#14/11 Irish, Miami (Fla.) Set For Inaugural Alumni Stadium Meeting Sunday

DATE: Oct. 12, 2014

TIME: Noon ET

LOCATION: Notre Dame, Ind. (Alumni Stadium – cap. 3,007)

LAST MEETING: UM 2-0 (10/6/13 at UM)

BROADCAST: WatchND

TWITTER: @NDsoccernews

TEXT ALERTS: Sign up at UND.com

– The Fighting Irish are 6-1 (.857) all-time against Miami.

– Notre Dame is 5-0 against the Hurricanes in South Bend, outscoring Miami by an aggregate goal margin of 20-2 in those five meetings.

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Returning from a brief one-game Atlantic Coast Conference road voyage, the University of Notre Dame women’s soccer team hosts Miami (Fla.) on Sunday at Alumni Stadium in another key ACC home showdown. The noon (ET) match will be streamed live on WatchND (WatchND.tv).

Notre Dame (8-4-1, 3-2 ACC) was ranked 14th in Tuesday’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Continental Tire rankings, and 11th in the most recent Soccer America poll, while Miami (2-10-1, 0-4-1 ACC) was not ranked in either the NSCAA or the Soccer America polls.

The Fighting Irish and Hurricanes will meet for the eighth time in series history, with Notre Dame holding a 5-0 advantage in matches played in South Bend. Miami will make its first appearance at Alumni Stadium in the program’s first trek to the Notre Dame campus since the 2003 season (a 2-1 Fighting Irish win in overtime on Nov. 2, 2003 in a BIG EAST Championship quarterfinal match).

A goal at the end of the first half from senior forward Lauren Bohaboy and a deep scoring strike late in the contest from sophomore midfielder Morgan Andrews punctuated a strong offensive effort for Notre Dame on Thursday night. The Fighting Irish controlled the tempo throughout a 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference win over Pittsburgh at Ambrose Urbanic Field. Andrews and junior forward Anna Maria Gilbertson each added assists on Bohaboy’s game-winning goal.

Sophomore goalkeeper Kaela Little made four saves in net to secure her seventh solo shutout of 2014on Thursday night against the Panthers. Little has not allowed a goal on the road in more than 538 minutes (last in the 23rd minute on Aug. 22 at Illinois).

“In some ways, the quick turnaround might actually help us,” Notre Dame head coach Theresa Romagnolo said. “(Friday) was a travel day, and we weren’t going to do much on Friday anyway. Instead of getting back late at night or early in the morning, we were able to travel on our day off.”

Miami looks to break through for its first ACC victory of the season after being shut out by No. 9/13 Virginia Tech 2-0 on Thursday night in Coral Gables. The Hurricanes have not claimed a result since battling Louisville to a 1-1 draw on Sept. 28.

“It was something we talked about going into the Pittsburgh game,” Romagnolo said. “We have to assert our will on every opponent, regardless of who it is, if they’re ranked, if they’re not ranked. It’s about us, and it’s about us going out there to be the best that we can be. We want to compete and bring it every opportunity we have.”

For more information on the Fighting Irish women’s soccer program, follow Notre Dame on Twitter (@NDsoccernews or @NDSoccer), like the Fighting Irish on Facebook (facebook.com/NDWomenSoccer) or sign up for the Irish ALERT text-messaging system through the “Fan Center” pulldown menu on the main page at UND.com.

Miami heads back to the road in ACC play after dropping a 2-0 decision to national top 10 ranked Virginia Tech in Coral Gables on Thursday night.

The Hurricanes have posted a 2-10-1 mark over the season’s first 13 contests, earning just one decision since Sept. 5 (a 1-1 draw against Louisville on Sept. 28) prior to Sunday’s match at Alumni Stadium.

Senior midfielder Erin McGovern is the team leader in both goals (2) and points (5) through the first 13 matches of 2014, including one game-winning goal. Junior forward Jasmine Paterson and sophomore midfielder Emily Auld have each added two goals, while sophomore midfielder Gianna Dal Pozzo has chipped in a team-high two assists.

Senior goalkeeper Emily Lillard saw action in Miami’s first 13 matches this season, compiling a 1.82 goals-against average. Lillard has added two solo shutouts against Jacksonville (1-0, Sept. 2) and Stetson (3-0, Sept. 5).

