April 14, 2002
2002 Fall Schedule
The Notre Dame women’s soccer team will face plenty of formidable challenges during the early part of its 2002 fall schedule – as the Irish are slated to play 11 of 18 regular-season games versus teams that competed in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, including early-season matchups versus defending national champion Santa Clara and perennial powers Portland and Hartford. Notre Dame also will play a pair of preseason exhibition games (Aug. 23 and 25) in nearby Fort Wayne, Ind. (at the IPFW Showcase), versus national power North Carolina and another 2001 NCAA participant, Kentucky,
The other NCAA tournament teams on Notre Dame’s 2002 schedule include Michigan and Brigham Young, plus six BIG EAST Conference rivals: Rutgers, Villanova, West Virginia, Connecticut, Syracuse and Boston College.
Notre Dame’s annual Adidas/Key Bank Classic again will feature an elite field, with Clemson and Notre Dame alternating games in the two-day event versus West Coast Conference powers Santa Clara and Portland. Clemson and Portland will open the tournament on Friday, Sept. 6, at 5:00 p.m., followed by the renewal of the ND-SCU rivalry. The action will conclude at Alumni Field on Sunday, Sept. 8, with the SCU-Clemson game (11:00 a.m.) preceding the ND-Portland matchup.
The other 10 home games for the Irish are highlighted by BIG EAST showdowns with Rutgers (Sept. 20), Connecticut (Oct. 13) and Syracuse (Oct. 25), plus an Oct. 19 matchup with BYU.
Notre Dame will face Hartford (Sept. 13) and host team Maryland (Sept. 15) in another early-season tournament, with the other six road games including dates at Providence (Aug. 30), Villanova (Sept. 27), Georgetown (Sept. 29), West Virginia (Oct. 6), Michigan (Oct. 17) and Boston College (Oct. 27).
BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinal games will be played on Nov. 2 (campus sites), with the semifinals and final on Nov. 8 and 10 at the University of Connecticut. The 64-team NCAA Tournament again will feature campus-site games in the first (Nov. 15), second (Nov. 17) and third rounds (Nov. 22-24), plus the Nov. 29-Dec. 1 quarterfinals. The NCAA semifinals and championship game are slated for Dec. 6 and 8, at Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.
SPRING SEASON UPDATE
Notre Dame’s spring offseason has yielded solid results for the Irish, despite having to field some makeshift lineups. The first four games in the seven-game spring exhibition season have included a 3-2 win over the Mexican National team, a 6-0 win at Marquette, a 1-1 tie at Nebraska and a 1-0 loss to USC (played in Lincoln), with home games remaining versus Illinois, Evansville (both on April 20) and Missouri (April 27).
LINEUP NOTES: The Irish coashing staff has been encouraged by the play of sophomore forwards Amanda Guertin, Melissa Tancredi and Amy Warner, who each tallied a pair of goals during the first four spring games. “Our frontrunners are a very talented group and those three have played very well together this spring,” said head coach Randy Waldrum. “Last fall was the first time that all three had played together, because of Tancredi’s injury the previous fall and Amy’s surgery that held her out last spring. You can really see them becoming more familiar with one another and there’s no reason to think that they can’t develop into one of the best forward units in the country.”
Sophomore Kim Carpenter has started this spring in the midfield, filling the spot held by graduating senior Mia Sarkesian. Carpenter played alongside junior Ashley Dryer and classmate Randi Scheller in the Mexico game, with Scheller then undergoing surgery to correct a shin-splints condition (forcing her to miss the rest of the spring).
Notre Dame’s biggest losses to graduation will come in the defensive third, with three seniors – All-American central marking back Monica Gonzalez, left outside back Lidnsey Jones and goalkeeper Liz Wagner – comprising the bulk of the players lost from the 2001 team. Junior Vanessa Pruzsinsky also missed the Mexico game, while training with the U.S. under-20 national team, with freshmen Gudrun Gunnarsdottir and Mary Boland (typically a midfielder) starting at the central back spots versus Mexico while freshmen Kate Tulisiak started at left back and freshman midfielder Molly Tate saw some time at outside back, along with Freshman All-American starter Candace Chapman. Sophomore Lauren Kent has been the spring starter in the nets, with several big saves in the win over Mexico.
“We’ve seen some good things from the new players in the back during the spring,” said Waldrum. “Kate Tulisiak has done well and gives us a more physical presence while we’ve also experimented with Molly playing in the back. She is very good with the ball, has good technical ability and is a threat down the flanks.
