record of 19-23.
All Sports Stories for Friday, April 7, 2000
