Oct. 23, 2003

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NOTRE DAME WOMEN’S SOCCER – at Rutgers (Fri., Oct. 19; 7:00 EDT), at Seton Hall (Sun., Oct. 21; 1:00 EST)

The second-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team (16-0-1; 58-5 scoring edge) is on the verge of clinching the BIG EAST Mid-Atlantic Division title, needing a win or tie in Friday night’s game at Rutgers (Oct. 19, 7:00 p.m. EDT), followed by a Sunday game at Seton Hall (1:00 p.m. EST) … the Irish are riding an eight-game shutout streak (tying a team record) and lead the nation with a 0.29 goals-against average, also ranking as the nation’s No. 3 scoring team (3.41 goals/gm) … ND last week completed a rare eight-game homestand (29-1 scoring edge) with a 2-0 win over BIG EAST rival UConn before posting a 1-0 road win over a rested Pittsburgh team … the Irish have held 14 straight opponents to 0-3 shots on goal and have totaled nearly double the number of goals (58) as opponent shots on goal (37, just 21 in last 14 games) … ND’s dominating season is all the more noteworthy with two starters sidelined all season (All-America junior right back Candace Chapman is out with an ACL knee injury while second team all-BIG EAST senior M Randi Scheller had season-ending hip surgery) … the Irish have not lost at home vs. a BIG EAST team since a wild 5-4 overtime game with UConn in 1995 (a 49-game win streak) and are 127-8-2 (.934) in their last 137 overall home games (149-12-2 all-time at home) … ND solidified its spot among the nation’s top teams in mid-Sept. with a dominating defensive effort vs. perennial powers Stanford (0-0) and Santa Clara (2-1) at the SCU Classic before maintaining that momentum with a convincing win over #5 West Virginia (2-0) … ND has been ranked in the top two of the NSCAA coaches poll nine of the last 11 years (all but ’01 and ’02), earning No. 1 in ’94, ’95, ’96 and ’00.

SETON HALL TO PROVIDE INTERNET BROADCAST – Sunday’s Notre Dame-Seton Hall game can be heard live via the internet at www.wsou.net … next week’s ND-Michigan game (Oct. 29) will be available via an internet audio broadcast at www.und.com … the audio is available to SportsPass subscribers (see und.com audio/video link), who also can listen to audio from other ND sports and from other schools that are part of SportsPass (ND also plans on providing audio for all home postseason games) … for schedule and result information on all 26 Notre Dame varsity sports, call the ND Sports Hotline at (574) 631-3000 (press “4” for soccer information and then ‘2″ for women’s soccer results) … see www.scarletknights.com and www.shupirates.com for opponent information.

ND-RU SERIES NOTES – ND owns a 36-2 scoring edge and 9-1-1 all-time record vs. Rutgers (3-1-0 at RU’s Yurcak Field), with the Irish dropping a 2-1 game at RU in 2001 while ND edged the Knight in double OT last season at Alumni Field (1-0) … RU’s then-freshman M Carli Lloyd scored twice in the first 10 minutes of the 2001 ND-RU game while D Vanessa Pruzinsky scored her first career goal with the Irish (ND finished with a 21-9 shot edge) … the ’01 loss to RU halted several ND streaks: a 24-game unbeaten streak vs. BIG EAST teams (23-1-1, dating back to ’98) and a 31-game unbeaten streak in regular-season games (30-0-2; one shy of tying the team record), while RU became just the third BIG EAST team ever to beat the Irish … Amy Warner’s goal in the 101st minute gave ND the 2002 win over RU (the Irish held a 10-8 shot edge) … Warner and Pruzinsky are the only current ND players with previous goals vs. RU (Maggie Manning assisted on Warner’s goal).

KNIGHTS NOTES – Rutgers (9-4-4 overall, 2-1-1 BE Mid-Atlantic Division; 20-10 scoring edge) is battling for a BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinal spot but must play minus All-America M and leading scorer Carli Lloyd (11G-2A), who picked up her 5th yellow card of the season in last Sunday’s 1-0 win at Virginia Tech (she later was red-carded in that game, which also would have DQ’d her from the ND game) … RU returned 16 of 23 letterwinners and nine starters from its 2002 team that went 10-8-2 overall (3rd in BIG EAST Mid-Atlantic at 3-2-1) … RU split a pair of early-season games at the ND Classic (2-1 vs. Oklahoma, 0-1 vs. ASU), also owning wins over Providence (1-0), Stony Brook (3-0), at Kentucky (2-1), Monmouth (1-0, OT), at Seton Hall (1-0), at Syracuse (1-0, OT), Villanova (1-0) … RU’s ties have come vs. Penn State (0-0), Boston College (0-0), Princeton (2-2) and Pittsburgh (0-0), with other losses vs. Iowa (1-2, at Kentucky), Loyola (0-1) and at West Virginia (0-2) … Lloyd and sophomore F Kelly Evans (4G) are the only RU players with multiple goals in ’03 while freshman Robyn Jones owns a 0.61 GAA (39 saves, 10 GA).

