Sept. 1, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The Irish women?s program opens the Randy Waldrum era and its 12th varsity season against top-ranked North Carolina at 7:30 p.m., on Fri., Sept. 3, in the KeyBank Classic at Alumni Field. Duke and Connecticut will square off at 5:00 p.m. in the first game. Notre Dame then faces Duke at 1:00 p.m., on Sun., Sept 5, following the Tar Heels and the Huskies at 11:00 a.m.
THIS WEEK FOR THE IRISH: Notre Dame opens its season this weekend against North Carolina and Duke in the KeyBank Classic at Alumni Field. Friday?s game will mark the 10th meeting between the Irish and Tar Heels dating back to 1993. North Carolina leads the series 5-2-2 and has beaten Notre Dame more than any other opponent, with Duke second with three wins over the Irish. The Irish and Tar Heels tied in 2-2 in a lightning-shortened game in North Carolina?s first appearance at Alumni Field in 1997. Sunday’s game also will mark the 10th meeting between the Irish and Blue Devils. Duke won the first three games against Notre Dame, while the Irish, who own a 5-3-1 advantage over Duke, have won five of the past six meetings, including a 3-0 win last year at North Carolina.
NOTRE DAME AND NORTH CAROLINA RENEW RIVALRY: Notre Dame and North Carolina will meet once again on Friday in one of the ?90s premier matchup in college women?s soccer. After North Carolina won 3-0 in the first meeting in 1993, the rivalry began when the Irish snapped the Tar Heels NCAA-record 92-game winning streak in 1994 with a 0-0 tie. North Carolina won the next two games before Notre Dame beat North Carolina for the first time in five meetings on its way to the NCAA title in 1995. The Irish used a Tar Heel own goal in the NCAA semifinals for the 1-0 win in Chapel Hill, just the second-ever loss for North Carolina at home. Notre Dame followed up that win with a 2-1 overtime win in 1996, becoming the first collegiate team to beat the Tar Heels in consecutive games. North Carolina reclaimed the NCAA championship with a 1-0 overtime win in the 1996 NCAA finals. The Irish and Tar Heels tied in their only meeting in 1997 when lightning halted the game at Notre Dame at 71:16. Notre Dame returned to the site of its 1995 NCAA championship last year to take on North Carolina but lost 5-1 after beginning the game with a first-minute goal.
HEAD COACH RANDY WALDRUM: Randy Waldrum, a seven-year member of the United States national team coaching staff, is in his first year as head coach of the Irish after leading Baylor to the ?98 NCAA second round in just the third year of the program that he started in 1996. He comes to Notre Dame after being named 1998 National Soccer Coaches Association Central Region coach of the year and Big 12 Conference coach of the year. His 107-50-12 (.669) women?s soccer career record in three seasons coaching the Baylor women?s soccer program and six seasons with the Tulsa women?s soccer program has him listed 13th on the NCAA winningest coaches list by career winning percentage and 26th by wins. The Irving, Texas, native also has coached men?s teams at Tulsa, Texas Wesleyan and Austin College and boasts an overall career record of 183-105-19 in 17 total seasons.
IRISH NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: Notre Dame leads the 1999 College Soccer Online Preseason All-America first team with four players selected to the 11-member team, more selections than any other school. Seniors LaKeysia Beene (Gold River, Calif.), Jen Grubb (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) and Jenny Streiffer (Baton Rouge, La.) and junior Anne Makinen (Helsinki, Finland) were selected to the team. Beene and Makinen also were named to Soccer America first team, with Grubb and Streiffer placed on the second team.
HEFT EYES SCORING RECORD: Thanks to a single-season school record 28 goals last year, senior Jenny Heft (Germantown, Wis.) needs 20 goals in her senior season to become just the 11th player in NCAA women?s soccer history to score 80 career goals. She enters her final year with 60 goals and 21 assists for 141 points, the seventh-most points in Irish history. Heft?s 60 goals are third most in Notre Dame history, just one behind Cindy Daws for second place. She is on pace to break the record of 73 career goals that Monica Gerardo set just last year.
