Aug. 30, 2007
ND-Michigan Women’s Soccer Full-Color Game Program in PDF Format
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Fans attending Friday night’s Notre Dame-Michigan women’s soccer game – and those not able to attend – can get a jump start on familiarizing themselves with the teams by viewing the full-color PDF of the game program (linked above) … some of the content from the program also is included below (best viewed via the PDF).
NCAA WOMEN’S SOCCER – Michigan vs. #2 Notre Dame … Friday, Aug. 31, 2007 … Alumni Field (Notre Dame, Ind.)
TONIGHT’S GAME – Notre Dame enters the 2007 season riding a 32-game home winning streak (in official fall games; dating back to mid-2004) and a 41-game home unbeaten streak (40-0-1; spanning all of the 2004-06 fall seasons), with both marks ranking third in NCAA history … the Irish lost the first game of the Randy Waldrum era (a 3-2, double-OT game with UNC in 1999) but have not lost a season opener in the seven years since then (47-5 scoring edge), with season-opening victories over Detroit (6-0), #8 Penn State (2-1), Providence (3-0, on road), Hartford (9-1; at UConn), Baylor (7-2), New Hampshire (11-1; at Vermont) and Iowa State (9-0) … Notre Dame is 17-2-0 in all-time season openers (13-1 in the past 14), with the other loss coming at #5 N.C. State in 1992 (3-4) … ND’s all-time record at Alumni Field (193-14-3/.926, from 1990-2006) includes a .963 win pct. against teams not ranked in the NSCAA top-25 (130-4-2) … the Irish have not lost an overtime game (14-0-6) since the 1999 game vs. UNC … other active ND streaks include 247 consecutive wins when taking a 2-0 lead (dating back to ’91) and 35 straight wins when scoring first (since the middle of the 2005 season) … ND has not lost a regular-season game since mid-2005 (24-0-1) and is 249-3-1 all-time (.986) when scoring three-plus goals… the Irish went 32-0-0 during the 2005 and ’06 seasons when Kerri Hanks scored at least one goal … Notre Dame’s fourth-year players represent the winningest senior class in country (72-5-2; .924), with Amanda Cinalli and Ashley Jones appearing in all 79 games during the 2004-06 seasons … ND was not outshot in 102 straight games (all of 2003-05 and the first 26 in `06) before the loss to UNC in the title game … UNC (163-9-7/.930) and ND (146-20-4/.871) are the winningest programs of the current decade, with upcoming opponent Penn State third on that list (141-22-12/.840) … UNC (216-7-3/.962) and ND (196-27-11/.861) also were the winningest teams of the 1990s.
(see PDF for ND schedule, rosters of both teams, NSCAA preseason poll and ND headshot page)
IRISH NOTES – Notre Dame returns the bulk of its offense from the 2006 NCAA runner-up squad, with the returning players having accounted for 87% of the team’s goals in 2006 … the Irish must replace four graduated starters – All-America midfielder Jen Buczkowski, defensive midfield standout Jill Krivacek, all-BIG EAST left back Christie Shaner and one of the two starting center backs (’06 team captain Kim Lorenzen) … candidates to step into starting roles include sophomore center back Haley Ford (who started for injured Carrie Dew in the ’06 postseason), versatile sophomore D/M Amanda Clark, sophomore midfielder Courtney Rosen, junior midfielder Becca Mendoza, junior outside back Elise Weber (a transfer from Wisconsin) and freshman Lauren Folwkes (at defensive midfielder) … junior Kerry Inglis also could emerge among the top options at outside back, after being slowed by an ankle injury the past two seasons … ND’s preseason games included a 2-2 tie with #1 North Carolina (in a rare quick rematch of the NCAA title game) and a 3-1 win over #11 Virginia (in Ft. Wayne) … Amanda Cinalli – a three-time all-BIG EAST performer who reached double-digit goals in every season with the Irish – scored in the seventh minute vs. UNC and added a pair of goals against UVa … Kerri Hanks also scored in the UNC game (just moments after the Tar Heels had taken a 2-1 lead) while Fowlkes added a goal in the UVa game (a header off a Michele Weissenhofer flip-throw) … Weissenhofer’s short cross from the left side also helped set up Cinalli’s goal vs. UNC while Clark’s long free kick sprung Hanks for her goal … Cinalli’s first goal vs. UVa came on a header (assisted by a Hanks free kick) and she later