ND WOMEN’S SOCCER – BY THE NUMBERS (see PDF)

CONFERENCE CALL – ND’s all-time record in regular-season conference games is 93-7-2 (.922; 74-7-2/.904 in BIG EAST games) … the Irish are 52-1 in home games vs. BIG EAST teams, with 49 straight home wins over BIG EAST teams since a 5-4 OT loss to UConn in ’95 (239-16 scoring edge, 36 shutouts, 13 games with 1 GA) … since ’95, ND’s overall record vs. BIG EAST teams is 93-8-2 (.913; 1-1 record vs. UConn in NCAAs).

REED SET TO RETURN TO GARDEN STATE – Versatile freshman Lizzie Reed (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) – who has started at midfield and outside back, also seeing time last week at forward – will be returning to her home state this weekend after an impressive start to her college career … Reed earned All-America honors while totaling 126 career goals at Ramapo Regional HS … she also helped the N.J. state Olympic Development Team reach the 2003 national finals, losing 1-0 game to Illinois squad that included her current ND teammates Jen Buczkowski, Kim Lorenzen and Jill Krivacek … Reed combined with Buczkowski and central D Christie Shaner as three prep All-Americans in ND’s 2003 freshman class that was rated 5th in the nation by Soccer America.

ND-SHU SERIES NOTES – ND owns an 8-1-0 series record vs. SHU (42-7 scoring edge), winning the last five meetings after a 3-2 loss at SHU in ’98 … Mary Boland scored on an early diving header in the 2002 win over SHU at Alumni Field (1-0), capping her BIG EAST defensive player-of-the-week honors (she earlier helped shut down RU’s Carli Lloyd in a 1-0 double-OT win) … Amy Warner had the leftside cross on Boland’s ’02 goal vs. SHU, with Katie Thorlakson redirecting the pass with a short header from the left side (ND finished with a 13-2 shot edge) … Candace Chapman’s late goal gave ND a 2-1 win at SHU in 2002 (the Irish owned a 28-3 shot edge) … Warner and fellow senior Amanda Guertin scored in the 2000 win over SHU (6-0), with Warner and Vanessa Pruzinsky adding assists in that game.

PIRATES NOTES – Seton Hall (4-10-1, 1-3-0) dropped a pair of 1-0 games last week at Boston College and Providence … the Pirates returned 15 of 21 letterwinners and eight starters from their 2002 team that went 7-11-1/1-4-1 … SHU owns wins over Monmouth (1-0), St. Peter’s (6-0), Virginia Tech (4-3, OT) and Pittsburgh (2-1), plus a 1-1 tie vs. LaSalle and other losses vs. Fairleigh Dickinson (1-2), Pennsylvania (0-1), Colorado (0-2), Denver (0-2), Villanova (0-1, OT), Syracuse (0-2), Rutgers (0-1) and West Virginia … SHU has been outscored 20-16 but has held nine opponents to 0-1 goals … Virginia Tech (3) is the only team to score more than two goals vs. SHU this season … Rita Massot (4G-2A0 and Carley Piagentini (3G) lead SHU in scoring while Buffy Wojciehowski owns a 1.34 GAA (87 SV, 20 GA).

ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA NOMINEES – Four Notre Dame players recently were nominated for Verizon Academic All-America honors, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (the awards are TBA): fifth-year defender Vanessa Pruzinsky (4.00 cumulative GPA; chemical engineering major), senior midfielder Kimberly Carpenter (3.41; pre-professional science), junior forward Mary Boland (3.87; psychology) and sophomore goalkeeper Erika Bohn (3.67; business) … Pruzinsky was a first team Academic All-American in 2000 and ’01 (she was injured in ’02), becoming just the second ND student-athlete ever to be a first team Academic All-American as a sophomore and junior (freshmen are not eligible).

KEEP ON CRANKING – ND continues to avoid the pitfalls that have hit other top teams, as the Irish and UNC have been the nation’s only unbeaten teams for several weeks while the other 295 Div. I programs include just seven with one loss: top-25 teams UCLA, Colorado, Princeton and Cal Poly, plus SE Louisiana, Central Conn. and Hofstra.

