Sept. 13, 2000
MORE CHALLENGES: The second-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team (5-0-0) will play a pair of nationally-regarded opponents for the second straight week, at the adidas Portland Invitational … the Irish open up play at Merlo field on Saturday with a noon game versus 15th-ranked Washington (6-0-0) and then will face the host University of Portland (6-0-0) on Sunday at 2:15 … the Pilots are positioned just outside the national rankings but already have turned in a productive week, with a Sept. 12 win over Brigham Young.
adidas PORTLAND INVITATIONAL GAME SCHEDULE (at UP’s Merlo Field): Saturday, Sept. 17 ND-Washington (noon), San Diego State-Portland (2:15 p.m.) Sunday, Sept. 18 San Diego State-Washington (noon), ND-Portland (2:15 p.m.)
10 YEARS LATER: It’s been 10 years since Notre Dame and Washington first met in women’s soccer, with the Irish posting a 2-0 victory at home in that game (Sept. 16, 1990).
A GREAT RIVALRY: Notre Dame and Portland have fashioned a memorable series between the sister schools, as both are Roman Catholic institutions founded by the Congregation of the Holy Cross … the Irish hold a 5-2-0 lead in the series, with all seven contests decided by one goal and four coming in NCAA tournament play (the home team has yet to win in the series) … Portland ended ND’s 1998 season with a 2-1 win at Alumni Field in the NCAA quarterfinals … Jenny Heft scored a dramatic game-tying goal in the 73rd minute of that game but Vanessa Talbot netted the game-winner with 2:54 left to play (Brooke O’Hanley gave UP the 1-0 lead midway through the first half, with ND holding an 18-12 shot edge in the game) … in ND’s last visit to Merlo Field, Monica Gerardo scored the game’s only goal to end Portland’s 25-game home unbeaten streak, on Sept. 7, 1997 … in the 1996 NCAA semifinals at Santa Clara, Portland jumped out to a 2-0 first-half lead before ND scored three goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half for a 3-2 win … in ’95, the teams met in the NCAA title game and battled for 125 minutes before ND won 1-0 in sudden death overtime, on a free-kick goal by Cindy Daws … ND made a pair of trips to Portland in 1994, with the first wins of the series for the Irish coming 2-1 in the regular season and 1-0 in the NCAA semifinals (at UP) … the Pilots first win of the series came in 1992, when UP used goals by Tiffeny Milbrett and Shannon MacMillan to beat ND, 2-1 … the Pilots made a return trip to Alumni Field in ’97 but did not face the Irish, as they beat Duke 3-0 and lost to North Carolina (UP now has a 4-1-0 all-time record at Alumni Field).
IRISH PART OF MERLO FIELD HISTORY: Notre Dame continually has helped set attendance records during the past few seasons, including a regular-season record at Santa Clara in 1999 (4,051) and a crowd of 3,702 that saw the Irish advance past host Nebraska in the ’99 NCAA quarterfinals … in ’98, the Irish drew a record-setting crowd in their game at Michigan (1,092) … earlier in the ’98 season, ND and North Carolina played in front 6,024 fans at Fetzer Field, the largest regular-season crowd in Tar Heel history … Notre Dame played in front of more than 1,000 fans seven times in 1998 (and nine times in ’99), including a crowd of 2,333 at Morrone Stadium in the ’98 BIG EAST championship … the Irish also have drawn record crowds at Connecticut and Santa Clara in 1996 and at Portland and Syracuse in 1997 … the Irish beat the Huskies 2-1 in front of then a record 3,711 fans at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium on Sept. 22, 1996 … the Broncos beat the Irish 3-1 in front of a regular-season record 3,714 fans at Buck Shaw Stadium on Oct. 13, 1996 … ND beat Portland 1-0 in front of 5,041 fans at Merlo Field on Sept. 7, 1997 and beat Syracuse 8-0 in front of 1,500 fans on Oct. 19, 1997.
IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame entered the week ranked second in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, with top-ranked North Carolina suffering a 2-1 loss to Clemson earlier this week … the last time Notre Dame was ranked as high in a regular-season NSCAA poll was Sept. 12, 1998, prior to a 1-1 tie at UConn and a 3-2 loss at Seton Hall … the last time the Irish were ranked first in the NSCAA poll was in 1996, when Notre Dame held the top spot for the final two months of the season after beating North Carolina on Oct. 4 (2-1, in overtime) … the Tar Heels avenged that loss in the NCAA title game (1-0, in OT).
WARNER, LINDSEY REPEAT BIG EAST WEEKLY HONORS: Two Notre Dame women’s soccer players have won back-to-back BIG EAST Conference awards, with freshman forward Amy Warner (Albuquerque, N.M.) earning a pair of rookie-of-the-week honors while senior defender Kelly Lindsey (Omaha, Neb.) was the back-to-back BIG EAST defensive player of the week … Warner scored in both of last week’s games at the KeyBank Classic (6-1 vs. Santa Clara, 2-1 vs. Stanford) and served the cross that led to the game-ending own goal by Stanford … a KeyBank all-tournament pick, Warner helped ND post a 50-16 shot edge in the tournament and is riding a three-game goalscoring streak … she scored a tricky goal vs. SCU, giving ND the lead for good (2-1). and added another tough goal vs. Stanford, on a one-touch play … the previous 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 remains the heart and should of inexperienced ND defense, leading unit that allowed just 16 shots in the KeyBank Classic from two of the nation’s top team (just 10 of the shots were on net) … the most veteran member of an ND defense that is without graduated All-America goalkeeper LaKeysia Been and two starting defenders from ’99 team (including four-time All-American Jen Grubb), Lindsey was honored the previous week after helping the Irish allow just two shots from both Tulsa and PC … she has logged 75 career games (73 of them starts) and has helped ND post a 166-22 shot edge through three games in the 2000 season.
BRONCO BUSTERS: Notre Dame’s 6-1 win over Santa Clara held several levels of significance, as it marked: SCU’s first consecutive losses since a three-game losing streak in September of 1994 (vs. LMU, Stanford and UNC), the first time SCU was outshot (23-10) in 19 games, and the most goals by an SCU opponent in 20 seasons-dating back to an 8-0 loss to UC Davis in 1980 (the last team to reach five goals vs. SCU was UNC, in 1991) … ND also became the first team to post more than 20 shots versus Santa Clara since Washington did it in 1994 (23-18, in a game that finished 2-2).
BIG WEEKEND: Notre Dame senior goalkeeper Liz Wagner (Spring, Texas) allowed just one goal in each game of the KeyBank Classic, versus two of the nation’s top teams (Santa Clara, Stanford) … Wagner made seven big saves in the win over SCU, including an early breakaway and a diving stop in the second half … she finished the weekend with 10 saves, as the backstop to an Irish defense that allowed just 16 shots … Wagner is in the midst of her first season as a starter while facing the challenge of replacing All-American Lakeysia Beene while losing two starting defenders from ’99 team (including four-time All-American Jen Grubb).
ND HEAD COACH RANDY WALDRUM ON WAGNER: “Liz Wagner was great in goal for us (vs. SCU). Early in the first half when we missed a backside trap, she came up with a breakaway save and she had several saves in the second half that keep it from being tied. She played a big part in the win tonight. … It was a big weekend for Liz Wagner. All three of our goalkeepers have been pretty close but Liz showed us something and had a pretty strong pair of games.”
BIG GAP: Notre Dame has compiled an eye-popping 166-22 shot advantage through the first five games of the 2000 season (holding four of those opponents to 2-6 shots), plus a 47-9 edge in corner kicks … ND owns an average shot margin of 35-4 (9-2 on 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 (4G-6A) has scored or assisted on more nearly half of ND’s goals this season (10 of 21) while other top scorers include freshman forwards Amy Warner (35-2A) and Amanda Guertin (3G-1A) and senior F Meotis Erikson (2G-2A) … junior Elizabeth Wagner has played most of the minutes in the nets for ND, with 10 saves and three goals allowed.
