Sept. 11, 2002
2002 NOTRE DAME WOMEN’S SOCCER NOTES
Maryland Fila Classic (Sept. 13, 15)
MORE CHALLENGES ON TAP: The 11th-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team (2-2-0) faces another tough test this week at the Maryland Fila Classic, as the Irish will face perennial NCAA Tournament team Hartford on Friday, Sept. 13 (5:00) before tangling with the 25th-ranked and homestanding Terrapins on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. (Loyola is the tournament’s fourth participant) … ND will be looking to get back on the winning track after suffering a pair or shutout losses versus perennial national powers Santa Clara (4-0) and Portland (1-0) in the Notre Dame Classic, presented by St. Andrew’s Products.
LIVE STATS AND AUDIO: Live statistics will be available for all games a the Maryland Fila Classic can be accessed at www.umterps.com (with links at www.und.com) … live audio of the Maryland-Loyola and Maryland-Notre Dame matches will be available through wmucsports.com, which will be linked via umterps.com.
WEBSITES: For in-depth information on the FIla Classic participants, please consult their official websites: www.und.com … www. umterps.com … www.hartfordhawks.com.
ND SPORTS HOTLINE: For schedule and result information on all 26 Notre Dame varsity sports, call (574) 631-3000 (press “4” for soccer information and then ‘2″ for women’s soccer results).
SCOUTING THE HAWKS: Hartford returned eight starters and 13 of 19 letterwinners from its 2001 team that went 15-6-0 and lost to Harvard in the first round of the NCAAs (1-0, in four OTs) … the Hawks are 2-1-0, after dropping the season opener to UConn (3-2) and winning a pair at the UConn Classic (2-0 vs. Central Connecticut, 8-0 vs. Fordham) … junior F Jeannette Akerlund (6G-2A) has accounted for half of Hartford’s 12 goals (no other player has more than two) … Heather Hinton has logged all 270 minutes in the nets, with seven saves and a 1.00 GAA.
SCOUTING THE TERRAPINS: Maryland returned nine starters and 13 of 18 letterwinners from its 2001 squad that went 10-7-2 and lost to Dayton in the first round of the NCAAs (1-0) … the Terps are 3-1-0, with wins over Fordham (5-0), Rutgers (5-2) and VCU (2-1) and a 3-1 loss at UConn … three Maryland players each have scored three goals: freshman F Ali Andrzejewski (1A), junior F Katie Ludwig (1A) and junior M Audra Poulin … freshman Mariel Wilner has started all four games in the nets (12 saves, 1.61 GAA) … junior D Lindsay Givens was an all-ACC pick in 2001.
SERIES NOTES: Notre Dame has faced both Hartford and Maryland just once previously, winning both of those games:
* Dec. 1, 1996 – The Irish defeated the Terrapins, 2-0, in an NCAA Tournament quarterfinal game (followed by a semifinal win over Portland and a 1-0 overtime loss to UNC in the NCAA title game) … Monica Gerardo opened the scoring in the 16th minute (assisted by Holly Manthei) and assisted on Jenny Streiffer’s goal three minutes later … ND finished with a 19-7 shot edge (5-3 in corner kicks).
* Sept. 2, 2001 – A makeshift lineup and a timely play by Kelly Tulisiak helped the Irish overcome the absence of several top players (Ashley Dryer, Mary Boland and Melissa Tancredi) in a 2-0 win over Hartford (at ND’s Key Bank Classic) … Amy Warner’sdeflected shot set up Tulisiak, who put back her own rebound in the 67th minute … Warner later took a pass from Amanda Guertin and used her speed to get free for a low shot that capped the scoring with 1:59 left to play … ND held a 14-4 shot edge (10-1 second half), with a 6-2 edge in corner kicks.
