Freshman Ginny McGowan played a career-high 31 minutes in Friday night's 1-0 Notre Dame win over Baylor

#19/13 Irish Cap Non-Conference Play Against Toledo Sunday

Sept. 13, 2014

Match Notes Get Acrobat Reader

2014 NOTRE DAME WOMEN’S SOCCER – MATCH 8
#19/13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-2-1) vs. Toledo Rockets (3-2-1)

DATE: Sept. 14, 2014
TIME: 1 p.m. ET
LOCATION: Notre Dame, Ind. (Alumni Stadium – cap. 3,007)
LAST MEETING: ND 5-2 (11/14/08 at ND)
BROADCAST: WatchND.tv
LIVE STATS:
TWITTER: @NDsoccernews
TEXT ALERTS: Sign up at UND.com

Storylines
– The Fighting Irish are 1-0 (1.000) all-time against Toledo.
– Notre Dame is a combined 38-4-3 (.878) all-time against teams from the state of Ohio (eight different opponents faced in program history).

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame women’s soccer team continues its three-game homestand on Sunday when it hosts Toledo in the final non-conference match of the 2014 regular season at Alumni Stadium. The 1 p.m. (ET) contest will be streamed live and free of charge on the official Notre Dame athletics multimedia platform, WatchND (WatchND.tv).

No. 19/13 Notre Dame (4-2-1) picked up right where it left off after an unbeaten West Coast road trip last weekend, earning a 1-0 win over Baylor on Friday night at Alumni Stadium. Junior defender/tri-captain Katie Naughton (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Elk Grove) scored her team leading third goal of the season (second game-winning goal) with 1:36 left in the first half against the Bears, set up by a beautiful corner kick service from freshman defender Sabrina Flores (Livingston, N.J./Livingston). Naughton began the week as one of six finalists for the ESPNW Player of the Week award following a standout effort out West at Santa Clara and Stanford.

Sophomore goalkeeper Kaela Little (Tulsa, Okla./Bishop Kelley) logged her third consecutive solo shutout, a career-high, in the win over Baylor, recording five saves in goal. Little, who selected to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week on Monday, has not allowed a goal in more than 344 minutes of game play dating back to the 47th minute against Texas Tech on Aug. 29.

Toledo enters Sunday’s match with a 3-2-1 record after dropping a 4-0 decision at Michigan on Sept. 5. The Rockets began that week with a 1-0 upset win in double overtime over Ohio State in Toledo on Sept. 2.

Notre Dame is 1-0 all-time in its only official meeting with Toledo, picking up a 5-2 victory during the first round of the NCAA Championship on Nov. 14, 2008 at old Alumni Field. The Fighting Irish would ultimately finish as the national runner-up at the 2008 NCAA Women’s College Cup after winning a program-best 26 games that season.

To purchase a season pass or single-match tickets for the 2014 Notre Dame women’s soccer season, call the Murnane Family Athletics Ticket Office at (574) 631-7356, visit the official Notre Dame athletics ticketing web site, UND.com/tickets or stop by the Murnane Family Athletics Ticket Office windows during normal business hours (9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday). Tickets also can be purchased at Alumni Stadium on match days.

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.

–ND–

SCOUTING TOLEDO
Toledo enters Sunday’s match with a 3-2-1 record after dropping a 4-0 decision at Michigan on Sept. 5. The Rockets opened that week with a 1-0 upset win in double overtime over Ohio State in Toledo.

Junior midfielder Geri Siudzinski has scored a pair of goals to go along with one assist to lead Toledo, while sophomore forward Kiersten Johnson, redshirt freshman midfielder Isabella Echeverri and redshirt freshman forward Regan Price have added one goal each.

Junior goalkeeper Sam Tiongson has logged every minute in net for the Rockets through the season’s first six matches, compiling a 0.94 goals-against average and .769 save percentage. Tiongson has completed three solo shutouts thus far in 2014.

Head coach Brad Evans is in his 14th season at the helm of the Toledo program, sporting a 134-108-28 (.548) record with the Rockets. Evans has won three Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular-season and four conference tournament championships.

THE NOTRE DAME-TOLEDO SERIES
Notre Dame and Toledo have only officially met during sanctioned competition on one occasion, a 5-2 Fighting Irish victory on Nov. 14, 2008 during the first round of the NCAA Championship at old Alumni Field.

THE LAST TIME NOTRE DAME AND TOLEDO MET
With two goals, Rose Augustin led top-ranked Notre Dame to a 5-2 win over Toledo on Nov. 14, 2008 in NCAA Championship first round play at old Alumni Field. Kerri Hanks became just the third player in Division I women’s soccer history to reach the 70-goals, 70-assists plateau with a pair of assists.

