Sept. 9, 2010
Full Notes Package in PDF Format 
2010 ND Women’s Soccer — Games 5-6
UCLA Women’s Cup
#3/4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-0-0 / 0-0-0 BIG EAST) vs. #13/13 UCLA Bruins (3-1-0 / 0-0-0 Pac-10)
DATE: September 10, 2010
TIME: 7:00 p.m. PT
AT: Los Angeles, Calif. – Drake Stadium (11,700)
SERIES: ND leads 2-0-0
LAST MTG: ND 1-1/4-3 pk (12/5/04)
AUDIO: uclabruins.com (live)
LIVE STATS: UND.com
TWITTER: @NDsoccernews
#3/4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-0-0 / 0-0-0 BIG EAST) vs. Loyola Marymount Lions (4-1-0 / 0-0-0 WCC)
DATE: September 12, 2010
TIME: 11:00 a.m. PT
AT: Los Angeles, Calif. – Sullivan Field (2,000)
SERIES: ND leads 1-0-0
LAST MTG: ND 4-0 (8/29/08)
AUDIO: lmulions.com (live)
LIVE STATS: UND.com
TWITTER: @NDsoccernews
Storylines
- Notre Dame and UCLA meet for the first time since the 2004 NCAA national title match, won by the Fighting Irish on penalty kicks.
- Notre Dame will play its second top-15 opponent in a week, with the first five Fighting Irish opponents all appearing in this week’s NSCAA poll (ranked or receiving votes).
No. 3/4 Irish Head West For UCLA Women’s Cup
There aren’t many places in the country Notre Dame hasn’t played in its 23-year history, but the No. 3/4 Fighting Irish will head into uncharted territory this weekend with their first-ever visit to southern California. Notre Dame (4-0) is set to take part in the UCLA Women’s Cup, beginning at 7 p.m. (PT) Friday against the 13th-ranked hosts, and concluding at 11 a.m. (PT) Sunday at Loyola Marymount.
The Fighting Irish are coming off a pair of shutout wins over No. 8/9 Santa Clara (1-0) and Texas Tech (2-0) at last weekend’s Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic, earning the tourney title for the 13th time in its 18-year existence. Senior forward Rose Augustin was the Offensive MVP with goals in both matches, while senior Nikki Weiss (the Goalkeeper MVP) made a combined 11 saves to preserve the clean sheets.
Rankings
- Notre Dame is No. 3 in the latest NSCAA poll and No. 4 in the newest Soccer America poll.
- UCLA is No. 13 in both the latest NSCAA poll and the newest Soccer America poll.
- Loyola Marymount is not ranked.
A Quick Look At The Fighting Irish
Stout defense and timely offense have been the primary reasons for Notre Dame’s 4-0 start this season. The Fighting Irish, who come into this weekend ranked third in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll and fourth in the Soccer America survey, have played one of the nation’s strongest non-conference schedules to date, with all four past opponents currently ranked or receiving votes in this week’s NSCAA poll.
Notre Dame’s veteran back line, led by its award-winning center backs and co-captains — senior Lauren Fowlkes and junior Jessica Schuveiller — has combined with senior goalkeeper Nikki Weiss to be one of the team’s strengths early on this season. The Fighting Irish have posted four consecutive shutouts to open the campaign, including whitewashes of No. 8/9 Santa Clara (1-0) and high-scoring Texas Tech (2-0) last weekend.
In the offensive third, senior Rose Augustin made an early move from the midfield to the forward line and has capitalized to the tune of a team-high four goals (all in the past three matches). Junior forward/Hermann Trophy candidate Melissa Henderson has added two goals (both gamewinners) and two assists this season, putting six of her 11 shots on frame thus far.
Scouting UCLA
UCLA comes into this weekend’s action ranked 13th in both the NSCAA and Soccer America polls. The Bruins (3-1) opened the season as the consensus No. 3 team in the land, but an early 1-0 loss to Northwestern (in Madison, Wis.) put a crimp in their poll standing.