IRISH TABBED FOR TITLE, EARN PRESEASON BIG EAST HONORS: Notre Dame’s four-time defending BIG EAST women’s soccer champions have been picked to finish first in the BIG EAST Mid-Atlantic division, according to a vote by the conference coaches. Senior goalkeeper LaKeysia Beene and defender Jen Grubb have been voted preseason players of the year for their respective positions for the second consecutive year. Senior Jenny Streiffer and junior Anne Makinen join Beene and Grubb on the preseason all-BIG EAST team. Notre Dame leads the all-BIG EAST team with four of the 11 selections. Seton Hall’s Kelly Smith has been voted BIG EAST preseason offensive player of the year. Beginning with the 1999 season, the 13 competing BIG EAST schools will be divided into two divisions, the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic. Interdivisional games have been randomly selected and will not be reflected in conference records and statistics. Only games against teams within each division will count as the conference record, which will be used to determine the field for the eight-team BIG EAST championship. The top four teams in each division will qualify for the BIG EAST championship.
THREE TO CAPTAIN ?99 IRISH: LaKeysia Beene, Jen Grubb and Kelly Lindsey will serve as captains for the 1999 Notre Dame women?s soccer team, the first time the Irish have been led by three captains since the 1997 season when Holly Manthei, Julie Maund and Kate Sobrero served as captains.
STREIFFER NEARS 60-60 PLATEAU: All-American and two-time GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American Jenny Streiffer is on pace to join former Irish All-American Cindy Daws as one of just four players in NCAA history to reach 60 goals and 60 assists. She became just the ninth player in NCAA women?s soccer history to score 50 goals and record 50 assists as a junior. Streiffer enters her senior year with 51 goals and 56 assists.
IRISH HAVE BUSY SUMMER ON NATIONAL TEAMS: A number of current and former Irish women?s soccer players had busy summers with national teams. Senior All-Americans LaKeysia Beene, Jen Grubb and Jenny Streiffer were part of the U.S. under-21 national team that won the 1999 Nordic Cup in Iceland. Streiffer, who tallied the game-winning goal in the ?97 championship game against Norway, scored game-tying goal in the championship game against Norway in the 85th-minute of the 2-1 overtime win. She also scored in the 22nd minute to lead the Americans to a 1-0 win over Finland in the opening round. Streiffer finished as the team?s leading scorer with three goals and one assists in four games. Former three-time Irish All-American Kate Sobrero played a key role in helping the U.S. claim its second FIFA Women?s World Cup in 1999 as one of the youngest players on the roster. She started five of the six games the Americans played, missing only the Korea game when she rested a sore ankle after the U.S. already had clinched the top spot in its pool. Sobrero starred for the U.S. as the youngest starting defender on team. Junior Monica Gonzalez (Richardson, Texas) and all-time Irish leading scorer Monica Gerardo represented Mexico in that country?s first appearance in the World Cup in ?99. The Irish pair both started Mexico?s first World Cup game against Brazil, while Gerardo, who wrapped up her career at Notre Dame following the 1998 season, also started against Italy.
IRISH IN SEASON OPENERS: Notre Dame has won 10 of 11 season-opening games with the only loss coming in a 5-4 defeat at fifth-ranked North Carolina State in 1992. The Irish also are 10-1-0 in home openers with the only defeat a 1-0 loss to Minnesota in the first home game of the 1989 season.
