Sept. 14, 2007
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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Amanda Cinalli matched her career-high with a five-point game (2G-1A) to help the ninth-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team get back on the winning track in Friday night’s 4-2 victory over Princeton. The win extended Notre Dame’s four-year home unbeaten streak to 43 games (41-0-2), still third-longest in the history of Division I women’s soccer. Washington State pulled off the 1-0 upset of 16th-ranked Oklahoma State in Friday’s earlier game at Alumni Field that opened the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic.
Michele Weissenhofer heads in a cross from Kerri Hanks for the 2-1 lead on the Tigers.
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Princeton (0-3-1) took the lead on the Irish in the 22nd minute, after a corner-kick scramble, but Cinalli then tied the game four minutes later, just 50 seconds after checking into the Irish midfield. Freshman Lauren Fowlkes set up the score on a cross from the left endline, with Cinalli then sending a shot from the top of the box into the right side of the net for her first goal of the season and 32nd of her four-year career.
Sophomore forward Michele Weissenhofer later headed in her 20th career goal in the 60th minute, on a classic sequence that included a setup pass from Cinalli and a sharp cross from the left endline by junior forward Kerri Hanks (her team-leading fourth assist of the season and 41st of her career). Hanks later scored directly off a free kick while Cinalli capped the scoring after nudging home Weissenhofer’s rightside flip-throw.
Notre Dame finished with a 15-6 shot edge (9-2 in shots on goal) while attempting six of the game’s eight corner kicks. The meeting was the first ever between Notre Dame and Princeton (two of the four NCAA semifinalists in 2004), with the Irish now owning a 19-game winning streak in series openers (dating back to 2002).
The Irish were forced to play without sophomore center back Haley Ford (who was dinged up late in last week’s overtime battle with Stanford) but her classmate Amanda Clark responded with a strong game alongside junior Carrie Dew. Junior Brittany Bock continued to show her great versatility with a strong game as the starting defensive midfielder, before later flipping spots with Fowlkes (who made the start at forward).
A goal in the fourth minute by Washington State’s Mallory Fox held up as the only scoring in the night’s earlier game – as previously unbeaten Oklahoma State failed to capitalize on a 9-4 shot edge (7-2 in shots on goal) and a 6-0 corner-kick margin.
Sarah Peteraf’s leftside corner kick set up the first goal in the ND-Princeton game, with the Irish unable to clear the ball on the far side of the six-yard box. The ball deflected towards the center of the box and freshman goalkeeper Nikki Weiss was unable to fight her way into position, as Valerio sent home a straight shot from the top of the six-yard box (21:04).
Notre Dame – which has opened the scoring in only one of its five games this season – quickly gained the equalizer in the 26th minute. Fowlkes chased a ball down the left side and won possession away from a Princeton defender before gaining separation for her cross from the left endline. The ball skipped to the top of the 18-yard box and Cinalli showed her veteran poise by drilling a 15-yard shot into the right side of the goal (25:20).
Lauren Fowlkes continued the impressive start to her freshman season by assisting on the first Irish goal while logging quality minutes as both a forward and defensive midfielder in Friday’s win.
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The Irish took the lead 15 minutes into the second half, with Cinalli playing a pass down the left side before Hanks struck a low cross from the endline. Weissenhofer was filling the middle and struck a standing header from the center of the six-yard box, with ‘keeper Maren Dale leaning the other way as the Irish claimed the 2-1 lead (59:40).
Weissenhofer became one of the youngest Notre Dame players ever to total 20 career goals, reaching that early milestone in her 32nd career game with the Irish. She also now is two assists shy of becoming the program’s 24th all-time player to reach 20G-20A.
Hanks pushed the lead to 3-1 on a leftside free kick from 35 yards out. The crafty frontrunner opted to send the direct kick straight for the goal, drilling a low shot into the left side for the two-goal cushion (71:21).
Notre Dame remains unbeaten when Hanks scores a goal (33-0-0; spanning the 2005-07 seasons) and has lost only once over the past 13 seasons when scoring three-plus goals (152-1-0, since 1995; 250-3-1 all-time when scoring 3-plus).
