Elise Weber's impressive play at left back - with strong play at both ends of the field - has placed her among the favorites for BIG EAST defensive player-of-the-year honors.

Elise Weber Named To Women's Soccer National Team Of The Week

Oct. 23, 2007

Notre Dame junior left back Elise Weber (Elk Grove, Ill.) – who has emerged as a leading candidate for the BIG EAST defensive player-of-the-year award – has been named to the Top Drawer Soccer and Soccer Buzz national teams of the week while also earning a spot on the BIG EAST weekly honor roll for the third time this season. Weber helped Notre Dame extend its winning streak to eight games with victories last weekend over Providence (4-0) and 13th-ranked Connecticut (2-1). Her cross from the left flank assisted on Brittany Bock’s overtime header to complete the comeback win over the Huskies. Weber’s strong all-around play has led an Irish defense that has yielded only three goals in the eight-game winning streak, while her six assists this season rank seventh in the BIG EAST and are the second-most by any defender in the 16-team conference.

Weber helped the Irish allow only one goal over the weekend and was a member of the defense that limited Providence and Connecticut to four combined shots on goal and four corner kicks. Weber and the rest of the Notre Dame defense held PC to three total shots (one on goal) and two corner kicks before making an impressive defensive statement in the second half versus UConn. The Irish limited the dynamic Huskies offense to three total shots after halftime and did not allow any shots on goal in the game’s final 68 minutes (following Annie Yi’s goal), in addition to preventing any UConn corner kicks in the final 50 minutes of game time (UConn finished the day with only three shots on goal and two corners).

Despite its strong second half, Notre Dame trailed UConn until junior forward Kerri Hanks scored directly on a leftside corner kick in the 86th minute. The game then went into overtime but Weber helped produce the game-winning goal, after sophomore midfielder Courtney Rosen had reversed the attack to the left side. Weber raced down the left flank, pulled up 30 yards shy of the endline and struck a leftfooted cross into the heart of the penalty area. Bock was in position for the far-post header and snapped the ball off the hands of ‘keeper Stephanie Labbe for the 2-1 win.

Weber similarly assisted on a diving header by Bock that opened the scoring in the second game of the season, a 2-0 win at Florida (then ranked #7 in the nation). That game was delayed five hours by a major rainstorm, with Weber later scoring the second Irish goal en route to being named to the Soccer Buzz “elite feet” national team of the week (an honor she repeated for last week’s effort).

A transfer from Wisconsin who was a top flank midfielder with the Badgers, Weber has made an impressive transition to her left back role in Notre Dame’s 4-3-3 formation. She has started every game so far for the Irish,including the preseason games versus North Carolina and Virginia. Weber’s strong play has helped overcome the graduation losses of three key defensive players – left back Christie Shaner, center back Kim Lorenzen and defensive midfielder Jill Krivacek – while the Irish also have been forced to play the past six weeks without injured sophomore center back Haley Ford (out with a nagging hamstring problem).

Weber’s steady season also has helped hold together a rapidly-improving back line that lately has included two freshmen, center back Lauren Fowlkes (a converted midfielder) and right back Julie Scheidler, plus junior center back Carrie Dew (who still is returning to form from her 2006 ACL knee injury).

ND HEAD COACH Randy Waldrum COMMENTS ON WEBER (postgame, after 2-1 win over UConn; 10/21/07) – “As I think about it, Elise Weber probably flows into the attack better than any other outside back we’ve had in my nine years at Notre Dame – and that’s comparing her to some great players. She just seems to flow so seamlessly into the attacking third, with great pace and skill on the ball. But the thing that makes her so effective is the multi-dimensional aspect of her offense. She can provide a great leftfooted cross, but she also can beat players off the dribble and get into the box, as well as being able to crack a very strong and accurate shot of her own. I can’t imagine there being many outside backs in the country who are better at those things than Elise, and I really hope she gets some consideration for postseason awards – including All-American. She has just been tremendously valuable to us this season, game in and game out.”

