Sept. 17, 2004
STORRS, Conn. – Kate Tulisiak played in primarily a reserve role during her first two seasons with the Notre Dame women’s soccer team before missing most of ’03 due to a nagging back injury. But Friday night on the slick field at Morrone Stadium, the senior defender picked an ideal time for the first point of her career – intercepting a pass and providing the endline cross as Amanda Cinalli scored in the 84th minute for a 1-0 win over BIG EAST rival Connecticut.
Notre Dame (7-0-0), ranked first in this week’s Soccer America poll, again dominated the statistics and quality scoring chances. The Irish finished with an 18-7 edge in total shots and 9-2 in shots on goal while attempting four of the game’s five corner kicks.
Connecticut (2-4-0), which has totaled just seven goals this season, stayed in the game thanks to a handful of counterattack chances and the strong play of junior goalkeeper Megan Jessee (six saves). The Irish also hit the crossbar twice and had two other shots cleared off the goal line by UConn defenders.
Cinalli and Tulisiak both re-entered the game midway through the second half, shortly before combining on the game’s only goal. UConn had cleared a Jen Buczkowski shot off the line moments earlier and tried to send a pass out to their left flank. Tulisiak anticipated the pass from her right back position and raced in to intercept the ball, running on to the endline before driving a low cross into the box.
Junior midfielder Annie Schefter played a “dummy” move on the pass and Cinalli was filling the middle, making a touch on the ball before quickly sending a shot into the right corner for her fourth goal of the season and first gamewinner (83:34).
Cinalli nearly had scored in the early moments of the game, drilling a 12-yard shot from the right side of the box that was saved by a diving Jessee. She then hit the crossbar moments later, as did Buczkowski on a well-struck ball from 18 yards out.
Notre Dame – which includes a stretch of four straight road games Sunday at Syracuse (1:00 p.m. EDT) – now leads the series with UConn 13-3-2, including 7-1-1 in the last nine meetings. Friday marked the first time in the series history that UConn entered the game outside the national rankings.
The Irish now have held 25 of their last 28 opponents to 0-3 shots on goal, with just 19 opponent shots on goal in seven games this season (2.7 per game). Notre Dame’s season stats now include a 22-5 scoring edge, plus 136-33 in total shots (avg. 20-5), 91-19 in shots on goal (13-3) and 37-13 in corner kicks (5-2).
NOTES – Syracuse will not offer live-stats for Sunday’s game but several in-game updates will be posted on the ND Sports Hotline (574-631-3000, then press 4 and then 2) … ND already is one of just eight unbeaten/untied teams out of 308 in Division I women’s soccer (the others are Virginia, Washington, Illinois, Princeton, UNC Wilmington, UC Riverside and Chattanooga) … ND made several key lineup shifts for the 2002 game vs. UConn (namely shifting Katie Thorlakson form midfield to forward and Melissa Tancredi from forward to central defender) and the Irish now are 31-5-1 in their last 37 games since making those key shifts … ND now is 3-1-2 vs. UConn at Morrone Stadium but had not won at UConn since 1998 (0-0 in ’00, 1-3 in ’02) … the Irish have won the last three games vs. the Huskies (also 3-1 in ’02, 2-0 in `03), outshooting UConn 46-15 in those games (21-6 shots on goal, 13-6 CKs) … the ND-UConn series has been primarily low-scoring (avg. of 3.1 combined goals per game), including the scoreless tie in 2000 and now five 1-0 games … ND has held UConn to 0-2 goals in 12 of the last 13 meetings, with the Irish now holding a 37-20 overall scoring edge in the series … since joining the BIG EAST in 1995, the Irish have won nearly 91% of their games vs. BIG EAST teams (96-8-2) … ND is 7-0-0 for the 9th time in the last 13 seasons … junior G Erika Bohn (a native of Brookfield, Conn.) improved to 36-4-1 in her last 41 starts with the Irish, allowing just 21 goals in those games (25 shutouts, 13 games with 1 GA) … ND now has allowed just 23 first-half goals in the past four seasons, spanning 72 games (0.32 per game) … the Irish own an 11-1 first-half scoring edge this season and 11-4 in the second half … since ’94, ND has scored in 235 of 247 games (.951) … the Irish own a .952 all-time win pct. (281-9-11) when holding the opposition to 0-1 goals.
HEAD COACH RANDY WALDRUM – “Kate made a great read to intercept the ball and we all are so happy for her. She has been such a hard worker and really has come on during the last six months or so. … Our depth was a key tonight because of the tempo of the game. We felt very comfortable with putting so many players into the game and that can make all the difference in a 1-0 game like this. … It was a wet, slick night and their goalkeeper played very well, her best game of the season. UConn was very good in their counterattacks and very direct in their play. We felt like they might score off a free kick or counter but not in the run of play. … One thing we need to work on is making a quicker transition from the attack to the defense, but overall we controlled the game tonight. … There was a great pace out there tonight. It was end-to-end, like an NBA game. .. After the goal, we did a great job of keeping the pressure on and taking the wind out of them.
KATE TULISIAK – “They tried to play the ball to the forward on my side but I took the ball and made two touches down the sideline before crossing it into the box and Amanda scored. … It’s an awesome feeling to be able to contribute to the team like I was able to do tonight. I’m excited and very glad that we won. … Last spring, I gained a lot of confidence just playing in games and the same goes with this summer playing in the W-League (with the Ohio Internationals). The confidence and experience from both the spring and summer really have helped my play this fall.”
AMANDA CINALLI – “When Kate first got the ball, nobody was marking me so I just made a run for the top of the six. Kate played an awesome ball in and it skipped around a bit but I was able to make a touch and get a good shot into the corner. … Their `keeper had a great game. She got to a lot of balls and had some diving saves. … Playing last summer in the W-League and then the preseason trip to Brazil has helped a lot with my adjustment to the speed and physical play at the college level. This has been a great start to the season and a very enjoyable experience. I just love this team and they all work so hard to be the best. It’s great to be a part of it.”
#1 Notre Dame (7-0-0) 0 1 – 1
Connecticut (2-4-0) 0 0 – 0
ND 1. Amanda Cinalli 4 (Kate Tulisiak) 83:34.
Shots: ND 10-8 – 18, UConn 5-3 – 8.
Corner Kicks: ND 2-2 – 4, UConn 0-1 – 1.
Saves: ND 2 (Erika Bohn), UConn 8.
Fouls: ND 9, UConn 5.
Offsides: ND 6, UConn 1.