Sept. 5, 2000
THE “KEY” TO THE NATION’S PREMIER WOMEN’S SOCCER TOURNAMENT: Notre Dame’s Alumni Field is the place to be during the 2000 college women’s soccer season, as the upcoming KeyBank Classic ranks as the nation’s premier regular-season women’s soccer tournament and is the only Division I tournament in the 2000 season that features four teams from Soccer America’s preseason top 20: Notre Dame, Santa Clara, Stanford and Connecticut. The ’99 KeyBank Classic also included a strong field (ND, UConn, North Carolina and Duke), with an average of 2,300 fans in attendance for the two Irish games.
KeyBank CLASSIC GAME SCHEDULE:
Friday, Sept. 8 UConn-Stanford (5:00 p.m.), Notre Dame-Stanford (7:30 p.m.)
Sunday, Sept. 10 SCU-UConn (11:00 a.m.), ND-Stanford (1:00 p.m.)
NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH RANDY WALDRUM ON THE KeyBank: “Outside of the NCAA final four, this is the best collection of four teams that you will see this year in women’s college soccer. Three of the teams are led by Hermann Trophy finalists and there will be some interesting matchups and some degree of contrasting styles.”
SERIES NOTES: Notre Dame and Santa Clara have split four previous meetings (2-2-0), including SCU’s 4-2 home win in the ’99 season and ND’s 1-0 win in the ’99 NCAA semi-finals (in San Jose) … ND leads the Stanford series 3-2-0, including a 1-0 win at home in the 1999 NCAA round of 16 … SCU holds a 5-2-0 series edge vs. UConn while Stanford and UConn have a limited series history (1-1-0), with the last meeting producing a 2-1 Stanford win in 1992.
IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame entered the week ranked fourth in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll while Santa Clara was second (prior to losing to Washington), UConn was sixth and Stanford 10th … other teams in the top 10 include top-rated North Carolina, No. 3 Nebraska, Clemson, Texas A&M, UCLA and Maryland … the No. 11-25 teams include Penn State, Missouri, Hartford, Wake Forest, USC, Kentucky, Duke, Virginia, Arizona State, SMU, Harvard, William & Mary, Marquette, Purdue and California.
CREAM OF THE CROP: Five of the 15 finalists for the Hermann Trophy national player-of-the-year award currently play for teams in the KeyBank Classic: Notre Dame senior M Anne Makinen, UConn junior F Mary-Frances Monroe and three Santa Clara players: senior F Heather Aldama, junior D Danielle Slayton and sophomore M Aly Wagner (Slayton will miss the KeyBank while competing with the U.S. Olympic team) … the other 10 finalists include three North Carolina players (Jenni Branam, Susan Bush and Laurie Schwoy), plus Missy Gregg (Dayton), Isabelle Harvey (USC), Karina LeBlanc (Nebraska), Nikki Thole (Missouri), Nicky Thrasher (Texas A&M), Abby Wambach (Florida) and Christie Welsh (Penn State).
WARNER, LINDSEY EARN BIG EAST WEEKLY HONORS: Two Notre Dame women’s soccer players recently were honored by the BIG EAST Conference, with freshman forward Amy Warner (Albuquerque, N.M.) earning rookie-of-the-week honors while senior defender Kelly Lindsey (Omaha, Neb.) was named the BIG EAST defensive player of the week … Warner erupted for a hat trick in the 5-1 win over Providence, using her speed to get through the penalty box area to score ND’s first two goals before completing the hat trick for a 4-1 lead, on a half-volley off a cross from Anne Makinen … Lindsey continues to lead the ND defense from her central fullback position, with the Irish last week allowing just two shots from both Tulsa (which fell to ND, 2-0) and PC … the veteran member of an Irish defense that is replacing two graduated starters and a three-year starting goalkeeper, Lindsey has logged 73 career games (71 of them starts) and has helped ND post a 116-6 shot edge through three games in the 2000 season … the speedy Warner is the first ND freshman to record a hat trick since Makinen in the 1997 BIG EAST title win over UConnn (6-1) … Warner recorded the earliest date (Sept. 3) ever for a hat trick by an ND freshman.
