Sept. 1, 2006
Complete Full-Color Tournament Program in PDF Format
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Note: see PDF for 8-page, full-color tournament program … complete and updated Notre Dame game notes will be posted after the USC and prior to the Santa Clara game, which will be telecast live on ESPN-U on Sept. 3 (1:36 kickoff, EDT)
Tournament Schedule
Friday, Sept. 1 #1 Santa Clara vs. Harvard – 5:00
#19 USC vs. #1 Notre Dame – 7:30
Sunday, Sept. 3 #19 USC vs. Harvard – 11:00
#1 Santa Clara vs. #1 Notre Dame – 1:30
rankings refer to highest spot in a national poll (ND per Soccer Times, SCU per Soccer Buzz)
IRISH NOTES – The Irish are #1 in the Soccer Times coaches poll (plus 3rd per Soccer America and Soccer Buzz), after a 9-0 win ovr Iowa State and a 2-1 road win the next day at Mississippi … it was the first time since 1996 that ND played on back-to-back days … ND has tied the team record for home unbeaten streak (29; 28-0-1, since end of ’03 season) and has won 92% of its all-time home games (181-14-3) … nine ND players were slowed by injuries in the preseason … Notre Dame is 320-9-12 (.956) all-time when holding opponent to 0-1 goals and 233-3-1 (.984) when scoring 3-plus goals (135-1-0 since Oct. 6, 1995) … the Irish are riding a 229-game win streak when claiming a 2-0 lead (252-0-1 all-time) … ND owns a 104-27-7 all-time record in tournament action, including 42-14-6 in regular-season tournaments … since 1994, the Irish are 30-7-3 in regular-season tournaments (with 21 of those wins coming vs. ranked teams) … the Irish own a 56-13-2 overall record in tournament play during the Waldrum era (’99-’05), including 21-5-1 in regular-season tournament action … since losing to Santa Clara and Portland (the teams that went on the play in the ’02 NCAA title game) at the 2002 Notre Dame Classic, the Irish are 15-1 in their past 16 regular-season tournament game … Michele Weissenhofer was named BIG EAST rookie of the week after totaling 2G-3A in the week-1 action (one of her assists came on a flip-throw and she also forced an own-goal) … the Irish are riding the 2nd-longest scoring streak in ND history (38 games) … no previous team in the program’s 19-year history ever had faced the task of playing on back-to-back days in venues that were more than a couple hundred miles apart … Kerri Hanks has scored in 9 of the past 10 official fall games with the Irish … ND is 20-0-0 when Hanks has scored a goal the past two seasons … Amanda Cinalli’s 64 career points are tied with Candace Chapman for 24th in ND history … when including the exhibition games vs. Virginia and Xaver, nearly one-third of ND’s goals this fall (6-of-19, including at least one in each game) has come off a set play … the ND seniors are 69-7-2 for their careers, with Jen Buczkowski appearing in all 78 of those games (Christie Shaner in 77, Lizzie Reed in 74, Kim Lorenzen in 71 and Jill Krivacek in 70) … Hanks scored the quickest goal ever in an ND season opener (1:19), vs. Iowa State, and became the quickest ND player to 30 career goals (26 games, besting Anne Makinen’s 27) … ND is 17-2-0 in season openers, including seven straight game-one wins and a 27-3 combined scoring edge in the past three season openers … ND has won 20 straight games at Alumni Field (since a scoreless tie with Rutgers late in the 2004 regular season) … the nine goals vs. ISU match the third-most of the Waldrum era (since 1999), behind the 11-1 win over UNH in the 2005 opener and a 10-0 win over Georgetown in `99 (the `03 team opened with a 9-1 win over Hartford, at UConn) … Weissenhofer became the sixth ND player (done seven times) ever to factor into four-plus goals in a season opener (2G-2A).
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS – SCU is ranked as high as #1 in the nation (per Soccer Buzz), also 2nd per Soccer America and 3rd per Soccer Times, after 1-0 wins over Santa Clara and Wake Forest … SCU returned 10 starters and 22 of 26 letterwinners from its 2005 team that went 17-5-2, finished 2nd (behind eventual NCAA champion Portland) in the West Coast Conference (4-2-1) and then advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals, losing a 2-1 game at Penn State … one of SCU’s top returning players (Tina Estrada) is out due to injury.
FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE – There will be five players in Russia with strong rooting interests in this weekend’s games at Alumni Field, as ND’s Brittany Bock and Carrie Dew are competing alongside SCU’s Jordan Angeli and Amanda Poach (plus USC’s Amy Rodriguez) on the U.S. Under-20 National Team that just played in the Under-20 World Championship (an 0-0 game that saw China advance, 5-4 on PKs) … the USA will play Brazil on Sunday in the third-place game) … Dew and ND’s Ashley Jones were captain of the Cal-South ODP team that won the 2004 national title and included SCU’s Brittany Klein, Meagan Snell, Courtney Lewis, Alexa Orand … ND’s Jen Buczkowski, Jill Krivacek and Kim Lorenzen were longtime club and ODP teammates with SCU’s Julie Ryder (who alsoplayed with Buczkowski on the U.S. U-19s) … Jones has past playing experience with several other SCU players (Kira Sarkesian, Dani Potts, Megan McCray, Angeli and Poach) … ND’s Molly Iarocci and SCU’s Tiffany Roberts played together on the Sereno (Ariz.) Golden Eagles … ND’s Kelsey Lysander and SCU’s Jenna Belcher were teammates on Cal South ODP.