MAKIN’ WAVES: Notre Dame senior M Anne Makinen (Helsinki, Finland)-named offensive MVP of last week’s KeyBank Classic-has been the focal point of the Irish offense this season, as the three-year All-American has scored or assisted on nearly half of ND’s goals (10 of 21), including two game-winning goals and a pair of primary game-winning assist s(her outlet pass also sprung Amy Warner for the cross that led to the game-ending own goal versus Stanford) … 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 … she went on to record a goal and two assists in the 6-1 win over second-ranked Santa Clara before setting up the game-ending sequence versus Stanford.
ANNE’S ARSENAL: Anne Makinen reached 10 points in three games this season and has 14 points (4G-6A) through five games, despite being marked heavily as ND’s top returning offensive weapon … Makinen’s quick start factors out to 73 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 2.21 points per game (157 points in 71 games) … her 55 career goals are tied for 6th in ND history (with ’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 47 (Gerardo and Brown each had 44) … Makinen’s 157 career points are 6th in ND history-she just passed ’96 grad. Michelle McCarthy (156)-and she needs to total 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 three assists to join that exclusive club … she needs five goals and 13 assists to become sixth Division I player ever with 60-plus goals and 60-plus assists.
NO BIG DEAL: Notre Dame senior midfielder Anne Makinen-who had a goal and two assists in last week’s 6-1 win over Santa Clara-was named offensive MVP of the KeyBank Classic, marking the fifth time in her career that she has been named a tournament MVP (including ND’s ’97 adidas/Lady Footlocker Classic, the ’98 KeyBank Classic and the ’97 and ’99 BIG EAST Championships).
SANTA CLARA’S JERRY SMITH ON ANNE MAKINEN: “Anne Makinen is the best player in college soccer. She is a great international player, let alone a great college player. The international game is a much tougher game to be good than the college level. … I have such a high opinion of (Anne) that she would have to play just awesome for me to be kind of surprised. We talked about it in our team meeting. We just don’t have enough players that can kind of corral her.”
WALDRUM ON MAKINEN: “Anne was all over the place tonight. She was winning balls all night, she was springing people in and creating chances for others and herself. She is a very complete player. She can do it all.”
SCOUTING THE FIELD: Information on the Huskies can be found at www.gohuskies.com while Pilots information is located at www.up.edu/athletics.
HOMESTANDERS: Notre Dame’s home record in 10-plus seasons at Alumni Field is 108-7-1 (.935), including an 85-3-1 mark in the last 89 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 currently carry a 15-game home winning streak … Notre Dame’s all-time record at Alumni Field versus teams not ranked in the NSCAA poll is 73-1-0 (35-6-1 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).
SANTA CLARA GAME RECAP (9/8/00): Senior M Anne Makinen had a hand in half of the ND goals while drawing postgame praise from Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith as “the best overall player in college soccer,” as the fourth-ranked Irish used a second-half surge to post a 6-1 victory at Alumni Field over the visiting Broncos, in first-day action of the KeyBank Classic … SCU played without junior defender Danielle Slayton (U.S. Olympic team member) and sophomore midfielder Aly Wagner (quad pull) … Makinen clearly was dialed into registering one of her better performances of her Irish career while several other Notre Dame players likewise came through with key efforts … senior F Meotis Erikson turned and whirled through the penalty box with regularity and notched the game’s first goal on a clever move in the 18th minute … after SCU senior forward Kathleen Celio had scored her fourth goal of the season, a patented thru-ball from Makinen set up another tricky Irish goal-this time from speedy sophomore Amy Warner … with SCU pressing for the equalizer midway through the second half, Makinen’s outlet pass sprung freshman Amanda Guertin for the critical third Irish goal … the hosts tacked on three more scores in the final 10 minutes, including a penalty kick from Makinen and a pair of goals from junior reserve forward Kelly Tulisiak … junior Liz Wagner made six timely saves for the biggest win of her first Irish season with any starting experience.
