Nov. 23, 2004
Notre Dame junior goalkeeper Erika Bohn (Brookfield, Conn.) has continued the Notre Dame women’s soccer program’s tradition of producing first team Academic All-Americans while her classmate Annie Schefter (Yakima, Wash.) has been named to the 2004 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America second team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
The Notre Dame women’s soccer program’s unmatched tradition of Academic All-America excellence now includes 15 selections during the past 10 seasons – more than double the total from any other team (North Carolina has the second-most selections in the last 10 years, with seven).
Bohn – a 2003 second team Academic All-American who carries a 3.63 cumulative grade-point average, as an art studio major – currently owns a 0.37 season goals-against average that ranks best among `keepers from 306 Division I teams and is just shy of LaKeysia Beene’s team record (0.36, set in 1997). Since allowing a goal at Georgetown, the six-foot Bohn has surrendered just two goals spanning her last 913 minutes of game action (good for a 0.20 GAA in that 11-game stretch). She is one of just six members of the 2004 Academic All-Americans to repeat the honor, after earning second-team recognition in 2003.
Schefter – a 3.73 student as a double-major in pre-professional studies and psychology – has been a key factor in Notre Dame’s domination of the midfield this season while ranking fifth on the team in scoring with 14 points (4 goals, 6 assists). A former member of the U.S. Under-19 National Team, she missed all of her freshman season in 2002 due to a preseason knee injury but has made a strong return to appear in all 48 games during the past two seasons.
Bohn and Schefter are key members of a 2004 Notre Dame squad that carries a 22-1-1 record into Friday’s NCAA quarterfinal game vs. Portland (7:00 p.m. EST, at Alumni Field). Schefter’s strong all-around play has helped the Irish dominate possession while rolling up a 65-12 season scoring edge, plus 520-131 in shots (avg. 22-5), 261-61 in shots on goal (11-2.5) and 139-35 in corner kicks (8-1.5). Most recently, Notre Dame has accumulated a 59-8 shot edge in three NCAA Tournament games (all shutouts) while allowing just three shots on goal (31-3; also 61-9 in six overall postseason games) and one corner kick (19-1; 35-2 in whole postseason). The Irish also have faced just five deficits all season totaling 89 minutes, with three of the deficits lasting 11 minutes or shorter.
Annie Schefter’s stellar midfield play is matched by her performance in the classroom, with a 3.73 GPA as a pre-professional and psychology double major.
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Notre Dame’s 2003 women’s soccer team was the first ever to produce three Academic All-Americans and the ’04 Irish squad would have matched that feat if not for the early-season broken leg suffered by senior forward Mary Boland (disqualifying her, based on the required 50% of games played). Boland would have been a strong contender for Academic All-American of the Year, due to her 3.90 cumulative GPA as a psychology major (4.0 in fall of ’03) and status as a first team all-BIG EAST player in ’03.
Two Notre Dame sophomores – midfielder Jen Buczkowski and left back Christie Shaner – made strong bids for 2004 Academic All-America honors and likely will find themselves on that list in 2005. Buczkowski (3.37, business) joined Bohn and Schefter as a CoSIDA first team Academic All-District V selection while Shaner (3.42, design) received second team Academic All-District honors.
The Irish team actually is overflowing with players who own strong Academic All-America credentials (the CoSIDA team recognizes “starters or top reserves” who have a GPA of at least 3.20), among them senior central back Gudrun Gunnarsdottir (3.31, finance) and sophomore right back Kim Lorenzen (3.53, business). As a group, the Notre Dame women’s soccer team posted a 3.32 team GPA in the 2004 spring semester while seeing 22 of 25 players register a semester GPA of 3.0-plus (with 13 at 3.4-plus).
In addition to their dominating play that has helped the Irish again total more goals this season (65) than opponent shots on goal (61), the four veteran starters on the back line – Shaner, Gunnarsdottir, Lorenzen and fifth-year central back Melissa Tancredi – have combined for a 3.28 cumulative GPA, spanning 18 combined semesters of study at Notre Dame.
Notre Dame and Drake (2) were the only schools with multiple players named to the first or second team while two others (Saint Louis and Tennessee) had two players included among the three Academic All-America teams (each had a second- and third-teamer).
Erika Bohn currently leads the nation with a 0.37 season goals-against average.
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Bohn is the only non-senior on the first team and joined Texas senior forward Kelly Wilson and Washington defender Clare Rustad as the only first-teamers from teams that qualified for the 2004 NCAA Championship. Schefter was one of six non-seniors on the second team and should be a strong contender for first-team honors in 2005 (she also will have the option of applying for a fifth year of eligibility in ’06).
Five Notre Dame players now have combined for seven first team Academic All-America honors, with the Irish program producing at least one first-teamer in five of the past nine years. At least one Notre Dame player has been named Academic All-America in eight of the past 10 seasons (all but 1999 and ’02) and the program easily could have laid claim to honorees in the other two years as well (Jenny Streiffer somehow was passed over in her 1999 All-America season, despite previously being an Academic All-American in ’97 and ’98, while an injury to Vanessa Pruzinsky prevented her from earning her third straight Academic All-America honor in ’02, which instead came in `03).
