Coach Graap on Dowd
"We expect that Noelle will have a tremendous senior season both on the field as one of the top players in the Ivy League and off of it as a captain. She is a versatile athlete who can play line attack or run the midfield. She is an aggressive defender and a key part of what we will do on both ends of the field."
As a junior
An honorable mention All-Ivy selection in 2007, Dowd ranked second on the team in scoring (37 points) and placed third in both goals (29) and assists (8). She joined Katherine Simmons and Ashleigh Smith as the only players on the team to reach double figures in caused turnovers (13), ground balls (16) and draw controls (15). Dowd had five goals and an assist in wins over Colgate and Brown and notched four goals and an assist against Rutgers, adding two ground balls, two draw controls and two caused turnovers.
As a sophomore
Dowd had a breakout season, ranking among the team’s leading scorers with 30 goals and seven assists for 37 points. Dowd started all 16 games, more than doubling her freshman totals in goals (from 5 to 40), assists (3-7), points (8-37), ground balls (8-27), caused turnovers (6-14) and draw controls (1-7). Dowd opened the season with a career-best five points, registering three goals and two assists in the win over Colgate. She added three caused turnovers, a ground ball and a draw control in the win. She ended the year with four goals in the Ivy-clinching victory at Harvard, and posted another four goals in the NCAA tournament loss at Notre Dame. She added two ground balls and two caused turnovers against the Fighting Irish. Her three game-winning goals (California, Brown and Syracuse) tied for the team lead, while she scored on 48 percent of her shots for the season. Dowd had 11 multi-point games, including in six of the last seven games of the year.
As a freshman
Dowd posted five goals and three assists while playing in 13 contests with five starts in 2005. Dowd notched a pair of goals against Yale and had a goal and an assist against Ohio State. She was credited with eight ground balls, including a career-best four against NCAA tournament participant Colgate, and also had six caused turnovers and a draw control.
At Yorktown
Dowd was named a first-team high school All-American as a senior at Yorktown HS. The four-year starter was named all-league three times and all-county and all-section twice. She competed at the Empire State Games each of her last two seasons and was a member of the high school girls national team in 2003. She was named the Journal News Player of the Year and was selected for the Outstanding Female Athlete Award and the Yorktown Superintendents Scholar-Athlete award. She also was selected as a U.S. Lacrosse scholar-athlete. A tremendous athlete, Dowd was a two-time all-state pick in soccer, a three-year starter and two-time all-league selection in basketball and an all-league runner in track and field.
Personal
Noelle Brittany Dowd is the daughter of Stephen and Maureen Dowd and has an older and younger sister, Katrina, who plays lacrosse at Northwestern. She is enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