POLL POSITION – Notre Dame currently is ranked as high as 13th in the national polls (per Soccer America) while Top Drawer Soccer has the Irish slotted 10th for the 2007 NCAA field … last week’s Albyn Jones soccerratings.com power rankings had ND listed 11th (still to be updated this week) … 12 different teams on ND’s 2007 schedule (or potential opponents) currently are ranked in the national top-35 of at least one poll (including the TDS projected NCAA field, soccerratings.com, the Massey power ratings, and the official NCAA RPI, plus the NSCAA, Soccer America, Soccer Times and Soccer Buzz rankings) … Stanford currently is ranked as high as first (in the NCAA RPI) while North Carolina also is high as #1, Virginia as high as #3, Penn state as high as #4, Santa Clara as high as #7 and Connecticut as high as #8, with others ranked in the top-35 including (highest rank indicated): Villanova (13), Florida (16), West Virginia (17), Louisville (23), Oklahoma State (25) and Marquette (31) … ND faced UNC and UVa in the preseason while WVU and Marquette are potential BIG EAST Tournament opponents.

NCAA STAT LEADERS – Notre Dame’s surging offense ranks 11th nationally with 2.63 goals/gm, fourth-best among teams in the NSCAA top-25 poll behind Florida State (3.53), Missouri (2.87) and UCLA (2.69) … the Irish also rank 14h in the nation with nine shutouts and 15th in wins (11), despite a 3-4-1 start that included only two shutouts … Hanks is one of four players in the nation with nine-plus goals and nine-plus assists (10G-9A), with her 29 total points ranking 14th in the nation while her nine assists are eighth-most among the nation’s players … Bock, ND’s other top-rated junior forward, ranks 30th nationally in points (24; 11G-2A) and is 18th in goals (11) … senior Lauren Karas has moved up to 33rd on the national goals-against average charts (0.66).

BIG EAST STAT LEADERS – Notre Dame leads the BIG EAST in overall scoring (2.6 goals/gm) while ranking second in scoring margin (+24; 42-18) and shots (18.9/gm), plus fourth in shutouts (8), seventh in corner kicks (4.7/gm) and eighth in goals-against avg. (1.10) … in league play, the Irish lead the BIG EAST in four different categories – goals (3.6/gm; next best is UConn at 2.6), GAA (0.33), goal margin (+29; 32-3) and shutouts (9) – while ranking second in shots (21.0/gm) and sixth in corners (4.1/gm) … Bock leads the BIG EAST in goals (11) and gamewinning goals (5) while ranking third in points (24) and fifth in shots (54) … Hanks owns a league-leading nine assists while also ranking second in points (29) and shots (67), and third in goals (10) and GWGs (4) … Weber’s six assists rank seventh among all BIG EAST players and trail only Marquette’s Katie Kelly (9A) among the league’s defenders … senior M Ashley Jones is 10th among BIG EAST players with five assists … Karas has surged to sixth on the BIG EAST overall goals-against average list (0.66), thanks to her league-best 0.13 GAA during league play (one goal allowed in 705 minutes) … Karas also leads the BIG EAST win a .909 save pct. during conference games … Bock’s 10 goals during BIG EAST play this season are three more than any other player in the league … she also leads the BIG EAST with 22 points and 4 GWGs in league games (plus 3rd with 37 shots) … Hanks ranks second among BIG EAST players in goals (7), assists (5) and shots (42) during conference action, also third in points (19) and fourth in GWGs (3) … Jones is tied for second with five assists in BIG EAST games, also ranking ninth in points (9; 2G-5A) … freshman F Rose Augustin is sixth among BIG EAST players with four goals in league play (plus tied for 9th with 9 points) … senior F Susan Pinnick has scored three goals in BIG EAST play (9th) while Weber and freshman Erica Iantorno each have 4A during league games (tied for 6th) … Hanks (vs. DePaul) and Bock (at Syracuse) have combined for two of the four hat tricks in BIG EAST games this season.