INJURY WOES CONTINUE FOR IRISH DEFENSE: While the Notre Dame offense looks to rebound from a pair of rare scoreless games, the ND defense continues to cope with injury problems to several key regulars … senior All-America candidate Vanessa Pruzinsky – whose versatile skills allow her to play outside or centrally with equal effectiveness – remains day-to-day as she battles back from an ankle injury … Pruzinsky played the first 47 minutes of the Santa Clara game, helping shut out SCU in that span, but has not appeared in ND’s other three games this season … sophomore Gudrun Gunnarsdottir – named the BIG EAST defensive player of the week after the opening wins over Providence and Virginia Tech – will be sidelined for 2-4 weeks due to a broken foot … Gunnarsdottir had been the anchor of the Irish defense in the absence of Pruzinsky, playing centrally alongside freshman Cat Sigler … ND’s many options in the back also include sophomore Mary Boland (she has started at forward and midfield), junior Kim Carpenter (she has shifted back from the midfield in the past), junior Molly Tate and two others who have started at outside back in the early parts of the 2002 season: sophomore Kate Tulisiak and freshman Miranda Ford … the defensive third already was ND’s area of least experience, following the graduation of central back Monica Gonzalez (a two-year starter), left back Lindsey Jones (a three-year starter) and two-year starting ‘keeper Liz Wagner.
EXPERIENCED FRONTRUNNERS: Notre Dame’s experience clearly lies in the offensive third, with junior forwards Amanda Guertin (27G-11A), Amy Warner (20G-8A) and Melissa Tancredi (4G-4A) combining for 112 games played (94 starts), 51 goals and 21 assists (Tancredi did not play in 1999 due to an ACL injury) … add in junior midfielder Randi Scheller (12G-15A) and senior M Ashley Dryer (3G-11A) and the Irish have five veteran forwards/midfielders that have combined for 231 games played (179 starts), 66 goals and 47 assists.
NOTRE DAME CAREER STATS (veterans)
Amanda Guertin (Jr., F) – 50 GP/46 GS, 27G-11A, 65 pts (11 GWG)
Amy Warner (Jr., F) – 43 GP/36 GS, 20G-6A, 46 pts (7 GWG)
Randi Scheller (Jr., M) – 49 GP/29 GS , 12G-15A, 39 pts (1 GWG)
Ashley Dryer (Sr., M) – 70 GP/56 GS, 3G-11A, 17 pts
Melissa Tancredi (Jr., F) – 19 GP/12 GS, 4G-4A, 12 pts (1 GWG; injured in ’00)
Vanessa Pruzinsky (Sr., D) – 72 GP/72 GS, 2G-6A, 10 pts
Mary Boland (So., F/D) – 14 GP/8 GS, 4G-2A, 10 pts
Candace Chapman (So., D) – 23 GP/22 GS, 3G-2A, 8 pts (2 GWG)
Kim Carpenter (Jr., M) – 28 GP/1 GS, 2G-1A, 5 pts
Gudrun Gunnarsdottir (So., D) – 21 GP/7 GS, 0G-0A, 0 pts
Kate Tulisiak (So., D) – 11 GP/3 GS, 0G-0A, 0 pts
Molly Tate (Jr., D/M) – 11 GP/1 GS, 0G-0A, 0 pts
Lauren Kent (Jr., G) – 11 GP/2 GS, 334:00 4 GA, 12 SV, 1.08 GAA, 1-1-0
CHAPMAN NAMED DEFENSIVE MVP: Irish sophomore defender Candace Chapman was named the defensive MVP of last week’s Notre Dame Classic, after making plays all over the field in the battles with Santa Clara and Portland … Chapman opened the Portland game at central defense – with strong marking of her Canadian national teammate Christine Sinclair – before shifting to her customary outside back position … sophomore D Gudrun Gunnarsdottir also was named to the ND Classic all-tournament team.
