Sept. 15, 2002
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Sophomore defender Candace Chapman sparked the Irish offense after shifting up to the midfield and the potent junior class took over from there as the 11th-ranked and injury-depleted Notre Dame women’s soccer team scored five times in the final 25 minutes to erase a 2-0 deficit and shock 25th-ranked Maryland, 5-2, in Sunday’s final game of the Maryland Fila Classic.
The five goals are the most ever scored by Notre Dame versus a top-25 opponent playing on its home field, with the Terrapins entering the week ranked 25th. The productive day at Ludwig Field also matched the fifth-highest goalscoring day ever for the Irish in any game versus a top-25 opponent (second-most since the high-powered 1997 offense).
Notre Dame (4-2-0) – again playing without its injured center backs, senior captain Vanessa Pruzinsky and sophomore Gudrun Gunnarsdottir – played a solid first half before erupting for 13 shots in the second half. Maryland (4-2-0) finished with an 18-14 shot edge and an 8-6 edge in corner kicks.
Chapman – who shifted from her customary right back to one of the central spots for most of the game – repeated her honor from last week’s Notre Dame Classic as the tournament’s defensive MVP (her top defensive moments included clearing a shot off the goalline late in the first half) while junior forward Melissa Tancredi was named the offensive MVP. Tancredi – an emergency starter at central defense in Friday’s 2-1 win over Hartford – shook off a nagging Achilles injury to change the tenor of Sunday’s game due to her physical presence and a pair of header goals, via corner kicks from classmate Amanda Guertin.
Guertin also scored Notre Dame’s third goal, knocking home a deflected shot from fellow junior Amy Warner after a thru-ball from Tancredi. Warner then set up the final goal with an endline pass that found her classmate Randi Scheller open in the box for her team-leading fourth goal of the season.
The four juniors – Tancredi, Guertin, Warner and Scheller – finished the day with four goals and three assists (Warner and Tancredi also played key roles in the fourth goal, without officially receiving assists).
Notre Dame’s all-tournament selections also included Warner (gamewinning goal vs. Hartford, set up two scores vs. Maryland), senior midfielder Ashley Dryer – who turned in a gutsy effort while battling through illness – and freshman goaltender Erika Bohn, who made a variety of big plays including a lunging tip over the crossbar with the Irish still trailing 2-1 in the 75th minute.
Maryland utilized the long throw-in of center back Lindsay Givens to open the scoring in the 51st minute, with the right-side throw skipping off the head of Mallory Maher and carrying into the far left side of the goal (50:46). Katie Ludwig added her fourth goal of the season three minutes later, deflecting an attempted clearance into the right side of the net (64:30).
The Irish responded by shifting to a three-back formation and moving Chapman into the midfield – and the Canadian national-teamer delivered with her first goal of the season. Chapman accelerated up the middle of the field and used her patented moves to slide past a defender to the left before striking a 20-yard shot into the right sidenetting (64:30).
Notre Dame netted the equalizer in the 79th minute, with Guertin providing the leftside corner kick while Tancredi elevated and sent her header under the crossbar and into the topnetting for her first goal of the season (78:02). Less than a minute later, Tancredi’s thru-ball sprung Warner up the middle and Guertin sent home the rebound, scoring on a crossing shot into the right side of the net (79:00) for her second goal of the season, the 28th of her career and her 12th career gamewinning goal.
Tancredi struck again in the lategoing (this time on a rightside corner from Guertin), with the header bouncing down and into the goal for the 4-2 lead (86:06).
Warner worked to the right endline in the final minute, drawing three defenders to her before cutting a pass back into the box. Scheller calmly gathered the ball and sent a 12-yard strike into the net for the 14th goal of her career (89:12).
#11 Notre Dame (4-2-0) 0 5 – 5
#25 Maryland (4-2-0) 0 2 – 2
MD 1. Malory Mahar 2 (Lindsay Givens) 50:46; MD 2. Katie Ludwig (-) 54:07; ND 1. Candace Chapman 1 (-) 64:30; ND 2. Melissa Tancredi 1 (Amanda Guertin) 78:02; ND 3. Guertin 2 (-) 79:00; ND 4. Tancredi 2 (Guertin) 86:06; ND 5. Randi Scheller 4 (Amy Warner) 89:12.
Shots: ND 1-13/14, MD 7-11/18.
Corner Kicks: ND 2-4/6, MD 3-5/8.
Saves: ND 5 (Erika Bohn 4, team 1), MD 3 (Mariel Walker).
Fouls: ND 17, MD 7.
Offsides: ND 3, MD 2.