QUICK TEAM NOTES ON THE IRISH

* Shutout Streak #1 – ND’s eight straight shutouts (11 of last 13) tie for longest in the program’s history, with the 1995 NCAA-title team also going eight consecutive games without a goal allowed … the current shutout streak covers 764 minutes, besting the 1995 team’s record of 726 consecutive shutout minutes … the Irish also have allowed just one goal in the last 13-plus games, with an earlier 418-minute shutout streak ending on an unstoppable upper-90 shot by Santa Clara’s Marian Dalmy … ND’s eight-game shutout streak ranks 17th in the NCAA record book (just 7 previous teams have posted double-digit shutout streaks, led by Santa Clara’s 16 in 1998).

* Shutout Streak #2 – The Irish recently had a stretch of 138 minutes without allowing a shot (vs. Butler and Georgetown, on Oct. 7 and 10) and went 149 minutes without an opponent shot on goal.

* Balanced Dominance – Notre Dame and top-ranked UNC are the only unbeaten teams remaining among 297 Division I women’s soccer programs, with the Irish also ranking third in the nation for scoring (3.41 goals per game, behind UNC’s 3.88 and Oklahoma State’s 3.50) and first in goals-against average (team-record pace of 0.29).

* Big Gamers – The current senior class carries a 27-8-2 career record when playing in the postseason and/or facing an opponent ranked in the NSCAA top-25.

* BIG EAST Home Winning Streak – UConn was the last BIG EAST team to beat Notre Dame at Alumni Field (5-4 in ’95), with the Irish winning their last 49 home games vs. BIG EAST teams (93-8-2 overall vs. BIG EAST teams since ’95).

* Games-a-Plenty – The Irish recently completed a rugged stretch of six games in 13 days (Sept. 30-Oct. 12), followed by four days off before the showdown with BIG EAST rival Connecticut, ending a rare eight-game homestand.

* 12-to-1 Scoring Margin -The Irish now own a 58-5 season scoring edge, including 28-1 in the recent eight-game homestand (plus a 166-26 total shot edge/93-11 in shots on goal during that eight-game stretch).

* Unbeaten Start – The 2003 campaign marks the fourth time that ND has gone this far into a season (17) without suffering a loss (the ’94, ’97 and ’00 teams all started 23-0-1).

* Historic Dominance – The only previous ND team to allow comparable goals in the first 17 games is the record-setting 1997 squad that owned an 88-5 scoring edge at the 17-game mark, before a 5-0 win over Michigan.

* Frontrunners – The Irish still have trailed only once all season (no deficit in the last 12 games), for just 7:18 in the third game vs. Arizona State (the Irish have led 73% of the minutes and trailed just 0.4%).

* One (Or None) Is Enough – ND has held its opponents to 0-1 goals in the last 22 fall games, good for the 2nd-longest streak of not allowing multiple goals in the program’s history and also the 2nd-best start (17 games) without allowing multiple goals (the 2000 team went 24 games before allowing UNC to score twice in the NCAA semifinals).

* Turnaround Success – ND now is 9-0 this season when playing two days after a previous game (26-2 scoring edge), after going just 4-5 (18-16 scoring edge) in 2002 regular-season “bounceback” games.

* Magic Number – The recent win over Georgetown avenged a 4-3 loss at GU in ’02 (minus 4 ND starters), the only time since a ’95 loss vs. UConn (5-4) that ND has scored three-plus goals and not won (now 101-1-0 in last 102).

* Quick Strikes – The early goal vs. GU marked the sixth time this season ND has scored in the first 7:00.

* Half & Half – The Irish have been equally dominant in the first (30-3) and second half (27-2) this season, after managing just a 12-10 first-half scoring edge in ’02.

* Sharpshooters – The efficient ND offense is averaging one goal every 5.7 total shots and every 3.1 shots on goal … the Irish now have scored 5-plus goals in 5 games this season and have scored 3-plus goals in 10 games.

* Strong Stretch – Since allowing a 26th-minute goal by Oklahoma on Sept. 7, ND’s last 13-plus games (spanning 1,235 minutes) have included just 2 goals allowed, 56 opponent shots (20 on goal) and 28 corner kicks, for 90-minute averages during that stretch of 0.15 goals, 4.1 shots, 1.5 shots on goal and 2.0 corners.

* Furious Forwards – ND’s system includes a pressuring “forecheck” from the team’s frontrunners … four of those players – Mary Boland (2), Amanda Guertin (2), Maggie Manning and Katie Thorlakson – have posted multiple-goal games this season while Amy Warner ranks sixth in the nation with 9 assists.

* Meet You In The Middle – Despite the graduation of four-year starter/defensive ace Ashley Dryer and the season-ending hip surgery to senior Randi Scheller (2nd team all-BIG EAST in ’02), the Irish midfield has been energized by the emergence of two “newcomers” in sophomore Annie Schefter (4G-4A; missed all of ’02 with ACL knee injury) and freshman Jen Buczkowski (2G-6A) – with the pair ranking 4th and 6th on the ND scoring charts.