SCOUTING THE IRISH: The Randy Waldrum era begins in 1999 as the Irish aim to continue the success that has made Notre Dame the second-winningest team of the ?90s. Nine returning starters and four All-Americans join one of the top freshman classes in the country to make up the ?99 Irish. Notre Dame continues its tradition of strong goalkeepers with the return of All-American LaKeysia Beene and sophomore Elizabeth Wagner (Spring, Texas) and the addition of Parade high school All-America goalkeeper Sani Post (Davis, Calif.). The 1998 BIG EAST goalkeeper of the year started every game of the season for the second consecutive year in ?98 and posted seven solo shutouts and six shared shutouts with a 0.68 goals-against average. Wagner provided Beene with a solid backup and saw action in seven games in the net in ?98 without allowing a goal to share six shutouts with Beene. Post comes to Notre Dame after allowing just five goals in four years at Davis Senior High School where she was named an NSCAA youth All-American in 1998 and was selected as one of Soccer America?s top 25 incoming freshmen. While the Irish have the goalkeeping duties solidified, Waldrum sees questions marks when looking at Notre Dame?s backfield for the ?99 season. Jen Grubb, junior Kelly Lindsey (Omaha, Neb.) and senior Kara Brown (Avon, Conn.) all return after allowing just 16 goals in 25 games, the fourth-fewest goals allowed in school history. Grubb spent the ?99 spring semester training with the U.S. national team in its preparation for the World Cup. She enters her senior year with the chance to become only the second four-time Irish All-American and the first four-time All-America defender. Her combination of speed and power helped her win the 1998 BIG EAST defensive player-of-the-year award. Brown made a successful move to defender last year after playing in the outside midfield her first two seasons. Her determination and relentlessness proved to translate well into the backfield as she started all but one game last year. Lindsey battled through 1998 to start all but one game, scoring two goals and dishing off five assists. She looks to return to the action with the same speed and athletic ability. Sophomore Lindsey Jones (South Bend, Ind.) could see a shift from the outside midfield to the back after spending the spring season playing on defense. Junior Kerri Bakker (Washington, N.J.) also turned in a solid spring season in the back and could contribute in that spot after spending her first two seasons playing up front and in the midfield. Junior Liz Zanoni (Kalamazoo, Mich.) continues her recovery from injury which forced her to miss all of the 1998 season. Freshmen Emily Barnes (Redmond, Wash.), Ashley Dryer (Salt Lake City, Utah), Nancy Mikacenic (Seattle, Wash.) and Vanessa Pruzinsky (Trumbull, Conn.) also could see action on defense. Barnes and Dryer have been a part of the U.S. Regional Olympic Development program. Mikacenic is a two-time Parade high school All-American and has trained with the U.S. under-18 national team, while Pruzinsky comes to Notre Dame as the NSCAA high school player of the year. Just as the Irish remain strong in the goal, Notre Dame returns another impressive group of midfielders highlighted by a pair of returning All-Americans. Junior Anne Makinen and senior Jenny Streiffer have proven to be among the most talented players in the country. Sophomore Mia Sarkesian (Canton, Mich.) should contribute in the midfield once again, with Grubb another possibility. The anchor of the midfield once again will be Makinen, a two-time Hermann Trophy finalist in her first two seasons. The leader of the Finnish national team stands among the top players in the game with her powerful goal scoring and crafty playmaking abilities. Streiffer brings her trademarked silent intensity back to Notre Dame for the final season in ?99. The two-time GTE Academic All-American is expected to play in the center of the field where her creativity and dribbling skills will be best utilized. After playing in 20 games as a freshman, Sarkesian impressed the coaches with her improvement and solid play in the spring season. Sophomore Kelly Tulisiak (Medina, Ohio) sparked Notre Dame off the bench in 14 games last year and also should contribute. Freshman Ali Lovelace (Dallas, Ga.) should give the Irish a boost in the outside midfield. She has been a member of the U.S. under-18 and under-17 national teams and has been active in her regional Olympic development team since 1992. Barnes, Dryer, Mikacenic, Pruzinsky and freshman Kate Morrel (Carmel, Ind.) also could contribute in the midfield. The Irish front line hopes to continue its offensive output as the highest-scoring offense in the country. Senior Jenny Heft scored a Notre Dame single-season record 28 goals last year, while junior Meotis Erikson (Kennewick, Wash.) was fifth on the team in scoring. Despite the loss of all-time leading scorer Monica Gerardo, another Monica, junior Monica Gonzalez, returns from an injury that forced her to miss all of 1998. In addition to the talented trio of Heft, Erikson and Gonzalez, which has scored 102 goals in six combined seasons, Waldrum also may place Streiffer and Lovelace up front to give the Irish even more talent at the forward position. Senior Iris Lancaster (Waiahae, Hawaii) has given Notre Dame depth off the bench. She played in 15 games last year with a goal against Wisconsin and an assist against Providence.
’99 Irish Women’s Soccer (0-0-0, 0-0-0)
August Fri. 20 Stanford (exhibition) W, 4-0
September Key Bank Classic Friday, September 3? #4 Connecticut vs. Duke 5 p.m.? #1 North Caro. at #7 Notre Dame 7:30 p.m.Sunday, September 5? #4 Connecticut vs. #1 North Caro. 11 a.m.? Duke at No. 7 Notre Dame 1:00 p.m. Sun. 12 at St. John?s ^ 1:00 p.m. Wed. 15 Butler 7:00 p.m. Fri. 17 vs. Texas A&M # 4:30 p.m. Sun. 19 vs. SMU # 12 p.m. Fri. 24 at Seton Hall * 3:00 p.m. Sun. 26 at Rutgers * 1:00 p.m.