ND-SCU SERIES NOTES – Notre Dame owns a 7-4-0 series record vs. Santa Clara (4-1 at home), including 3-0 in the NCAAs (1-0 in the 1999 semifinals, 2-1 in the 2000 quarterfinals and 1-0 in the 2004 semifinals) … the teams played just twice in the first 11 seasons of the ND program (1988-98) but this weekend’s meeting will be the 10th ND-SCU game in the past eight seasons (`99-’06) … five of the games have seen one of the teams ranked 1st in the NSCAA poll (ND in ’95, `00 and `05; SCU in both `99 games) – and that could have been the case this season but the NSCAA did not update its poll this week … the home team is 7-2-0 in the series (5 at ND, 4 at SCU) … ND lost at SCU in the 2005 season (2-1), with Jordan Angeli scoring twice for the Broncos while the Irish had a costly missed penalty kick.
SCOUTING THE TROJANS – USC is ranked as high as 19th in the national polls (per Soccer Buzz, also 22nd per Soccer America) after opening with a 0-0 tie vs. UC Santa Barbara and a 4-1 win over UC Irvine … USC returned nine starters and 16 of 22 letterwinners from its 2005 team that went 13-6-2, finished 3rd in the Pac-10 (6-2-1) and advanced to the NCAA second round … Jim Millinder is 134-92-21 in 12-plus seasons as a college coach (126-65-17 at USC).
FRIEND OR FOE? – ND sophomores Brittany Bock and Carrie Dew currently are competing alongside USC’s Amy Rodriguez at the Under-20 World Championship (in Russia, with Team USA) … Dew also was a teammate of USC’s Rosa Anna Tantillo on the 2005 U.S. Under-23 Select Team … ND’s Courtney Rosen also has past playing experience on the national-team level with Rodriguez … Dew and ND teammate Ashley Jones were captains of the 2004 Cal-South ODP team that won the national title … that team also included USC’s Nini Loucks and Ashley Nick (plus four current Santa Clara players) … Jones and Loucks also were teammates on the SoCal United team that won the 2004 national club title … three players from each team (ND’s Bock, Dew and Jones and USC’s Rodriguez, Meagan Holmes and Stacey Strong) were invited to the U-20 team trials … Bock and USC’s Ashley Nick were members of the U.S. U-17 national-team program.
FIRST-TIME VISITORS – Since 1993, teams making their first visit to Alumni Field have gone just 3-40-1 vs. the Irish in those games (USC is facing ND for the first time) … ND’s all-time record in series openers is 76-25-2 (.745), including 43-5-0 since ’93 and 50-8-0 in all series openers at home (25-3-0 since ’93) … the Irish opened last week by beating first-time opponents Iowa State and Mississippi … Harvard is one of the teams that have lost to ND on their first Alumni Field visit (a 2-0 ND win in the 2000 NCAA third round, with the Irish beating Santa Clara the next week in a 2-1 quarterfinal that went to overtime.
VETERAN COACHING TRIO – The Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic brings together three individuals who have combined for 773 wins in 57 combined seasons as college soccer head coaches: ND’s Randy Waldrum (326-128-24, in 25) and Florida’s Becky Burleigh (268-67-15, in 16) … Smith has the 3rd-best career Division I win pct. (.779) among active D-I women’s coaches (min. 10 seasons) while Waldrum is 7th (.779; 250-73-17) … on the opposite side of the spectrum, Harvard’s Erica Walsh is entering her fourth overall season as a college head coach and first at Harvard.
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON – Harvard opens its season this weekend and returns nine starters (14 of 20 letterwinners) from its 2005 team that went 8-5-3 overall and finished 5th in the Ivy League (2-3-2) … Harvard came to Notre Dame’s Alumni Field at the start of the current decade, losing a 2-0 game to the Irish in the 2000 NCAA third round (the Crimson had upset Hartford the week before) … current ND volunteer assistant Lindsey Jones was a junior defender on that 2000 team that was ranked No. 1 and lost to UNC in the NCAA semifinals.
ND TOURNAMENT HISTORY – Notre Dame has hosted a women’s soccer tournament every year since 1992, going 21-3-2 in those games with a 75-25 scoring edge … Santa Clara previously has played at the ND tournament in 2000 (1-6 loss to ND, 2-1 win over UConn), 2002 (4-0 win over ND, 4-2 win over Clemson), and 2004 (2-1 win over SMU, 2- loss to ND).