SANTA CLARA 1 0 – 1
NOTRE DAME 2 4 – 6
ND 1. Meotis Erikson 2 (Guertin) 17:21, SCU 1. Kathleen Celio 4 (Zepeda/Aldama) 20:26, ND 2. Amy Warner 4 (Makinen, Dryer) 21:57, ND 3. Amanda Guertin 3 (Makinen/Gonzalez) 73:13, ND 4. Makinen (penalty kick) 80:04, ND 5. Kelly Tulisiak 2 (Warner) 86:30, ND 6. Tulisiak 3 (unassisted) 89:06.
SHOTS: SCU 6-4/10, ND 15-8/23.
SAVES: SCU (Gleason) 6-2/8, ND (Wagner) 2-4/6.
CORNER KICKS: SCU 2, ND 3.
FOULS: SCU 18, ND 19.
OFFSIDE: SCU 4, ND 3.
POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM THE SANTA CLARA GAME
ND’s AMY WARNER: “I wouldn’t,t say that I am an impact player yet. I’m just at the end of what a lot of my teammates put together. When you play with players like that, all you have to do is make a run and they put it there for you. So I’m not really doing what they’re doing. .. My speed is all I have. I’m getting some skill with it. It gives you the extra step to think and that contributes a lot to my game. … You just feel like you owe (a game like this) to the older players. What’s the point of putting the work in to come out her and demonstrate a poor showing?
ND’s ANNE MAKINEN: “I think we can go all the way if we play like we played tonight. It was a surprise. I was expecting a much closer game. … They beat us pretty bad last season and then we came back and beat them. So we were kind of ready for them to step up and play tough. … It’s a great honor to hear (the praise from coach Smith). But it’s a team sport and I can only do my part. … I’ve played the top teams in the world. It’s a lot faster, a lot harder. You’ve got to play the ball or you get killed. And, I guess, that’s the only way to learn.”
ND’S RANDY WALDRUM: “To win by that margin, it’s a real surprise. I thought it would be a tight game. But in fairness to Santa Clara, they are without two national team players. We understand what it’s like when we don’t have Anne. It’s a great win for us but it’s not something to get too excited about. … I think what happened was that they pressed so hard in the second half to get the tying goal and then when we got the third goal and kind of dominated for a period of time, it just kind of psychologically lets you done. … I didn’t think that defensively we played a good game tonight, including the defensive play of our midfielders. … Liz Wagner was great in goal for us. Early in the first half when we missed a backside trap, she came up with a breakaway save and she had several saves in the second half that keep it from being tied. She played a big part in the win tonight.”
RECAPPING THE STANFORD GAME (9/10/00): A long and drizzly day at the KeyBank Classic ended on an own goal, as ND emerged with a 2-1 win over 10th-ranked Stanford … ND claimed the lead in the game’s 35th minute but Stanford netted the equalizer early in the second half … the Irish outshot their opponent for the fifth straight game (27-6) … Carly Smolak made 14 saves to keep Stanford in the game and earned the tournament’s Most Valuable Goalkeeper Award … the Cardinal were forced to compete with just 10 players for the final 8:37 of regulation and overtime, after sophomore M Callie Withers was ejected due to a red-card violation (she had retaliated to a foul by aggressively pushing down ND’s Nancy Mikacenic) … Mikacenic sent a pass from the right flank to fellow sophomore M Ashley Dryer, whose short feed set up a one-touch goal from freshman forward Amy Warner … Stanford tied the game on a similar sequence in the 56th minute, with sophomore M Kelly Carlson and senior M Celine DeLeon setting up the second goal of the tournament-and third of the season-from sophomore F Marcia Wallis, with Wagner unable to react to the quick counterattack sequence (55:54) … Makinen’s outlet pass sprung Warner on the winning exchange, with Warner then sending a low cross from the right endline … senior F Meotis Erikson was filling the middle and directed the ball towards the net before a Stanford player stationed near the right post swept the ball away from the goalmouth … but another Stanford player was angling back into the play and deflected the ball between Smolak and the right post (104:42), completing the rapidly-changing sequence.