Notre Dame’s Academic All-America history includes the following other 10 honorees: goalkeeper Jen Renola and forward Amy Van Laecke in 1995 (both 2nd team) and again in ’96 (both 1st team); Streiffer in 1997 (1st team) and again in ’98 (2nd team); forward Meotis Erikson in 2000 (3rd team); defender Monica Gonzalez in ’01 (2nd team); and the 2003 trio of Pruzinsky (1st team), Bohn (2nd team) and forward Mary Boland (2nd team).
Renola also was recognized as the 1996 CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for fall and winter “at-large” sports while Pruzinsky was the 2003 CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for women’s soccer (that award superceded the at-large program, starting in 2001).
Bohn joins Renola, Van Laecke, Streiffer and Pruzinsky as the program’s fifth player to post multiple Academic All-America seasons. She will return in ’05 with the chance to join fellow Connecticut native Pruzinsky as the program’s only three-time recipients (Pruzinsky graduated with a 4.0 cumulative GPA, becoming just the third Notre Dame chemical engineering major ever to accomplish that feat and the first to do so in nearly 30 years).
Updated bio. notes on Bohn and Schefter follow below:
Erika Bohn has held 47 of her last 51 opponents to 0-1 goals and has surrendered just two goals in her last 913 minutes of action.
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Erika Bohn (Jr., G; Brookfield, CT; 3.63 GPA, art studio) – leads nation with 0.37 season GAA that is just shy of ND record (0.36, by LaKeysia Beene in ’97) … also owns 0.69 career GAA that ranks 3rd in ND record book, behind Liz Wagner’s 0.57 and Beene’s 0.62 … her ’03 honors included CoSIDA 2nd team Academic All-America and NSCAA 2nd team All-Great Lakes Region (TBA in ’04) … called into U.S. Under-21 National Team camps in summer of ’04 … has held opponent to 0-1 goals in 47 of her last 51 games (36 with 0 GA, 11 with 1 GA, 4 with 2 GA) … 3rd-year starter who is on the verge of her 50th win with the Irish (49-11-2, plus 5-0 in ’03 spring season and 2-0 on ’04 preseason Brazil trip) … saw her 639-minute streak end late in the BIG EAST title game at UConn but now has allowed just 2 goals in her last 913 minutes of action … had a similar but more impressive streak in 2003, fashioned 981-minute shutout streak that ranks 5th in NCAA history (she also allowed just one goal in span of 1,256 minutes during ’03 season) … owns 49-5-2 in her last 56 overall decisions with the Irish (since 3-2 loss to BYU on 10/19/02), allowing just 26 goals in that 56-game stretch (34 with 0 GA, 16 with 1 GA) … her 62 official starts at ND (in fall games) include 37 in which she has not allowed a goal, 15 with 1 GA, 4 with 2 GA and just 5 with 3-plus goals … helped set ND record by logging 16 consecutive games in ’03 without facing a deficit … logged 94% of ND’s minutes in 2003 (77% in ’04)… in 2002, was first freshman to start in goal for ND since 1993 … her 3.67 GPA includes Dean’s List effort in 2003 spring semester (3.87) and again in spring of ’04 (3.73) … 2nd-year member of Academic Honors Program that pairs high achievers with faculty mentors … team leader in Life Skills community service programs, including Soccer Cycle Challenge (benefiting cancer research), Alex’s Lemonade Stand (helping children with cancer) and Christmas Party with pediatric oncology patients … she and her family currently reside in Rutland, Vt. (they moved after Erika completed high school).
Annie Schefter’s stellar midfield play has been a key to Notre Dame’s season-long domination of possession.
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Annie Schefter (Jr., M; Yakima, WA; 3.73 GPA, pre-professional studies and psychology) – 2nd-year starter who ranks 5th on ’04 team with 14 points (4G-6A) while playing in all 24 games (19 starts) … has not missed a game (48/38 GS) since returning from ACL knee injury that sidelined her for all of ’02 season … former starter with U.S. Under-19 National Team … her ’04 highlights include goal that beat #11 Stanford (1-0), assist in 5-2 win over #2 Santa Clara, assist in last-minute win at Georgetown and assist in NCAA win over Eastern Illinois … opened ’04 season with point in each of first four games (2G-2A) … her strong all-around play has helped the Irish dominate possession while rolling up a 65-12 season scoring edge, plus 520-131 in shots (avg. 22-5), 261-61 in shots on goal (11-2.5) and 139-35 in corner kicks (8-1.5) while facing just 5 deficits all season totaling 89 minutes … key part of ND’s highly-effective set-play offense … member of Academic Honors Program that pairs high achievers with faculty mentors … involved in Life Skills community service programs, including Soccer Cycle Challenge (benefiting cancer research) and Christmas Party with pediatric oncology patients … has helped Irish go 37-1-2 in their last 40 regular-season games (ND is 42-4-2 since she joined the team at the start of the ’03 season).