BIG GAP: Notre Dame has compiled an eye-popping 116-6 shot advantage through the first three games of the 2000 season (holding each opponent to two shots), plus a 38-4 edge in corner kicks.
SCOUTING THE IRISH: Notre Dame returns 16 of 22 letterwinners but lost five starters from its ’99 team that went 21-4-1 and advanced to the NCAA title game … senior M and leading national player-of-the-year candidate Anne Makinen (3G-4A) has scored or assisted on more than half of ND’s goals this season (7 of 13) while other top scorers include freshman forwards Amy Warner (3G-1A) and Amanda Guertin (2G) and senior F Meotis Erikson (1G-2A) … junior Elizabeth Wagner has played most of the minutes in the nets for ND, with three saves and one goal allowed.
MAKIN’ WAVES: Notre Dame senior M Anne Makinen (Helsinki, Finland) has been the focal point of the Irish offense this season, as the three-year All-American has scored or assisted on more than half of ND’s goals (7 of 13), including a pair of game-winning goals and a primary game-winning assist … with her team struggling to cash in its chances vs. Tulsa on Sept. 1, Makinen took over in the lategoing by scoring a pair of goals for a 2-0 win … two days later, in the 5-1 win over Providence, Makinen’s play from her central midfield spot helped the Irish eclipse 30 shots for the third straight game … her pass into the middle set up Amy Warner’s second goal of the PC game and Makinen added a long cross late in that game that Warner half-volleyed to complete her hat trick.
ANNE’S ARSENAL: Anne Makinen has reached 10 points in three games this season (3G-4A), despite being marked heavily as ND’s top returning offensive weapon … Makinen’s quick start factors out to 87 points over the course of 26 games (Cindy Daws owns the ND record for points in a season, with 72 in 1996) … Makinen heads into the KeyBank Classic with a career average of 2.22 points per game (153 points in 69 games) … her 54 career goals rank 7th in ND history (one behind ’96 grad. Rosella Guerrero) while Makinen has moved past former teammates Monica Gerardo (’95-98) and Kara Brown (”96-’99) into 6th on the ND career assists list, with 45 (Gerardo and Brown each had 44) … Makinen’s 153 career points are 7th in ND history-three behind ’96 grad. Michelle McCarthy-and she needs 48 points this season to pass Gerardo into 2nd on the ND all-time scoring list (Makinen would need a 69-point season to surpass all-time leading scorer and 2000 graduate Jenny Streiffer) … Streiffer (70G-71A) and ’97 grad. Cindy Daws (61G-67A) are the only ND players ever to eclipse 50 career goals and 50 assists, with Makinen needing six goals and five assists to join that exclusive club.
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS: Santa Clara (2-1-0) heads into the KeyBank Classic on the heels of a 2-1 home loss to unranked Washington on Sept. 4 … the Broncos opened the season with a 2-1 win at Cal Poly and a 6-0 home win over Oregon …Kathleen Celio (3G-1A, hat trick vs. Oregon) and Rachel Weber (2G-1A) … junior goalkeeper Alice Gleason picked up the first two SCU wins (four saves, one GA) while senior Crystal Gordon suffered the loss to Washington (2 GA) … SCU returns just 14 of 22 letterwinners and has lost five starters from its 1999 team that posted a 23-1-0 record, with the loss coming to Notre Dame in the NCAA semi-finals (1-0) … SCU’s top returning players include sophomore M Aly Wagner (10G-12A in ’99), junior D Danielle Slayton (4G-14A) and senior F Heather Aldama (3G-6A) … Slayton currently is in Australia preparing for the Olympics as a member of the U.S. team (she will miss the KeyBank Classic) while Wagner-an alternate for the U.S. Olymic team-has yet to start a game this season and did not play in the Oregon game … SCU’s biggest losses from the ’99 season included national player of the year Mandy Clemens (24G-23A), second-leading scorer Jacqui Little (21G-8A) and current Olympic team midfielder Nikki Serlenga (3G-13A) … Gordon played the majority of SCU’s goalkeeper minutes in ’99 (21 GS, 0.21 GAA, 20-1) while Gleason won all three of her starts and made 14 relief appearances (with an 0.77 overall GAA) … the loss to Washington halted SCU’s 32-game home winning streak and its 45-game, regular-season winning streak (both streaks dated back to a 1-0 overtimes loss to West Coast Conference rival Portland).
