November 4, 1998
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Notre Dame’s three-time defending BIG EAST champion women’s soccer team began its quest for a fourth consecutive BIG EAST title with a 5-0 quarterfinal win over West Virginia on Tues., Nov. 3, at Alumni Field. The win puts the Irish into the championship semifinals on Fri., Nov. 6, at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium in Storrs, Conn. Notre Dame will face the winner of Wednesday’s quarterfinal game between third-seeded Syracuse and sixth-seeded Pittsburgh. Fifth-seeded Boston College and top-seeded Connecticut will play at 10:00 a.m., with Notre Dame to play in the second semifinal at 12:00 p.m.
Irish In The BIG EAST Championship: Notre Dame is making its fourth appearance in the BIG EAST championship after winning the title in each of their three years in the conference. The Irish beat Connecticut 1-0 in 1995, 4-3 in 1996 and 6-1 in 1997 in the finals to claim the BIG EAST titles.
West Virginia Recap: Seniors Monica Gerardo (Simi Valley, Calif.) and Shannon Boxx (Torrance, Calif.) combined for three goals to lead the fifth-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team to a 5-0 win over West Virginia in a BIG EAST championship quarterfinal game at Alumni Field on Tuesday. Boxx scored the game-winning goal at 22:01 in the first half with a header from a cross from a free kick from the right endline from junior defender Jen Grubb (Hoffman Estates, Ill.).
Leading 1-0 at halftime, Notre Dame scored three goals in a 15-minute span to build a 4-0 lead in the 64th minute. Junior Jenny Streiffer (Baton Rouge, La.) finished a give-and-go with Gerardo at 48:05 for a 2-0 lead. Gerardo then headed in two crosses from senior Laura Vanderberg (Kalamazoo, Mich.) and Streiffer for scores at 58:53 and 63:14. Sophomore Kerri Bakker (Washington, N.J.) closed out the scoring with the first goal of her career at 87:39 with a volley from a cross by freshman Lindsey Jones.
Notre Dame outshot West Virginia 17-3 in the first half and 20-1 in the second half for a 37-4 advantage in shots. Mountaineer goalkeeper Stacy Adams made 13 saves, including several saves from point-blank shots.
Irish in Conference Championships: Notre Dame has never lost a conference tournament game, claiming each conference championship in which it has played. The Irish won Midwestern Collegiate Conference titles in 1993 and 1994 before beginning their string of BIG EAST titles in 1995 with an all-time conference championship record of 11-0-0. Here’s how Notre Dame has fared in each conference championship:
1993 MCC Championship
SF: Notre Dame 5, Butler 1
F: Notre Dame 4, Xavier 0
1994 MCC Championship
QF: Notre Dame 7, Wright State 0
SF: Notre Dame 10, Xavier 0
F: Notre Dame 5, Butler 1
1995 BIG EAST Championship
SF: Notre Dame 3, Rutgers 0
F: Notre Dame 1, Connecticut 0
1996 BIG EAST Championship
SF: Notre Dame 7, Villanova 0
F: Notre Dame 4, Connecticut 3
1997 BIG EAST Championship
SF: Notre Dame 7, Villanova 0
F: Notre Dame 6, Connecticut 1
Streiffer Joins Elite Group: Junior midfielder Jenny Streiffer (Baton Rouge, La.) became just the eighth player in NCAA women’s soccer history to score at least 50 goals and record at least 50 assists in a career. Streiffer entered the Wisconsin game with 49 goals and 51 assists in her career. With the Irish clinging to a 2-1 lead midway through the second half against the Badgers, Streiffer blasted a shot from the top of the box into the net for the 50th goal of her career. Former Irish All-American and national player of the year Cindy Daws not only is one of the eight members of the 50-50 club, but she scored 61 goals and 67 assists in her career and is one of just three players in the 60-60 club. Streiffer enters the BIG EAST championship semifinal with 51 goals and 54 assists.
Gerardo Moving On Up: Senior forward Monica Gerardo (Simi Valley, Calif.) has put up 12 points in the last four games to up her career point total to 180, moving her past Irish four-time All-American Holly Manthei’s 176 points for second place in the Notre Dame recordbook. Gerardo’s 180 career points (68 goals and 44 assists) place her 18th all-time in the NCAA women’s soccer history. The next player ahead of Gerardo among the all-time NCAA scorers is Cindy Daws, who also leads the Notre Dame list with 189 points from 1993-96. Gerardo already has broken Daws’ record for career goals with her 68 goals, seven better than Daws’ 61.
