Nov. 12, 2003

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

NOTRE DAME WOMEN’S SOCCER – vs. Loyola University Chicago … NCAA First Round (Friday, Nov. 14; 7:00 EST)

(Note: see PDF link for complete release with sidebar and chart data.)

The nation’s No. 2-seeded Notre Dame women’s soccer team (19-2-1; 68-11 scoring edge) begins its annual quest for the NCAA title this weekend at Alumni Field, with the Irish playing host to first and second-round action in the 64-team NCAA Tournament … the first game on Friday, Nov. 14, will feature the University of Michigan (9-7-6) vs. its in-state rival Oakland University (15-4-1) at 4:30 p.m. EST, followed by the Irish vs. Loyola University Chicago (10-10-0) … the winners will play two days later in Sunday’s second-round game (1:00), with the third round following on the weekend of Nov. 21-23 and the quarterfinals on Nov. 28-30 (all on campus sites) … Michigan advanced to the Big Ten title game (losing 2-0 to Illinois) while Oakland won the Mid-Continent Conference title and Loyola the Horizon League.

INFORMATION HIGHWAY – A convenient “Women’s Soccer Tourney Central” is available at www.und.com (see http://und.ocsn.com/sports/w-soccer/nd-w-soccer-2003.html), providing links to info. on all four teams that will be competing at Alumni Field this weekend (links to stats, audio, etc. also are available) … live stats for all postseason games at Alumni Field (including non-ND games) also can be accessed via the main page at www.und.com … internet audio broadcasts also will be provided for all home postseason games involving the Irish, with the audio available to College Sports Pass subscribers (see the audio/video link on the und.com main page) … game recaps continue to be available via the ND Sports Hotline at (574) 631-3000 (press “4” for soccer information and then ‘2″ for women’s soccer results).

SCOUTING THE IRISH – Notre Dame – which owns a 29-2 all-time postseason record at Alumni Field (20-2 in the NCAAs) – enters the NCAAs as the nation’s only team ranked in the top six for scoring (third, 3.09 goals per game) and goal-against avg. (sixth, at 0.49; also second with 14 shutouts) … the Irish have been seeded first (’94, ’00) or second (’96, ’97, ’03) in the NCAAs five times … ND’s dynamic and diverse attack includes eight players who own multiple-goal games in ’03 while the Irish are the nation’s only team with four double-digit goalscorers, in the potent forward quartet of seniors Amy Warner (10G-12A) and Amanda Guertin (11G-6A), junior Mary Boland (12G-4A) and sophomore Katie Thorlakson (10G-9A) … senior central D and All-America candidate Melissa Tancredi headlines a defense that held 16 straight opponents to 0-3 shots on goal, including 14 shots on goal in the recent 10-game shutout streak (5th-longest in NCAA history) … Warner and Tancredi (the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year) are two of the final-15 candidates for the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, college soccer’s most prestigious player-of-the-year award … Boland joined Warner and Tancredi on the first team all-BIG EAST squad while freshman central back Christie Shaner was a second-team pick and BIG EAST Co-Rookie of the Year … sophomore Erika Bohn ranks sixth in the nation for individual GAA (0.48) and recently posted 11 straight shutouts and a 981-minute shutout streak that ranks 5th in the NCAA record book … Boland and Tancredi were sidelined for the Michigan loss, in the regular-season finale (3-2) … the Irish had not trailed for 16 games (team record) prior to that game … ND has totaled 17 more goals (68) than opponent shots on goal (51) … ND’s success is all the more noteworthy with two starters sidelined all season (All-America junior right back and Canadian National Team starter Candace Chapman is out with an ACL injury while second team all-BIG EAST senior M Randi Scheller had season-ending hip surgery) … ND solidified its spot among the nation’s top teams with a dominating early-season defensive effort vs. perennial powers Stanford (0-0) and Santa Clara (2-1) before a convincing win over then-No. 5 West Virginia (2-0) … the Irish opened the postseason by posting a 2-1 BIG EAST quarterfinal win over Miami, with ND yielding an early fluke goal in the before holding Miami without a shot for 52 minutes (en route to a 27-5 edge in total shots) …Guertin extended her ND record for career OT goals (4) while her 18 game-winning goals now are one shy of Jenny Heft’s ND record (Guertin has 21G, 10A and 5 GWG in 38 career games vs. ranked/postseason opponents) … BC’s 2-1 win in the BIG EAST semifinals stopped ND’s quest for an eighth BIG EAST Tournament title (in nine years), with Warner missing that game due to injury (both teams had just six shots and one corner kick, with ND now 19-1-0 all-time in the BET).

ND WOMEN’S SOCCER – BY THE NUMBERS (se PDF)

TALE OF THE TAPE (see PDF)

THE ND-LOYOLA SERIES – The Irish and Ramblers have not met since the early 1990s, when Notre Dame posted three convincing wins: 11-0 in 1992 (at ND), 12-0 in ’93 (at Loyola) and 9-0 in ’94 (at ND).

NOTRE DAME IN THE NCAAs – Notre Dame is one of five teams to appear in each of the last 11 NCAA Championships (since ’93, with the others including UNC, UConn, Santa Clara and William & Mary) … the Irish have made six trips to the College Cup semifinals in the last 10 years, including four title-game appearances (’94-’96, ’99) and the 1995 championship season … the Irish own an all-time NCAA Tournament record of 25-9-1 (.729, second-best in NCAA record book), with four losses coming at the hands of UNC in title games (5-0 in ’94, 1-0 in OT in ’96, 2-0 in ’99, 2-1 in ’00) … ND dropped its first-ever NCAA Tournament game to George Mason in 1993 (2-1) while ending the ’97 season with an NCAA semifinal loss to UConn (2-1) and closing ’98 with a 2-1 quarterfinal loss to Portland at Alumni Field … that game and the 2001 second-round loss to Cincinnati (3-2) remain ND’s only postseason losses at home (29-2-0; 20-2-0 in the NCAAs) … ND’s 2002 season ended with a third-round NCAA loss at top-ranked Stanford (0-1) … the Irish claimed the 1995 NCAA title with a semifinal win over UNC (1-0) and a triple-OT win over Portland in the title game (1-0) … ND is 19-4-1 in its last 24 postseason games (57-20 scoring edge), 24-6-1 in the last 31 (70-21).