* Depth Charges – Notre Dame players have combined to miss 143 games due to injury spanning the ’02 and ’03 seasons (38 games; 29-8-1 record), with seven players already combining to miss 79 games due to injury in ’03.

* Far & Wide – ND’s ’03 roster includes players from 14 states, two Canadian provinces and Iceland … the program’s all-time roster canvasses 30 states and three foreign countries … ND’s student-athlete population in the ’02-’03 academic year included nearly 800 individuals from 47 states (all but Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada) and 20 countries.

* OT-Tested – The Irish are unbeaten in their last 15 overtime games (11-0-4).

* Poll Position – ND has been ranked 1st or 2nd in the NSCAA poll during nine of the last 11 seasons (1st in four).

* Winning When They Should – Notre Dame is 104-3-1 all-time at Alumni Field when facing an unranked team.

ND WOMEN’S SOCCER 2003 AWARDS (see PDF for complete list)

Note: Notre Dame is the only team to receive all four BIG EAST weekly awards in ’03.

QUICK PLAYER NOTES

* National GAA Leader – Sophomore Erika Bohn has extended her shutout streak to an ND-record 789 minutes (11th NCAA history, besting Liz Wagner’s ND record 701 in ’00) and leads the nation with a 0.25 GAA (on pace to best LaKeysia Beene’s team-record 0.37 in ’97) … since a 26th-minute goal by Oklahoma, Bohn has allowed just one goal in the last 13-plus games (1,164 min.) … her last 27 starts include a 25-1-1 record (10 GA) … her shutout streak is 3rd-longest in Div. I women’s soccer since ’99, behind a pair of streaks by Denver’s Erica Izard (827 in ’01, 804 in ’02) … she needs 40 more scoreless minutes to move up to 7th on the NCAA list and could reach 6th place with 67 shutout minutes vs. Rutgers (former UNC ‘keeper Anne Sherow holds the NCAA record with 1,670 consecutive shutout minutes, spanning the ’87 and ’88 seasons) … Bohn has logged 93% of the minutes in ’03 (86% in ’02).

* Senior Spark – Senior M Kimberly Carpenter has emerged as a key offensive player at attacking midfielder, ranking 5th on the team with 13 points (5G-3A) after totaling just five combined points in her first three seasons (’00-’02) … she had a 6-game point streak that ended vs. Miami and had scored three times in a stretch of six ND goals.

* Fire & Ice – Seniors Amy Warner and Amanda Guertin have combined for 81 career goals (Guertin is 9th in ND history with 46, Warner 12th with 35), 27 gamewinners (17 by Guertin) and five OT goals (ND record 3 by Guertin).

* Big-Goal Scorer – Junior F Mary Boland registered her 5th game-winning goal of ’03 at Pittsburgh (tied for 9th in ND history) and has opened the scoring four times in ’03 … she enters the week ranked 19th in the nation for goals (12) and 21st in points (28) … Boland spent most of her prep career playing as a forward but her ND career also has included time at outside back and in the midfield, with her quick start (ND record 6G in first 3 games) igniting the ’03 offense.

* Iron Women – Senior F Amy Warner has made 60 consecutive starts while fifth-year D Vanessa Pruzinsky has logged 89 career games and 87 starts (one shy of cracking that ND top-10 list).

* Getting Right Back – Versatile freshman Kim Lorenzen (Naperville, Ill.) was impressive in preseason training at forward but has found a home in the defense, as a starter both centrally and now right back.

* 4.0 Focus – Fifth-year D Vanessa Pruzinsky graduated in May of 2003 with a 4.0 cumulative GPA as a chemical engineering major, the third ND student (first since ’74) ever to complete that feat.

* Fantastic Frosh – ND’s freshman class was ranked #5 by Soccer America, with M Jen Buczkowski (6th) and D Christi Shaner (22nd) rated among the top 25 freshman players.

* Goal Patrol – Irish players have combined for nine multiple-goal games (compared to five in ’02) by seven different players: Mary Boland vs. Hartford (3) and ASU (2), Maggie Manning and Amanda Guertin vs. Hartford (both with 2, with Guertin doing so again vs. Georgetown), Jen Buczkowski vs. Oklahoma (2), Katie Thorlakson and Annie Schefter vs. Western Kentucky (both with 2) and Melissa Tancredi vs. North Texas (2).

* Setup Specialist – Senior F Amy Warner ranks 6th nationally in assists (career-best 9) and 29th in points (25).