UCLA only played once last weekend, earning a 4-1 win at home over Cal State Northridge. Junior forward Sydney Leroux scored the gamewinning goal in the 53rd minute (sparking a three-goal second-half outburst) and added an assist, while senior defender Lauren Barnes chipped in with a pair of second-half assists. Redshirt junior Chante’ Sandiford only had to make one save to earn the victory.
Leroux leads the Bruins with five goals and 11 points, while sophomore midfielder Zakiya Bywaters and freshman midfielder Jenna Richmond each have two goals, and Barnes has dished out a team-high three assists. Sandiford has played the vast majority of the minutes in goal, going 3-1 with a 0.52 GAA and one shutout.
Head coach Jillian Ellis is in her 12th season at UCLA with a 219-38-12 (.836) record at the school. She also spent two years at Illinois, giving her a career mark of 238-56-12 (.797).
The Notre Dame-UCLA Series
Notre Dame and UCLA will be meeting for just the third time, and the first in both the regular season and in southern California. The Fighting Irish are 2-0-0 all-time against the Bruins, earning an 8-0 victory in the 1997 NCAA quarterfinals at old Alumni Field in South Bend, and then edging UCLA in the 2004 NCAA national championship match on penalty kicks (4-3) after the teams played to a 1-1 draw through two overtimes in Cary, N.C.
Other Notre Dame-UCLA Series Tidbits
- The Notre Dame-UCLA title match in 2004 remains the lone NCAA final to be decided on penalty kicks.
- The two head coaches rank among the winningest mentors in Division I history. UCLA’s Jillian Ellis is third all-time and second among active coaches in winning percentage (.797/238-56-12), while Notre Dame’s Randy Waldrum is fourth all-time and third among active skippers with a .789 winning ratio (343-84-21).
- Notre Dame senior defender Lauren Fowlkes and UCLA junior forward Sydney Leroux were teammates on the 2008 U.S. Under-20 World Cup Team that earned the gold medal in Chile. Both Fowlkes and Leroux missed the College Cup that year in order to represent the United States.
- Fowlkes, junior forward Melissa Henderson and junior defender Jessica Schuveiller all played for the USA U-23 National Team this summer, spending time as a teammate of UCLA’s Lauren Barnes. In fact, Barnes assisted on the tying goal by Fowlkes in the 82nd minute of a 2-2 exhibition draw against the German U-23s on May 26, 2010, in Marburg, Germany.
- Notre Dame will be playing on a Pac-10 campus for the first time in exactly six years. On Sept. 10, 2004, the Fighting Irish earned a 2-1 victory at Arizona State behind goals from Canadian standouts Candace Chapman and Melissa Tancredi.
- While Notre Dame has played in the state of California on a regular basis in recent seasons, thanks to its bi-annual participation in Santa Clara’s tournament, the Fighting Irish have never played a match in southern California prior to this weekend.
- This will be a homecoming for Notre Dame sophomore forward Lindsay Brown, who hails from Newport Beach, Calif., and graduated from Mater Dei High School in 2009. Other notable Fighting Irish women’s soccer alums from southern California include 1996 Hermann Trophy recipient Cindy Daws (Northridge) and current U.S. National Team midfielder/two-time Olympic gold medalist Shannon Boxx (Torrance).
Scouting Loyola Marymount
Loyola Marymount is off to a 4-1 start this year, having erased a season-opening loss at 14th-ranked California (2-1) with four consecutive wins. Most recently, the Lions posted back-to-back 2-0 shutouts last weekend at Utah and at home against Tennessee-Martin.
In the Utah match, a pair of freshmen — defender Tata Gilmer and forward Tawni Martino — scored 3:31 apart in the first half, both off assists by senior forward Julie Gallaudet, to give LMU all the offense it would need.
Against UTM, freshman midfielder Darien Pyka scored her first career goal with nearly 42 minutes gone and senior midfielder Nickey Ha added an insurance tally in the 86th minute to ice the win.
