Aug 13, 2013
2013 ND Women’s Soccer — Exhibition 1
#10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (16-6-2 in 2012 / 8-1-1 BIG EAST) vs. Xavier Musketeers (6-12-1 in 2012 / 1-8-0 Atlantic 10)
DATE: August 14, 2013
TIME: 1 p.m. ET AT: Notre Dame, Ind. (Notre Dame Practice Field – cap. 1,000)
SERIES: ND leads 8-2-0 (regular season)/ND leads 1-0-0 (Waldrum-era exhibitions)
1ST MTG: XU 2-1 (10/29/88 at Dayton, Ohio)
LAST MTG: ND 5-0 (8/17/06 at Notre Dame, Ind. – exhibition)
TWITTER: @NDsoccernews
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TICKETS: Free for exhibitions
Storylines
- Notre Dame is 11-3-3 in exhibitions vs. college teams during the Randy Waldrum era (1999-present), including a 6-0-2 record at home.
- The Fighting Irish are averaging 2.6 goals per match in 17 exhibitions vs. college programs since Waldrum’s arrival 15 seasons ago.
- Notre Dame is unbeaten in its last four exhibition matches (3-0-1; 2-0-1 at home) dating back to 2011.
#10 Notre Dame Welcomes Xavier Wednesday In Exhibition Opener
Notre Dame opens its 26th season of varsity competition at 1 p.m. (ET) Wednesday when it plays host to Xavier in the first of two exhibition matches at the Notre Dame Practice Field. It will be just the second time the Fighting Irish and Musketeers have met during the preseason in head coach Randy Waldrum’s 15 seasons as Notre Dame skipper. The Fighting Irish blanked Xavier 5-0 during an exhibition tilt Aug. 17, 2006 at Alumni Stadium.
Notre Dame returns 18 monogram winners and 10 starters from last year’s team that advanced to the NCAA Championship for the 20th consecutive season, extending the second-longest active streak (and third-longest all-time) in the three-decade history of the NCAA tournament. Notre Dame also will debut its eight-player freshman class that was ranked No. 3 in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer, the second straight Fighting Irish class to garner top three recognition. Top Drawer Soccer tabbed the 12 Notre Dame members of the class of 2016 as the nation’s best incoming group in 2012.
Wednesday’s exhibition contest will also be the first of 2013 for Xavier, who enters its first season in the BIG EAST Conference after winning two Atlantic 10 titles in 18 years as a league member. The Musketeers return home to host Miami (Ohio) Saturday at 7 p.m. to cap the exhibition slate.
While admission for both Notre Dame exhibitions is free, fans can purchase tickets for the 2013 Fighting Irish regular season schedule by calling (574) 631-7356 or going online to und.com/tickets.
Rankings
- Notre Dame is ranked No. 10 in the preseason NSCAA poll.
- Xavier is not ranked in the preseason NSCAA poll.
Irish Items
- Notre Dame enters its 26th season of varsity competition in 2013. The Fighting Irish have a 479-88-27 (.829) all-time record, with 20 NCAA Championship appearances, including 12 trips to the Women’s College Cup, eight berths in the NCAA title match and three national championships (second-most in NCAA Division I history).
- Notre Dame returns 18 monogram winners, including 10-of-11 starters, from last year’s team that went 16-6-2 and advanced to the NCAA Championship for the 20th consecutive season, the second-longest active streak (and third-longest overall run) in tournament history.
- The Fighting Irish, ranked 10th in the preseason NSCAA poll that was released Tuesday, were picked to finish fifth in the Atlantic Coast Conference according to a preseason vote of the conference head coaches. Notre Dame won 14 BIG EAST regular-season titles (division or overall) in 18 years as a conference member, including regular-season crowns in nine of the last 10 years.
- Notre Dame welcomes eight freshmen to its 28-member roster for the 2013 season. The Notre Dame incoming class is ranked No. 3 in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer, and is led by the 2013 Gatorade National High School Athlete of the Year, midfielder Morgan Andrews. The Milford, N.H. native was also a two-time NSCAA All-America selection at Milford High School. Joining Andrews in the class of 2017 is defender Mariel Adams (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista), midfielder Sandra Yu (Strongsville, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit), goalkeeper Kaela Little (Tulsa, Okla./Bishop Kelley), forward/midfielder Rilka Noel (West Bloomfield, Mich./Marian), midfielders Cindy Pineda (Bolingbrook, Ill./Plainfield East), and Emily Geyer (Powell, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) and forward Kaleigh Olmsted (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands).
- Andrews and Little, along with returning sophomores Katie Naughton, Cari Roccaro and Crystal Thomas, recently returned from taking part at the U.S. Under-20 National Team camp in Carson City, Calif. Pineda trained with the Mexican U-20 National Team July 27-Aug. 3 in Colombia.