WALDRUM ON SANTA CLARA: “I expect Santa Clara to play much the same way that they did last year. Like us, they are one of the few teams that uses a 4-3-3 system. They lost some great players to graduation and the Olympics but have added some strong freshmen, including forward Veronica Zepeda and defender Chardonnay Poole. Just like us, Santa Clara has reloaded for this season.”
SCOUTING THE CARDINAL: Stanford returns a veteran core of 16 letterwinners and eight starters from its 1999 team that posted a 15-5-1 record and ended its season with a 1-0 loss at Notre Dame in the NCAA round of 16 … Stanford (2-0-0) has opened with wins over Saint Mary’s (4-0) and Wisconsin (2-0), with each of those games featuring an “own goal” by the opposition … top returning players from ’99 include sophomore F and U.S. national team player Marcia Wallie (10G-2A) and sophomore M Becky Myers (9G-3A) … freshman F Marcie Ward had a hand in all four goals scored by Stanford in the first two games (1G-3A) … senior G Carly Smolak owns 14 career solo shutouts (plus four shared) and has made seven saves this season (her ’99 stats included a 1.21 GAA and four solo shutouts).
WALDRUM ON STANFORD: “You might have to pick Stanford as the favorite of the tournament, because they have the most veteran team. When we played them last year, they had a style that was very similar to Santa Clara’s-based on possession and building up their play. They were not as much of an attacking team as Santa Clara was last year but they have added some good athletic defenders in Alisan Pabon and Natalie Spilger and Marcia Wallis is a national-team player who is just a tireless worker that has a knack for scoring.”
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: UConn returns 19 of 20 letterwinners and 10 starters from its 1999 team that posted a 17-8-0 record and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals (a 3-0 loss at Santa Clara) … the Huskies opened with a 4-0 win at Providence before playing to a 2-2 tie at home with top-10 team Penn State … top returners for UConn include junior F Mary-Frances Monroe (15G-6A) and senior Fs Lauren Molinaro and Jen Carlson (8G-13A) … Canadian national team member Mary-Beth Bowie has scored four of UConn’s five goals this season while Carlson has a pair of assists … sophomore Maria Yatrakis has made six saves while yielding the one goal (she started 16 games in ’99, with an 0.92 GAA).
WALDRUM ON UCONN: “Connecticut also has a fairly veteran team and are led by Mary-Francis Monroe, who has a lot of experience with the national team program. At the end of last season, UConn was a very organized and blue-collar team that was hard to break down and beat.”
NO NEED FOR NAMETAGS: Notre Dame faced each of the KeyBank Classic teams during the 1999 season-including games with Santa Clara in both the regular season and the NCAAs, plus two games with UConn (one in the BIG EAST title game) … UConn and SCU met in the ’99 NCAA quarterfinals while Stanford and SCU are perennial Bay Area rivals.
RECAPPING THE ’99 ND-SCU GAMES: Notre Dame’s trip to Buck Shaw Stadium on Oct. 17, 1999, produced a 4-2 win for the Broncos, with a pair of goals from Aly Wagner (one on a PK), plus scores from Mandy Clemens and Devyn Hawkins … SCU jumped out to a 4-0 lead midway through the first half, with each of its goals coming in a nine-minute span (the Broncos finished with a 16-8 shot edge in the game) … ND’s Anne Makinen scored with 25 minutes left to avert the shutout and Jen Grubb added a goal three minutes later … then-freshman F Ali Lovelace-who assisted on Makinen’s goal in the first SCU game-was the hero seven weeks later in the NCAA semi-final matchup at Santa Clara … Lovelace broke free down the left side to score just her fourth goal of the season (they all came in the postseason) … LaKeysia Beene made seven saves and thwarted many other SCU scoring chances while her teammates donned ceremonial green jerseys for the first time since the 1995 NCAA title run.
