Sept. 6, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Four Notre Dame women’s soccer players collected a variety of conference and national weekly honors on Monday afternoon in separate announcements made by the awards’ respective media outlets.
For the second time in the first three weeks of the 2010 season, Notre Dame senior goalkeeper Nikki Weiss (Redding, Conn./Immaculate) was selected as the BIG EAST Conference Goalkeeper of the Week, it was announced Monday afternoon by the league office. It was one of two awards for the Fighting Irish netminder on Monday, as she also was named to the CollegeSoccer360.com Primetime Performers of the Week list, a rundown of the top 11 players in the country from the previous week as chosen by that web site.
Likewise, junior defender/co-captain Jessica Schuveiller (Plano, Texas/Plano West) nabbed national recognition on Monday, returning to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week for the second time. The TDS list also honors the top 11 players in the nation based on their accomplishments during the prior seven days. Both Weiss and Schuveiller copped their initial awards of the season back on Aug. 23.
Rounding out Notre Dame’s award recipients on Monday were senior forward/midfielder Rose Augustin (Silver Lake, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) and senior defender/co-captain Lauren Fowlkes (Lee’s Summit, Mo./St. Teresa’s Academy), each of whom were selected for the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. It’s the first time this season that a Fighting Irish player has appeared on the Honor Roll, which recognizes notable performances by conference players outside those chosen for the BIG EAST’s weekly individual awards.
Weiss played every minute in goal for Notre Dame last weekend, helping the Fighting Irish post shutout victories over No. 8/9 Santa Clara (1-0) and Texas Tech (2-0) to win the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic for the 13th time in its 18-year history. The veteran netminder was named the tournament’s Goalkeeper MVP after recording a career-high seven saves in the win over Santa Clara and adding four more stops against Texas Tech. She also extended her season-opening shutout streak to four matches, marking the second time in three years (and third in program history) that Notre Dame has started a season with four consecutive clean sheets.
Schuveiller and Fowlkes, the BIG EAST Preseason Co-Defensive Players of the Year, were the anchors on the Fighting Irish back line in front of Weiss last weekend, effectively shutting down two potent offensive units. Against Santa Clara, the Notre Dame center backs combined to hold the Broncos without a shot during the final 20 minutes while the Fighting Irish successfully protected a one-goal lead. Two days later, they teamed up to limit Texas Tech to a single shot during the opening 36 minutes, after the Red Raiders came into the contest averaging 2.6 goals/match through their first five outings. For her efforts, Fowlkes was named the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic Defensive MVP.
Augustin was a vital contributor in both Notre Dame victories last week, scoring the gamewinning goal 3:05 into the match against Santa Clara and adding an insurance goal against Texas Tech on a 35-yard rocket a mere 47 seconds after junior forward Melissa Henderson (Garland, Texas/Berkner) put the Fighting Irish on the board. Augustin has a team-high four goals this season (all in the past three matches) and was named the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic Offensive MVP.
Notre Dame goes on the road for the first time this season at 7 p.m. (PT)/10 p.m. (ET) Friday when it travels to Los Angeles to take on No. 11/13 UCLA at Drake Stadium on the opening night of the UCLA Women’s Cup. It will be the first-ever meeting between the Fighting Irish and Bruins in southern California and the first time the two storied programs have met since the 2004 NCAA national championship match, won by Notre Dame on penalties (4-3, after the teams played to a 1-1 draw through two overtimes). Notre Dame will remain on the West Coast for a second match next weekend, paying a visit to Loyola Marymount on Sunday (11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET) in a match that also will be part of the UCLA Women’s Cup.
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 —