Sept. 26, 2000

SHORT HOMESTAY: The top-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team (9-0-0) remains home for a pair of BIG EAST Conference Mid-Atlantic Division games this week, versus Seton Hall (Friday, 5:30) and Rutgers (Sunday, 3:00) … the road-weary Irish struggled to find the net last week in victories at upstart West Virginia (2-1, overtime) and at home versus Pittsburgh (1-0), despite holding a 52-9 combined shot edge in those games (ND launched 30 shots on goal while allowing four in the two games) … the Irish are in the midst of playing eight straight BIG EAST Conference games … Notre Dame’s only remaining games versus teams currently in the NSCAA top 25 are Oct. 13 at home versus Boston College (7:30 p.m.) and Oct. 21 at Connecticut (1:00 p.m.).

Notre Dame Women’s Soccer Schedule (listings indicate local starting times)

Fri., Sept. 29 vs. Seton Hall (5:30 p.m.)

Sun., Oct. 1 vs. Rutgers (3:00 p.m.)

MORE BIG EAST AWARDS: Notre Dame women’s soccer senior defender Kelly Lindsey (Omaha, Neb.) and freshman forward Amy Warner (Albuquerque, N.M.) have been honored by the BIG EAST Conference for the third time in the last four weeks, after playing leading parts in the pair of Irish wins last week over West Virginia (2-1) and Pittsburgh (1-0) … Lindsey spearheaded a defensive effort that allowed a total of just two corner kicks and nine shots-only four of them on net-during last week’s action … the Irish held Pittsburgh to no corner kicks and just one shot (off net) and did not allow a shot from the Panthers in the final 76 minutes of the game … Warner opened the scoring in the 29th minute of the West Virginia game, after using her speed to get behind the WVU defense on a cross from the right flank (she one-touched a leftfooted shot into the net for a 1-0 Irish lead) … two days later, Warner set up the goal-scoring sequence versus Pittsburgh when she made a run through the left side of the box before chipping a pass back to the top of the box to set up Anne Makinen’s game-winning goal in the 34th minute … ND players have combined to earn the last four BIG EAST defensive player-of-the-week awards, with senior Kerri Bakker earning the honor for the week of Sept. 18-24.

PLAYING WITH THE LEAD: Notre Dame has yet to trail this season while holding the lead for nearly 65 percent of the minutes played … just three teams have managed to forge a tie versus the Irish this season: Providence, Stanford and West Virginia.

SHUTOUT STREAK: Notre Dame senior goalkeeper Liz Wagner (Spring, Texas) and the Irish defenders have allowed just one goal (on a penalty kick at West Virginia) in the last 408 minutes of action, stretching back to Stanford’s goal in the 80th minute on Sept. 10 … Wagner and the Irish allowed just one goal in each game of the KeyBank Classic, versus two of the nation’s top teams (Santa Clara, Stanford), before posting a pair of shutouts in the Portland adidas Invitational (vs. #15 Washington and current #14 Portland), the 2-1 win at WVU and a 1-0 win over Pittsburgh … in the win over SCU, Wagner made seven big saves, including an early breakaway and a diving stop in the second half … she finished the KeyBank Classic weekend with 10 saves, as the backstop to an Irish defense that allowed just 16 shots … Wagner then made six saves at the Portland Invitational but turned in several other big plays in both games (she thwarted two early scoring chances by Washington before holding off Portland’s late charge) … Wagner is in the midst of her first season as a starter while facing the challenge of replacing All-American Lakeysia Beene while losing two starting defenders from ’99 team (including four-time All-American Jen Grubb).

MAKIN’ WAVES: Notre Dame senior midfielder Anne Makinen (Helsinki, Finland)-who has points in seven of nine games this season-has been the focal point of the Irish offense this season, as the three-year All-American has scored or assisted on half of ND’s goals (15 of 30), including three game-winning goals and three primary game-winning assists (her outlet pass also sprung Amy Warner for the cross that led to the game-ending own goal versus Stanford) … with her team struggling to cash in its chances vs. Tulsa on Sept. 1, Makinen took over in the lategoing by scoring a pair of goals for a 2-0 win … two days later, in the 5-1 win over Providence, Makinen’s play from her central midfield spot helped the Irish eclipse 30 shots for the third straight game … her pass into the middle set up Amy Warner’s second goal of the PC game and Makinen added a long cross late in that game that Warner half-volleyed to complete her hat trick … she went on to record a goal and two assists in the 6-1 win over second-ranked Santa Clara before setting up the game-ending sequence versus Stanford … at the Portland Invitational, Makinen’s long cross set up Ali Lovelace’s goal for a 2-0 lead on Washington and Makinen added a rebound goal and penalty-kick score in that 5-0 game … the next day, her cross from the right set up Meotis Erikson’s goal in the 1-0 win over Portland … most recently, Makinen’s rocket shot from the top of the box held up as the only score in a 1-0 game with Pittsburgh.