WALDRUM ON THE ’99 ND-SCU GAMES: “I would agree that Santa Clara had the best team in the country last season. They just picked a bad time to lose their only game of the year. But when we played them in that first game last year, they just handed it to us (4-2). … Our kids are pretty realistic in knowing that Santa Clara still was the better team than us in the NCAAs last year. But this is a great challenge for both teams and we should be much healthier than we were at the end of last season. But our egos are not inflated by last year’s win over Santa Clara. It was just our day and we hope to be able to play them tough this time around.”
RECAPPING THE ’99 ND-STANFORD GAME: Two weeks prior to the win over SCU, the Irish outlasted Stanford 1-0 at Alumni Field … Mia Sarkesian scored in the 81st minute and Stanford’s Ronnie Fair had a chance at the equalizer with 1:18 left to play, but her penalty kick took a rare bounce off both posts before being cleared by the ND defense (ND held a 15-9 shot edge).
TOUGH STREAK: Santa Clara is beginning a streak of six straight games versus teams currently ranked in the NSCAA top 25 while Stanford is entering a five-game stretch vs. ranked teams … after the KeyBank, Stanford and SCU each will face Maryland and Virginia in the Stanford Classic … the Broncos and Cardinal then will meet in the Bay Area Classic, with SCU also slated to face 25th-ranked California in that tournament.
ANYTHING ELSE GOING ON?: The Notre Dame campus will be bustling with activity this weekend, highlighted by top-ranked Nebraska’s visit to take on the Notre Dame football team … just a handful (25-30) of Notre Dame all-time student-athlete letterwinners (more than 7,000) have hailed from the state of Nebraska, with one of the more elite members of that group being current Irish senior defender Kelly Lindsey … the second-year Irish team captain is an Omaha native and includes current Nebraska QB Eric Crouch among her closer friends from her days at North Millard High School.
HOMESTANDERS: Notre Dame’s home record in 10-plus seasons at Alumni Field is 106-7-1 (.934), including an 83-3-1 mark in the last 87 games-highlighted by a 27-game winning streak from 1992-95 (the fifth-longest home winning streak in NCAA women’s soccer history) … ND’s last three home losses have been at the hands of fifth-ranked Connecticut in ’95 (5-4, OT), sixth-ranked Portland in the ’98 NCAA quarterfinals (2-1) and top-rated North Carolina in the ’99 opener (3-2, OT) …the Irish carry a 13-game home winning streak into the KeyBank Classic … Notre Dame’s all-time record at Alumni Field versus teams not ranked in the NSCAA poll is 73-1-0 (33-6-1 vs. ranked teams), with 67 straight home wins over unranked teams dating back to a 1990 loss to Creighton (2-0) … Notre Dame played at Moose Krause Field in the program’s first two seasons (1988 and ’89) , with a home record of 19-5-1 during that span (all vs. unranked teams).
TULSA GAME RECAP: With her team again struggling to capitalize on its offensive chances, senior M Anne Makinen scored a pair of second-half goals to secure a 2-0 victory for ND over visiting Tulsa on Sept. 1 at Alumni Field … ND failed to score on its first 23 shots before sophomore M Ashley Dryer worked the ball to Makinen in the game’s 69th minute … the three-time All-American then found some space and drilled a 15-yard shot into the left corner of the net … Makinen scored an unassisted goal 12 minutes later, on a 20-yard blast from the right wing … Tulsa managed just two shots on goal.
TULSA (2-1-0) 0 0 – 0
NOTRE DAME (2-0-0) 0 2 – 2
ND 1. Anne Makinen 2 (Dryer) 68:17, ND 2. Makinen 3 (-) 80:42.
Shots: TUL 2, ND 35
Saves: TUL 11 (Pam Devore), ND 2 (Elizabeth Wagner)
Corner Kicks: TUL 0, ND 15
Fouls: TUL 11, ND 16
Offside: TUL 0, ND 2
TULSA POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM WALDRUM: “Right now, we still are not resolved in terms of what our starting team is and that’s the problem. We’re seven games into it (counting preseason games in Brazil) and we’re no closer to knowing what our back four (defenders) should be. And we can’t even get veteran players to step up and be consistent enough day-to-day. So we still have some pretty important work to do before the big games next week with Santa Clara and Stanford. … We had a horrible week of training this week and we are too young to have a bad week of training. For the second time this season, we put up big shot numbers and we only have two goals to show for it. It’s just not a good situation to miss that many chances.