Both victories were made possible by stellar goalkeeping from redshirt freshman Brittany Jagger, who made 11 saves vs. Utah and five more against UTM. She has played every minute between the pipes for the Lions, posting a 0.80 GAA and .871 save percentage.
Martino leads LMU with four goals, while Ha has three scores, and Gallaudet owns a team-high three assists.
Head coach Joe Mallia is in his fourth season at Loyola Marymount with a 37-19-6 (.645) record. Along with seven years at Loyola (Md.), Mallia has a 124-64-15 (.648) career record.
The Notre Dame-Loyola Marymount Series
Sunday will mark just the second matchup between Notre Dame and Loyola Marymount on the soccer pitch. The Fighting Irish and Lions squared off just two seasons ago on Aug. 29, 2008, at old Alumni Field in South Bend, with Notre Dame earning a 4-0 victory on the opening night of the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic. Two-time Hermann Trophy recipient Kerri Hanks registered her school record-tying sixth career hat trick in the win, with then-freshman Melissa Henderson also finding pay dirt.
Other Notre Dame-Loyola Marymount Series Tidbits
- LMU will be the second West Coast Conference opponent in as many weekends for Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish defeated No. 8/9 Santa Clara, 1-0, back on Sept. 3 at Alumni Stadium.
- Notre Dame will be visiting a WCC campus other than Santa Clara (where it plays bi-annually in SCU’s tournament) for the first time since Nov. 25, 2005, when the Fighting Irish dropped a 3-1 decision at Portland in the NCAA quarterfinals. Notre Dame’s last win over a WCC school on its home pitch was on Sept. 21, 2003, when the Fighting Irish earned a 2-1 win at Santa Clara.
- Notre Dame sophomore forward Lindsay Brown and Loyola Marymount freshman forward Marta Tena both reside in Newport Beach, Calif., and graduated from Mater Dei High School a year apart.
Game #4 Recap: Texas Tech
Junior forward Melissa Henderson and senior forward Rose Augustin scored goals 47 seconds apart midway through the first half on Sunday, propelling the No. 3/4 Fighting Irish to a 2-0 victory over Texas Tech at Alumni Stadium on the second day of the 18th annual Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic. With the win, Notre Dame claims the tournament title for the 13th time, and the second in three seasons.
Augustin, who netted her team-high fourth goal of the season, all in the past three matches, was named the Offensive Most Valuable Player of the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic. Henderson joined her on the all-tournament team, along with senior defender/co-captain Lauren Fowlkes, who was named the tournament’s Defensive MVP, and senior goalkeeper Nikki Weiss, who took home the Goalkeeper MVP award.
Notre Dame outshot Texas Tech, 19-10 on the afternoon, including an 11-3 margin in the first half. The Fighting Irish also held a 6-4 edge in shots on goal, as well as an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks — fouls were even at 14 apiece.
Weiss made four saves in the Notre Dame nets to record her fourth consecutive solo shutout to open the 2010 season. Meanwhile, Colleen Pitts went the first 45 minutes in the Red Raiders’ goal, turning aside two shots, before Erin Wikelius came on in the second half and also registered two saves.
As the saying goes — “pressure can make pipes burst” — and in some cases, it can also cause defenses to break down. That’s exactly what happened just past the midway point of the first half, and it turned the match on its ear. Junior midfielder Erica Iantorno started the first scoring sequence of the day by playing a long ball over the top to Henderson racing down the left flank. The Fighting Irish attacker angled her run into the box, then looked to play a cross in front, but the ball was blocked back to her near the penalty spot. Henderson them calmly pushed her dribble to the right side, turned and unleashed a sizzling shot that beat Pitts to the far left side netting for her second goal of the season (23:51).
Just about the time the crowd settled back into its seats and the final notes of the “Notre Dame Victory March” had finished echoing from the PA system following Henderson’s goal, the Fighting Irish lead doubled, and it was vintage Augustin. The crafty veteran attacker latched on to a ball in the right channel approximately 35 yards from goal and with no Red Raider defender in the neighborhood, Augustin let loose with a thunderous blast into the top left corner of the goal (24:38).
