Sept. 2, 2003
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Notre Dame junior forward Mary Boland (Hudson, Ohio) – who totaled four goals and one assist in last week’s wins over Hartford and Wake Forest – has been named the BIG EAST women’s soccer offensive player of the week while the Irish (2-0-0) have moved up to fifth in the Soccer America and NSCAA coaches polls.
Boland becomes the first women’s soccer player ever to be named BIG EAST offensive and defensive player of the week during her career, earning the defensive honor in 2002 after playing a key role in shutout wins over Rutgers and Seton Hall.
Notre Dame joins UCLA and North Carolina as schools currently ranked in the top five of both the men’s and women’s Soccer America polls, with the Irish men ranked fourth while the Bruins are first in the men’s poll and third in the women’s (UNC is first in the women’s poll, fifth in the men’s).
Boland scored twice to open the scoring in the 9-1 win over Hartford and later one-timed a corner-kick deflection to complete her first hat trick with the Irish. She also sent a perfect thru-ball that split two defenders and led to an Amanda Guertin goal in the win over the Hawks, completing her seven-point game. Two days later, Boland scored the key second goal midway through the second half of the 3-0 win over Wake Forest (she also had an unofficial assist on a lead pass that sprung Amy Warner for the final goal vs. WFU).
She is the fifth Notre Dame player ever to register a hat trick in a season opener and now has scored in all three openers of her Irish career (including ND’s first goal of the season in ’01 and ’03), with a diving header to open the scoring in the 2001 win over Penn State (2-1) and the final goal in the 2002 win at Providence (3-0). Previous ND players with hat tricks in openers include Rosella Guerrero as a freshman vs. N.C. State in 1992 (4-3 loss), Guerrero and then-sophomore Michelle McCarthy in 1993 at LaSalle (12-0 win) and then-senior Amy Van Laecke and then-sophomore Monica Gerardo in 1996 at Providence (14-0).
As a sophomore, Boland played a key defensive midfielder role in a 1-0 overtime win over Rutgers and scored on a diving header two days later to beat Seton Hall (1-0), en route to BIG EAST defensive player-of-the-week honors.
Seven Notre Dame opponents currently are ranked in the SA or NSCAA polls, with Stanford as high as second in the SA poll, Santa Clara as high as third in the coaches poll, West Virginia as high as 10th and Arizona State as high as 13th (both in the SA poll), Connecticut as high as 12th in the coaches poll, Villanova 23rd in the SA poll and Boston College 22nd in the coaches poll.
Soccer America Top-25 Poll (Sept. 1, 2003)
Team (record, previous poll)
1. North Carolina (2-0-0; 1)
2. *Stanford (1-0-0; 2)
3. UCLA (1-0-1; 3)
4. *Santa Clara (1-0-1; 4)
5. NOTRE DAME (2-0-0; 6)
6. Virginia (1-0-0; 9)
7. Texas (1-1-0; 5)
8. Florida (2-0-0; NR)
9. Tennessee (2-0-0; 12)
10. *West Virginia (0-1-0; 11)
11. Pepperdine (1-1-0; 10)
12. Duke (2-0-0; 24)
13. *Arizona State (2-0-0; 14)
14. Penn State (1-1-0; 8)
15. Portland (1-1-0; 7)
16. Texas A&M (2-0-0; 17)
17. Washington (1-1-0; NR)
18. Maryland (1-1-0; 18)
19. Clemson (1-0-0; 19)
20. Connecticut (1-0-1; 15)
21. Nebraska (2-0-0; 20)
22. USC (1-1-0; 21)
23. *Villanova (2-0-0; 22)
24. Auburn (1-0-0; 23)
25. California (1-0-1; 16)
NSCAA Coaches Top-25 Poll (Sept. 1, 2003)
Team (record, previous poll)
1. North Carolina (2-0-0; 1)
2. UCLA (1-0-1; 3)
3. *Santa Clara (1-0-1; 4)
4. *Stanford (1-0-0; 2)
5. NOTRE DAME (2-0-0; 5)
6. Texas A&M (2-0-0; 16)
7. Florida (2-0-0; 8)
8. Virginia (1-0-0; 6)
9. Denver (2-0-0; NR)
10. Duke (2-0-0; 12)
11. Washington (1-1-0; 17)
12. *Connecticut (1-0-1; 20)
13. Penn State (1-1-0; 14)
14. Nebraska (2-0-0; 21)
15. USC (1-1-0; 22)
16. Tennessee (2-0-0; 9)
17. *West Virginia (0-1-0; 10)
18. Portland (1-1-0; 15)
19. Michigan State (1-0-0; NR)
20. Clemson (1-0-0; 19)
21. Texas (1-1-0; 7)
22. *Boston College (2-0-0; NR)
23. Pepperdine (1-1-0; 11)
24. Maryland (1-1-0; 18)
25. California (1-0-1; 25)
Also receiving votes: Kentucky, Auburn, Missouri, Rhode Island, Utah, Colorado, Dayton, *Arizona State
*Notre Dame opponents indicated by asterisks