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Oct. 4, 2003

NOTRE DAME WOMEN’S SOCCER

Game Notes – vs. Villanova (Sunday, Oct. 5; 1:00 p.m. EST)

(see PDF for complete release, including chart data)

The second-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team (10-0-1; 42-5 scoring edge) continues at the halfway point of its eight-game homestand at Alumni Field (longest since ’92), with another BIG EAST Conference Mid-Atlantic Division game versus Villanova on Sunday, Oct. 5, at 1:00 p.m. EST … the Irish are coming off yet another dominating performance after knocking off 5th-ranked West Virginia on Friday night (2-0) … ND has shut out five of its last seven opponents while allowing just 11 shots on goal in the last eight games (since its only deficit of the season, vs. ASU) … the Irish have not lost a home BIG EAST game since 1995 (a 45-game win streak) and are 121-8-2 (.931) in their last 131 overall home games … 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 last week with wins over North Texas (8-1) and Indiana State (3-0) … 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.

INFORMATION HIGHWAY – Live stats will be provided for all ND home games (and select away games), with a link available via the main page at www.und.com … 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.villanova.com for info. on the Wildcats.

INTERNET AUDIO – Four ND women’s soccer regular-season games (plus possible postseason) will be available via internet audio broadcasts 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 (Santa Clara will provide a SportsPass broadcast of the ND-SCU game, see link on und.com) … the ND broadcast schedule kicks off this weekend with the games vs. West Virginia (Oct. 3), Villanova (Oct. 5), plus the UConn (Oct. 17) and Michigan (Oct. 29) tilts.

IRISH AMONG TOP ALL-AROUND TEAMS – Notre Dame (3.82 goals per game, 0.45 goals-against avg.) has emerged as one of the nation’s top-ranked teams in both offense and defense, with Oklahoma State (4.40 gpg, 0.27 GAA) being the only other team ranked as high in both categories (ND is 2nd in offense and now has surged to 7th in defense) … ND and Oklahoma State join UNC and Princeton as the only undefeated teams left in all of Division I women’s soccer.

CONFERENCE CALL – ND’s all-time record in regular-season conference games is 88-7-2 (.918), including 69-7-2 (.897) in BIG EAST games (since ’95) … the Irish are 48-1 in all-time home games vs. BIG EAST teams, with 45 straight home BIG EAST wins since a 5-4 OT loss to UConn in ’95 (227-16 scoring edge, 31 shutouts, 13 games with 1 GA) … since joining the BIG EAST, ND’s overall record vs. BIG EAST teams is 88-8-2 (.908; also 1-1-0 vs. UConn in NCAAs).

DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE – The Irish have held the opposition to 0-1 goals in all 11 games this season (and the last 16 fall games, plus all five in the spring of ’03) … the current 16-game streak of not allowing multiple goals ranks 4th in ND history, behind a 24-game streak in 2000, 20 games in ’94 and 17 in ’97 … the 2000 team (24) is the only ND squad ever to go deeper into a season without allowing multiple goals in a game than the current 11-game start.

SECOND-GAME SUCCESS – Notre Dame has reversed its frustrating trend from recent years of struggling in the second game of a three-day stretch … the Irish are 5-0-0 this season when returning to the field two days after a previous game, with an 18-2 scoring edge … by comparison, the Irish were just 4-4-0 in 2002 during regular-season “second games,” totaling just 17 goals and allowing 13 in those eight games … ND’s second-game wins in 2003 have come vs. three teams that were ranked in this week’s NSCAA coaches poll (3-0 vs. Wake Forest, 5-1 vs. Oklahoma and 2-1 at Santa Clara), plus wins over Western Kentucky (5-0) and Indiana State (3-0).