NOTES ON THE NCAA FIELD – The winner of Sunday’s second-round game at Alumni Field will play a third-round game the following weekend (Nov. 21-23), versus the winner of games being hosted by 15th-seeded Boston College in Newton, Mass. (BC faces Central Connecticut while Boston University and UConn will meet in the other first-round games at that site) … the winner of the above third-round game then will head to the quarterfinals (Nov. 28-30), versus the team that emerges from games involving 7th-seeded Virginia and 10th-seeded Colorado … the top-16 seeds are as follows: 1. North Carolina, 2. Notre Dame , 3. Florida , 4. UCLA , 5. Penn State, 6. West Virginia , 7. Virginia, 8. Portland, 9. Santa Clara , 10. Colorado, 11. Florida State , 12. Duke , 13. Kansas , 14. Tennessee, 15. Boston College and 16. Illinois.

VS. THE FIELD – Notre Dame faced 11 of the 2003 NCAA Tournament teams during the ’03 regular season, going 8-1-2 in those games – with wins over Wake Forest (3-0, at UConn), Arizona State (3-1), Oklahoma (5-1), at Santa Clara (2-1), West Virginia (3-0), Villanova (1-0, OT), Connecticut (2-0), at Rutgers (3-0), plus a scoreless tie vs. Stanford (at SCU), a 3-2 loss to Michigan and the 2-1 BIG EAST quarterfinal loss to Boston College (at RU) … ND’s top 2003 scorers vs. teams from the NCAA field include: sophomore F Katie Thorlakson (6G-3A, 4 GWG), junior F Mary Boland (5G-1A, 2 GWG), senior F Amy Warner (2G-4A), freshman M Jen Buczkowski (2G-4A), senior D Melissa Tancredi (2G-3A) and senior F Amanda Guertin (2G-2A, GWG) … the Irish compiled a 24-8 scoring edge vs. the above 11 NCAA Tournament teams (with a 163-62 shot edge and 48-28 in corner kicks) … all four of Thorlakson’s GWGs in the ’03 regular season came vs. teams that advanced to the NCAAs (SCU, Villanova, UConn and Rutgers) … 8 of Buczkowski’s 10 points (both goals and 4-of-6 assists) have come vs. NCAA Tournament teams.

BIG EAST BEAST – The BIG EAST Conference is well-represented in the NCAA Tournament field by six teams: No. 2 seed ND, No. 6 seed West Virginia and No. 15 seed Boston College, plus UConn, Villanova and Rutgers … the Atlantic Coast Conference (4) was the only league with more seeded teams than the BIG EAST’s three while the Big-12 (8) and ACC (7) are the only conferences with more teams in the field than the BIG EAST’s six.

NOTRE DAME CAREER POSTSEASON STATS

Amanda Guertin – 17 GS, 13G-2A (28 pts) … NCAAs: 9 GS, 8G-2A (18 pts)

Amy Warner – 16 GP/9 GS, 3G-3A (9 pts) … NCAAs: 6 GP/3 GS, 2G (4 pts)

Melissa Tancredi – 9 GP/6GS, 3G-1A (7 pts) … NCAAs: 7 GP/6 GS, 2G (4 pts)

Vanessa Pruzinsky – 22 GS, 1G-2A (4 pts) … NCAAs: 11 GS, 1G (2 pts)

Katie Thorlakson – 5 GS, 2G (4 pts) … NCAAs: 3 GS, 1G (2 pts)

Kimberly Carpenter – 11 GP/5 GS, 2A (2 pts) … NCAAs: 5 GP/3 GS

Mary Boland – 6 GP/4 GS … NCAAs: 5 GP/3 GS

Gudrun Gunnarsdottir – 6 GP/3 GS … NCAAs: 2 GP/1 GS (dnp in ’02 NCAAs)

Maggie Manning – 4 GP … NCAAs: 2 GP

Jen Buczkowski – 2 GS

Kim Lorenzen – 2 GS

Christie Shaner – 2 GS

Annie Schefter – 2 GP

Jill Krivacek – 2 GP

Lizzie Reed – 2 GP

Erika Bohn – 1.19 GAA, 14 SV, 6 GA, 1-1-0, 452:34 … NCAAs (’02): 1.00 GAA, 11 SV, 3 GA, 2-1-0, 270:00

FANTASTIC FOUR – Notre Dame boasts possibly the nation’s top forward rotation – with no other team among the nation’s 294 Division I women programs able to boast four double-digit goalscorers … ND’s players with 10-plus goals include seniors Amy Warner (10G-12A) and Amanda Guertin (11G-6A), junior Mary Boland (12G-4A) and sophomore Katie Thorlakson (10G-9A) … Penn State is the only team among the nation’s top-50 scoring teams that can claim even three double-digit goalscorers (Tiffany Weimer with 19, Joanna Lohman with 15, Heidi Drummond with 11; no other PSU player has more than three goals) … the Irish have four double-digit goalscorers for the first time since 1999, with each player also owning 28-32 points … 10 of the last 14 ND teams have featured three or more double-digit scorers (four in ’94, ’98, ’99 and ’03, six in ’93 and ’96, seven in ’97) … the four double-digit scorers in ’99 included Jenny Heft (20), Jenny Streiffer (19), Meotis Erikson (14) and Anne Makinen (13) … the ’97 team racked up 135 goals, led by: Makinen (23), Erikson (22), Streiffer (20), Heft (20), Shannon Boxx (13), Monica Gerardo (10) and Monica Gonzalez (10).

THE USUAL SUSPECT – Senior F Amanda Guertin entered the 2003 season already ranking as one of the most clutch goalscorers in Notre Dame women’s soccer history, with her poised finishing skills impressing both in terms of their quantity and the quality of the game situation … so it was only fitting that she would choose the third minute of overtime in the 2003 BIG EAST quarterfinal to register her first big-game goal of the season, taking a short free-kick pass from Kimberly Carpenter and ripping a 20-yard shot into the upper-right corner of the net … the combination of postseason play and Alumni Field could hint at more prime-time plays from Guertin on the horizon:

* Guertin’s score vs. Miami extended her ND record for career overtime goals to four, with her 18 game-winning goals one shy of that Notre Dame record (held by ’96 graduate Jenny Heft) … Guertin also has tied 1999 graduate Monica Gerardo for the most postseason game-winning goals in ND history (5).