October Fri. 1 Georgetown * 7:30 p.m. Sun. 3 Villanova * 1:00 p.m. Tues. 5 Michigan 4:00 p.m. Fri. 8 West Virginia * 7:30 p.m. Sun. 10 at Pittsburgh * 1:00 p.m. Sun. 17 at Santa Clara 1:00 p.m. Fri. 22 Connecticut ^ 7:30 p.m. Sun. 24 Miami ^ 12:00 p.m. Wed. 27 at Wisconsin 6:00 p.m. Sun. 31 at Indiana 3:00 p.m.
November Tues. 2 BIG EAST Champ. qrtrs @ 7:30 p.m. Fri. 5 BIG EAST Champ. semis ! 5 p.m. Sun. 7 BIG EAST Champ. final ! 12 p.m.
* BIG EAST Conference Mid-Atlantic division game^ BIG EAST Conference cross-division game # Women?s College Classic (Meyer Park, Spring, Texas)@ campus site of top four seeds! Yurcak Field, Piscataway, N.J.Bold denotes home gameAll home games played at Alumni FieldAll times are local
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
Mid-Atlantic Division
School ?98 BIG EAST ?98 overall1. Notre Dame 9-1-1 21-3-12. Seton Hall 7-3-1 11-6-13. West Virginia 4-5-2 11-6-24. Rutgers 2-4-5 5-9-55. Pittsburgh 5-6-0 8-11-06. Villanova 4-6-1 9-9-27. Georgetown 1-9-1 4-9-1
Northeast Division
School ?98 BIG EAST ?98 overall1. Connecticut 10-0-1 21-2-22. Syracuse 7-3-1 14-7-13. Boston College 5-3-3 12-6-34. Miami N/A 11-7-15. St. John?s 1-8-2 3-13-26. Providence 2-9-0 3-15-0
NSCAA Preseason Top 25
Team Record Points 1. North Carolina * 25-1-0 1992. Santa Clara * 22-1-1 190 3. Portland 19-3-2 173T4. Connecticut * 21-2-2 170T4. Florida 26-1-0 1706. Penn State 21-4-1 1677. NOTRE DAME 21-3-1 1598. Nebraska 16-4-1 1449. Dartmouth 16-2-2 12110. William & Mary 16-3-2 11011. Hartford 17-5-0 10812. Clemson 16-7-0 10513. San Diego State 19-3-1 9914. BYU 20-5-0 8915. Michigan * 14-7-1 7216. UCLA 17-4-1 6817. Baylor 15-5-1 6718. Virginia 13-7-2 6319. Vanderbilt 17-6-0 6220. Northwestern 16-5-1 5821. Stanford 11-7-2 4322. Georgia 13-6-2 3823. Wake Forest 13-7-1 3424. USC 14-7-1 2925. Harvard 12-5-1 15* indicates 1999 Notre Dame opponents
ESPN/Soccer Times Top 25
Team Record Points 1. Santa Clara(6)* 22-1-1 294 2. North Carolina(5)* 25-1-0 2903. Notre Dame (1) 21-3-1 2834. Connecticut * 21-2-2 2475. Florida 26-1-0 2446. Portland 19-3-2 2387. Nebraska 16-4-1 2228. Penn State 21-4-1 2189. Clemson 16-7-0 17710. Dartmouth 16-2-2 17011. William & Mary 16-3-2 16412. Hartford 17-5-0 15513. Virginia 13-7-2 14714. Stanford 11-7-2 13815. Michigan * 14-7-1 12816. San Diego State 19-3-1 12517. UCLA 17-4-1 10518. Vanderbilt 17-6-0 9119. Northwestern 16-5-1 8220. BYU 20-5-0 7921. Baylor 15-5-1 6522. Harvard 12-5-1 5223. Texas A&M * 13-7-0 4924. Duke * 7-11-2 3425. Wake Forest 13-7-1 28* indicates 1999 Notre Dame opponents