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

WILDCATS NOTES – Villanova is 10-2 after Friday’s 2-0 win over Georgetown, with Lindsey Finnegan and Laura Johnson scoring in that game … VU returned 16 of 22 letterwinners and nine starters from its 2002 squad that went 14-3-4 and lost to Yale in the 1st round of the NCAAs … top returners include All-America ‘keeper Chrissy Dolan, junior D Michelle Biehl and junior F Johnson (9G-9A in ’02) … Finnegan (6G-4A) and Johnson (2G-7A) lead VU in scoring, with the team owning an 18-7 scoring edge … VU’s wins have come vs. Lehigh (1-0, OT), Rider (2-0), Old Dominion (1-0) and N.C. State (3-0; both in Cary, N.C., site of the ’03 College Cup), Seton Hall (1-0, OT), Colgate (1-0, at Navy), Syracuse (3-2), Virginia Tech (2-1) and Providence (2-0), with losses to Boston College (0-1) and top-ranked UNC (0-3, at Navy).

SERIES NOTES – Notre Dame owns a 9-1-0 all-time record vs. Villanova and a 42-3 scoring edge … VU upset ND last season in Villanova (2-1), despite a 24-12 edge for the Irish in shots (17-8 in shots on net) … ND’s Amanda Guertin opened the scoring early in the second half but VU surged ahead with a pair of goals in 72 seconds, from Julie Batista and Laura Johnson … Chrissy Dolan made 16 saves for VU while ND’s Erika Bohn stopped a career-high eight shots.

FRONTRUNNERS – Notre Dame has trailed just once all season – for a span of 7:18 early in the Sept. 5 game vs. Arizona State – with the Irish leading for 71% of the 1,010 minutes this season while trailing for less than one-percent (0.7%) of the 2003 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 a 2-1 win over Boston College) before falling behind UNC with eight minutes left to play in the NCAA College Cup semifinals (a 2-1 loss).

PRIMETIME PLAYERS – Notre Dame is 26-8-2 in the last four seasons (’00-’03) when facing an NSCAA ranked team and/or playing in the postseason, with a 73-34 scoring edge in those 36 “big games” … senior F Amanda Guertin has racked up 50 points in those big games (20G-10A) … her classmate Amy Warner owns 8G-5A vs. ranked or postseason opponents (she missed half of the 2000 season due to injury).

NCAA STAT LEADERS – ND heads into Sunday’s game with the nation’s 7th-best team goals-against avg. (0.45) and is the nation’s No. 2 scoring team at 3.82 goals per game (behind Oklahoma State’s 4.40) … ND headed into the weekend as one of four teams (the others are Oklahoma State, BC and North Texas) with two players who already have posted 20-plus points (junior F Mary Boland is 10th in the nation with 24 points and senior F Amy Warner 21st with 20) .. Boland also is 14th in the nation with 10 goals while Warner’s 9 assists are 2nd only to Oklahoma State’s Nikki Wojtowcz (12) … ND’s Erika Bohn (7th, 0.40) ranks among the national GAA leaders (min. 800 minutes).

QUICK-STRIKE ARTISTS – Notre Dame has scored in the first seven minutes of five games this season, with junior F Mary Boland responsible for three of those early goals … the team’s quickest goals have come in recent wins over 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) and at Santa Clara (5:03; Boland on lunging poke after leftside service from Katie Thorlakson).

GLORY DAYS – The current 42-5 scoring edge is comparable to the program’s 5-year dominance in the mid-1990s, with those teams owning the following 11-game scoring edges: 48-8 in ’93, 50-5 in ’94, 44-8 in ’95, 60-6 in ’96 and 51-4 in ’97 (average of 51-6) … only two previous ND teams (4 in both 1997 and 2000) have allowed fewer goals in the first 11 games than the 2003 squad (5) … ND’s 0.45 team goals-against avg. would rank 3rd in ND history (behind the 0.36 in 1997 and 0.39 in 2000) … ND already has scored 5-plus goals in four games this season …

NOTRE DAME PLAYER QUICK FACTS (see PDF for stats and notes in chart form of top 18 players)

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 for lists):

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 (43G-24A, in 77 GP) – with her 16 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 43, or 39%) have been gamewinners – well ahead of the others on the GWG list (see PDF):

HALFWAY HOME WITH NO LOSSES – Notre Dame is unbeaten after 11 games for the sixth time in the program’s history … here’s a look at the other longest season-opening unbeaten streaks in the ND record book:

