Aug. 23, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame junior defender/co-captain Jessica Schuveiller (Plano, Texas/Plano West) has been selected as the first BIG EAST Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the 2010 season, while senior goalkeeper Nikki Weiss (Redding, Conn./Immaculate) earned the first BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week honor this year, according to an announcement Monday afternoon from the conference office.
Schuveiller wound up being a double award recipient on Monday, as she also was named to the 11-player Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week. It’s the second time in her career that Schuveiller has been chosen for both the conference and national honors, previously having garnered the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week award on Sept. 28, 2009, and the TDS National Team of the Week citation on Nov. 9, 2009.
Meanwhile, Weiss collects the first BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week honor in her career, and the first by a Notre Dame netminder since Sept. 8, 2008, when Kelsey Lysander copped the award. Weiss also has been named a member of the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, earning that distinction on Oct. 12, 2009.
Schuveiller, the 2010 BIG EAST Preseason Co-Defensive Player of the Year, started and played all 180 minutes in Fighting Irish victories over rising Big Ten Conference power Minnesota (1-0) and defending Horizon League champion/’09 NCAA Championship participant Wisconsin-Milwaukee (3-0) last weekend. She played a critical part in both wins, particularly against Milwaukee when she stifled three 1-v-1 opportunities and anchored a Notre Dame back line that held UWM to a single shot on goal in the second half (and none during the final 41 minutes).
Like Schuveiller, Weiss went the distance in both contests last weekend, earning solo shutouts in each case. Against Minnesota, she made three saves, and then against Milwaukee, she recorded five stops, including three in the first 21 minutes of action to thwart an early Panther challenge.
Together, Schuveiller and Weiss have been part of a Notre Dame defense that has allowed 0-1 goals in its last 17 games, a streak that began at Pittsburgh on Oct. 4, 2009, when Weiss took over as the full-time starting goalkeeper for the Fighting Irish. In that time, Notre Dame has gone 15-1-1 while posting 12 shutouts (nine solo and three shared by Weiss) and a 0.29 goals-against average.
The Fighting Irish are in the early stages of a 12-day hiatus before they get back on the pitch at 7:30 p.m. (ET) on Sept. 3 against No. 9/10 Santa Clara on the opening night of the 18th annual Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic at Alumni Stadium. Ole Miss and Texas Tech will square off in the tournament opener at 5 p.m. (ET) on Sept. 3. Two days later, Santa Clara and Ole Miss will tangle at 11 a.m. (ET), followed by Notre Dame and Texas Tech at 1:30 p.m. (ET), also from Alumni Stadium.
Season and single-game tickets for the 2010 Notre Dame soccer campaign are available by contacting the Murnane Family Ticket Office by phone (574-631-7356) or in person (Gate 9 in the new Rosenthal Atrium at Purcell Pavilion) weekdays from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (ET). Fans also can purchase tickets on-line through the tickets page of the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.UND.com/tickets) or by visiting the ticket windows at Alumni Stadium on game day.
For more information on the Notre Dame women’s soccer program, join the Fighting Irish women’s soccer news Twitter page (www.twitter.com/NDsoccernews) or sign up for the Irish ALERT text-messaging system through the sidebar on the women’s soccer page at UND.com.
— ND —