knocked home Weissenhofer’s rebounded shot … ND’s combined stats in its challenging pair of preseason games included a 30-14 shot margin (13-9 in shots on goal) and a 4-3 edge in corner kicks … the crowd for the UNC game (3,412) was an Alumni Field record for a women’s soccer game and is the biggest crowd at the facility since a 1994 ND-SMU men’s soccer game drew 3,502 … there was an unprecedented 1,318 presold tickets for the ND-UNC game … ND ranked 4th in average home attendance during the 2006 season (1,901), behind Texas A&M, Portland and BYU … the Irish led the nation last season in scoring margin (+74; 85-11) and shutouts (19, ND record) while UNC had an 81-13 scoring margin (+68) … five ND players – Hanks, Dew, Cinalli, Weissenhofer and Brittany Bock – are among the 13 named to the 2007 preseason all-BIG EAST team … Hanks (22G-22A) in 2006 joined former UNC great Mia Hamm as the only players to end a season as the national leader in both goals and assists … Hanks became the youngest player by class year (female or male) ever to receive the Hermann Trophy, as a sophomore … her 137 career points are the third-most ever compiled by a D-I women’s soccer player as a freshman and sophomore … Hanks (66) and Weissenhofer (53) had a rare 1-2 teammate finish atop the national scoring charts in 2006 … ND’s Randy Waldrum (.773/273-74-18) is tied with Florida’s Becky Burleigh for the 4th-best career coaching win pct. among coaches with a minimum of 10 years on the Division I level, behind UNC’s Anson Dorrance (.945), former Portland coach Clive Charles (.799) and Santa Clara’s Jerry Smith (.777) … in the span of 15 days this season, Waldrum will match wits with Dorrance, Burleigh and Smith … Dorrance (21) and UConn’s Len Tsantiris (4) are the only D-1 coaches that have taken more teams to the NCAA title game than Waldrum (3; 1999, 2004 and 2006).
WOLVERINES NOTES – Michigan returned 17 letterwinners from its 2006 team that reached the Big Ten semifinals and played in the NCAA first round at ND’s Alumni Field (went to penalty kicks vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee, with the Panthers advancing) … Michigan opened its preseason with a 5-0 exhibition win over Ohio University (17-7 shot edge), as freshmen Amanda Bowery (assist), Jackie Carron and Stephanie Crawford all scored, with Katie Bohard and Melissa Dobbyn adding goals (other assists came from Katie Miller, Sarah Banco and Allison Herbert) … Michigan dropped its second preseason game to Dayton (2-1), with Dobbyn’s goal forging a tie midway through the second half … the Flyers (15-10 shot edge) scored the winning goal with 1:59 left in regulation.
SERIES NOTES – Notre Dame owns a 12-2 series edge versus Michigan and won the first nine meetings before UM’s pair of wins in 2004 (3-2 at ND, 1-0 at ND in NCAA 2nd round) … the Irish then won at UM late in 2004 (4-0) and at home in ’05 (3-0) before posting a 2-0 road win in ’06 … ND has won all five games at UM (13-1 scoring edge; 7-2 series at ND) and owns a 39-11 overall scoring edge in the series … the series includes six one-goal games (four won by ND) … ND has scored 3-plus goals in eight games vs. UM … former ND forward Amanda Guertin scored gamewinning goals vs. UM in 2000, ’01 and ’02 … Michele Weissenhofer had 1G-1A in the 2006 win over the Wolverines … Weissenhofer took a return pass from Susan Pinnick, shifted the ball from her natural left foot to the right, slid around a defender and struck an 18-yard shot into the far-right sidenetting to open the scoring in the 57th minute … Michigan nearly tied the game in the 79th minute – but Lauren Karas came off her line and dove left to thwart Judy Coffman’s breakaway … the final goal came in the 84th minute, as Weissenhofer lifted a cross into the box and Amanda Cinalli caught up with the ball before one-timing a shot over the charging ‘keeper.
FRIEND OR FOE? – Several ND and Michigan players are former teammates, including: ND’s Brittany Bock and Courtney Rosen with UM’s Danelle Underwood (ODP Region II); ND’s Carrie Dew along with UM’s Candice McLaughlin and Jamie Artsis (Cal-South ODP); ND’s Amanda Clark and Michele Weissenhofer with UM’s Niki Moran (Eclipse Select); ND’s Rose Augustin and UM’s Jill Ferree (Ohio Internationals); and ND’s Erica Iantorno and UM’s Moran (NSA club).