“Gudrun played very well in the Mexico game, particularly in her 1-on-1 defending. She never really got on track last year, after coming in with an injury, but the Mexico game showed the experience she has gained on the national-team level while playing with Iceland. And Lauren has been physically ready to play and is becoming more consistent in practice. There is a learning curve involved as she gains experience but she’s had some solid moments so far this spring.”
ND-MEXICO NOTES: Notre Dame beat Mexico for the second consecutive spring (also 2-1 in 2001), despite the absence of Pruzinsky … ND held a 13-10 shot edge (3-2 in corner kicks) … Mexico’s team included most of its under-19 World Cup squad, plus four members of its World Cup team – led by speedy forwards Maribel Dominguez and Iris Mora … Dominguez opened the scoring in the 14th minute but ND tied the game eight minutes later, after Randi Scheller raced down the left flank and crossed the ball into the goalmouth, with Melissa Tancredi deflecting the ball to Kim Carpenter, who knocked the ball inside the far post … three minutes later, Mary Boland played the ball wide right to Scheller, who then worked the ball to Tancredi, whose low cross found Amanda Guertin for a trap-and-score goal into the lower right corner … Dominguez tied the game in the 31st minute, before Guertin set up Tancredi for the gamewinner with 13 minutes left to play … Guertin brought the ball down the right wing, turned and reversed the ball to the left, where Tancredi settled the cross, beat her defender and blasted a shot that kicked off the hand of diving ‘keeper Mariana Ladron and settled into the right side of the goal … Lauren Kent made five saves for the Irish while Ladron stopped seven ND shots … both teams were whistled for 11 fouls.
OTHER SPRING GAME NOTES: ND’s 6-0 win at Marquette included two goals from A my Warner, with Amanda Guertin, Reagan Jones, Kim Carpenter and Mary Boland also scoring for the Irish (Jen Carter and Melissa Tancredi had assists) … the Irish scored first at Nebraska (on April 13), with Boland feeding the ball to Tancredi, who sent a long shot into the corner of the net in the 56th minute … NU defender Breanna Boyd tied the game with 4:26 left to play … the Huskers held the edge in shots (16-9) and corner kicks (8-2), with NU’s Erin Miller making three saves while Lauren Kent stopped four Huskers shots … USC – which beat Nebraska on Friday night (3-2) – scored in the 15th minute, on a fluke rebound goal, with the Irish failing to cash in numerous quality scoring chances in the second half … ND had to field a makeshift lineup vs. USC, as Ashley Dryer and Boland did not play due to concussions while Vanessa Pruzinsky was held out due to an ankle injury (in addition to the absence of Scheller).
NATIONAL TEAM AND WUSA NOTES: Junior defender Vanessa Pruzinsky continues to be in the mix with the U.S. Under-20 National Team while freshman Candace Chapman is a mainstay with Canada’s under-20 team (as a flank midfielder) and is considered one of top young talents capable of cracking Canada’s full national team … nine former Notre Dame players – third-most from any school – made opening-day rosters for the eight-team Women’s United Soccer Association, which just embarked on its second season of competition … former Irish defenders Kate Sobrero (’98) and Monica Gonzalez (’02) are with the Boston Breakers while 2001 WUSA goalkeeper of the year LaKeysia Beene (’00) and defender Kelly Lindsey (’01) have returned to the defending WUSA champion Bay Area CyberRays … midfielders Shannon Boxx (’99) and Jenny Streiffer-Mascaro (’00) are back with the San Diego Spirit while the Washington Freedom again includes three former ND players: defender Jen Grubb (’00), midfielder Anne Makinen (’01) and midfielder/forward Monica Gerardo (’99) … defender Lindsey Jones (’02) was among San Jose’s final cuts while former ND forward Meotis Erikson (’01) was cut by Boston, after playing for the Breakers last season (former ND midfielder Holly Manthei has retired, after joining Boston late in the 2001 season) … players from six different BIG EAST Conference schools – the second-most from any conference – were on 2002 opening-day WUSA rosters.
WALDRUM ON THE SPRING SEASON: “Overall, this has been a very productive spring for us, as several players take on new roles. We have faced four tough opponents and the team has made some progress in several areas. We told the team that it was a big challenge to play a very physical game with Nebraska and then turn around 14 hours later to play a tough USC team. It was great to see how they responded to that challenge, especially considering the fact that we were missing four of our top players.”