WALDRUM ON MAKINEN: “Anne had a goal and two assists last week and had the two goals today. But even with that, she can still do more and she’s going to have to get more in tune with how we are going to play and one of the things we do is we’re trying to press forward a little bit because we are a little more athletic and we’ve got to get everybody to buy into that. Fortunately, we have a player like Anne that can break a game like this but we need to be able to count on other players as well.”
RECAPPING THE PC GAME: Freshman F Amy Warner (Albuquerque, N.M.) broke into the goalscoring column in fine fashion by registering a hat trick to spark a 5-1 win over Providence on Sept. 3 at Alumni Field … ND again held a large shot margin (32-2) while making some strides in solidifying its starting lineup … Warner used her speed in the penalty box area to create the first two Irish scores and added her third goal in the late-going, on a pretty half-volley after a cross from All-America midfielder Anne Makinen (Helsinki, Finland) … Irish freshman F Amanda Guertin (Grapevine, Texas) notched her second goal of the season, early in the second half, while sophomore midfielder Ashley Dryer (Salt Lake City, Utah) capped the scoring with the first goal of her Irish career.
PROVIDENCE 1 0 – 1
NOTRE DAME 2 3 – 5
ND 1. Amy Warner 1 (-), PC 1. Katie Auger 1 (-) 17:34, ND 2. Warner 2 (Mia Sarkesian, Anne Makinen) 22:45, ND 3. Amanda Guertin 2 (Randi Scheller) 47:35, ND 4. Warner 3 (Makinen) 75:16, ND 5. Ashley Dryer 1 (Meotis Erikson) 78:25.
SHOTS: PC 2, ND 32
CORNER KICKS: PC 2, ND 9
SAVES: PC 14 (Caroline Haines), ND 0 (Elizabeth Wagner, Sani Post)
FOULS: PC 4, ND 11
OFFSIDE: PC 0., ND 5
PC POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM WALDRUM: “In the first half, our rhythm was pretty good and it was good to see us get a few goals at the end. We are getting closer to that right mix of players. Tactically, we understand and are creating opportunities but we still have to work on finishing. We’ve got to be more efficient, because I’d be very surprised if we walk away with real high shot totals this weekend.”
WALDRUM ON WARNER: “When we recruited Amy Warner, she was kind of a sleeper out there that people didn’t know too much about because she was a track athlete, too. She’s doing the things that we hoped she would do for us and she’s only going to get better as she gets experience at this level. We first saw Amy at a tournament in Miami over Christmas break. She was not involved with Olympic Development Program and national team activities because she does more than one sport. She had a great visit to Notre Dame and has always kind of wanted to come to Notre Dame. So it’s just been a great fit.”
WALDRUM ON THE DEFENSE: “Over the last couple of games, we really have liked Vanessa (Pruzinsky) centrally in the back and the key is if Lindsey Jones and Monica Gonzales can continue to have games like they did in the first half today, then it makes that decision to use Vanesaa in the middle that much easier. All three kind of run off each other. I also thought Kerri Bakker did great for us in the second half, especially when we started taking some of the veterans out of the back. She did a great job holding things together for us defensively. Jones, Pruzinsky and Gonzales were much better as a group today than they were in the first two games.”
HAT TRICKERY: Freshman F Amy Warner’s three goals in the PC game marked the first hat trick is the first by a Notre Dame freshman since current senior M Anne Makinen’s three-goal effort in the 1997 BIG EAST title game versus Connecticut (a 6-1 Irish win) … Warner registered the 48th all-time hat trick by an ND player and the 16th by a freshman (by 13 different players), with Makinen and current senior forward Meotis Erikson each registering a pair of hat tricks in 1997 … the date of Warner’s hat trick (Sept. 3) ranks as the earliest ever recorded by a ND freshman while Rosella Guerrero holds the mark for earliest freshman hat trick in terms of games played (she scored three times in the ’92 opener at North Carolina State).