1994 – 24 games, went 23-0-1 before losing to UNC in NCAA title game (5-0)

1997 – 24 games, again fashioned 23-0-1 record before losing to UConn in NCAA semifinals (2-1)

2000 – 24 games, another familiar record (23-0-1) precedes a 2-1 loss to UNC in the NCAA semifinals

1996 – 13 games, started 13-0-0 prior to 3-1 loss at Santa Clara

1991 – 12 games, twice-tied team (10-0-2) drops 1-0 game at UMass

1995 – 10 games, opened 9-0-1 before losing to UConn (5-4 in OT)

SCHEDULE & RESULT NOTES – The eight-game homestand includes key BIG EAST battles vs. West Virginia, Villanova and UConn … ND opened with impressive wins at the UConn Classic over Hartford (9-1) and Wake Forest (3-0), with junior F Mary Boland earning BIG EAST offensive player of the week (3G-1A) … the Irish added ND Classic wins over #13 Arizona State (3-1) and Oklahoma (5-1), followed by a BIG EAST cross-divisional victory at St. John’s (2-0) and a 5-0 win over Western Kentucky … freshman M Jen Buczkowski and 5th-year D Vanessa Pruzinsky received the respective offensive and defensive MVP awards at the ND Classic, with Buczkowski named BIG EAST rookie of the week.

PRUZSINKY DRAWS NATONAL MEDIA ATTENTION – Fifth-year D Vanessa Pruzinsky is being spotlighted in a current feature on College Sports Television while the new Sports Illustrated On Campus is highlighting the high achiever in its current issue … 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.

LINEUP NOTES

FURIOUS FORWARDS – ND’s system includes a pressuring “forecheck” from the team’s frontrunners … four of those players – Mary Boland (2), Amanda Guertin, Maggie Manning and Katie Thorlakson – already have posted multiple-goal games this season while Amy Warner scored in five of the first six games and ranks 2nd in the nation with 8 assists.

FIRE & ICE – Veterans Amanda Guertin (43 career goals; 6 in ’03) and Amy Warner (33; 6 in ’03) rank as one the nation’s premier pairs of senior forwards, with 27 game-winning goals (17 by Guertin) and five OT goals (3 by Guertin).

BOLAND STEPS FORWARD – Junior Mary Boland spent most of her prep soccer days playing as a forward but her ND career also has included time at outside back and in the midfield … Boland’s quick start to the 2003 season (3G-1A in opener vs. Hartford; 10G in first 11 games) ignited the surging ND offense and solidified her return to forward.

MEET YOU IN THE MIDDLE – Despite the graduation of 4-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 (3G-4A; missed all of ’02 with ACL knee injury) and freshman Jen Buczkowski (2G-4A) – with the pair ranking 4th and 6th on the ND scoring charts.

LORENZEN SETTLES INTO BACK – Versatile freshman Kim Lorenzen (Naperville, Ill.) was impressive in preseason training at forward but has found a home in the defense, with strong play as a starter both centrally and at outside back.

OTHER QUICK NOTES ON THE IRISH

* Notre Dame enters the Villanova game as the No. 2-scoring team in the nation, averaging 3.82 goals/gm (behind Oklahoma State’s 4.40) while the 42 total goals already have surpassed ND’s total goal output from the 2002 regular season (40) … the Irish also rank 7th in the nation (and 1st in the BIG EAST) with a 0.45 season goals-against avg.

* Senior F Amy Warner ranks 2nd nationally in total assists (8) and 21st in total points (21) while junior F Mary Boland is 14th in total goals (10) and 10th in total points (24).

* Sophomore G Erika Bohn has allowed just 7 goals – no games with 2-plus GA – in her last 16 fall games with ND (9 shutouts, 7 with 1 GA) … Bohn enters the weekend 9th in the nation with a 0.44 goals-against avg. (now 0.40).

* ND players have combined to miss 124 games due to injury spanning the ’02 and ’03 seasons (32 games; 23-8-1 record), with seven players already combining to miss 60 games due to injury in ’03.