Head coach Mary-Frances Monroe is in her second season at Miami, and enters the weekend with an 11-18-2 career mark with the Hurricanes. Monroe arrived at Miami in 2013 after seven seasons as the head coach at Albany, posting the first winning season for the program since the 1988 campaign in 2010 (10-8-2). As a player, Monroe was a four-time All-America selection in time spent at both Connecticut and UCLA, and set the Connecticut program record for points in a single season (65) as a true freshman in 1998.

Notre Dame holds a 6-1 all-time edge over Miami during the series history between the teams, including a 5-0 mark in matches contested in South Bend.

The Hurricanes earned their first win over the Fighting Irish last season in Coral Gables, shutting out Notre Dame 2-0 on Oct. 6, 2013 in the first ACC meeting between the squads.

Notre Dame holds a 24-4 aggregate goal advantage all-time against Miami, which began with a 7-1 Notre Dame victory in the first meeting in series history on Oct. 24, 1999 at old Alumni Field – five of Notre Dame’s six wins over Miami have been by three or more goals, with three victories being by a four-goal or higher margin.

Miami will make its first ever appearance at Alumni Stadium during Sunday’s match, the second straight ACC foe to make its debut at the home of the Fighting Irish in as many weeks – No. 4/5 Virginia capped its first official visit to the Notre Dame campus with a 2-1 win last Sunday on a goal in the 90th minute.

A few miles from where the Fighting Irish football team fell in the BCS National Championship game in January, the Notre Dame women’s soccer squad suffered the same fate on Oct. 6, 2013, as the No. 4/3 Fighting Irish lost at Miami (Fla.), 2-0 before a sellout crowd of 507 fans at Cobb Stadium in Coral Gables, Fla.

Hurricane forward Ashley Flinn scored twice for UM in the second half, the first coming in the 52nd minute and the clincher with less than seven minutes to play when Notre Dame was pushing forward in search of the tying goal.

The loss snapped a seven-match unbeaten string for the Fighting Irish, who also fell for the first time in seven all-time meetings against Miami. What’s more, Notre Dame had allowed just two goals in its first six conference matches, but had that total doubled during the match.

Goalkeeper Kaela Little made four saves in the Fighting Irish goal, while UM netminder Emily Lillard registered six stops for the home side.

Notre Dame finished with a 16-13 edge in total shots, while shots on goal were even at 6-6. The Fighting Irish also had a 4-3 advantage on corner kicks, and were whistled for 10 of the 13 fouls on the afternoon, including the day’s lone yellow card.

A goal at the end of the first half from senior forward Lauren Bohaboy and a deep scoring strike late in the contest from sophomore midfielder Morgan Andrews punctuated a strong offensive effort for Notre Dame on Thursday night. The Fighting Irish controlled the tempo throughout a 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference win over Pittsburgh at Ambrose Urbanic Field in the team’s first trip to Pittsburgh since 2009.

Notre Dame also established a season-high in shots (32), attempting 15 in the first half and 17 in the second frame.

-Notre Dame improved to 12-0-1 all-time against the Panthers, including 5-0-1 in matches contested in Pittsburgh.

-In the 12 matches this season in which Notre Dame has scored at least one goal, multiple players have found their way into the goal column on six occasions. No two (or three) players have combined to score in the same contest more than once thus far in 2014.

Notre Dame improved to 5-0-1 in true road matches in 2014 with Thursday’s 2-0 win at Pittsburgh, extending its ACC record in contests away from home to 3-0. The Fighting Irish have outscored opponents a combined 10-1 on their counterpart’s home field thus far in 2014, allowing a meager 22 shots on goal over 560 minutes of play.

Eight different players have tallied goals in away matches this season, with sophomore midfielder Morgan Andrews and junior forward Anna Maria Gilbertson leading the way with two goals each. Andrews has chipped in two assists for a team-high six points in six road starts.

Sophomore goalkeeper Kaela Little has earned five solo shutouts away from Alumni Stadium, posting a nearly flawless 0.16 goals-against average and .955 save percentage. Little has not allowed a goal on the road since the 23rd minute of the regular season opener at Illinois on Aug. 22, a span of just over 538 minutes of match action.

Notre Dame is 5-1 in matches this season when sophomore midfielder Morgan Andrews tallies at least one point. Andrews the team leader in goals (5), assists (5) and points (15), has scored in only one Fighting Irish defeat in 2014 (a goal and an assist in a 3-2 loss in 2OT against North Carolina on Sept. 20).

Notre Dame travels to Syracuse for a 5 p.m. (ET) ACC match on Oct. 18.