* The senior class is 28-8-2 during the past four seasons in “big games” (vs. a ranked and/or postseason opponent), with Guertin totaling 52 points on 21 goals and 10 assists in those 38 games (9 of her 18 career GWGs have come in big games).

* Guertin has an OT goal in each of her four seasons, also: at West Virginia (’00, 2-1), vs. #23 Michigan (’01, 2-1) and at Boston College (’02, 1-0) … her nine career big-game GWGs include the BET quarterfinal vs. Miami and the ’01 score vs. Michigan, plus: vs. #25 Michigan in the 2nd round of the 2000 NCAAs (3-1); vs. #8 Penn State in the ’01 opener (2-1), St. John’s in the ’01 BIG EAST QFs (2-0) and Eastern Illinois in the 1st round of the ’01 NCAAs (2-0); at #25 Maryland (5-2) and #13 Michigan (1-0) in ’02, and vs. #14 Purdue in 2nd round of the ’02 NCAAs (3-1).

* Guertin now ranks 8th in ND history with 28 career points in the postseason (13G-2A; three behind Heft) while her 13 postseason GWGs rank 5th behind Gerardo and ’01 grad. Anne Makinen Anne Makinen (both with 15) and ’00 classmates Heft and Jenny Streiffer (both with 14) … Guertin (48G-27A) and classmate Amy Warner (37G-25A) have combined for 222 points, 85 goals, 52 assists and 29 GWGs … they rank 6th in ND history for combined goals by classmates (10 behind ’97 grads Cindy Daws and Amy Van Laecke) while only two previous pairs of ND classmates have combined for more GWGs.

* In NCAA Tournament play, Guertin already ranks 4th in ND history with 18 career points in the NCAAs (8G-2A; behind Gerardo’s 24, Makinen’s 20 and Manthei’s 19) while only Gerardo (10) and Heft (9) have posted more goals in the NCAAs … Guertin and Amy Van Laecke (’97) share an ND record after each opening the scoring in three NCAA games while Guertin’s three career GWGs in the NCAAs are one shy of Gerardo’s ND record.

* Guertin traditionally had found an extra comfort zone at Alumni Field, totaling 30 of her 48 career goals, 18 of her 27 assists and 12 of her 18 GWGs at home … she leads the ’03 team with 20 points at home this season (8G-4A), including all three of her GWGs.

WARNER, TANCREDI AMONG FINAL-15 FOR MAC/HERMANN TROPHY – Notre Dame senior forward Amy Warner (Albuquerque, N.M.) and senior central defender Melissa Tancredi (Ancaster, Ont.) are two of 15 final candidates for the Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy, the official NSCAA player-of-the-year award … Tancredi – the 2003 BIG EAST Conference Defensive Player of the Year – and Warner (a four-time all-BIG EAST selection) have played central roles for the 2003 team that ranks near the top of the national leaders in both scoring (3rd; 3.09 goals/gm) and goals-against avg. (6th, 0.49), with the Irish trailing in just three games this season … the candidates were selected by a nominating committee of Division I coaches … UNC has three players on the list – senior D Cat Reddick and sophomore midfielders Lori Chalupny and Lindsay Tarpley – while Penn State is the only other team with multiple candidates: senior M Joanna Lohman and sophomore F Tiffany Weimer … others include: senior forwards Chrissie Abbott (West Virginia) and Veronica Zepeda (Santa Clara); BYU senior M Aleshia Rose; UCLA senior D Nandi Pryce; Texas junior F Kelly Wilson; Tennessee junior D Keely Dowling; Stanford junior G Nicole Barnhardt; and sophomore F Caroline Smith (Kansas) … Tancredi – who can apply for a fifth year of eligibility – would be considered one of the favorites for the 2004 award, with five others set to return in ’04 (Wilson, Dowling, Barnhardt, Smith and Weimer) … winners will be determined in voting by Division I coaches and three finalists will be announced at the NCAA Women’s College Cup … the finalists will be invited to the Missouri Athletic Club for a Jan. 9 news conference announcing the winner (a banquet that evening will include the formal presentation of the prestigious crystal soccer ball trophy) … ND has played against three of the candidates this season, defeating Zepeda’s SCU squad and Abbott’s WVU team while playing to a tie against Barnhardt and Stanford … here are updated bio. notes on ND’s two MAC/Hermann Trophy candidates:

Tancredi – known for wide array of skills, including dominating play in the air and ability to quickly join the attack … shifted to F after ND fell behind 2-0 vs. BC in BIG EAST semifinals and promptly sent home a header for 4th goal of ’03 (plus 5A) … forms core of defense that has allowed just 11 goals in 22 games, with 10-game shutout streak that ranks 5th in NCAA history … leads ND defenders with 13 points, starting 19 games (three missed due to injury) with one GWG … her absence has been significant, with the Irish losing to Michigan (3-2) while struggling in 1-0 wins at Pittsburgh and Seton Hall (4-3 scoring edge in those games, compared to 64-8 in games she played) … leads dominating defensive effort that has included: just 51 opponent shots on goal (2.3 per game); a 0.49 team GAA (6th in nation); a team-record span of 16 games without a deficit; tying another team record of 24 straight games without allowing multiple goals; and allowing just two ’03 opponents to come back and tie the Irish (SCU and Miami) … first field player ever to earn top BIG EAST honor despite no previous all-BIG EAST awards … ND’s fifth recipient of BIG EAST defensive player of the year award in last seven years (also Kate Sobrero in ’97, Jen Grubb in ’98 and ’99 and current junior Candace Chapman in ’02) … converted F who missed all of the ’00 season due to ACL knee injury … played at F in ’01 before shifting to the D in middle of ’02 season.

Warner – speedy frontrunner who ranks ninth nationally with 12 assists (plus 10G and 2 GWG) … her absence due to ankle injury played key role in BC’s 2-1 win over ND in BIG EAST semifinals … that marked her first game missed in three years (70 games) and ended her streak of 64 consecutive starts … ranks 12th in ND history with 37 career goals, 14th with 99 points, 9th with 11 GWGs … 6th player ever named all-BIG EAST each of her four seasons … 11th to be named 1st team all-BIG EAST in three-plus seasons (’00, ’02, ’03; plus 2nd team in ’01) … ’03 highlights include 1G-1A in 3-0 win over Wake Forest and goal that capped 3-1 comeback vs. ASU. … named all-tournament at ’03 UConn, ND and SCU Classics … joined junior Mary Boland as first pair of forwards from same team to be named 1st team all-BIG EAST since ’99 (Streiffer and Jenny Heft, still the top goalscorers in the ND record book).

