Sept. 27, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame junior forward Melissa Henderson (Garland, Texas/Berkner) has been selected as the BIG EAST Conference Offensive Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday. In addition, Henderson also was named to the 11-player Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week and was one of 11 players chosen as one of CollegeSoccer360.com’s Primetime Performers of the Week, according to releases by both media outlets on Monday.
Senior defender/co-captain Lauren Fowlkes (Lee’s Summit, Mo./St. Teresa’s Academy) also earned recognition for her play last week, garnering her second mention of the season on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, which recognizes notable performances by conference players outside those chosen for the BIG EAST’s weekly individual awards. Fowlkes made the list for the first time — along with senior forward/midfielder Rose Augustin (Silver Lake, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) — on Sept. 6, while Henderson was a BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll choice last week.
Henderson is Notre Dame’s first BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honoree this season after tallying five points (2G-1A) in Sunday’s 5-0 win at #24/18 Louisville. Henderson scored goals in the 24th and 72nd minute, and earned the secondary assist on a 10th-minute score by senior forward Taylor Knaack (Arlington, Texas/Martin) as the Fighting Irish posted their largest margin of victory ever on the home field of a ranked opponent (according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll).
Henderson’s five points against Louisville were the most by a Notre Dame player against an NSCAA-ranked opponent since Nov. 24, 2007, when Michele Weissenhofer had a similar two-goal, one-assist day in a 3-2 win at fourth-ranked North Carolina in the third round of the NCAA Championship. Henderson’s two goals also gave her 41 career tallies, good for 15th in school history, while her five points boosted her all-time total to 94 points (41G-12A) and 19th place in the Fighting Irish record books.
Henderson is the third Notre Dame player in four weeks, and the fourth this season, to earn a place on the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week. Junior defender/co-captain Jessica Schuveiller (Plano, Texas/Plano West) has been a two-time selection this year (Aug. 23 and Sept. 6), while freshman midfielder Elizabeth Tucker (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kenny) received mention on last week’s squad.
Henderson is the second Fighting Irish player this season to garner the CollegeSoccer360.com Primetime Performer distinction, following in the footsteps of senior goalkeeper Nikki Weiss (Redding, Conn./Immaculate), who was lauded on Sept. 6.
Fowlkes was named to the latest BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after helping to backstop Notre Dame to a pair of shutouts last week (the Fighting Irish blanked Cincinnati, 4-0 on Sept. 17 at Alumni Stadium). The veteran center back played 168 of a possible 180 minutes last week, as Notre Dame held its two opponents to a combined 10 total shots, including five on goal (none by nationally-ranked Louisville during the final 41-plus minutes and a season-low two for the match by Cincinnati). Fowlkes also dished out a pair of assists in the win over UC, the first multi-assist match of her career and the first by a Notre Dame player since Henderson’s two helpers in last year’s BIG EAST Championship final against No. rv/10 Marquette (won by the Fighting Irish, 2-1 in Storrs, Conn.).
No. 5/9 Notre Dame (9-1, 3-0 BIG EAST) begins a four-match homestand at 7:30 p.m. (ET) Friday as it plays host to Syracuse in a BIG EAST match at Alumni Stadium — a free live webcast and in-game blog of that contest will be available through the official Notre Dame athletics web site, www.UND.com. The Fighting Irish then will welcome St. John’s to town at noon (ET) Sunday for another conference match that will be televised live to a national cable audience by CBS College Sports.
Tickets for all 2010 Notre Dame soccer matches are available by contacting the Murnane Family Ticket Office by phone (574-631-7356) or in person (Gate 9 in the Rosenthal Atrium at Purcell Pavilion) from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (ET) weekdays. Fans also can purchase tickets on-line through the official Notre Dame athletics ticketing web page (www.UND.com/tickets) or by visiting the ticket windows at Alumni Stadium on match night.
For more information on the Notre Dame women’s soccer program, join the Fighting Irish women’s soccer news Twitter page (www.twitter.com/NDsoccernews) or sign up for the Irish ALERT text-messaging system through the sidebar on the women’s soccer page at UND.com.
— ND —