Heft Ties Record: Another of Cindy Daws’ Notre Dame records appears ready to fall as junior forward Jenny Heft (Germantown, Wis.) tied the record for goals in a season with four goals last weekend. Daws scored 26 goals in 26 games as a senior in 1996 on her way to winning the Hermann Trophy and the Missouri Athletic Club national player of the year award. Heft also has scored 26 goals this season in 20 games and hopes to break the record tonight against West Virginia.
Irish Draw Record-Setting Crowds: Notre Dame recently drew another record-setting crowd to one of its women’s soccer games in its 1-0 win at Michigan on Oct. 23. The Irish drew 1,092 fans to their overtime win at the Michigan Soccer Field, the fifth game this season in which Notre Dame has played in front of more than 1,000 fans. Earlier in the season, Notre Dame and North Carolina played in front 6,024 fans at Fetzer Field, the largest regular-season crowd in Tar Heel history.
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 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. Notre Dame 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.
Irish Named Finalists: Three Notre Dame juniors have been named finalists for the Missouri Athletic Club Sports Foundation Collegiate Player of the Year award, which will be presented Jan. 8, 1999. All-American goalkeeper, LaKeysia Beene (Gold River, Calif.), All-American defender Jen Grubb (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) and All-American midfielder Jenny Streiffer are three of the 15 candidates for the award and were chosen by balloting of coaches of the top 20 teams in the preseason rankings. The winner of the award, which recognizes the top American born or naturalized college soccer player, will be selected in balloting by approximately 800 coaches from across the country.
Head Coach Chris Petrucelli: Chris Petrucelli is in his ninth season as head coach of Notre Dame’s women’s soccer team after leading the Irish to their fourth straight NCAA championship weekend appearance in 1997. Petrucelli was named NSCAA coach of the year for the second consecutive year after guiding Notre Dame to its first NCAA women’s soccer title in 1995, becoming the first coach to win the honor two straight years. The Orange, N.J., native owns a 171-21-10 record with an .871 winning percentage that is second best among all NCAA Division I women’s soccer coaches, active and nonactive. During his eight seasons as head coach, Petrucelli has coached his players to 21 NSCAA All-America selections, including 18 since 1994, the most in the country during that span.
Irish In Front: Notre Dame has trailed just 65:45 of 1854:07 in its 20 games this season, about only three percent of its total minutes played. Only North Carolina (45:08), Seton Hall (15:51) and Pittsburgh (4:46) have held leads over the Irish. Notre Dame has led for 67 percent of the minutes played and been tied during 30 percent of the action, with six percent of those minutes coming in the 1-0 double overtime win at Michigan.
Petrucelli Coaches 200th: In his ninth year as head coach at Notre Dame, Chris Petrucelli reached a coaching milestone on Fri., Oct. 30. Petrucelli led the Irish to a 6-1 win over Wisconsin in his 200th game as a collegiate coach.
Irish Among NCAA Leaders: Notre Dame is first in the latest NCAA national statistics in scoring offense with 4.32 goals per game, fourth in shutouts per game with 13 in 19 games and ninth in team defense with 0.61 goals per game.
Individually, Jenny Heft is third in goals per game with 26 goals in 19 games for a 1.37 average and fourth in points per game with 2.95. Sophomore All-American midfielder Anne Makinen (Helsinki, Finland) is seventh in points per game with 2.67 and fourth in assists per game with 0.93, while Jen Grubb is fifth in assists with 0.84. LaKeysia Beene is 11th in goals against average with 0.68.
Irish Among BIG EAST Leaders: Notre Dame finished with three of the top five scorers in the BIG EAST in conference games. Jenny Heft led the conference in goals with 15 goals and three assists for 33 points, tied with Seton Hall’s Kelly Smith, who finished the regular season with 14 goals and five assists. Anne Makinen was third with 10 goals and 10 assists for 30 points, while Monica Gerardo was fifth with nine goals and six assists for 24 points. In all games played, the Irish have scored the most goals (82), recorded the most assists (98) and shutouts (13) and have compiled the second lowest goals against average (0.61) in all games.
