Oct. 12, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The sixth-ranked Notre Dame women?s soccer team clinched the BIG EAST Conference Mid-Atlantic title with wins over West Virginia and Pittsburgh to finish its division schedule with a 6-0-0 record. The Irish play just once this week with a road game at top-ranked Santa Clara on Sun., Oct. 17, at 1:00 p.m. at Buck Shaw Stadium.
THIS WEEK FOR THE IRISH: Notre Dame plays its only game in 11 days against top-ranked Santa Clara on Sun., Oct. 17, at 1:00 p.m. PDT at Buck Shaw Stadium. The Broncos, the only unbeaten and untied team in the country, enter the week with a 13-0-0 record and will face Cal Poly on Thursday before playing the Irish. A live radio broadcast of the game by Santa Clara?s student radio, KSCU 101.3 FM, will be available on the web at http://www.webradio.com/wr_college.html at the KSCU link.
Senior Mandy Clemens leads Santa Clara with 13 goals and 12 assists for 36 points, while senior Jacqui Little has 10 goals and five assists. Clemens leads the country in assists per game with 0.92 and stands seventh in the country in points per game and 18th in goals per game. Junior Crystal Gordon and sophomore Alice Gleason share goalkeeping duties, combining to allow just five goals in 13 games. Gordon?s 0.30 goals against average is tops in the country.
Santa Clara and Notre Dame boast two of the highest scoring offenses in the country. The Broncos lead the country in scoring 55 goals in 13 games and the Irish are third with 52 goals in 13 games. Santa Clara?s defense has allowed just 0.38 goals per game, the second best average in the country.
IRISH-BRONCOS SERIES: Sunday?s game will be the third meeting between Notre Dame and Santa Clara with each team winning at home. In the first meeting in 1995, the Broncos outshot the Irish 12-7 but Notre Dame forward Monica Gerardo tallied the game?s only goal in the 52nd minute as the second-ranked Irish beat eighth-ranked Santa Clara 1-0 on Oct. 8, at Alumni Field. That win came two days after a 5-4 overtime loss to Connecticut and the weekend before a 2-2 tie with Duke and a 2-0 loss to North Carolina.
In 1996, the Irish were ranked No. 1 and took a 24-game winning streak into Buck Shaw Stadium on Oct. 13. The teams were tied 1-1 at halftime before then-freshman Jacqui Little scored the game-winning goal in the 59th minute. Little also assisted on Santa Clara?s other two goals. Jenny Streiffer (Baton Rouge, La.) assisted on Kate Fisher?s goal in the 40th minute that tied the game at halftime. Kara Brown (Avon, Conn.) started for the Irish, while Jenny Heft (Germantown, Wis.) came off the bench and took two shots. Jen Grubb (Hoffman Estates, Ill.), then a starting freshman defender, was issued a red card in the 74th minute.
IRISH VS. NO. 1: Sunday?s game will mark the eighth meeting between Notre Dame and the top-ranked team, including the second time in 1999 the Irish have played the No. 1 ranked team in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, after losing 3-2 in double overtime to then-No. 1 North Carolina in the season opener. Notre Dame has a 2-3-2 against the No. 1 team with all seven of those games coming against North Carolina.
NOTRE DAME WINS BIG EAST MID-ATLANTIC DIVISION: Four-time defending BIG EAST champion Notre Dame wrapped up the BIG EAST Conference Mid-Atlantic division title by beating West Virginia and Pittsburgh to finish its division schedule with a 6-0-0 record. The Irish averaged 5.33 in those six wins, outscoring their Mid-Atlantic opponents 32-3. Notre Dame will play host to a BIG EAST championship quarterfinal at Alumni Field against the fourth-place team from the Northeast division on Tues., Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. Connecticut won the Northeast division with a 5-0-0 record and will play host to the fourth-place team from the Mid-Atlantic. Villanova and Syracuse also have clinched spots in the eight-team BIG EAST championship field.
IRISH IN CALIFORNIA: Notre Dame makes its fourth trip to California this weekend and has yet to leave California without a loss with a 3-3 in the previous three trips. In 1993 the Irish lost to host Stanford and beat St. Mary?s. In 1996 Notre Dame beat Stanford and lost to host Santa Clara during the regular season and then returned to Santa Clara for the 1996 NCAA championships, beating Portland in the semifinal and losing to North Carolina in double overtime in the final.