IRISH OPEN WITH 6-0 WIN OVER DETROIT: Notre Dame used a 49-2 shot margin and contributions from throughout the lineup to post a 6-0 victory over Detroit on Aug. 27 at Alumni Field, in the season opener for both teams … six Irish players recorded a goal-including scores by freshmen Amanda Guertin (Grapevine, Texas) and Randi Scheller (Kutztown, Pa.)-while senior midfielder, three-time All-American and leading national player-of-the-year candidate Anne Makinen (Helsinki, Finland) had a hand in half of the Notre Dame goals.
ANOTHER TYPE OF SHUTOUT: Detroit nearly scored the game’s first goal during an early flurry but Notre Dame responded by holding the Titans without a shot for the game’s final 83 minutes … the final shot margin (49-2) ranks as one of the largest in Notre Dame women’s soccer history (the team record for shots in a game is 59).
FILLING THE VOID: Notre Dame entered the season searching for answers at several positions, after losing five starters from the 1999 NCAA runner-up squad … the starting lineup in 2000 often has featured sophomore Vanessa Pruzinsky (Trumbull, Conn.) at the central defender spot formerly occupied by All-American Jen Grubb … Pruzinsky’s spot on the flank has been filled by versatile senior Monica Gonzalez (Richardson, Texas)-who previously has played up front-while sophomore Ali Lovelace (Dallas, Ga.) and freshman Amy Warner (Albuquerque, N.M.) started the opener at forward on the wings … other newcomers to the starting lineup have included junior defender Lindsey Jones (South Bend, Ind.)-who started 17 games as a freshman midfielder and has taken the spot held by 2000 grad. Kara Brown-and junior midfielder Mia Sarkesian (Canton, Mich.), who shared starting time with current sophomore Nancy Mikacenic (Seattle, Wash.) in the ’99 season … junior goalkeeper Elizabeth Wagner (Spring, Texas) drew her first career start with the Irish but had a fairly uneventful day, with one save, two shots faced and two Detroit corner kicks … senior Kerri Bakker (Washington, N.J.) also has seen time at central defender and remains a candidate at that position … Bakker has appeared in 31 career games at Notre Dame (with three starts) and has more experience reading the game from the central defender position while Pruzinsky is one of the quickest players and best all-around athletics on the Irish team.
VERSATILE VETERANS: Several Irish players showed their wide-ranging skills in the Detroit game … junior D Lindsey Jones streaked down the right side to set up the third Irish goal, senior D Monica Gonzalez played some quality minutes at her traditional forward spot and senior M Anne Makinen was used for a stretch in the back.
INJURY REPORT: Sophomore F Ali Lovelace started the Detroit game but did not factor into any of the scoring, after leaving the game late in the first half due to injury … Lovelace then did not play in last week’s games but could return to action in the KeyBank Classic … sophomore G Sani Post (Davis, Calif.) saw her first action of the season in the second half of the PC game, after returning from a stress fracture in her leg … Notre Dame will play during the 2000 season without the services of promising freshman Melissa Tancredi (Ancaster, Ontario), who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament during the summer (she was being considered as a candidate in the back).
VIVA BRAZIL!: Notre Dame returned on Aug. 21 from a 10-day tour of Brazil, with the trip including five games versus local professional clubs … the tour provided the Irish with a chance to evaluate different options as they pertain to replacing five starters lost to graduation … senior D and team captain Kerri Bakker provided daily diary entries from the Brazil trip and they are posted on the Notre Dame website at www.und.com.
WALDRUM ON THE BRAZIL TRIP: “The trip was of tremendous value in terms of evaluating new players and seeing how they fit into the team. We still are concerned after replacing the kind of players-particularly goalscorers-that we lost to graduation. Somebody, or a group of players, needs to step up and pick up the slack in that area. This was a great year to do the tour and it eases our minds a little bit heading into the season. Having three games before the big KeyBank Classic games versus Santa Clara and Stanford also is helpful because that will allow us time to answer some of the personnel questions we have and help the new players ease into college soccer.”