Quick Strikes: Notre Dame has scored first in 19 of 20 games this season, with two goals in the first minute of the game, against North Carolina (0:55) and Rutgers (0:56). The Irish have scored four times in the first three minutes and in the first 10 minutes in nine of their 20 games. The longest the Irish have gone with a goal in a regulation game came in the 3-1 win at Boston College after breaking a 0-0 tie with a goal at 53.44. Notre Dame won 1-0 in double overtime at Michigan with a goal at 112:58. Pittsburgh, the only team to score first against Notre Dame, also has scored the quickest against the Irish with its goal at 7:36.
Irish Career Record Book
Points1. Cindy Daws, 1993-96 189 (61 G, 67 A)2. Monica Gerardo, 1995-98 180 (68 G, 44 A)3. Holly Manthei, 1994-97 176 (24 G, 128 A)4. Michelle McCarthy, 1992-95 156 (59 G, 38 A) Jenny Streiffer, 1996-98 156 (51 G, 54 A)6. Rosella Guerrero, 1992-95 142 (55 G, 32 A)7. Jenny Heft, 1996-98 136 (58 G, 20 A)8. Shannon Boxx, 1995-98 129 (37 G, 55 A)
Goals1. Monica Gerardo, 1995-98 682. Cindy Daws, 1993-96 613. Michelle McCarthy, 1992-95 594. Jenny Heft, 1996-98 585. Jenny Streiffer, 1996-98 506. Alison Lester, 1990-93 457. Susie Zilvitis, 1988-91 438. Shannon Boxx, 1995-98 36 Anne Makinen, 1997-98 36
NSCAA Top 25 (10/26)
Team Record Pts Last Wk. 1. North Carolina * 18-0-0 300 1 2. Santa Clara 17-0-1 288 2 3. Connecticut * 17-0-2 274 3 4. Florida 18-1-0 266 4 5. NOTRE DAME 16-2-1 250 5 6. Portland 14-2-2 242 6 7. Dartmouth 14-1-1 211 7 8. William & Mary 13-2-2 204 8 9. San Diego State 15-2-1 197 1010. Vanderbilt 14-4-0 195 1211. Penn State 16-3-1 179 1112. Baylor 15-3-1 158 1613. Virginia 12-5-2 146 1314. Clemson 13-5-0 145 1415. BYU 16-3-0 125 2016. Northwestern 14-3-1 120 1817. Nebraska 14-3-1 115 918. Hartford 13-4-1 110 1519. James Madison 12-6-1 80 2320. UCLA 15-3-1 73 1721. Wake Forest * 12-5-1 69 2122. Wisconsin * 10-6-2 51 NR23. Harvard 10-4-1 47 2224. Michigan * 12-3-1 24 1925. Alabama 12-5-1 14 NR
* indicates 1998 Notre Dame opponents
BIG EAST Women’s Soccer Championship
Quarterfinals
Tues., Nov. 3, 1998
#5 Boston College 2, Seton Hall 1
#1 Connecticut 5, #8 Villanova 0
#2 Notre Dame 5, #7 West Virginia 0
Wed., Nov. 4, 1998
#3 Syracuse vs. #6 Pittsburgh
Semifinals, Fri., Nov. 6, at Storrs, Conn.
#5 Boston College at #1 Connecticut – 10 a.m.
#2 Notre Dame vs. – 12 p.m.
#3 Syracuse/#6 Pittsburgh
Final, Sun., Nov. 8, at Storrs, Conn.
Semifinal winners – 12 p.m.
Irish in BIG EAST Championships
Name (games) G A PtsMonica Gerardo (7) 4 6 14Jenny Streiffer (5) 5 3 13Anne Makinen (3) 4 1 9Shannon Boxx (7) 3 2 8Kara Brown (5) 2 1 5Meotis Erikson (3) 2 1 5Jenny Heft (3) 2 1 5Kerri Bakker (1) 1 0 2LaKeysia Beene (1) 1 0 2Monica Gonzalez (2) 1 0 2Iris Lancaster (2) 1 0 2Lindsey Jones (1) 0 1 1Kelly Lindsey (3) 0 1 1Laura Vanderberg (5) 0 1 1