POSTSEASON AWAKENING – Notre Dame will be looking to rediscover its offensive flow that yielded a 63-5 scoring edge in the first 19 games – with the Irish then being outscored during the last three games (5-6) … ND has totaled just 11 goals in the last 7 games, with the team’s last three-goal game coming on Oct. 12 vs. Miami (3-0) … sophomore F Katie Thorlakson has points in six of the last eight games (5G-3A) but several other players could be due for an offensive breakthrough: freshman M Jen Buczkowski (2G vs. OU in 4th game, none in last 18), junior F Mary Boland (ND-record 6G in first 3 games; 6G in last 19 games/1G in last 7), sophomore M Annie Schefter (0G in last 8 games, 1G in last 16), senior F Amy Warner (0G in 7 of last 8 games) and senior M Kim Carpenter (0G in last 8 GP).

BIG EAST AWARDS RECAP (also see previous MAC/Hermann note for Tancredi and Warner notes)

* ND took home three of the six major awards, with senior central back Melissa Tancredi (Ancaster Ont.) named defensive player of the year while freshman central back Christie Shaner (Ambler, Pa.) was named co-rookie of the year … Randy Waldrum received an unprecedented third BIG EAST coach-of-the-year award (also ’99, ’00).

* Three others were named to the all-BIG EAST teams … senior F Amy Warner and junior F Mary Boland and joined Tancredi on the all-BIG EAST 1st team … freshman M Jen Buczkowski joined Shaner on the BIG EAST all-rookie team, with Shaner also earning 2nd team all-BIG EAST honors.

* Shaner surprisingly is just the third ND player ever to take home the BIG EAST’s top rookie honor – and the first to do so since current fifth-year D Vanessa Pruzinsky in 1999 (F/M Jenny Streiffer was voted the league’s top rookie in 1996) … Warner and Boland are the first pair of forwards from the same team to be named first team all-BIG EAST since 1999, when Streiffer and Jenny Heft – still the top goalscorers in the ND record book – were so honored.

* Tancredi and Shaner have formed the core of a defense that has allowed just 11 goals in 22 games, highlighted by a 10-game shutout streak that ranks 5th in NCAA history … they have combined with Pruzinsky at left back, freshman RB Kim Lorenzen and sophomore G Erika Bohn for a dominating defensive effort that has included: just 51 opponent shots on goal; a 0.49 team GAA that ranks 6th in the nation; a team-record span of 16 games without a deficit (ND has trailed just 66 minutes, or 0.3%, while leading 66%); tying another team record by going 24 consecutive games without allowing multiple goals; allowing just two ’03 opponents to come back and tie the Irish (SCU and Miami); and helping rack up a 68-11 scoring edge … Shaner has appeared in 21 games with 18 starts, using her strength on restart services to assist on three goals this … she was named defensive MVP at the Santa Clara Classic, after helping limit Stanford and SCU to three combined shots on goal.

* Boland (12G-4A) ranks 31st in the nation in goals and leads the nation’s 3rd-ranked offense (3.09 goals/gm) with 5 GWGs … she is the first player ever named BIG EAST offensive (’03) and defensive (’02) player of the week during her career … she has appeared in 19 games (14 starts), with an ND-record six goals in the first three games … her seven points (3G-A) vs. Hartford are most by an ND player since ’99 … her ’03 highlights include 2G vs. ASU (GWG), 1G-1A in 2-1 win at SCU and the early strike vs. West Virginia (3-0) … all-tournament at the UConn, ND and SCU Classics.

* Buczkowski has been a central member of the Irish midfield, appearing in all 21 games (20 starts) while totaling 2G-10A … she was named offensive MVP of the ND Classic (2G-3A in wins over ASU and Oklahoma).

* Waldrum has positioned the Irish for another run at the national title, despite several preseason challenges – a new staff of assistant coaches and the loss of two key starters to season-ending injuries – that could have derailed even the most talented and veteran of teams … he owns a 93-18-4 (.825) record in five full seasons with the Irish and posted his 200th career victory as a college women’s soccer head coach in the BIG EAST quarterfinal win over Miami … his 14-year career 200-68-16 mark (.732) as a women’s soccer head coach includes earlier stints at Tulsa and Baylor … he is 276-123-23 (.681) in 23 combined seasons as a college men’s and women’s soccer head coach … he entered ’03 ranked 7th among active women’s coaches for career win pct. … his masterful coaching in ’03 has helped overcome another onslaught of injuries that has caused several top players to miss a combined 101 games.

* Two former ND greats – D Jen Grubb (’96-’99) and M Anne Makinen (’97-’00) – remain the only players ever named first team all-BIG EAST four times … Warner is one of four others who have received all-BIG EAST honors (1st or 2nd team) in four seasons, with the others including Rutgers M/F Uchenna Bright (’00), Georgetown M Liz Delgado (’01) and current Boston College M Sarah Rahko … the other nine who join Warner as three-time 1st team all-BIG EAST picks: Notre Dame M Holly Manthei (’98), UConn D/F Sara Whalen (’97), Seton Hall F Kelly Smith (’00), RU’s Bright, UConn F Jen Carlson (’00) and M/F Mary-Frances Monroe (transferred after ’00), Rahko, current West Virginia M Lisa Stoia and current Rutgers M Carli Lloyd

