Sept. 3, 2016
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame women’s soccer team will look for its third straight win Sunday when it welcomes Missouri to Alumni Stadium for the first meeting between the programs.
WHAT: Match 6
WHO: No. 23 Notre Dame (4-1-0) vs. Missouri (4-1-0)
WHERE: Alumni Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
WHEN: 5:00 p.m. (ET) – Sept. 4, 2016
LIVE STREAM: ACC Network Extra
STATS:
TWITTER: @NDSoccer
GAME NOTES
Scouting Missouri
The Tigers enter Sunday’s contest with a 4-1-0 recording, having won three straight matches, including a 4-1 victory over San Francisco on Friday in Columbia, Missouri.
Mizzou is led in scoring by forward Sarah Luebbert, who has 10 points on four goals and two assists and is the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week after scoring the game-winning goal in overtime against Illinois and setting up the free kick that led to the overtime game-winner against Colorado. Melanie Donaldson, who was a second-team All-SEC pick last season, has four points on two goals for the Tigers, who were picked to finish sixth in the SEC.
Last Time Out
The Irish opened the weekend with a 1-0 win over Illinois State on Friday, highlighted by junior forward Kaitlin Klawunder’s header goal in the 41st minute off a Cindy Pineda corner kick. It was Klawunder’s first game of the season after missing Notre Dame’s first four contests with a knee injury. The goal was the third of her career and second game-winner.
Senior goalkeeper Kaela Little also recorded four saves, including three in the second half. It was Little’s 26th career shutout and fourth of the season.
Shutting ‘Em Down
In Notre Dame’s four victories this season, the Irish have not allowed a goal, good for a 0.40 goals against average this season. Notre Dame is one of eight Atlantic Coast Conference teams to have allowed two goals or less through Friday’s games.
The (Almost) 2-0 Guarantee
Notre Dame is a combined 365-1-1 (.996) all-time when claiming a 2-0 lead, and has won 338 of its last 339 contests when going ahead 2-0 (since a 3-3 draw with Vanderbilt on Sept. 15, 1991, in Cincinnati). The only loss in that span was a 3-2 defeat in double overtime against North Carolina (9/20/14).
In fact, just three of the past 246 Fighting Irish opponents to face a 2-0 deficit have won or even came back to tie, something achieved by five opponents in Notre Dame history: Duke on Oct. 17, 1993, in Houston (ND won 3-2), Connecticut on Nov. 10, 1996, in the BIG EAST final at old Alumni Field (ND led 2-0, later tied 2-2 and 3-3, ND won 4-3), Duke on Nov. 30, 2007, in the NCAA quarterfinals at old Alumni Field (ND won 3-2), Villanova on Oct. 12, 2008 in Villanova, Pa. (ND won 3-2 in OT), and most recently, North Carolina on Sept. 20, 2014 at Alumni Stadium (UNC won 3-2 in 2OT).
— ND —
Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, and earned her master’s degree in sports industry management from Georgetown University in 2013.