NOTRE DAME CLASSIC NOTES: ND and Santa Clara played an even (and scoreless) first half before Irish senior D Vanessa Pruzinsky left the game early in the second half due to a reaggravated ankle injury (SCU quickly scored and went on to a 4-0 win) … a festive crowd of 2,107 was on hand for the ND-SCU game, with the Irish holding a 7-5 corner-kick edge (6-1 in the first half) while the Broncos owned a 13-9 edge in shots … a flurry of goals was nothing new for the ND-SCU series, which saw the Broncos score four goals in a 20-minute span for a 4-2 win over the Irish in 1999 while ND posted a 6-1 win over SCU at the 2000 Key Bank Classic … the game represented ND’s largest margin of defeat ever at home (the Irish had not been shut out at home since 1992) … two days later, Christine Sinclair’s goal in the 82nd minute held up as the game’s only scoring in Portland’s 1-0 win over ND … UP finished with an 8-4 edge in total shots and a 6-3 corner-kick advantage in a game that featured just five shots on goal (Pruzinsky did not play for the Irish) … ND suffered consecutive shutout losses for the first time since 1989 … the home team in the ND-UP series has yet to win (0-7-0), with the Irish also winning two NCAA Tournament showdowns with the Pilots (ND now leads the series 6-3-0) … all nine games in the series have been decided by a single goal (five by a 1-0 score).
DRYER DOES IT AGAIN: Lost amidst the disappointment of ND’s 4-0 loss to Santa Clara was another stellar defensive effort from Notre Dame senior midfielder Ashley Dryer, who essentially neutralized SCU’s star midfielder Aly Wagner (she did not factor into any of the SCU goals before scoring twice in the Broncos’ 4-2 win over Clemson) … Dryer’s status as one of the nation’s premier defensive midfielders was reinforced at the 2001 BIG EAST Tournament, when she shut down BIG EAST midfielder of the year Sarah Rahko in the semifinal win over Boston College before holding another top midfielder (Lisa Stoia) in check to help beat West Virginia in the BIG EAST title game.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RETURN: Notre Dame last week welcomed back two players who competed in the recent Under-19 World Championship, held in three Canadian cities … the exciting tournament was capped by a 1-0 U.S. win over Canada in the title game, with 47,000 fans in attendance at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium … Portland sophomore F Christy Sinclair earned the “golden boot” award as the tournament’s top scorer (10 goals, in six games with Canada) and formed a potent offensive tandem with Notre Dame freshman Katie Thorlakson (who plays mostly as an attacking midfielder with Canada) … ND sophomore Candace Chapman also was a starter with Canada, playing mostly right back while also shifting into the central midfield … Irish freshman M Annie Schefter was on track to be a starter for the U.S. team but was sidelined with a season-ending ACL knee injury in late July.
VS. THE ACC: Notre Dame owns an 11-13-3 all-time record vs. teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (9-5-1 vs. teams other than North Carolina) … beginning with the 1994 NCAA runner-up season, the Irish are 9-7-3 vs. ACC teams and have not lost to an ACC team other than UNC since a 2-1 loss to Duke on Sept. 25, 1992 (7-0-1 vs. ACC teams since that game) … ND’s all-time records vs. ACC teams include: 2-8-2 vs. UNC, 6-3-1 vs. Duke, 1-1-0 vs. N.C. State, 1-0-0 vs. Maryland and Wake Forest, and 0-1-0 vs. Virginia (with no games vs. Clemson or FSU).
RECAPPING THE OPENING-WEEK ACTION: Notre Dame opened with a 3-0 win at Providence before posting a 5-0 home win over Virginia Tech, in another BIG EAST Conference cross-divisional game … junior F Amy Warner and junior M Randi Scheller both had 2G-1A in the weekend action, with sophomore F Mary Boland adding a pair of goals … junior F Amanda Guertin had 1G-1A vs. the Hokies while freshman D Miranda Ford also scored in that game (junior M Kim Carpenter wrapped up the week’s scoring with an assist vs. PC) … junior G Lauren Kent made six saves in 100 minutes of work during the weekend, with freshman Erika Bohn registering one save in 80 minutes of action … the Irish held a 36-12 shot edge in the two games (13-2 in corner kicks) … ND improved to 13-2 in season openers and allowed just two corner kicks in the weekend action.