Game #3 Recap: Santa Clara
Senior forward Rose Augustin scored just 3:05 into the match and the No. 3/4 Fighting Irish made it stand up, blanking No. 8/9 Santa Clara, 1-0 on the opening night of the 18th annual Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic before a raucous crowd of 2,229 fans, including a large student contingent, on a cool and damp Sept. 3 evening at Alumni Stadium.
Junior forward Melissa Henderson set up Augustin’s goal with a drop pass at the top of the box, with Augustin running on to the ball at full speed and rocketing a low shot past Santa Clara goalkeeper Bianca Henninger. It marked the second time in as many matches (and third in six contests dating back to last season) that Henderson set up Augustin for a score.
Senior goalkeeper Nikki Weiss registered her third shutout of the season behind a career-high seven saves, including four in the second half. Henninger was credited with six stops in the Santa Clara net.
Notre Dame finished with a 16-13 edge in total shots, with the teams each recording seven shots on goal. The Broncos earned a 5-4 margin in corner kicks, while SCU was whistled for 17 of the 27 fouls on the night.
Weekly Honors Aplenty For Irish Quartet
Four Notre Dame women’s soccer players collected a variety of conference and national weekly honors on Monday afternoon in separate announcements made by the awards’ respective media outlets.
For the second time in the first three weeks of the 2010 season, senior goalkeeper Nikki Weiss was selected as the BIG EAST Conference Goalkeeper of the Week, it was announced Monday afternoon by the league office. It was one of two awards for the Fighting Irish netminder on Monday, as she also was named to the CollegeSoccer360.com Primetime Performers of the Week list, a rundown of the top 11 players in the country from the previous week as chosen by that web site.
Likewise, junior defender/co-captain Jessica Schuveiller nabbed national recognition on Monday, returning to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week for the second time. The TDS list also honors the top 11 players in the nation based on their accomplishments during the prior seven days. Both Weiss and Schuveiller copped their initial awards of the season back on Aug. 23.
Rounding out Notre Dame’s award recipients on Monday were senior forward/midfielder Rose Augustin and senior defender/co-captain Lauren Fowlkes, each of whom were selected for the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. It’s the first time this season that a Fighting Irish player has appeared on the Honor Roll, which recognizes notable performances by conference players outside those chosen for the BIG EAST’s weekly individual awards.
Weiss played every minute in goal for Notre Dame last weekend, helping the Fighting Irish post shutout victories over No. 8/9 Santa Clara (1-0) and Texas Tech (2-0) to win the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic for the 13th time in its 18-year history. The veteran netminder was named the tournament’s Goalkeeper MVP after recording a career-high seven saves in the win over Santa Clara and adding four more stops against Texas Tech. She also extended her season-opening shutout streak to four matches, marking the second time in three years (and third in program history) that Notre Dame has started a season with four consecutive clean sheets.
Schuveiller and Fowlkes, the BIG EAST Preseason Co-Defensive Players of the Year, were the anchors on the Fighting Irish back line in front of Weiss last weekend, effectively shutting down two potent offensive units. Against Santa Clara, the Notre Dame center backs combined to hold the Broncos without a shot during the final 20 minutes while the Fighting Irish successfully protected a one-goal lead. Two days later, they teamed up to limit Texas Tech to a single shot during the opening 36 minutes, after the Red Raiders came into the contest averaging 2.6 goals/match through their first five outings. For her efforts, Fowlkes was named the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic Defensive MVP.
Augustin was a vital contributor in both Notre Dame victories last week, scoring the gamewinning goal 3:05 into the match against Santa Clara and adding an insurance goal against Texas Tech on a 35-yard rocket a mere 47 seconds after junior forward Melissa Henderson put the Fighting Irish on the board. Augustin has a team-high four goals this season (all in the past three matches) and was named the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic Offensive MVP.