* The Irish are unbeaten in their last 14 overtime games (10-0-4).

* Senior F Amanda Guertin ranks 3rd in ND history with 17 career GWGs (with an ND record 3 in OT) … Guertin’s 10-game goalscoring streak in ’01 ranks 3rd in NCAA history (former SCU great Brandi Chastain holds the record of 15).

* 5th-year D Vanessa Pruzinsky graduated in May of 2003 with a 4.0 cumulative GPA as a chemical engineering major, becoming just the third Notre Dame student (first since ’74) ever to complete that feat.

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

* Three ND freshmen – Buczkowski, fellow M Jill Krivacek and D Kim Lorenzen – helped lead Team Illinois to the 2003 Olympic Development Program national title, defeating New Jersey and future teammate Lizzie Reed in the title game.

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

* Irish players already have combined for eight multiple-goal games this season, by seven different players (compared to five in all of ’02): Mary Boland vs. Hartford (3) and ASU (2), Maggie Manning and Amanda Guertin vs. Hartford (both with 2), Jen Buczkowski vs. Oklahoma (2), Katie Thorlakson and Annie Schefter vs. Western Kentucky (both with 2) and most recently Melissa Tancredi vs. North Texas (2).

* 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 during the ’02-’03 academic year included nearly 800 individuals from 47 states (all but Idaho, Mississippi and Nevada) and 20 foreign countries.

* The current senior class carries a 26-8-2 career record when playing in the postseason and/or facing an opponent ranked in the NSCAA top-25.

PERFECT RECORDS BEGIN TO DWINDLE – The first half of the ’03 season has taken its toll on many top teams, as only four Division I teams enter Sunday’s action with unbeaten records … North Carolina has no losses or ties while Notre Dame, Oklahoma State and Princeton each have one tie on their unbeaten records.

PLAYING THE BEST – ND has played some of its best soccer vs. ranked opponents, going 23-10-3 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) and #8 West Virginia (2-0) and a scoreless tie vs. #24 Stanford.

ROAD WARRIORS – Notre Dame has posted some noteworthy wins on the road during the past two seasons (8-3-0), with the high points 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 the UConn Classic) and the pair of solid results at the ’03 Santa Clara Classic (0-0 vs. Stanford, 2-1 vs. SCU).

INJURY WOES CONTINUE – ND’s ’02 season was hampered by injuries to several top players (totaling 64 games missed, plus 60 thus far in ’03 for a total of 124) … 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 … junior starting central D Gudrun Gunnarsdottir has returned in a reserve role (after missing four games with a broken arm) while three others – sophomore M Jenny Walz (ACL), freshman D Kari Kennedy (foot) and junior D Kate Tulisiak (back) – are nearing their returns after being sidelined for several weeks … 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 … here is the updated injury report (see PDF for chart):

BOHN ON A ROLL – Sophomore G Erika Bohn (Brookfield, Conn.) is 21-2-1 in her last 24 starts with the Irish (19-1-1 in last 21), allowing just 14 goals in that 23-game stretch (with 12 shutouts and 11 games with 1 GA) … her only losses in that stretch include: a 3-2 game vs. BYU that included a fluke goal (after a clearance deflected off the referee) and a rare late-game PK to break the 2-2 tie; and the season-ending loss at top-ranked Stanford, with the game’s only goal coming in the 81st minute as Bohn turned in possibly her top all-around game of ’02 … Bohn now has logged 21 consecutive games with the Irish (16 fall, 5 spring) without allowing multiple goals (last done by BYU on Oct. 19, 2002).

MAGIC NUMBERS – The three-goal mark has been virtually an automatic win in the program’s history, with the Irish now owning a 194-3-1 all-time record (.982) when scoring three-plus, with losses to N.C. State in the ’92 opener (4-3), to 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 98-1-0 since Oct. 6, 1995) … ND also is 266-8-11 (.953 in all-time games when holding the opponent to 0-1 goals, including tough 1-0 losses last season to eventual NCAA champ Portland and top-ranked Stanford … prior to the Portland 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, with ND playing minus Finnish national teamer Anne Makinen in that game) … the ND women’s soccer program’s 16-year history includes just 281 goals allowed in 353 games (0.80 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).