FOUR REACH ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA BALLOT – Four Notre Dame women’s soccer players have entered the final stage for Academic All-America consideration, after being named to the Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-District V first team … the honorees include one from each eligible class: fifth-year left back Vanessa Pruzinsky Vanessa Pruzinsky (Trumbull, Conn.), senior attacking midfielder Kimberly Carpenter (Webster, N.Y.), junior forward Mary Boland (Hudson, Ohio) and sophomore goalkeeper Erika Bohn (Brookfield, Conn.) … the Academic All-America team, as selected by the College Sports Information of Directors, will be announced on Nov. 25 (with 11 players named to each of the first, second and third teams) … the previous nine years have seen ND players combine for 10 Academic All-America honors, more than any other Division I women’s soccer team … Pruzinsky – also is being nominated for prestigious national awards such as the NCAA’s Top Eight Award, Woman of the Year Award and Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship – graduated last May with a 4.0 GPA as a chemical engineering major and also is considered a top candidate for the women’s soccer Academic All-America of the Year Award … she became only the third chemical engineering major, and first since ’74, to graduate from Notre Dame with a 4.0 and currently is enrolled in the chemical engineering master’s program … a two-time NSCAA all-region performer, Pruzinsky ranks 9th in ND history with 92 career games started and has helped the Irish compile an 81-11-4 record in her four healthy seasons … Carpenter is as ND’s 5th-leading scorer (5G-5A) and is a three-time Dean’s List student with a 3.41 GPA as a pre-professional science major … Boland earned 1st team all-BIG EAST Conference honors and leads the ’03 Irish squad in goals (12) and GWGs (5), with four Dean’s List semesters and a 3.87 GPA as a psychology major … Bohn ranks 6th in the nation with a 0.48 GAA and owns a 3.67 GPA as an undeclared business major.

QUICK TEAM NOTES ON THE IRISH

* Streak #1 – ND’s streak of 10 straight shutouts (13 of last 16) was longest in the program’s history and 5th in NCAA history, besting ND’s 1995 NCAA-title team that went eight games without a goal allowed … the shutout streak covered 956 minutes, besting the ’95 team’s record of 726 straight shutout minutes … prior to the Michigan loss, the Irish had allowed just one goal in 15-plus games, with an earlier 418-minute shutout streak ending on an unstoppable upper-90 shot by SCU’s Marian Dalmy … just four previous Division I women’s soccer teams have posted longer shutout streaks, led by SCU’s 16 in 1998, plus two UNC teams (13 in ’89, 12 in ’87) and the 1984 N.C. State squad (12) … ND’s total of 14 shutouts is seventh in the Irish record book, behind 18 in ’97 and ’98 (also 16 in ’96, ’98 and ’00, and 15 in ’94).

* Streak #2 – Notre Dame’s 19-game unbeaten streak was tied for fourth in ND history (the ’94, ’97 and ’00 teams all started 23-0-1 while the ’95 and ’96 teams combined for a 24-0-0 streak).

* Streak #3 – ND’s 12-game winning streak ranked sixth in the program’s history, with the top win streaks as follows: 24 games from ’95-’96, 17 in ’97, 16 in ’00, 14 from ’92-’93 and 14 in ’94.

* Streak #4 – The Irish had a stretch of 138 minutes without allowing a shot (vs. Butler and Georgetown, on Oct. 7 and 10) and went 149 minutes without an opponent shot on goal.

* Balanced Dominance – Notre Dame and top-ranked UNC were the final unbeaten teams remaining among 294 Division I women’s soccer programs, with the Irish also currently ranking third in the nation for scoring (3.09 goals per game) and sixth in goals-against average (0.49) – with no other team ranked in the top six of both categories.

* Big Gamers – The current senior class carries a 28-8-2 career record when playing in the postseason and/or facing an opponent ranked in the NSCAA top-25.

* BIG EAST Home Winning Streak – UConn was the last BIG EAST team to beat Notre Dame at Alumni Field (5-4 in ’95), with the Irish winning their last 50 home games vs. BIG EAST teams (93-9-2 overall vs. BIG EAST teams since ’95).

* Games-a-Plenty – The Irish recently completed a rugged stretch of six games in 13 days (Sept. 30-Oct. 12), followed by four days off before the showdown with BIG EAST rival Connecticut, ending a rare eight-game homestand.

* 6-to-1 Scoring Margin -The Irish now own a 68-11 season scoring edge, including 28-1 in the recent eight-game homestand (plus a 166-26 total shot edge/93-11 in shots on goal during that eight-game stretch).

* Unbeaten Start – The 2003 campaign marked the fourth time that ND went 19-plus games into a season without suffering a loss (the ’94, ’97 and ’00 teams all started 23-0-1).

* Historic Dominance – The only previous ND teams to allow comparable goals in the first 20 games (65-8) were the record-setting 1997 squad that owned a 107-5 scoring edge at the 20-game mark (before a 6-1 win over UConn) and the 2000 squad that held a 67-6 scoring edge after 20 games (before a 1-0 win over UConn).

* Rear-View Mirror – Prior to the Michigan game, the Irish had trailed only once in ’03 (no deficits in team-record 16 games), for 7:18 in the third game vs. ASU (the Irish now have led 63% of the minutes and trailed 0.6%, for 148 minutes).

* One (Or None) Is Enough – Prior to the 3-2 loss to Michigan, ND logged 24 games with 0-1 GA to tie the team record streak for not allowing multiple goals (it also was the 2nd-best start, 19 games with 0-1 GA) … the 2000 team went 24 games before allowing UNC to score twice in the NCAA semifinals.

* Turnaround Success – ND now is 10-0 this season when playing two days after a previous game (28-2 scoring edge), after going just 4-5 (18-16 scoring edge) in 2002 regular-season “bounceback” games.

* Magic Number – The win over Georgetown avenged a 4-3 loss at GU in ’02 (minus 4 ND starters), the only time since a ’95 loss vs. UConn (5-4) that ND has scored three-plus goals and not won (now 102-1-0 in the last 103).

* Quick Strikes – The lateseason win at Seton Hall marked the 8th game in 2003 ND has scored in the first 7:00.

* Half & Half – The Irish have been equally dominant in the first (36-7) and second half (30-4) this season, after managing just a 12-10 first-half scoring edge in ’02.

* Sharpshooters – The efficient ND offense is averaging one goal every 6.0 total shots and every 3.2 shots on goal … the Irish have scored five-plus goals in five games this season and have scored three-plus goals in 11 games.

* Strong Stretch – After allowing a 26th-minute goal by Oklahoma on Sept. 7, ND’s next 15-plus games (spanning 1,415 minutes) included just 2 goals allowed, 66 opponent shots (22 on goal) and 36 corner kicks, for 90-minute averages during that stretch of 0.13 goals, 4.2 shots, 1.4 shots on goal and 2.3 corners (prior to the 3-2 loss to Michigan)

* Depth Charges – Notre Dame players have combined to miss 165 games due to injury spanning the ’02 and ’03 seasons (42 games played; 32-9-1 record), with seven players already combining to miss 101 games due to injury in ’03.