Mel-Rose Place
No signs of Billy, Jane, Michael or Sydney, but early on this season, Alumni Stadium has taken on the look of Mel-Rose Place. Specifically, the offensive duo of junior forward Melissa Henderson and senior forward Rose Augustin have combined for six of the seven Fighting Irish goals and 14 of 17 points through the first four matches of the season. What’s more, both of Henderson’s assists this year have set up Augustin scores (vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Aug. 22, and vs. Santa Clara on Sept. 3).
Quickstrike Offense
Junior forward Melissa Henderson and senior forward Rose Augustin scored 47 seconds apart (at 23:51 and 24:38) midway through the first half of the Sept. 5 win over Texas Tech at Alumni Stadium. It was the fastest two-goal flurry for Notre Dame since Sept. 28, 2008, at Cincinnati, when Henderson scored 33 seconds after Courtney Rosen found the back of the net.
Henderson A Trend Setter
If you’re looking to spot a trend in Notre Dame’s success during the past three seasons, look no further than junior forward Melissa Henderson. Since the Garland, Texas, native arrived in South Bend, she has scored 37 goals (fourth-most among active Division I players) and added nine assists, good for 83 career points.
Those markers have been particularly valuable to Fighting Irish fortunes. In fact, during Henderson’s career, Notre Dame is 25-0 when she scores a goal and 31-0 when she tallies a point, the latter of which she has done in all four matches this year and 11 of the past 14 contests, dating back to last season.
Department of Defense
Notre Dame has opened this season with four consecutive shutouts, marking the second time in three years (but just the third time in school history) that the Fighting Irish have started with four clean sheets. The other instances occurred in 1995 (eight in a row) and 2008 (four in a row).
Looking at the larger picture, Notre Dame has allowed 0-1 goals in its last 19 matches, dating back to Oct. 4, 2009, at Pittsburgh. That’s the fifth-longest streak in the program’s 23-year history and its longest since Oct. 25, 2002-Oct. 26, 2003, when the Fighting Irish yielded a goal or fewer in 24 consecutive matches.
During this current 19-match defensive run (which coincided with the installation of senior Nikki Weiss as Notre Dame’s full-time starting goalkeeper), the Fighting Irish are 17-1-1 with 14 shutouts (11 solo and three shared by Weiss), a 45-5 scoring margin and a 0.26 goals-against average (GAA).
ND Seniors Among Nation’s Best
The 2010 Notre Dame senior class is second only to North Carolina as the most successful group in the country on the basis of total victories, with a four-year record to date of 70-10-3 (.861) that includes three consecutive trips to the NCAA College Cup and an appearance in the 2008 national title match.
The .861 winning percentage compiled by the Fighting Irish seniors is fifth-best on the national scene.
And Juniors Aren’t Half Bad Either
Like their senior teammates, the Fighting Irish juniors have the second-most wins among all junior classes, with a three-year record to date of 51-5-1 (.904), including two trips to the NCAA College Cup and a berth in the 2008 title match. The Notre Dame junior class also currently ranks third in the nation with a .904 winning percentage.
That record could be even more impressive when one considers that three of those five losses occurred in a nine-day span (Sept. 4-13) last season. The only other losses were late-game one-goal setbacks to North Carolina in the past two College Cups (2-1 in the ’08 final, 1-0 in the ’09 semifinals), along with a 0-0 draw at Pittsburgh last year (a match in which Notre Dame outshot the Panthers, 25-7).
Fresh-Faced Contributors
Freshman midfielders Mandy Laddish and Elizabeth Tucker have wasted little time in getting their feet wet at the college level. The pair have earned starting nods in all four matches so far this season, with Laddish tying for second on the team in total minutes (352) and Tucker potting the gamewinning goal early in the second half of Notre Dame’s 3-0 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Aug. 22. It was the first time a Fighting Irish rookie tallied a gamewinner within her first two college matches since two-time Hermann Trophy recipient Kerri Hanks pulled off that feat on Aug. 28, 2005, as part of a four-goal outburst in a 6-0 win at Vermont.