* World Cup Starters – Two ND alums – D Kate Sobrero (’98) and defensive M Shannon Boxx (’99) – were starters for the U.S. World Cup team … Boxx was a surprise last-minute addition to the final 20-player roster and became the first player ever to score in her first three games with the National Team (in two warmup games and then in the World Cup opener vs. Sweden) … Boxx also scored on a head for the go-ahead and game-winning goal (2-1) vs. Canada in the 3- third-place game and was named to the All-World Cup team.

NOTRE DAME PLAYER QUICK-FACT SHEET (see PDF for stats and notes on top players)

WALDRUM NEARING 200th WOMEN’S SOCCER WIN – Fifth-year ND head coach Randy Waldrum is on the verge of his 200th career win as a Division I women’s head coach, carrying a 197-66-16 mark (.735) in 14 combined seasons at Tulsa, Baylor and Notre Dame … the Irish are 90-16-4 (.836) in the five-year Waldrum era, including 74-13-3 in the last 90 games (since losing 4-2 at SCU on Oct. 17, 1999) …his ND record spans the career of 5th-year D Vanessa Pruzinsky … Waldrum – who repeated as BIG EAST coach of the year in 2000 – in ’99 became the only coach in the 18-year history of the NCAA women’s soccer championship to lead a team to the title game in his first season as that team’s head coach … he was the fourth first-year coach to take his team to the NCAA semi’s, beating top-ranked and previously unbeaten Santa Clara in San Jose … Waldrum’s 22-plus-year record as a college head coach (men’s and women’s) is 273-121-23 (.682) … his women’s soccer record includes 61-36-9 in six years at Tulsa and 46-14-3 in three seasons at Baylor … Waldrum entered ’03 ranked 7th among active women’s coaches for career winning percentage (min. 10 Div. I seasons).

CLUTCH CANADIAN – Sophomore F Katie Thorlakson (Langley, B.C.) has picked key times for all three of her game-winning goals in 2003 … two of her GWGs have come vs. top-15 teams (#10 Santa Clara and #15 Connecticut), plus the overtime goal vs. Villanova … she also is the only current ND player with multiple career goals vs. UConn (her goal tied the 2002 game, 1-1, in a 3-1 ND win) … the 2002 ND-UConn game proved to be a key turning point for the Irish program, with current senior Melissa Tancredi making the full-time move from forward to central defense while Thorlakson shifted permanently from the midfield to forward … since those key shifts, the Irish are 22-2-1 in their last 25 games.

ROAD WARRIORS – Notre Dame has posted some noteworthy road wins the past two seasons (9-3-0), including a pair of wins at the 2000 Portland Classic (5-0 vs. Washington, 1-0 vs. the Pilots; lifting ND to the #1 ranking), 2002 wins at Maryland, Michigan and Boston College (plus vs. Hartford, at Maryland), the 2003 season-opening wins over Hartford and Wake Forest (at UConn Classic) and solid results at the ’03 Santa Clara Classic (0-0 vs. Stanford, 2-1 vs. SCU).

PLAYING THE BEST – ND has played some of its best soccer vs. ranked opponents, going 24-10-3 vs. NSCAA ranked teams in the Waldrum era (since ’99) … that trend held true in 2001 (5-1-0): 2-1 vs. Penn St., 2-0 vs. Hartford, 2-1 vs. WVU, 3-0 vs. Miami, 0-3 at UConn, 2-1 vs. Michigan … the Irish posted 2002 wins over #25 Maryland (5-2), #8 UConn (3-1), #13 Michigan (1-0) and #14 Purdue (3-1) … over the course of the ’01-’03 seasons, ND owns an 11-6-1 record vs. NSCAA top-25 teams (29-5-1 vs. unranked teams), including 2003 wins over #16 Santa Clara (2-1), #8 West Virginia (2-0) and #15 UConn (2-0) and a scoreless tie vs. #24 Stanford.

PRIMETIME PLAYERS – ND is 27-8-2 in the last four seasons (’00-’03) when facing an NSCAA ranked and/or postseason opponent ( 75-34 scoring edge in those 36 “big games”) … Amanda Guertin has 50 points in those big games (20G-10A) while Amy Warner owns 8G-5A vs. ranked/postseason opponents (missed half of ’00 due to injury).

REAR-VIEW MIRROR – Notre Dame has trailed just once all season – for 7:18 early in the Sept. 5 game vs. Arizona State – with the Irish leading for 73% of the 1,558 minutes while trailing for less than one-percent (0.4%) of the ’03 minutes … ND’s 2000 team held the No. 1 ranking for most of the season while trailing just once in the first 24 games (for 28 minutes, in 2-1 win over BC) before falling behind UNC with eight minutes left in the NCAA semifinals (a 2-1 loss).