#10 STANFORD (3-1-0) 0 1 0 – 1
#4 NOTRE DAME (5-0-0) 1 0 1 – 2
ND 1. Amy Warner 5 (Dryer, Mikacenic) 34:35, STAN 1. Marcia Wallis 3 (DeLeon) 55:54, ND 2. Own goal 104:42.
Shots: STAN 6, ND 27
Saves: STAN 16 (Carly Smolak 14), ND 2 (Liz Wagner)
Corner Kicks: STAN 3, ND 6
Fouls: STAN 9, ND 15
Offsides: STAN 0, ND 1
STANFORD POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM WALDRUM: “The bottom line is that it’s great to get a pair of wins over opponents of this caliber. There certainly was a level of sluggishness and inconsistency to our play and that probably was due to some mental and physical fatigue. Anytime you play two games in three days versus opponents of this caliber, it’s going to be tough on your players. We are the only country that presents that type of scheduling challenge to its teams, but we found a way to win and there were many positives to the weekend. We were a little shocked when they tied it up, because we had been dominating the play, and then when Kelly went out it sort of deflated us a little more. But Anne made a great outlet pass to set up the winning goal and Amy pressed the action. Even though it was an own goal, it was a result of the pressure that we were putting on for most of the game. Defensively, none of our back four players were very sharp and we were very average in the midfield. In he first half, we were really dominant but you could tell at times when they would counter that we were just not sharp. You have to give credit to Stanford, they are very difficult to break down because of the way they play. It was a big weekend for Liz Wagner. All three of our goalkeepers have been pretty close but Liz showed us something and had a pretty strong pair of games.”
2000 Notre Dame KeyBank Classic All-Tournament Team
Heather Aldama (Santa Clara, Sr., F, Redlands, CA), Meotis Erikson (Notre Dame, Sr., F, Kenniwick, WA), Anne Makinen (ND, Sr., M, Helsinki, Finland), Mary-Frances Monroe (Connecticut, Jr., F, East Northport, NY, Lauren Molinaro (UConn Sr., M, Ellicott City, MD), Carly Smolak (Stanford, Sr., G, Lake Oswego, OR), Liz Wagner (ND, Jr., G, Spring, TX), Marcia Wallis (Stan., So., F, Los Gatos, CA), Marcie Ward (Stan. Fr., F, Alamo, CA), Amy Warner (ND, Fr., F, Albuquerque, NM) and Veronica Zepeda (SCU, Fr., M, Riverside, CA).
Offensive MVP: Anne Makinen Most Valuable Goalkeeper: Carly Smolak
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).
ANOTHER TYPE OF SHUTOUT: In Notre Dame’s season-opening 6-1 win over Detroit, the Titans 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 33 career games at Notre Dame (with four 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.
INJURY REPORT: Notre Dame lost one of its top players early in the overtime of the Stanford game, as senior defender and two-time team captain Kelly Lindsey left due to injury, with 10:32 left in the first OT. … Lindsey went down after colliding with Irish junior goalkeeper Liz Wagner and a Stanford player, following a free kick that sailed into the penalty box area (her status is still being evaluated) … 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 the next week’s games before returning to action as a reserve in the KeyBank Classic … sophomore G Sani Post (Davis, Calif.) saw her first action of the season in the second half of the Providence 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 (54, 13 in ’99) and senior F Meotis Erikson (47, 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 (they both also scored in the 6-1 win over Santa Clara) … 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 has been used on CKs in the past three games game and set up an Irish goal versus PC 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. 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