Pick Three For The Hermann Watch
Senior defender/midfielder Lauren Fowlkes, junior midfielder Courtney Barg and junior forward Melissa Henderson have been named to the 45-player watch list for the 2010 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, it was announced Aug. 11 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). The Hermann Trophy is presented annually to the nation’s top Division I women’s soccer player.
Notre Dame was one of only five schools (along with Boston College, Portland, Stanford and UCLA) to place three players on this year’s Hermann Trophy watch list. Both Fowlkes and Henderson also appeared on last year’s Hermann Trophy preseason chart, while Barg was a midseason addition to the candidate list and wound up being selected as one of 15 semifinalists for the ’09 award.
The BIG EAST Conference had a total of five players named to the 2010 Hermann Trophy watch list, tying the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences for the third-most selections from one league behind the Atlantic Coast Conference (9) and Pac-10 Conference (7).
Notre Dame is one of only two programs to field four or more different recipients of the prestigious Hermann Trophy since its inception in 1988, with Cindy Daws (1996), Anne Makinen (2000) and Kerri Hanks (2006 & 2008) taking home the crystal ball award. The 2010 Hermann Trophy winner will be selected by Division I head coaches who are current members of the NSCAA. The list of 15 semifinalists will be chosen by a coaches committee, with the three finalists revealed in early December. All three will be invited to a news conference on Jan. 7, 2011, at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, where the winner will be announced, with a presentation banquet to follow.
Beasts Of The BIG EAST
With a 2-1 win over Marquette in last year’s BIG EAST Championship final, Notre Dame now owns an NCAA Division I-record 66-game unbeaten streak (63-0-3) against BIG EAST opposition, dating back to a 4-1 loss at No. 15 Marquette on Sept. 30, 2005. In that time, the only ties were scoreless draws at Connecticut (Oct. 13, 2006) and Pittsburgh (Oct. 4, 2009), and a 1-1 deadlock at No. 12 West Virginia in the 2007 BIG EAST final (won by the Mountaineers on penalties, 5-3, but the game is recorded as a tie).
Since joining the BIG EAST 15 years ago, the Fighting Irish are 134-8-5 (.928) all-time in regular-season conference games, 35-2-1 (.934) in the BIG EAST Championship, and hold a 713-85 scoring edge dating back to that first league season in 1995.
What’s more, Notre Dame maintains a 15-year, 94-game home unbeaten streak (93-0-1) against BIG EAST teams, with Connecticut the lone conference team ever to defeat the Fighting Irish at home (5-4 in overtime on Oct. 6, 1995, at old Alumni Field). The only result separating Notre Dame from a 94-game conference home winning streak has been a 0-0 draw with Rutgers on Oct. 22, 2004, also at old Alumni Field.
Our Fearless Leader
Now in his 12th season at Notre Dame, head coach Randy Waldrum ranks fourth on the NCAA Division I all-time winning percentage list with a .789 (343-84-21) mark in his 21 years in the women’s game. He also is third among active coaches for career winning percentage, while his 343 career wins rank fifth on the all-time NCAA Division I charts.
A two-time National Coach of the Year (2008 by the NSCAA, 2009 by Soccer America), Waldrum has led Notre Dame to seven NCAA College Cups, four NCAA finals and the 2004 national championship. He is second in NCAA Division I history with seven College Cup appearances and four title-game berths in his storied career.
The 2-0 Guarantee
Notre Dame is 318-0-1 all-time when claiming a 2-0 lead and is unbeaten in its past 295 contests when going ahead 2-0 (dating back to a 3-3 tie with Vanderbilt on Sept. 15, 1991, in Cincinnati).
In fact, just two of the past 207 Fighting Irish opponents to face a 2-0 deficit have forced a tie, something achieved by four opponents in Notre Dame history: Duke on Oct. 17, 1993, in Houston (Irish won 3-2), Connecticut on Nov. 10, 1996, in the BIG EAST final at old Alumni Field (ND led 2-0, later tied 2-2 and 3-3, ND won 4-3), Duke on Nov. 30, 2007, in the NCAA quarterfinals at old Alumni Field (Irish won 3-2), and most recently, Villanova on Oct. 12, 2008 in Villanova, Pa. (ND won 3-2 in OT).