NCAA STAT LEADERS – ND entered the week with the nation’s best team goals-against avg. (0.29) and is the nation’s No. 3 scoring team at 3.41 goals per game (behind UNC’s 3.88 and Oklahoma State’s 3.50; min. 11 games) … ND headed into last week as one of four teams (the others are North Texas, Jacksonville and Southeast Louisiana) with two players who already had posted 25-plus points (junior F Mary Boland is 21st in the nation with 28 points and senior F Amy Warner 29th with 25) .. Boland also is 19th in the nation with 12 goals while Warner’s nine assists rank 6th … ND’s Erika Bohn continues to rank first among the national goals-against average leaders (0.25).

GLORY DAYS – The 58-5 scoring edge is comparable to ND’s 5-year dominance in the mid-1990s, with 17-game scoring margins of: 78-13 in ’93, 71-8 in ’94, 65-12 in ’95, 94-9 in ’96 and 88-5 in ’97 (average of 79-10) … only one previous ND team (5 in 1997) the 2003 team’s low number of goals allowed at the 17-game mark (5) … ND’s 0.29 team GAA would rank first in ND history (ahead of 0.36 in ’97, 0.39 in ’00) … ND already has scored 5-plus goals in five games this season.

QUICK-STRIKE ARTISTS – Notre Dame has scored in the first 7:00 of six games this season, with junior F Mary Boland responsible for three of those early goals … the team’s quickest goals have come versus West Virginia (1:24; Boland volley on long serve from Melissa Tancredi) and North Texas (4:28; Amanda Guertin shot from top of the box via short pass from Amy Warner) … other quick-strike goals by ND in 2003 have come vs. Hartford (6:32; Boland puts back own rebound, after classic 5-player combination sequence that includes right endline cross from Warner), vs. Oklahoma (5:58; Jen Buczkowski knocks in rebound after flurry in box), at Santa Clara (5:03; Boland on lunging poke after leftside service from Katie Thorlakson) and vs. Georgetown (5:39; Kimberly Carpenter redirects Vanessa Pruzinsky shot).

SPANNING THE GLOBE – Notre Dame’s 2003 roster includes players from 14 states, two Canadian provinces (British Columbia and Ontario) and Iceland … the states on the ’03 roster touch all corners of the nation: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington.

GOING THE DISTANCE – ND is unbeaten in its last 15 overtime games (11-0-4), since the 3-2, double-OT loss to UNC in the ’99 opener … that team went on to post a 2-1, double-OT win at UConn and played to a 1-1 tie at Nebraska in the NCAA quarter’s (adv. on PKs) … the 2000 team had OT wins over Stanford, at West Virginia and vs. Santa Clara in the NCAA quarter’s (all 2-1), also playing to 0-0 at UConn … ’01 featured an unprecedented five OT games (2-1 vs. Indiana, Villanova, WVU and Michigan; 2-2 vs. Wisconsin) while the ’02 team added 1-0 OT wins over Rutgers and BC … the ’03 team has played to a scoreless tie with Stanford (at SCU) and beat Villanova in OT (1-0).

SHARING THE WEALTH IN OT – ND’s 11 overtime wins in the five-year Randy Waldrum era include goals from seven players (plus an own goal vs. Stanford in ’00): Anne Makinen (vs. UConn in ’99), Amanda Guertin (ND record 3; vs. WVU in ’00, Michigan in ’01, BC in ’02), Meotis Erikson (vs. SCU in ’00 NCAA quarter’s), Kelly Tulisiak (vs. IU in ’01), Amy Warner (2; vs. VU in ’01, Rutgers in ’02), Mia Sarkesian (vs. WVU in ’01) and Katie Thorlakson (vs. Vill. in ’03).

OT MASTERS – Senior Amanda Guertin holds the ND record for career OT goals (3), with her classmate Amy Warner and ’96 national player of the year Cindy Daws ranking second with two (including Daws’ goal vs. Portland in the ’95 NCAA title game) … Guertin (3G-2A) owns eight career points in OT, followed by Warner (6; 2G-2A) … Guertin’s other OT goals came at WVU in 2000 and at home vs. WVU in ’01 (both 2-1) … in addition to her double-OT goal on Sept. 20, 2002, vs. Rutgers (1-0), Warner scored in OT vs. Villanova (’01) and had the primary assist on Kelly Tulisiak’s OT goal in ’01 vs. Indiana (both 2-1) … she also had the cross that produced an OT own-goal to beat Stanford in ’00 and assisted on Guertin’s OT goal in ’02 at BC (1-0), playing a key role in five of ND’s last nine OT goals (Guertin on five of the last eight).