* Far & Wide – 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 in the ’02-’03 academic year included nearly 800 individuals from 47 states (all but Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada) and 20 countries.

* OT-Tested – The Irish are unbeaten in their last 16 overtime games (12-0-4).

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

* Winning When They Should – Notre Dame is 105-4-1 all-time at Alumni Field when facing an unranked opponent.

ND WOMEN’S SOCCER 2003 AWARDS (see PDF)

QUICK PLAYER NOTES

* Net Zero – Sophomore Erika Bohn extended her shutout streak to an ND-record 981 minutes (5th NCAA history, besting Liz Wagner’s ND record 701 in ’00), before the first goal by Michigan on Oct. 29 … Bohn enters the NCAAs ranked 9th in the nation with a 0.48 GAA (close to LaKeysia Beene’s team-record 0.37 in ’97) … she allowed just one goal over 15-plus games (1,256 min., starting with the OU game and ending vs. Mich.) … her last 32 starts include a 28-3-1 record (16 GA) … her shutout streak was longest since ’99, trailing two UNC ‘keepers (Anne Sherow’s 1,670 consecutive shutout minutes, spanning ’87 and ’88, and Jenni Branam’s 1,114 in ’99), SCU’s Crystal Gordon (1,269 in ’98) and Tiffany DeCoff of Holy Cross (1,004 in ’99) … the Academic All-America candidate has logged 94% of the team’s minutes in ’03 (86% in ’02).

* Senior Spark – Another potential Academic All-American, senior Kim Carpenter, has emerged as a key offensive player at attacking M, ranking 5th on the team with 15 points (5G-5A) after totaling just five points from (’00-’02) … she had a 6-game point streak that ended vs. Miami and had scored three times in a stretch of six ND goals.

* Fire & Ice – Amy Warner and Amanda Guertin have combined for 85 goals (Guertin is 9th in ND history with 48, Warner 12th with 37), 29 GWGs (18 by Guertin) and six OT goals (ND record 4 by Guertin).

* Big-Goal Scorer – Junior F Mary Boland registered her 5th game-winning goal of ’03 at Pittsburgh (tied for 9th in ND history) and has opened the scoring four times in ’03 … she enters the week ranked 31st in the nation for goals … Boland spent most of her prep career playing as a forward but her ND career also has included time at outside back and in the midfield, with her quick start (ND record 6G in first 3 games) igniting the ’03 offense.

* Iron Women – Senior F Amy Warner made 64 consecutive starts before missing last week’s BC game while fifth-year D Vanessa Pruzinsky has logged 94 career games and 92 starts (good for 9th in the ND record book) … the only ND defenders ever to start more games are Jen Grubb (100) and Kate Sobrero (97).

* Getting Right Back – Versatile freshman Kim Lorenzen (Naperville, Ill.) was impressive in preseason training at forward but has found a home in the defense, as a starter both centrally and now right back.

* 4.0 Focus – Fifth-year D Vanessa Pruzinsky graduated in May of 2003 with a 4.0 cumulative GPA as a chemical engineering major, the third ND student (first since ’74) ever to complete that feat.

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

* Goal Patrol – Irish players have combined for 11 multiple-goal games (compared to five in ’02) by eight players: Mary Boland vs. Hartford (3) and ASU (2), Maggie Manning and Amanda Guertin vs. Hartford (both with 2, with Guertin doing so again vs. Georgetown), Jen Buczkowski vs. Oklahoma (2), Katie Thorlakson and Annie Schefter vs. Western Kentucky (both with 2, then Thorlakson at Rutgers), Melissa Tancredi vs. North Texas (2) and Amy Warner at Seton Hall (3).

* Meet You In The Middle – Despite the graduation of four-year starter/defensive ace Ashley Dryer and season-ending hip surgery to senior Randi Scheller (2nd tm all-BIG EAST in ’02), the midfield has been boosted by the emergence of two “newcomers”: sophomore Annie Schefter (4G-4A; missed ’02 with ACL) and freshman Jen Buczkowski (2G-6A).

* Furious Forwards – ND’s system includes a pressuring “forecheck” from the team’s frontrunners … five of those players – Mary Boland (2), Amanda Guertin (2), Katie Thorlakson (2), Amy Warner and Maggie Manning – have posted multiple-goal games this season, with Warner also ranking ninth in the nation with 12 assists.

NOTRE DAME PLAYER QUICK-FACT SHEET (see PDF)

WALDRUM REGISTERS 200TH WIN – Fifth-year ND head coach Randy Waldrum posted his 200th career win as a Division I women’s head coach in the 2-1 game vs. Miami, with a 200-68-16 mark (.732) in 14 combined seasons at Tulsa, Baylor and Notre Dame … the Irish are 92-18-4 (.825) in the five-year Waldrum era, including 77-14-3 in the last 94 games (since losing 4-2 at SCU on Oct. 17, 1999) …his 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 first-year coach to take his team to the NCAA semi’s, beating top-ranked and previously unbeaten Santa Clara in San Jose … Waldrum’s 23-year record as a college head coach (men’s and women’s) is 276-123-23 (.681) … his women’s soccer record includes 61-36-9 in six years at Tulsa 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).

THE FRIENDLY CONFINES – Notre Dame has posted a 12-1-0 record at Alumni Field this season, with a 45-7 scoring edge and a 271-55 shot margin (78-31 in corner kicks) … here’s a rundown of ND’s scoring at Alumni Field this season: senior F Amanda Guertin (8G-4A, 3 GWG; career at home: 30G-18A, 12 GWG), sophomore F Katie Thorlakson (7G-4A, 2 GWG), senior F Amy Warner (5G-8A), junior F Mary Boland (6G-2A, 3 GWG), senior M Kimberly Carpenter (4G-5A, 2 GWG), sophomore M Annie Schefter (4G-2A, GWG), freshman M Jen Buczkowski (2G-5A) and senior D Melissa Tancredi (2G-5A) … Guertin has notched 8 of her 10 goals this season at Alumni Field while Carpenter has 13 of her 15 points at home in 2003 (her other two points came on a goal vs. Hartford in the opener, at UConn) … all four of Schefter’s goals and 2-of-4 assists have come at home while Buczkowski has posted 9-of-10 points at Alumni Field.