SCORING BOOST – The Irish headed into ’03 looking for increased goal production, with several “newcomers” among top candidates to provide that boost: sophomore M/D Annie Schefter (dnp in ’02; 47G as prep senior at West Valley, Wash., HS), freshman midfielders Jen Buczkowski (69G in three seasons at Elk Grove, Ill., HS) and Jill Krivacek (set Rosary HS record with 78G in career), and freshman D/M Lizzie Reed (2nd in Ramapo, N.J., Regional HS history with 126 career goals) … junior F Mary Boland (Hudson, Ohio) also has emerged as a goalscoring boost (team-leading 9G in first 10 games), besting her combined total from ’01 and ’02 (7G, after totaling 27 as a senior at Hudson HS).

1ST-HALF FORTRESS – The ND defense has been particularly stingy in the first half during the past three seasons, allowing just 20 goals in the first half of those 53 games … the first half in ND’s 2002 games featured little scoring by either team (12-10 ND edge) but the Irish have erupted for a 23-3 first-half scoring edge in 2002.

FAR AND WIDE – 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.

HEAD COACH Randy Waldrum – The Irish are 84-16-4 (.825) in the tenure of head coach Randy Waldrum (since ’99), including 72-13-3 in the last 88 games (since losing 4-2 at SCU on Oct. 17, 1999) … Waldrum’s 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 1st-year coach to take his team to the NCAA semi’s, beating top-ranked and previously unbeaten Santa Clara in their backyard of San Jose … Waldrum’s 21-plus-year record as a college head coach (men’s and women’s teams) is 267-121-23 (.677) … he is 191-66-16 (.728) in 12-plus seasons as a Division I women’s coach, including 61-36-9 in six years at Tulsa (.580) 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).

GOING THE DISTANCE – ND is unbeaten in its last 14 overtime games (10-0-4), 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 and the ’03 team played to a scoreless tie with Stanford (at SCU).

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).

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), sophomore M/D Annie Schefter (3.67, College of Science) and sophomore G Erika Bohn (3.67, College of Business).

HAT TRICK OPENERS – Mary Boland is the 5th ND player ever to register a hat trick in a season opener and now has scored in all three openers of her Irish career (including ND’s first goal in ’01 and ’03), with a diving header to open the scoring in the ’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).

SEVEN-POINT START – Mary Boland’s seven points in the opener vs. Hartford (3G-1A) are most by an ND player since Jenny Streiffer had 3G-1A vs. Miami on Oct. 1, 1999, in the first year of the Randy Waldrum era … 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 18-player U.S. National Team roster that is competing in the World Cup (Sept. 23-Oct. 12), with both ND alums serving as starters … Sobrero played for the U.S. team that won the ’99 World Cup and was on the ’00 Olympic team … Boxx was the surprise of the roster, with no previous National Team experience but 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 World Cup opening win over Sweden).

* Sobrero and Boxx were two of five former ND players who played in the Women’s United Soccer Association 2003 all-star game, as were Washington Freedom D Jen Grubb (’00), Boston 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 after a 2-1 OT win over the Atlanta Beat … other ND alums played in the ’03 WUSA: M Anne Makinen (’01; Philadelphia Charge), D Lindsey Jones (’02; N.Y.), D Kelly Lindsey (’01; San Jose) and M Monica Gerardo (’99; Washington).

* Three of the above players recently became college assistants: Gerardo at University of Pittsburgh (where former ND assistant Sue-Moy Chin is the first-year head coach), Lindsey at the University of Colorado and Boxx at Cal State Dominguez Hills … Boxx also is enrolled in graduate school at Pepperdine and is one of several former ND players who are 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 10-player freshman class as the 5th-best group of incoming recruits, 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 on that list, making ND one of seven schools with multiple players on that top-25 list … M/D Lizzie Reed (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) joins the above players as ND freshmen who were prep All-Americans.

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