STILL NO LOSSES – Notre Dame is unbeaten after 17 games for the fourth time in the program’s history … here’s a look at the other longest season-opening unbeaten streaks in the ND record book (see PDF):

MOVING ON UP – ND’s impressive career record book can be seen in the fact that Amanda Guertin did not crack the Irish top-10 career scoring list until notching her 43rd goal, roughly half of the record total racked up by 1999 graduate Jenny Heft (80) … here’s a look at where Guertin and classmate Amy Warner stand on the career points and goals list (see PDF):

STREAKY PLAYER – Amanda Guertin scored a goal in the final 10 games of 2001 – third-longest in Div. I women’s soccer history (SCU’s Brandi Chastain had a 15-game goal streak in ’90, Hartford’s Maria Kun an 11-game streak in ’97) … Guertin also scored goals in an ND-record seven straight postseason games, spanning ’01 and ’02 (she has 9G in 15 career postseason games) and had points in eight straight games (7G-6A) before the 1-0 loss at Stanford in ’02.

GETTING THE GWGs – Amanda Guertin continues to add clutch goals and assists to her career totals (46G-24A, in 84 GP) – with her 17 gamewinning goals ranking 3rd on the ND all-time list (2 shy of Jenny Heft’s record) … 7 of Guertin’s GWGs have come in one-goal games, including three in OT (ND record) … nearly half of Guertin’s career goals (17 of 46, or 39%) have been gamewinners – well ahead of the others on the GWG list (see PDF):

SECOND-GAME SUCCESS – ND has reversed its frustrating trend from recent years of struggling in the second game of a three-day stretch … the Irish are 9-0-0 in ’03 when returning to the field two days after a previous game (25-2 scoring edge) … the Irish were just 4-5-0 in ’02 regular-season “turnaround games,” totaling just 18 goals and allowing 16 in those nine games … ND’s second-game wins in 2003 have come vs. four teams that have been in the national rankings (3-0 vs. Wake Forest, 5-1 vs. Oklahoma, 2-1 at Santa Clara, 1-0 vs. Villanova), plus wins over Western Kentucky (5-0), Indiana State (3-0), Butler (3-0), Miami (3-0) and Pittsburgh (1-0).

PRUZSINKY DRAWS NATONAL MEDIA ATTENTION – Fifth-year D Vanessa Pruzinsky was spotlighted in a recent feature on College Sports Television while a recent Sports Illustrated On Campus highlighted the high achiever … Pruzinsky – the national high school player of the year and a 2002 invitee to U.S. Under-21 National Team tryouts – wrapped up her undergrad studies last May with a 4.0 cumulative GPA, becoming just the third chemical engineering major (and first since ’74) to graduate from Notre Dame with a 4.0.

INJURY WOES CONTINUE – ND’s ’02 season was hampered by injuries to several top players (totaling 64 games missed, plus 79 thus far in ’03 for a total of 143) … the Irish are playing in the ’03 season minus two top players – as junior All-America D Candace Chapman suffered a torn ACL knee injury while training with the Canadian National Team (in preparation for the World Cup) while senior M Randi Scheller underwent preseason hip surgery … sophomore M Jenny Walz (ACL) is nearing her return to action after being injured in the spring … junior starting central D Gudrun Gunnarsdottir has returned in a reserve role (after missing four games with a broken arm) while freshman D Kari Kennedy (foot) and junior D Kate Tulisiak (back) made their 2003 debuts on Oct. 10 vs. Georgetown … veteran D Vanessa Pruzinsky (ankle) made a full-time return at the ND Classic … Scheller will have the option to apply for a 5th year of eligibility in ’04, as will central D Melissa Tancredi (she missed ’00 with an ACL injury) … Pruzinsky is a current 5th-year player (out most of ’02 with ankle injury) while Chapman will be a senior in ’04 and have her own option at a 5th year in ’05.

BOHN ON A ROLL – Sophomore G Erika Bohn is 27-2-1 in her last 30 starts (25-1-1 last 27), allowing just 14 goals in that 30-game stretch (18 shutouts, 11 with 1 GA) … her only losses in that stretch: 3-2 game BYU with a fluke goal (clearance deflected off referee) and a rare late-game PK; and the season-ending loss at top-ranked Stanford, with the only goal coming in the 81st minute … Bohn now has logged 27 consecutive games with the Irish (22 fall, 5 spring) without allowing multiple goals (last done by BYU on Oct. 19, 2002).