Aside from Augustin, whose second goal proved to be the game winner, co-captain Carrie Dew, Melissa Henderson and Erica Iantorno also scored for the Fighting Irish.

ND VERSUS THE STATE OF OHIO
Sunday’s match might only be the second time that Notre Dame and Toledo have ever squared off in soccer competition, but the Fighting Irish have enjoyed success throughout their history against opponents from the state of Ohio.

Notre Dame is 38-4-3 (.878) in 45 previous meetings with eight different teams from Ohio, including Toledo. Perhaps more impressive is the Fighting Irish record at home during those matches, a sterling 22-2-1 (.900).

IRISH PLAYERS FROM ‘THE BUCKEYE STATE’
A total of 14 players in Notre Dame program history on the team’s official all-time roster have resided from the state of Ohio. Included in the Fighting Irish residents of the Buckeye State are seven players who were members of national championship teams at Notre Dame: Kate Fisher and Julie Vogel (1995), Mary Boland, Amanda Cinalli, Kate Tulsiak and Nikki Westfall (2004), and Rose Augustin (2010).

Sophomore Emily Geyer is the only active Ohio native on the current Notre Dame roster, having appeared in five matches with one goal scored during her freshman campaign in 2013. Classmate Sandra Yu also calls Ohio home, but has yet to play in an official match during her Fighting Irish career.

LAST TIME OUT: BAYLOR
Sophomore goalkeeper Kaela Little logged her third consecutive shutout, and a timely goal from junior defender/tri-captain Katie Naughton with 1:36 remaining in the first half powered No. 19/13 Notre Dame to a 1-0 win over Baylor on Friday night in front of 1,138 fans at Alumni Stadium.

The Fighting Irish earned their third straight result (2-0-1 in the past three games), extending the current team shutout string to 354:03 dating back to a 2-1 loss against USC on Aug. 31. Notre Dame held a 10-8 edge in total shots over Baylor, while shots on goal were even at 5-5. Notre Dame also enjoyed a 7-1 margin on corner kicks.

Little made five saves, including three in the second half when Notre Dame was protecting its lead, to claim her career-best third consecutive solo clean sheet. Little has not allowed a goal in 334:44 of game play, dating back to the second half against Texas Tech on Aug. 29. Michelle Kloss started in goal for the Bears and made three saves before giving way at halftime to Sara Martinson, who was credited with two stops in the second frame.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE: BAYLOR
– Junior defender/tri-captain Katie Naughton not only tied the Notre Dame team lead with her third goal of 2014 against Baylor, but also converted her third header of the season off a set piece. Naughton previously headed home corner kick services at Illinois (Aug. 22) and against Texas Tech (Aug. 29).

– Freshman defender Sabrina Flores logged her second career assist on Naughton’s goal at the 43:24 mark of the first half on Friday. Both of Flores’ career helpers have been on corner kick services converted by Naughton (first occurred in the 15th minute against Texas Tech on Aug. 29).

– Notre Dame has now scored the first goal in five of its seven matches this season. The only contests where the Fighting Irish were not on the scoreboard first was a 3-1 win in the season opener at Illinois (Aug. 22), and a 0-0 draw at Stanford (Sept. 7).

APPROACHING WIN #500
The Notre Dame women’s soccer program is four victories away from reaching 500 all-time wins, entering play on Sunday with 496 victories against only 98 losses and 29 draws (.819) in 27 seasons of varsity competition.

The Fighting Irish have averaged 18.4 wins per season since the women’s soccer program was elevated to varsity status in 1988, reaching the NCAA Championship in 21 consecutive seasons. Notre Dame has also appeared in the NCAA Women’s College Cup 12 times, including eight berths in the NCAA Championship match, and has won three national championships (1995, 2004, 2010) to tie for the second-most NCAA titles in Division I history.

The women’s soccer and softball programs at Notre Dame, both in their 27th official seasons of varsity status, are the only two Fighting Irish athletics teams never to log a losing season in their respective histories.

ACC PLAY ON THE HORIZON
Sunday’s match against Toledo will be the final non-conference encounter for Notre Dame before the 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) schedule begins next Saturday, when North Carolina visits Alumni Stadium.

Set to begin its 24th season of conference play, and second campaign in the ACC, Notre Dame has a remarkable 172-16-11 (.892) all-time record in conference matches.

NEXT UP FOR THE IRISH: NORTH CAROLINA
Notre Dame and North Carolina resume the greatest rivalry in NCAA Division I women’s soccer on Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. (ET), with live coverage on WatchESPN. The Fighting Irish and Tar Heels have combined to win 24 of the 32 all-time NCAA Championship tournaments.