ROAD STRETCH AHEAD: Notre Dame next week starts a stretch in which it will play six of its final seven regular-season games away from home, with the lone home game in that stretch being the Oct. 13 matchup with current 16th-ranked Boston College … despite the six road games in October, the Irish then potentially could spend most of the postseason playing at Alumni Field (the BIG EAST semifinals and final will be played at Notre Dame, on Nov. 3 and 5)-with as many as six straight postseason games in the home confines.

IRISH REMAIN NO. 1: The Notre Dame women’s soccer program (9-0-0) has returned to the top of the national polls for the first time since 1996, following a pair of quality wins on Sept. 16-17 over Washington (5-0) and Portland (1-0) and North Carolina’s 2-1 loss at upstart Clemson … North Carolina (now 10-1-0) dropped out of the top spot and currently is ranked fourth in the National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA) poll … the Irish are ranked first in the NSCAA poll and various other polls conducted by soccer-specific publications and websites, including the long-running poll compiled by the editors of Soccer America magazine, the SoccerTimes.com coaches poll and the American Soccer Writers media poll (coordinated by collegesoccerdaily.com).

SCOUTING THE IRISH: Notre Dame returns 16 of 22 letterwinners but lost five starters from its ’99 team that went 21-4-1 and advanced to the NCAA title game … senior M and leading national player-of-the-year candidate Anne Makinen (7G-8A) has scored or assisted on half of ND’s goals this season (15 of 30) while other top scorers include freshman forwards Amy Warner (6G-3A) and Amanda Guertin (4G-1A) and senior F Meotis Erikson (4G-3A) … junior Elizabeth Wagner has played most of the minutes in the nets, with 19 saves and four goals allowed (one on a PK).

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Information on the Pirates can be found at www.shu.edu while Rutgers information is located at www.scarletknights.com.

BIG GAPS: Notre Dame has compiled an eye-popping 246-49 shot advantage through the first nine games of the 2000 season (holding seven of those opponents to 1-8 shots, with four managing just 1-2 shots) … the Irish also own a 69-21 season edge in corner kicks (8-2 average) and have allowed just 26 shots on goal (2.9/gm) while attempting 147 (16.3/gm).

WALDRUM WORKING WONDERS: Second-year Notre Dame head coach Randy Waldrum has seen his Irish teams post an impressive 30-4-1 combined record (.871), including a solid 9-3-1 mark versus NSCAA top-25 teams and a 1999 season that ended in the NCAA Championship title game … Waldrum in ’99 became the only coach in the 18-year history of the NCAA women’s soccer championship to lead a team to the title game in his first season as that team’s head coach … he was the fourth first-year coach to take his team to the NCAA semi-finals, with the Irish beating top-ranked and previously unbeaten Santa Clara in their backyard of San Jose, Calif. … Waldrum’s 19-year record as a college head coach (with both men’s and women’s teams) is 213-109-20 (.652) … he owns a 137-54-13 (.703) record in 10-plus seasons as a Division I women’s coach, including 61-36-9 in six years at Tulsa (.580) and 46-14-3 in three seasons at Baylor … Waldrum ranks 15th among active women’s coaches for career winning percentage (he ranks 26th on the total wins list).

BREAKING THE SEAL: Three different Notre Dame players-senior M Anne Makinen, senior F Meotis Erikson and freshman F Amy Warner-each have scored the first goal of the game three times this season … Makinen opened the scoring in the Detroit, Tulsa and Pittsburgh games while Erikson scored first versus Santa Clara, Washington and Portland … Warner broke the ice in the games versus Providence, Stanford and West Virginia.

ANNE’S ARSENAL: Anne Makinen reached 10 points in three games this season and 20 points (6G-8A) through seven games, despite being marked heavily as ND’s top returning offensive weapon (she now has 22 points, 7G-8A, in nine games) .. Makinen’s quick start factors out to 64 points over the course of 26 games (Cindy Daws owns the ND record for points in a season, with 72 in 1996) … Makinen heads into this week’s action with a career average of 2.20 points per game (165 points in 75 games) … her 58 career goals rank 6th in ND history, just one behind ’96 graduate Michelle McCarthy (Daws is fourth on the career goals list, with 61) … Makinen’s 49 career assists recently moved her past former teammates Monica Gerardo (’95-’98) and Kara Brown (’96-’99) into 6th on the ND career assists list (Gerardo and Brown each had 44) … Makinen’s 165 career points are 6th in ND history-she recently passed ’96 grad. Michelle McCarthy (156)-and she needs to total 48 points this season to pass Gerardo into 2nd on the ND all-time scoring list (Makinen would need a 69-point season to surpass all-time leading scorer and 2000 graduate Jenny Streiffer).