MAKINEN NAMED BIG EAST OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Junior midfielder Anne Makinen (Helsinki, Finland) was named the BIG EAST Conference offensive player of the week after scoring three goals and recording an assist in Notre Dame?s three wins last week. Against 16th-ranked Michigan, Makinen broke a 1-1 tie with her first goal of the game just 2:05 before halftime and then helped the Irish pull away quickly with the game-winning goal just 2:25 into the second half. She helped the Irish clinch the Mid-Atlantic division by scoring the game-winning goal against West Virginia with a blast from 22 yards out on the right wing. She capped off Notre Dame’s 3-0-0 week with an assist on Jenny Streiffer’s gamewinner against Pittsburgh as the Irish finished 6-0-0 in the Mid-Atlantic division. For the week, Makinen finished with three goals and one assist for seven points in three wins.
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 championship 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 before coming to Notre Dame.
NOTRE DAME RETURNS TO BUCK SHAW STADIUM: The Irish enter the Santa Clara game with a 2-2-0 record at Buck Shaw Stadium, named after Lawrence T. ?Buck? Shaw, an All-American football player at Notre Dame under Knute Rockne from 1919-21.
WEEK IN REVIEW: Notre Dame wrapped up its BIG EAST Conference Mid-Atlantic division crown with a 5-0 win at Pittsburgh on Sunday, as Jenny Heft and Jenny Streiffer each scored a pair of goals. The Irish out shot the Panthers 40-2 to finish their conference schedule with a 6-0-0 record. Streiffer scored twice on headers in 2:33 span to put the Irish ahead 2-0 at 29:43. Just 6:58 later, Heft made it 3-0 when she punched in a shot from freshman Ashley Dryer (Salt Lake City, Utah) that bounced off the crossbar and landed in front of Heft from 10 yards. The game remained 3-0 until the 70th minute when senior Iris Lancaster (Waiahae, Hawaii) scored for the second consecutive game with another header. Heft then closed out the scoring at 83:41 when Streiffer slipped a free kick from just outside the box through the backline and found Heft from 12 yards on the right side. Heft fired a shot to the left corner, and the ball bounced off the post and into the right corner.
Five different players scored, including four in the second half, as the Irish beat West Virginia 5-1 on Friday to clinch the BIG EAST Conference Mid-Atlantic division title. Anne Makinen scored the game-winning goal just 2:16 into the second half after Notre Dame had taken a 1-0 lead into halftime. The Irish held a 38-4 advantage in shots over the Mountaineers. Heft scored her 70th career goal at 27:45 to give Notre Dame a 1-0 lead. Notre Dame led 1-0 at halftime after out shooting West Virginia 16-8. Makinen needed just 2:16 into the second half to net the gamewinner against the Mountaineers with a shot from 22 yards that skimmed off a West Virginia defender and into the upper left corner of the net. Junior Meotis Erikson (Kennewick, Wash.) made it 3-0 in the 60th minute before West Virginia freshman Katie Barnes pulled the Mountaineers within 3-1 at 62:41 with her 11th goal of the season. Streiffer quickly put the Irish ahead by three once again when she headed in a Jen Grubb corner kick at 65:12. Lancaster closed out the scoring with a shot from 25 yards that floated over West Virginia goalkeeper Melissa Haire into the upper center of the net at 88:21.
The Irish used a pair of goals in each half and a pair from Makinen to beat 16th-ranked Michigan for the fourth time in three years by a 4-1 score on Tuesday at Alumni Field. Heft opened the scoring in the 28th minute and Erikson closed out the scoring in the 73rd minute. Irish senior All-American goalkeeper LaKeysia Beene (Gold River, Calif.) made four saves for the Irish, who recorded their 37th consecutive victory against a Big 10 team.
Notre Dame outshot Michigan 16-11 in the game and 6-3 in the first half while playing against a stiff wind. The physical first half saw the Wolverines commit five fouls before the Irish recorded their first shot in the 22nd minute on a header by Streiffer that was high over the crossbar. Heft converted Notre Dame?s next shot when she won the ball at the top of the box, turned and fired a shot into the lower left corner of the net past Michigan goalkeeper Carissa Stewart for a 1-0 lead at 27:23. Makinen scored twice in a 4:30 span at the end of the first half and beginning of the second as the Irish pulled away 3-1 after Michigan scored in the 35th minute. Erikson closed out the scoring in the 73rd minute from two yards when she booted a cross from sophomore Lindsey Jones (South Bend, Ind.) that slipped through Stewart?s hands.