MAGIC NUMBERS – The 3-goal mark has been virtually an automatic win in ND history, with the Irish 197-3-1 all-time (.983) when scoring 3-plus, losing to N.C. State in the ’92 opener (4-3), UConn in ’95 (5-4, OT) and at Georgetown in ’02 (4-3), plus a 3-3 tie vs. Vanderbilt in ’91… the Irish had won 88 straight when scoring 3-plus, before the GU loss (now 101-1-0 since Oct. 6, 1995) … ND is 272-8-11 (.954) in all-time games when holding the opponent to 0-1 goals, including tough 1-0 losses in ’02 to eventual NCAA champ Portland and top-ranked Stanford … prior to the UP loss, the Irish had been 56-0-3 in the previous 59 games when allowing 0-1 GA (dating back to 1-0 loss to SMU in ’99, playing minus Finnish national teamer Anne Makinen) … the program’s 16-year history includes just 281 goals allowed in 359 games (0.78 GA per game) … the Irish have allowed more than one goal in only 68 all-time games (19%) and have yielded 3-plus goals in just 32 all-time games (9%; including two 6-goal games by the opponent, four 5-goal and six 4-goal) … 91% of ND’s all-time games have seen the Irish hold the opponent to 0-2 goals (ND is just 4-27-1 all-time when allowing 3-plus).

FIRST-HALF FORTRESS – The ND defense has been particularly stingy in the first half the past three seasons, allowing just 20 goals in the first half of those 59 games … the first half in ’02 featured little scoring (12-10 ND edge), compared to a 30-3 first-half edge in ’03.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE – Fifth-year D Vanessa Pruzinsky in May 2003 became the third chemical engineering major (and first since ’74) to graduate from ND with a 4.0 cumulative GPA … Pruzinsky is a two-time Academic All-American, with ND’s other top candidates for that award in ’03 including junior F/M Mary Boland (3.87, psychology), senior M Kimberly Carpenter (3.41, psychology) and sophomore G Erika Bohn (3.67, College of Business).

EARLY SPARK – Mary Boland is the 5th ND player to register a hat trick in an opener and has scored in all three openers of her career (including ND’s first goal in ’01 and ’03), with a diving header to open the scoring in ’01 vs. Penn State (2-1) and the final goal in the ’02 win at Providence (3-0) … previous Irish players with hat tricks in openers: Rosella Guerrero as a freshman vs. N.C. State in ’92 (4-3 loss), Guerrero and sophomore Michelle McCarthy in ’93 at LaSalle (12-0 win), and senior Amy Van Laecke and sophomore Monica Gerardo in ’96 at PC (14-0) … Boland’s 7 points vs. Hartford (3G-1A) are most by an ND player since Jenny Streiffer had 3G-1A vs. Miami on Oct. 1, 1999 … Streiffer holds the ND record for points in a game, with 9 (3G-3A) in the ’96 win over Providence (14-0).

ALUMNI UPDATE – Several former Notre Dame women’s soccer players have been in the news during recent weeks:

* D Kate Sobrero (’98) and M Shannon Boxx (’99) were named to the U.S. National Team that finished third at the World Cup, both serving as starters … Sobrero played for the U.S. team that won the ’99 World Cup and was on the ’00 Olympic team … Boxx had no previous National Team experience but had an impressive ’03 season in the WUSA (she became the first player ever to score in her first three games with the National Team, in two tuneup games and the 3-1 opener vs. Sweden) … she also headed in a Mia Hamm corner kick for the gamewinning goal vs. Canada in the third-place game and was one of 16 players named to the all-World Cup team.

* Sobrero and Boxx were two of five former ND players who played in the WUSA 2003 all-star game, as were Washington Freedom D Jen Grubb (’00), Boston Breakers D Monica Gonzalez (’02) and San Jose CyberRays G LaKeysia Beene (’00) … Sobrero and Gonzalez helped Boston win the WUSA regular-season title while Grubb – who played every minute in the first three WUSA seasons – captained the Freedom to the ’03 WUSA Founders Cup title (2-1 in OT vs. Atlanta Beat) … other ND alums in the ’03 WUSA: M Anne Makinen (’01; Phil. Charge), D Lindsey Jones (’02; N.Y.), D Kelly Lindsey (’01; San Jose) and M Monica Gerardo (’99; Wash.).

* Three of the above now are college assistants: Gerardo at Pittsburgh (where former ND assistant Sue-Moy Chin is the first-year head coach), Lindsey at Colorado and Boxx at Cal State Dominguez Hills … Boxx is enrolled in graduate school at Pepperdine and is one of several former ND players set to be married in coming months (as are Sobrero and former midfield great Holly Manthei).

FRESHMAN CLASS RANKED AMONG BEST IN NATION – Soccer America rated ND’s freshman class 5th in the nation, behind Santa Clara, UCLA, Texas and Portland … Jen Buczkowski (Elk Grove, Ill.) was No. 6 on the list of top recruits (second among M, behind Nebraska’s Brittany Timko, who was 2nd overall) … D Christie Shaner (Ambler, Pa.) was No. 22, making ND one of seven schools with multiple players on that top-25 list … M/D Lizzie Reed (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) also was a prep All-American.

See PDF for game-by-game linescores and notes.