Sept. 20, 2002
Junior forward Amy Warner has seen plenty of overtime games (10) during her two-plus seasons with the Notre Dame women’s soccer team and she has played a leading role in many of those outcomes – including Friday night’s goal with 9:17 left in the second and final OT to lift the seventh-ranked Irish to a 1-0 victory over visiting Rutgers, in both teams’ BIG EAST Conference Mid-Atlantic Division opener at Alumni Field.
Notre Dame (5-2-0) – which is 9-0-3 in its last 12 overtime games, dating back to the 1999 opener – finished with a 10-8 shot edge while Rutgers (4-2-1) held a 6-5 edge in corner kicks. The physical game included 44 fouls (24 by the Irish).
The game marked Notre Dame’s 40th consecutive home win vs. a BIG EAST opponent, with the Irish owning a 44-1-0 all-time home record vs. BIG EAST teams (80-4-2 in all games vs. the BIG EAST). The win also avenged last season’s 2-1 loss at Rutgers, a defeat that ended Notre Dame’s 24-game unbeaten streak in BIG EAST play.
The scoreless first half was a familiar site, as the Irish have yet to allow a first-half goal all season while Notre Dame also has scored just once in the first 45 minutes.
Warner struck in the 101st minute of play, for her fourth goal of the season and 22nd of her career. It was the ninth gamewinning goal of her career (ninth in ND history, three behind classmate Amanda Guertin) and her second overtime score, tying Guertin and 1996 national player of the year Cindy Daws for the Irish record (11 other former ND players scored one OT goal in their careers). Warner also scored in overtime as a sophomore vs. Villanova and had the primary assist on Kelly Tulisiak’s OT goal in the 2001 win over Indiana (she also had the cross that produced an overtime own-goal to beat Stanford in 2000). Guertin holds the ND record for overtime points (6; 2G-2A), followed by Warner and Daws with five each.
Warner’s run down the left flank actually set Friday’s goal sequence in motion, with her cross freeing up freshman Maggie Manning for a shot from the far right side of the box. Christine Caldwell made the save but the ball kicked back into the right flank area and Manning played a thru-ball to Warner, who used her speed to gain some space before arching a crossing shot that ripped into the upper left corner of the net (100:43).
Notre Dame had just three earlier shots on net while engaging in a fierce midfield battle that led to a total of just 10 shots on target in the 101 minutes of play. Irish freshman Erika Bohn made six saves while lowering her season goals-against average to 0.80.
Senior captain Ashley Dryer and sophomore Mary Boland combined in that midfield battle to play a strong defensive game on All-American and U.S. Under-21 National Team member Carli Lloyd, who scored both goals vs. the Irish in 2001 en route to BIG EAST rookie-of-the-year honors (she was held to one shot on Friday).
The Irish again started the game minus injured central defenders Gudrun Gunnarsdottir and Vanessa Pruzinsky, with Pruzinsky entering the game in the 37th minute and playing at both left and central back until late in the first 10-minute overtime. Sophomore Candace Chapman again started the game at central defense while also playing some at left back, with junior midfielder Kim Carpenter again filling in as the starting right back.
Dryer was forced from the game in the 50th minute due to an ankle injury (she is doubtful for Sunday’s 2:00 p.m. game vs. Seton Hall), with freshman Katie Thorlakson then re-entering the game for the final push (Boland had started the second half in the midfield, after opening the game at left back).
RUTGERS 0 0 0 0 – 0
#7 NOTRE DAME 0 0 0 1 – 1
ND 1. Amy Warner 4 (Maggie Manning) 100:43.
Shots: RU 8, ND 10
Corner Kicks: RU 6, ND 5
Saves: RU (Christine Caldwell) 3, ND (Erika Bohn) 6
Fouls: RU 20, ND 24
Offsides: RU 1, ND 2