Scouting Xavier
Xavier returns 18 letterwinners, including six starters, from last year’s club that went 6-12-1 (1-8-0 in the Atlantic 10). The Musketeers return their two leading scorers from last season, senior midfielder Mariah Whitaker (three goals, three assists) and sophomore midfielder Catherine Allon (two goals, two assists). Head coach Woody Sherwood is in his fourth season at the helm of Xavier.
The Notre Dame-Xavier Series
Notre Dame and Xavier have met 10 official times during the regular season, with the Fighting Irish holding an 8-2 edge in the series (including eight straight victories). The teams have not clashed in a regular season match since the 1995 season, a 6-0 Notre Dame victory (10/25/95 at Alumni Field).
Wednesday’s match is the second time the Fighting Irish and Musketeers will meet in an exhibition contest. Notre Dame won the only prior preseason meeting between the teams 5-0 on Aug. 17, 2006.
The Last Time Notre Dame And Xavier Met
Five different Notre Dame players combined in scoring the team’s five goals, as the 5th-ranked Irish women’s soccer team completed its preseason exhibition schedule with a 5-0 victory over visiting Xavier. Junior right back Ashley Jones and freshman forward Michele Weissenhofer each added an assist to their goals in the game.
Notre Dame entered the game with just 16 of 27 players available, as various injuries sidelined four veterans and five of the newcomers while sophomores Brittany Bock and Carrie Dew prepped for the Under-20 World Championship in Russia. The most noteworthy absences included senior center back and team captain Kim Lorenzen, sophomore All-America forward Kerri Hanks and freshman midfielder Courtney Rosen.
Three of the five goals came via set pieces (two corner-kick headers, one direct kick), just one day after the Irish had converted a CK header and double-header goal to account for two of the scores in the 3-0 win over 8th-ranked Virginia. The sharpshooting Irish cashed in 8-of-13 shots on goal during the pair of exhibitions while limiting both teams to a single shot on goal and three combined corner kicks (ND had five CKs in each game).
The game marked a homecoming for then Xavier head coach Alvin Alexander, who served as an assistant coach at Notre Dame during the 2003 and ’04 NCAA-title season.
Fighting Irish Make The Most Of Exhibition Schedule
Notre Dame is 11-3-3 (.735) in exhibition matches against college teams under 15th-year head coach Randy Waldrum. Of those 17 contests, eight have come at home, with the Fighting Irish posting a 6-0-2 record in South Bend (the first five at their prior home, old Alumni Field, before a 2011 match with Nebraska and meetings with Virginia and Baylor last season were played at the Notre Dame Practice Field).
Notre Dame did not play any preseason matches in 1999 (Waldrum’s first year), 2000, 2003 or 2004, with the ’00 and ’04 squads heading to Brazil for training trips. The ’04 team took full advantage of that trip, going 5-0-1 to set the stage for a 25-1-1 season and the program’s second national championship.
Abundance Of Offensive Production Returns
The Notre Dame roster returns to the pitch in 2013 with many of its key players intact, as 146 of a possible 147 points recorded last season are expected to return to the Fighting Irish lineup. Included in the point total are all 46 Notre Dame goals from 2012.
Crystal Thomas led all Notre Dame players with 10 goals, 22 points and 25 shots on goal as a freshman last season. Thomas was one part of a productive forward lineup that included Lauren Bohaboy, who ranked second on the team in all three categories with seven goals, 18 points and 23 shots that found the cage.
Solid Between The Pipes
Top goalkeepers Elyse Hight and Sarah Voigt, who accounted for all 24 Fighting Irish decisions in 2012, are both back in the fold for Notre Dame this season. As a whole, last season’s goaltending corps allowed 18 goals in 2215:08 played (0.73 GAA) and logged 10 combined shutouts.
Hight enjoyed a stellar freshman campaign with a 10-5-1 record in 17 appearances (16 starts) in net, logging 57 saves (.851) and five solo shutouts. Voigt added a solid 6-1-1 mark in 11 games (eight starts) with a 0.85 goals against average and three solo clean sheets.
Next Game: #13 Baylor (exhibition)
Notre Dame will have one final chance to tune up for the 2013 season when it welcomes No. 13 Baylor to the Notre Dame Practice Field at 1 p.m. (ET) Saturday for an exhibition match. It will mark the second straight, and only, time in head coach Randy Waldrum’s 15-year tenure that the Fighting Irish will play multiple preseason matches at home in a single season.
Baylor brings back 20 players, including eight starters returning from last year’s squad that went 19-1-5 and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Championship, the program’s best NCAA tournament finish in its history. Saturday’s match will mark the lone exhibition contest for Baylor prior to the start of the 2013 season.
–ND–