20-SOMETHING – Notre Dame is one win shy of posting its eighth season with 20-plus wins in the last 10 years … the 1996 team posted an ND-record 24 wins, with 23 wins in 1994, ’97 and ’00, and 21 wins in ’95, ’98 and ’99.

PRIMETIME PLAYERS – ND is 28-8-2 in the last four seasons (’00-’03) when facing an NSCAA ranked and/or postseason opponent (78-37 scoring edge in those 40 “big games”) … Amanda Guertin has 52 points in those big games (21G-10A) while Amy Warner owns 8G-5A vs. ranked/postseason opponents (missed half of ’00 due to injury, also dnp last week vs. UNC).

FRONTRUNNERS – Prior to the 12th-minute goal by Michigan, ND had not faced a deficit for nearly two months and 16-plus games, the longest streak in the program’s history … the only previous time the Irish had trailed came early in the third game, for 7:18 vs. ASU (ND quickly claimed the lead and went on to a 3-1 win) … BC then held the lead for 82 minutes in the BIG EAST quarterfinals, longer than ND had trailed in the first 21 games (66 minutes) … the Irish have led for 63% of the 2,010 minutes in ’03 while trailing for less than 1% (0.7%; 148 minutes), with Santa Clara and Miami (in the BIG EAST quarterfinal) being the only teams to come back and tie the Irish (ND retook the lead for good 12 minutes later vs. SCU) … the previous team record for longest streak without facing a deficit was a 14-game stretch in 1997, starting with a 5-0 win over Duke (9/21, after trailing two days earlier in a 2-2 tie vs. UNC) … the ’97 streak continued through a 6-1 win over UConn in the BIG EAST title game (11/9) and ended one week later, when Cincinnati opened the scoring in a first-round NCAA Tournament game (ND dominated for a 7-1 win) … the ’97 team spent all season ranked No. 2 in the NSCAA poll … ND’s 2000 squad earned the top ranking after seven games and did not face a deficit for the first 13 games (BC scored first and led for 28 minutes, in a 3-1 ND win) … that team added six more games without trailing before falling behind UNC in the 82nd minute of the NCAA semifinals (2-1 loss).

KEEP ON CRANKING – Prior to the Michigan loss, ND had avoided pitfalls that have hit other top teams, as the Irish and UNC had been the only unbeaten teams for several weeks while the other 292 Div. I programs now include just two teams with one loss (16-1-3 UCLA and 18-1-2 Cal Poly) – with ND’s .886 winning pct. ranking third in the nation behind UNC (21-0-0) and Cal Poly (.905).

CLUTCH CANADIAN – Sophomore F Katie Thorlakson (Langley, B.C.) has picked key times for all four of her game-winning goals in 2003 … two of her GWGs have come vs. top-15 teams (#10 Santa Clara and #15 Connecticut), plus the overtime goal vs. Villanova and the early strike at Rutgers (3-0) … she also is the only current ND player with multiple career goals vs. UConn (her goal tied the ’02 game, 1-1, in a 3-1 win) … the ’02 ND-UConn game proved to be a key turning point for the program, with current senior Melissa Tancredi making the full-time move from F to central D while Thorlakson shifted permanently from M to F … since those key shifts, the Irish are 25-4-1 in their last 30 games.

PLAYING THE BEST – ND has played some of its best soccer vs. ranked opponents, going 24-10-3 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 (38-6-1 vs. unranked teams), including 2003 wins over #16 Santa Clara (2-1), #8 West Virginia (2-0) and #15 UConn (2-0) and a scoreless tie vs. #24 Stanford.

NCAA STAT LEADERS – ND enters the NCAAs ranked sixth in the nation for goals-against avg. (0.49) and third in scoring with 3.09 goals per game (no other team is in the top six of both) … senior F Amy Warner ranks ninth nationally with 12 assists … Warner also ranks 28th in the nation in points (32) while junior F Mary Boland is 31st in the nation with 12 goals … ND’s Erika Bohn (0.48) ranks 6th in the nation for GAA and is 4th among ‘keepers with more than 1,100 minutes – behind Illinois State’s Allison Farrington (0.40), Hofstra’s Rebecca Wachsberger (0.46) and Leisha Alcia of Illinois (0.47).

QUICK-STRIKE ARTISTS – Notre Dame has scored in the first 7:00 of eight games this season (total of nine quick-strike goals), with junior F Mary Boland responsible for three of those early scores while six others each have scored one quick goal this season … the quickest goals have come vs. West Virginia (1:24; Boland volley on long serve from Melissa Tancredi), at Seton Hall (1:30; Amy Warner near-post shot after taking pass from Jill Krivacek) and twice at Rutgers (2:44 by Katie Thorlakson from close range, after leftside pass from Warner; and at 3:53 on Tancredi header, via Thorlakson corner kick) … 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), at Santa Clara (5:03; Boland on lunging poke after leftside service from Katie Thorlakson), vs. North Texas (4:28; Amanda Guertin shot from top of the box via short pass from Warner) and vs. Georgetown (5:39; Kimberly Carpenter redirects Vanessa Pruzinsky shot).

TITLE TOWN – Despite failing to win its eighth BIG EAST Tournament title, the ND women’s soccer team remains one of the winningest sports programs in the conference’s history … stretching back to the 1995 falls semester (when ND, West Virginia and Rutgers joined the BIG EAST), there have been a handful of teams with steady success at the BIG EAST tournament level – and Notre Dame teams are at the top of that list:

BIG EAST Titles Since Fall of 1995 (based on tournament results, if applicable)

7 – Notre Dame women’s soccer (every year but ’02 and ’03)

7 – Notre Dame volleyball (every year but 1999)

7 – Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving (every year but 1996)

7 – Pittsburgh men’s swimming and diving (every year but 1996)

7 – Connecticut women’s basketball (every year but 2003)

GOING THE DISTANCE – ND is unbeaten in its last 16 overtime games (12-0-4), 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 … the ’03 team has played to a scoreless tie with Stanford (at SCU) before posting overtime wins over Villanova (1-0) and Miami (2-1, in BIG EAST quarterfinals).

