July 31, 2005

AGAGAM, Mass. – Two more veteran Notre Dame women’s soccer players are on the verge of claiming another national title, as rising juniors Christie Shaner and Nikki Westfall – along with incoming freshmen Brittany Bock and Kerry Inglis – have helped FC Indiana reach Sunday’s Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) championship game. FC Indiana advanced to the title game after knocking off the New England Mutiny, 4-0, in Saturday night’s second semifinal game.

Goshen-based FC Indiana (15-1-0) has blazed through the summer with just one loss while playing a schedule that has included exhibitions vs. various club and national teams, in addition to the WPSL matchups. Sunday’s championship game (5:00 p.m. EDT) will be played at Agawam (Mass.) High School’s Harmon Smith Stadium, with FC Indiana set to battle a California Storm team that includes former Notre Dame standout Monica Gonzalez, former U.S. national-team member Brandi Chastain and several other noteworthy players (see below).

The summer of 2005 has been an eventful one for various Notre Dame players, most notably: Jen Buczkowski and Erika Bohn were members of the U.S. Under-21 National Team that won the prestigious Nordic Cup; Katie Thorlakson and her Vancouver Whitecaps team have advanced to next weekend’s W-League semifinals (where they will look to repeat as W-League champs; look for details soon on und.com); and Kerri Hanks is back in the USYSA national final with her Dallas Texans club team (that title game also will be played today, July 31).

Bock, who helped set up the game’s third goal, played the full 90 minutes while Westfall’s shutout included a huge save early in the second half to preserve a 2-0 lead. Shaner started and played most of the game as an outside midfielder/defender while Inglis entered midway through the second half (as an outside midfielder) and had a cross that nearly produced a fifth FCI goal (a Mutiny played saved the shot off the goal line).

FC Indiana dominated the run of play vs. the Mutiny, rolling up an 18-5 shot edge while receiving goals from the international trio of Patty Perez (2), Tasha St. Louis and Carmen Falconer.

The Storm lost to FCI earlier this season (1-0, in Goshen), in an exhibition that saw each team not playing at full strength. Saturday’s earlier semifinal saw the Storm – the 2004 WPSL champs – shut out the Steel City Sparks (3-0).

Perez opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, using her body to make Mutiny goalkeeper Jennifer Molina commit before lining a one-hopper to the right of Molina, a former player at Colgate and a teammate of Perez on the Mexican National Team.

FC Indiana proved to be a physically talented and tactically strong team that was playing at the top of its game.

“Indiana was a strong, fast, organized team,” Mutiny captain Rachel LeDuc said, in a postgame interview with The Republican. “They beat us to the ball, they were great physically, they beat us in the air. They were a great team.”

Added Mutiny owner Joe Ferrara, “This game just shows the quality of the league. This was as good a team as I’ve seen at this level.”

The visitors had the host team on their heels for most of the game, as the Mutiny tried to cope with FCI’s blazing speed (namely that of Perez). St. Louis – a top player for the Trinidad and Tobago National Team – scored in the 70th minute, beating a defender one-on-one at the top of the box and before sending her shot into the left side of the goal. Perez scored again in the 84th minute before Jamaican national Hishamar Falconer capped the scoring in the closing moments of the game (note that this goal has been incorrectly credited to St. Louis on the WPSL site).

Bock set up the second Perez goal, after winning the ball near mid-field and playing a pass down the left side. Earlier in the second half, the Mutiny nearly scored to make the score 2-1 – with a player cranking a shot for the lower left corner of the net. But Westfall laid out for a full-extension save, diving to her right to preserve the impressive shutout.

The Storm – now 15-1-1 overall in 2005 summer play – scored shortly before halftime in the win over the Sparks, with Chelsea Hunt chipping a shot over University of Pittsburgh `keeper Jamie Pelusi.

Previous WPSL champions include the Silicon Valley Red Devils (’98), the California Storm (’99, ’02, ’04), San Diego WFC (’00), Ajax of Southern California (’01) and the Utah Spider (’03).

(Note that the Lindsay Jones listed on the FC Indiana roster is a former Goshen HS player and not former ND player/Adams HS product Lindsey Jones, who is listed on the Sparks roster.)

DIRECTIONS TO AGAWAM H.S. (Agawam, MA) – From I-91 : Take Exit 3 (Agawam – Route 57); Get in the righthand lane and go over the Connecticut River; At the rotary, take the exit onto Route 57 West; Take the Mill Street Exit; Agawam H.S will be a 1/2 mile on right. … From Massachusetts Turnpike: Take Exit 6 (Mass. Pike); Take left after tolls onto Route 291 WEST; Merge onto 91 South towards Hartford; Follow directions above.