Princeton came back to score its own goal on a direct free kick, from a similar distance and also on the left flank. Jen Om lofted her kick into the heart of the penalty area and senior goalkeeper Lauren Karas (who had entered the game 10 minutes earlier) misjudged the ball as it skipped near the top of the six-yard box and carried into the far-right sidenetting (75:07).
The Irish again quickly answered their opponent’s score, with the goal set up by Weissenhofer’s flip-throw from the right side. Cinalli was on the doorstep and nudged the ball home for the fifth multiple-goal game of her career (76:37) – as Notre Dame matched its combined goal total (4) from the first four games of the season.
The first game of the tournament featured only one goal, after just 3:23 had ticked away. Washington State’s Anna Miller had the primary assist on a cross from the left flank. The pass led Mallory Fox into the far side of the box and Fox pulled free before chipping a shot from the right side over the charging ‘keeper.
NOTES – Cinalli (33G-27A) now is just three assists shy of becoming the 12th player in ND women’s soccer history to reach the 30G-30A milestone … her 93 points move Cinalli past Amy VanLaecke and Tiffany Thompson into 17th place on the ND career scoring charts (six back of Amy Warner) … Cinalli – who scored in the exhibition games vs. UNC and Virginia but had failed to find the net in the first four regular-season games – previously had five-point games (2G-1A) vs. Baylor in 2004 (in her first career game with the Irish) and Santa Clara in ’06 (she also had 2G vs. Portland in the ’04 NCAA quarterfinals and Valparaiso in the ’05 NCAA first round) … Hanks (51G-41A) pushed her career point total to 143, passing Rosella Guerrero into 10th place in ND history (Michelle McCarthy is 9th on that list, with 156 career points) … Hanks now is tied with Kate Fisher for 11th on the ND career assists list (three back of Kara Brown and Monica Gerardo) … the goal held up as the 13th gamewinner in Hanks’ career (still 10th in ND history) … her 38 career game-winning points (13 GWG-12 GWA) move Hanks past Holly Manthei and into a tie with Cindy Daws for 9th on that ND list … first-time visitors to Alumni Field since 1993 now are just 3-43-1 vs. the Irish … ND is 46-5-0 in all series openers since ’93 (27-3-0 at home) and is 28-2-0 in series openers during the nine-year Randy Waldrum era … Cinalli has played in all 84 games of her ND career while helping the Irish go 74-7-3 in that four-year span … ND is 131-4-3 at Alumni Field when facing a team not ranked in the NSCAA top-25.
Princeton (0-3-1) 1 1 – 2
#16 Notre Dame (2-2-1) 4 2 – 6
PRIN 1. Alexandra Valerio 1 (-) 21:04; ND 1. Amanda Cinalli 1st of season/32nd of career (Lauren Fowlkes) 25:20; ND 2. Michele Weissenhofer 2/20 (Kerri Hanks, Cinalli) 59:04; ND 3. Hanks 1/51 (free kick) 71:21; PRIN 2. Jen Om 1 (free kick) 75:07; ND 4. Cinalli 2/33 (Weissenhofer) 76:37.
Shots: PRIN 2-4 – 6, ND 8-7 – 15
Corner Kicks: PRIN 1-1 – 2, ND 4-2 – 6
Saves: PRIN 5 (Maren Dale), ND 0 (Nikki Weiss 1 GA in 63:56; Lauren Karas 1 GA in 26:04)
Fouls: PRIN 20, ND 12
Offside: PRIN 0, ND 0
Yellow Cards: Taylor Numann (PRIN) 71:11; Melissa Whitley (PRIN) 78:46
Washington State (3-0-1) 1 0 – 1
#16 Oklahoma State (4-1-0) 0 0 – 0
WSU 1. Mallory Fox 2 (Anna Miller, Jenny Christoph) 3:23
Shots: WSU 3-1 – 4, OSU 6-3 – 9
Corner Kicks: WSU 0-0 – 0, OSU 3-3 – 6
Saves: WSU 7 (Brynn Bemis), OSU 1 (Erin Stigler)
Fouls: WSU 21, OSU 17
Offside: WSU 1, OSU 0
Yellow Cards: Natalie Elkind (WSU) 73:03; Mallory Fox (WSU) 84:44