Three … Is The Magic Number
Scoring three goals has meant virtually an automatic win in Notre Dame women’s soccer history, with a 287-3-1 (.988) record in those games, including a 189-1-0 (.995) mark since Oct. 6, 1995. The Fighting Irish also are 392-10-15 (.958) when holding the opposition to 0-1 goals.
Golden Domers Golden In OT
Overtime has usually been the right time for Notre Dame, as the Fighting Irish are 20-3-9 (.766) all-time in the Randy Waldrum era (since 1999) when going to an extra period or two, including an active seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2) dating back to the 2007 season.
Last year, Notre Dame went to overtime on three occasions, defeating West Virginia (3-2 on Oct. 2) and St. John’s (2-1 on Nov. 6 in the BIG EAST semifinal in Storrs, Conn.) and ending in a scoreless draw at Pittsburgh (Oct. 4).
Four current Fighting Irish players have scored “golden goals” in their college careers — senior midfielder Rose Augustin (Oct. 12, 2008 at Villanova), junior forward Melissa Henderson (Nov. 9, 2008 vs. Connecticut in BIG EAST final), senior forward Taylor Knaack (Oct. 2, 2009 at West Virginia) and junior defender Jessica Schuveiller (Nov. 6 vs. St. John’s in BIG EAST semifinal).
Captains’ Choice
Senior defender/midfielder Lauren Fowlkes and junior defender Jessica Schuveiller have been selected to serve as Notre Dame’s captains this year, according to a preseason vote of their teammates. Fowlkes is in her first season as a team captain, while Schuveiller is a second-year captain after becoming the first non-senior to wear the armband for the Fighting Irish since Amy Warner in 2002.
New Ways To Follow The Fighting Irish
The Notre Dame women’s soccer program has expanded its reach this season through a number of media outlets. Most notably, the Fighting Irish have created three Twitter accounts for fans to follow the team on a daily basis — one is operated by head coach Randy Waldrum (@NDCoachWaldrum), a second by assistant coach Ken Nuber (@NDSoccer) and a third by associate media relations director Chris Masters (@NDsoccernews).
In addition, the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.UND.com) is featuring live in-game blogs for all Fighting Irish home matches this season, allowing fans to ask questions, make comments and share in the excitement of Notre Dame women’s soccer right from their own computers.
These blogs, along with live in-game stats (courtesy of the CBSSports.com College Gametracker) and other special features, are available through the UND.com Women’s Soccer Gameday Central page, which is posted on-line within 24 hours of each home contest.
ND Supporters Group Debuts In 2010
Fans are encouraged to be a part of the new Notre Dame soccer supporters’ group, The Rakes of Mallow. This student-based organization is attending all Fighting Irish home games this year and aims to create a special home pitch atmosphere unlike any in college soccer. To learn more, visit The Rakes of Mallow web site (www.rakesofmallow.net).
Next Up: DePaul/Northwestern
It’s a Windy City weekend for Notre Dame, as the Fighting Irish head to Chicago for a pair of matches on Sept. 17 and 19.
Notre Dame will kick off BIG EAST Conference play on Friday, Sept. 17, when it ventures to Wish Field for a 4 p.m. CT/5 p.m. ET match against DePaul. The Blue Demons enter this weekend’s action with a 3-2-1 record as they prepare to visit Michigan State and play host to Drake this weekend.
The Fighting Irish close out their Chicago swing on Sept. 19, playing their final regular-season non-conference match of the year against Northwestern at Lakeside Field (4:30 p.m. CT/5:30 p.m. ET). The Wildcats are 2-2-2 this season, including a 1-0 win over then-No. 3 UCLA on Aug. 29 in Madison, Wis., as they head into Sunday’s match at home against Eastern Michigan.
— ND —