SHARING THE WEALTH IN OT – ND’s 11 overtime wins in the five-year Randy Waldrum era include goals from seven players (plus an own goal vs. Stanford in ’00): Anne Makinen (vs. UConn in ’99), Amanda Guertin (ND record 4; vs. WVU in ’00, Michigan in ’01, BC in ’02 and Miami in ’03), Meotis Erikson (vs. SCU in ’00 NCAA quarter’s), Kelly Tulisiak (vs. IU in ’01), Amy Warner (2; vs. VU in ’01, Rutgers in ’02), Mia Sarkesian (vs. WVU in ’01) and Katie Thorlakson (vs. Vill. in ’03).

OT MASTERS – Senior Amanda Guertin holds the ND record for career OT goals (4), with her classmate Amy Warner and ’96 national player of the year Cindy Daws ranking second with two each (including Daws’ goal vs. Portland in the ’95 NCAA title game) … Guertin (4G-2A) owns 10 career points in OT, followed by Warner (6; 2G-2A) … Guertin has posted one OT goal in each of her four season: at WVU in 2000 and at home vs. Michigan in ’01 (both 2-1), at BC in ’02 (1-0) and vs. Miami in the ’03 BIG EAST quarterfinals (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 11 OT goals (Guertin has scored or assisted on six of the last 10).

GREAT STARTS – Notre Dame went unbeaten after 19 games for the fourth time in the program’s history … here’s a look at the other longest season-opening unbeaten streaks in the ND record book (see PDF):

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):

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 (48G-27A, in 89 GP) – with her 18 gamewinning goals ranking second on the ND all-time list (one shy of Jenny Heft’s record) … eight of Guertin’s GWGs have come in one-goal games, including four in OT (ND record, no other player with more than two) … nearly half of Guertin’s career goals (17 of 46, or 38%) have been gamewinners – well ahead of the others on the GWG list (seee PDF):

PRUZSINKY DRAWS NATONAL MEDIA ATTENTION – Fifth-year D Vanessa Pruzinsky was spotlighted in a recent feature on College Sports Television while a recent Sports Illustrated On Campus highlighted the high achiever – with Sports Illustrated now slated to run a feature on Pruzinsky in its Nov. 17 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.

INJURY WOES CONTINUE – ND’s ’02 season was hampered by injuries to several top players (totaling 64 games missed, plus 101 thus far in ’03 for a total of 165) … the Irish have played for all of 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 … sophomore M Jenny Walz (ACL) has returned to practice after being injured in the spring, but she has yet to play in a 2003 game … junior starting central D Gudrun Gunnarsdottir has returned in a reserve role (after missing four games with a broken arm) while freshman D Kari Kennedy (foot) and junior D Kate Tulisiak (back) made their 2003 debuts on Oct. 10 vs. Georgetown … 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 … Tancredi missed three of the final five games in the ’03 regular season (due to nagging injuries) while junior F Mary Boland also was sidelined for three recent games – before senior F Amy Warner missed the BIG EAST semifinal loss to Boston College (due to an ankle injury).

CONFERENCE CALL – Notre Dame’s all-time record in regular-season conference games is 95-7-2 (.923; 76-7-2/.906 in BIG EAST) … the Irish are 52-1 in home games vs. BIG EAST teams, with 49 straight home wins over BIG EAST teams since a 5-4 OT loss to UConn in ’95 (239-16 scoring edge, 36 shutouts, 13 with 1 GA) … since ’95, ND’s overall record vs. BIG EAST teams now is 94-9-2 (.905; 1-1-0 vs. UConn in NCAAs).

BOHN ON A ROLL – Sophomore G Erika Bohn is 30-3-1 in her last 34 starts (29-2-1 last 32), allowing just 18 goals in that 34-game stretch (20 shutouts, 12 with 1 GA) … her only losses in that stretch: 3-2 game BYU with a fluke goal (clearance deflected off referee) and a rare late-game PK; the season-ending loss at top-ranked Stanford, with the only goal coming in the 81st minute; and the 3-2 loss to Michigan in the final game of the ’03 regular season (UM’s final two goals came on corner-kick breakdowns by the ND defense) … prior to the Michigan game, Bohn had logged 29 consecutive games with the Irish (24 fall, 5 spring) without allowing multiple goals (previously done by BYU on Oct. 19, 2002).

MAGIC NUMBERS – The 3-goal mark has been virtually an automatic win in ND history, with the Irish 198-3-1 all-time (.983) when scoring 3-plus, losing to N.C. State in the ’92 opener (4-3), 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 102-1-0 since Oct. 6, 1995) … ND is 275-8-11 (.954) in all-time games when holding the opponent to 0-1 goals, including tough 1-0 losses in ’02 to eventual NCAA champ Portland and top-ranked Stanford … prior to the UP 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, playing minus Finnish national teamer Anne Makinen) … the program’s 16-year history includes just 287 goals allowed in 364 games (0.79 GA per game) … the Irish have allowed more than one goal in only 70 all-time games (19%) and have yielded 3-plus goals in just 33 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 4-28-1 all-time when allowing 3-plus).

FIRST-HALF FORTRESS – The ND defense has been particularly stingy in the first half the past three seasons, allowing just 22 goals in the first half of those 63 games … the first half in ’02 featured little scoring (12-10 ND edge), compared to a 36-7 first-half edge in ’03.

EARLY SPARK – Mary Boland is the fifth ND player to register a hat trick in an opener and has scored in all three openers of her career (including ND’s first goal in ’01 and ’03), with a diving header to open the scoring in ’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) … Boland’s 7 points vs. Hartford (3G-1A) are most by an ND player since Jenny Streiffer had 3G-1A vs. Miami on Oct. 1, 1999 … 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 U.S. National Team that finished third at the World Cup, both serving as starters … Sobrero played for the U.S. team that won the ’99 World Cup and was on the ’00 Olympic team … Boxx had no previous National Team experience but had 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 opener vs. Sweden) … she also headed in a Mia Hamm corner kick for the gamewinning goal vs. Canada in the third-place game and was one of 16 players named to the all-World Cup team.

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

* Three of the above now are college assistants: Gerardo at Pittsburgh (where former ND assistant Sue-Moy Chin is the first-year head coach), Lindsey with Colorado (the Buffs have been ranked as high as fifth this season) and Boxx at Cal State Dominguez Hills … Boxx is enrolled in graduate school at Pepperdine and is one of several former ND players that were 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 freshman class 5th in the nation, 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, making ND one of seven schools with multiple players on that top-25 list … M/D Lizzie Reed (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) also was a prep All-American.

FAR & 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.

see PDF for game capsules