TOURNAMENT-TESTED: Notre Dame owns a 72-22-6 all-time record (.750) in tournament action, including 28-13-5 in regular-season tournaments (13-4-1 at home, with 47-19 scoring edge), 22-0-0 in conference tournaments and 22-9-1 in the NCAAs … beginning with the 1994 season (which ended with an NCAA runner-up finish), Notre Dame owns a 19-6-3 record in regular-season tournaments – with 16 of those wins coming vs. ranked teams … since ’94, the Irish have lost just six regular-season tournament games: vs. UNC twice (2-0 in ’95, in Houston; 3-2 at the ’99 KBC), vs. SCU in ’96 (3-1, at Duke), vs. SMU in 1999 (1-0; in Klein, Texas, minus star player Anne Makinen) and last week’s games vs. SCU and Portland.
PLAYING THE BEST: Notre Dame consistently has played some of its best soccer in recent years when facing a ranked opponent, with an 18-7-2 record vs. ranked teams during the Randy Waldrum era (since ’99) … that trend held true in 2001, when the Irish went 5-1 vs. ranked teams (2-1 vs. Penn State, 2-0 vs. Hartford, 2-1 vs. West Virginia, 3-0 vs. Miami, 0-3 at UConn and 2-1 vs. Michigan).
GERTY’S GOALS: Junior forward Amanda Guertin scored a goal in each of the final 10 games of the 2001 season – good for the third-longest goalscoring streak in Division I women’s soccer history (Brandi Chastain had a 15-game streak while playing for Santa Clara in 1990, with Hartford’s Maria Kun compiling an 11-game streak in 1997) … Guertin also scored in six of seven games during the 2002 spring season, in one of the two fall exhibitions and in the recent win over Virginia Tech.
CONFERENCE COMMAND: Notre Dame’s all-time record in regular-season conference games now stands at 80-4-2 (.953), including 61-4-2 (.925) in BIG EAST games (since ’95) … the Irish also own a 43-1 record in all-time home games vs. BIG EAST opponents, with 39 straight home wins vs. BIG EAST teams (since a 5-4 OT loss to UConn in ’95).
HOME, SWEET HOME: Notre Dame’s all-time overall record at Alumni Field is 130-10-2 (.923), including 106-6-2 in the last 114 … the Irish own a 38-3-1 record in their previous 42 home games, with a 2-2 tie vs. Wisconsin and the 3-2 NCAA loss to Cincinnati (both in 2001) prior to last week’s pair of losses.
SCORING STREAK ENDS AT 31: Notre Dame carried a 31-game scoring streak into last week’s Santa Clara game (third-best in ND history, behind a 55-game streak from 1997-99 and a 36-game streak from ’95-’96) … the last time that the Irish had failed to score was the 0-0 tie at UConn on Oct. 22, 2000 … since 1994, ND has scored in 144 of 149 (.966) regular-season games (also an 0-0 tie vs. UNC in ’94 and a 2-0 loss to UNC in ’95) and 49 of 52 postseason games, with three shutout losses to UNC in NCAA title games.
4.0 FOCUS: Notre Dame co-captain Vanessa Pruzinsky (Trumbull, Conn.)heads into her senior season as one of the nation’s premier Academic All-Americans (in any sport) … the hard-nosed defender twice has been named a first team CoSIDA Academic All-American (one of two all-time ND student-athletes ever to be so honored) and recently was in the mix for a spot on the U.S. Under-21 National Team … she was a finalist for the 2000 Missouri Athletic Club player-of-the-year award and was named the BIG EAST Conference preseason defensive player of the year for 2002 … what truly sets Pruzinsky apart is her perfect 4.0 GPA as a chemical engineering major … just two previous Notre Dame chemical engineering majors ever have graduated with a 4.0 (the last doing so in the early 1970s) and Pruzinsky remains the only female student ever to earn an “A” grade in the Notre Dame’s challenging introduction to chemical engineering course.