STREIFFER ONE GOAL FROM 60-60 PLATEAU: All-American and two-time GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American Jenny Streiffer needs one goal to join former Irish All-American Cindy Daws (1993-96), UC Santa Barbara?s Carin Jennings (1983-86) and North Carolina?s Mia Hamm (1989-90, 1992-93) in becoming the only players in NCAA women?s soccer history to score at least 60 goals and assist on 60 goals. Her two goals and one assist against Pittsburgh on Sunday brought her career totals to 59 goals and 64 assists for 182 points, behind only Monica Gerardo (190) and Daws (189) on the Notre Dame career scoring list. Streiffer scored against West Virginia on Friday to move into third place, ahead of the 176 points of four-time All-American Holly Manthei (1994-97).
HEFT ONE GOAL FROM IRISH SCORING RECORD: Senior forward Jenny Heft needs just one goal to tie Monica Gerardo?s (1995-98) Notre Dame school record of 73 career goals. Heft entered the week with 68 goals and scored her 69th and 70th against Michigan and West Virginia before scoring twice against the Panthers to move within one goal of Gerardo. Heft, who has 12 goals in 13 games in ?99, scored an Irish single-season record 28 goals in 1998 to enter her senior year with 60 goals.
Heft?s hat trick against Georgetown on Oct. 1, marked the sixth time in her career she scored three goals in a game, setting the Notre Dame record for career hat tricks. Monica Gerardo (1995-98) and Rosella Guerrero (1992-95) each had five hat tricks in their Irish careers. In addition to Heft, current Irish players who have recorded hat tricks are Meotis Erikson (two), Anne Makinen (three) and Jenny Streiffer (two).
MAKINEN SPARKS IRISH OFFENSE: Since junior All-American midfielder Anne Makinen missed four games from Sept. 12-19, while playing with the Finnish national team, the Irish have scored 32 goals in the seven games after her return. She is fourth on the team in scoring with seven goals, four of them gamewinners, and five assists for 16 points, despite playing in just nine of 13 games. Makinen?s 2.11 points per game are second best on the team.
BEENE CONTINUES RECORD-SETTING PACE: Irish senior All-American goalkeeper LaKeysia Beene continues her record-setting pace in goal for Notre Dame with her 0.54 career goals against average. That average currently stands seventh-best all-time in NCAA history, just ahead of former Massachusetts goalkeeper and current U.S. national team goalkeeper Brianna Scurry?s 0.56 from 1990-93. Former Irish All-American Jen Renola stands 11th on the NCAA list and first in Irish history with a 0.69 career goals against average.
GRUBB ON THE OFFENSIVE: Irish senior All-American defender Jen Grubb?s five goals in 1999 are just one shy of the six career goals she had scored entering her senior year. Grubb scored three as a freshman, two as a sophomore and one as a junior for a total of six goals. She also has four assists to go along with her five goals for 14 points, placing her fifth on the team in scoring.
FROSH SPARK IRISH: Notre Dame?s class of 2003 has given the Irish major contributions in their 13 games this season. Freshmen Nancy Mikacenic (Seattle, Wash.) and Vanessa Pruzinsky (Trumbull, Conn.) have started all 13 games. Mikacenic scored the game-winning goal against Butler and has five assists. Pruzinsky has assisted on three Irish goals. Ashley Dryer has started five games and played in 12 games total with six assists, while Ali Lovelace (Dallas, Ga.) has played in 10 games. Kate Morrel (Carmel, Ind.) and Emily Barnes (Redmond, Wash.) also have played in four games, with Morrel scoring her first career goal against Georgetown and adding an assist against West Virginia.
Goalkeeper Sani Post (Davis, Calif.) has played 135:42 behind LaKeysia Beene and has yet to allow a goal. She has two shared shutouts with Beene after playing the final 38:54 of Notre Dame?s 5-0 win against Butler and the entire second half against Rutgers.
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, Jen Grubb and Jenny Streiffer and junior Anne Makinen 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.