RETURNING STARTERS: Notre Dame returns six starters from the 1999 team that posted a 21-4-1 record and advanced to the NCAA title game … the returning starters include senior F Meotis Erikson, All-America senior M Anne Makinen, senior D and second-year team captain Kelly Lindsey, sophomore D Vanessa Pruzinsky and sophomore midfielders Ashley Dryer (salt Lake City, Utah) and Nancy Mikacenic.
LOTS OF MIDFIELD OPTIONS: Notre Dame returns plenty of experience in the midfield, led by three-time All-American and leading national player-of-the year candidate Anne Makinen … top candidates on the outside include junior Mia Sarkesian and sophomores Ashley Dryer and Nancy Mikacenic (each of those three were starters at some point in the ’99 season) while promising freshman Randi Scheller should be in the mix as well.
CALLING ALL FINISHERS!: One of Notre Dame’s primary tasks in 2000 is replacing the firepower lost in graduates Jenny Heft (80 career goals, 20 in ’99) and Jenny Streiffer (70, 19 in ’99)-with senior M Anne Makinen (53, 13 in ’99) and senior F Meotis Erikson (46, 14 in ’99) among the top candidates to boost their goalscoring … those players combined to score the first two goals in the win over Detroit and Makinen added both scores in the 2-0 win over Tulsa … Makinen has been urged by the coaching staff to become more selfish with her scoring opportunities and will be looking to have a season similar to her freshman campaign, when she scored 23 goals (she had 15 in ’98 and 13 in ’99).
CORNER KICKER: Despite being one of Notre Dame’s most dangerous players in the penalty box area, senior M Anne Makinen took the bulk of the corner kicks in the Detroit and Tulsa game and is considered the team’s top option for that role due to her strong leg and pinpoint accuracy … senior F Meotis Erikson also was used on CKs in the Providence game and set up an Irish goal with one of those set plays (as did Makinen in the Detroit game).
“TRIPLE-A” OFFENSE OFF AND RUNNING: Notre Dame’s “triple-A combination”-sophomore Ali Lovelace and freshmen Amanda Guertin and Amy Warner-turned in an impressive debut in the win over Detroit and has provided the Irish with a new-and needed-dimension up front due to their speed … Lovelace created several chances in the first half before leaving the game shortly before halftime du to injury (she did not play last week) … Warner-who registered a hat trick in the Sept. 3 PC game-was a threat throughout the Detroit game, streaking down both wins and buzzing around the goalmouth (her run down the right side set up a goal by classmate Randi Scheller) … Guertin provided a spark off the bench vs. Detroit and put her all-around skills on display, including a late goal on a 15-yard chip shot (she also scored vs. PC).
NEW FACES IN THE NETS: Three-year starter and Notre Dame career goals-against average leader (0.63) LaKeysia Beene has moved on to the coaching ranks as a current Irish graduate assistant, leaving the goalkeeping position open to three capable players … junior Liz Wagner made her first career start in the Detroit game (she also started vs. Tulsa and PC) while sophomore Sani Post played in the second half of the PC game, after returning from a stress fracture in her leg … freshman Lauren Kent (Laguna Nigel, Calif.) showed surprising development during the Brazil trip and could see some game time in the earlygoing (she played the final 17 minutes of the Detroit game).
UPCOMING PROMOTIONS: The following promotional offerings are on tap for upcoming Notre Dame women’s soccer games: * Sept. 8 vs. Santa Clara (KeyBank Classic) – The first 500 fans will receive a mini soccer ball. * Sept. 24 vs. Pittsburgh – The first 200 fans will receive the No. 1 and No. 2 cards in the 2000 Notre Dame women’s soccer cards series * Sept. 29 vs. Seton Hall – The first 200 fans will receive the No. 3 and No. 4 cards in the 2000 Notre Dame women’s soccer cards series. * Oct. 1 vs. Rutgers – The first 200 fans will receive the No. 5 and No. 6 cards in the 2000 Notre Dame women’s soccer cards series