FOUR NAMED PLAYER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS: Senior All-Americans LaKeysia Beene, Jen Grubb and Jenny Streiffer and junior All-American Anne Makinen have been named four of the 15 finalists for the ninth annual Missouri Athletic Club Sports Foundation Collegiate Player of the Year award. Notre Dame leads all schools with four players among the finalists, while North Carolina, with two players, is the only other school with more than one finalist. With Seton Hall?s Kelly Smith and Connecticut?s Mary-Frances Monroe also among the finalists, the BIG EAST Conference accounts for more finalists with six than any other conference. Beene, Grubb, Makinen and Streiffer will be looking to become Notre Dame?s first winner of the M.A.C. award since former Irish All-American Cindy Daws was selected as the recipient following the 1996 season. Beene, Grubb and Streiffer also were finalists for the 1998 award, while Grubb and Streiffer were finalists as sophomores in 1997.
Three Irish women?s soccer players also have been selected as three of 15 finalists for the 1999 Hermann Trophy, to be presented December 11, in Charlotte, N.C. Beene, Makinen and Streiffer join three players from North Carolina in leading the ballot. Makinen was a finalist for the ?98 award, while Beene is the only goalkeeper among the finalists. Notre Dame has had one Hermann Trophy recipient in its history, Cindy Daws, who won the award in 1996.
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 the 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 assist 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.
BIG EAST Standings
Mid-Atlantic Division
School ?99 BIG EAST ?99 overall1. Notre Dame * 6-0-0 11-2-02. Villanova # 4-1-0 11-3-05. Seton Hall 2-3-0 6-7-03. West Virginia 2-3-0 8-6-04. Rutgers 2-4-0 6-7-06. Georgetown 1-3-1 7-6-17. Pittsburgh 1-4-1 4-8-1
Northeast Division
School ?99 BIG EAST ?99 overall1. Connecticut * 5-0-0 9-4-05. Syracuse # 3-1-0 9-4-12. Boston College 2-2-0 8-4-03. Miami 2-3-0 8-5-04. Providence 1-4-0 3-8-06. St. John?s 0-3-0 7-4-1
* clinched division title
# clinched championship berth
NSCAA Top 25
(10/11)
Team Record Pts LW 1. Santa Clara * 13-0-0 300 1 2. Florida 12-1-0 284 2 3. North Carolina * 11-2-0 272 3 4. Nebraska 12-1-1 269 4 5. Penn State 9-2-1 250 5 6. NOTRE DAME 11-2-0 241 6 7. UCLA 10-2-0 228 8 8. Virginia 9-4-0 198 12 9. Clemson 9-3-1 190 1010. SMU * 10-3-0 180 1511. Connecticut* 9-4-0 170 1712. USC 9-3-0 168 1413. Wake Forest 8-2-0 155 1314. Michigan* 10-3-1 148 1615. William & Mary 10-2-0 128 1916. Stanford 9-3-0 121 2017. Harvard 6-1-1 113 2318. Missouri 10-3-0 98 2219. Kentucky 10-2-1 72 2420. BYU 13-2-1 71 921. Texas A&M* 10-4-0 61 722. Duke* 8-5-0 51 2123. Syracuse 9-4-1 28 NR24. Baylor 9-5-0 27 NR25. San Diego 10-2-0 26 18
* indicates 1999 Notre Dame opponents
Soccer Times Top 25
(10/11)
Team Record Pts LW 1. Santa Clara * (12) 13-0-0 300 1 2. North Carolina * 11-2-0 279 3 3. Nebraska 12-1-1 271 4 4. Florida 12-1-0 265 2 5. Penn State 9-2-1 256 5 6. Notre Dame 11-2-0 246 6 7. UCLA 10-2-0 225 8 8. Clemson 9-3-1 209 9 9. Virginia 9-4-0 195 1310. USC 9-3-0 183 1111. Wake Forest 8-2-0 176 1412. Stanford 9-3-0 147 1513. BYU 13-2-1 141 1014. William & Mary 10-2-0 136 2015. Michigan * 10-3-1 124 16T16. Connecticut * 9-4-0 110 17T16. Duke * 8-4-0 110 1818. SMU * 10-3-0 97 2219. Texas A&M * 10-4-0 91 720. Missouri 10-3-0 86 1921. San Diego 10-2-0 66 2422. Harvard 6-1-1 56 NR23. Kentucky 10-2-1 49 2524. Hartford 7-3-2 36 1225. California 9-3-1 16 NR
* indicates 1999 Notre Dame opponents