ANOTHER TYPE OF SHUTOUT: In Notre Dame’s season-opening 6-1 win over Detroit, the Titans nearly scored the game’s first goal during an early flurry but Notre Dame responded by holding the Titans without a shot for the game’s final 83 minutes … the final shot margin (49-2) ranks as one of the largest in Notre Dame women’s soccer history (the team record for shots in a game is 59) … the Irish then gave up an early shot (not on goal) by Pittsburgh before holding the Panthers without a shot in the final 76 minutes of that game.

HOMESTANDERS: Notre Dame’s home record in 10-plus seasons at Alumni Field is 109-7-1 (.936), including an 85-3-1 mark in the last 89 games-highlighted by a 27-game winning streak from 1992-95 (the fifth-longest home winning streak in NCAA women’s soccer history) … ND’s last three home losses have been at the hands of fifth-ranked Connecticut in ’95 (5-4, OT), sixth-ranked Portland in the ’98 NCAA quarterfinals (2-1) and top-rated North Carolina in the ’99 opener (3-2, OT) …the Irish currently carry a 15-game home winning streak … Notre Dame’s all-time record at Alumni Field versus teams not ranked in the NSCAA poll is 73-1-0 (35-6-1 vs. ranked teams), with 67 straight home wins over unranked teams dating back to a 1990 loss to Creighton (2-0) … Notre Dame played at Moose Krause Field in the program’s first two seasons (1988 and ’89) , with a home record of 19-5-1 during that span (all vs. unranked teams).

NO. 1 HISTORY: The previous year in which Notre Dame sat atop the NSCAA poll during the regular season was 1996, when the Irish owned the top spot for the final two months of the season (a 2-1 win over UNC on Oct. 4 of that year, followed by a 2-0 win over Duke, bumped the Irish up from the No. 2 spot) … Notre Dame also spent the final month of the 1994 season as the No. 1-ranked team, thanks to an earlier 0-0 tie with UNC and the Tar Heels’ loss to Duke in early October.

ND HEAD COACH RANDY WALDRUM ON BEING NO. 1: “To be ranked No. 1 is a tremendous honor for our team and the players deserve a lot of credit, because we’ve kind of snuck up on some people who thought-justifiably so-that we might be down a little after graduating five starters, three of whom were All-Americans. Along those lines, we truly are a team that still is developing its identity and we have some huge strides ahead of us. The team feels very honored to be No. 1 but they know that we still have a lot of work to do. At the same time, you can’t minimize what this group has accomplished. We beat four of the nation’s top teams in succession, including two of the nation’s premier programs in Santa Clara and Stanford, a win over Washington after a long roadtrip, and the victory over Portland in a tough atmosphere, with almost 4,000 fans that were very vocal and are right on top of you. So, it’s certainly a special moment for Notre Dame soccer … but we hope that there are many more to come this season.”

TOP-25 NOTES: Notre Dame is one of four undefeated and untied teams in the NSCAA top 25, with the others including second-ranked Clemson, No. 3 Nebraska and Brown (25th). Notre Dame’s strength of schedule has improved since the start of the 2000 season, as Portland (23rd), Washington (10th), BC (16th) and Michigan (not currently ranked) each have entered the NSCAA poll in recent weeks. Other 2000 Irish opponents currently ranked in the NSCAA poll include No. 13 Stanford and 15th-ranked Santa Clara (Connecticut received the 28th-most votes).

BULLSEYE ON THEIR BACKS: The Irish own a 22-3-0 record (11-1-0 in the regular season) when playing as the top-ranked team in the NSCAA poll … ND’s losses as the No. 1 team have come at Santa Clara in the 1996 regular season (3-1) and in a pair of NCAA title games versus North Carolina (5-0 in 1994, 1-0 in ’96).

CALLING ALL FINISHERS!: One of Notre Dame’s primary tasks in 2000 is replacing the firepower lost in graduates Jenny Heft (80 career goals, 20 in ’99) and Jenny Streiffer (70, 19 in ’99)-with senior M Anne Makinen (58, 13 in ’99) and senior F Meotis Erikson (50, 14 in ’99) among the top candidates to boost their goalscoring … those players combined to score the first two goals in the win over Detroit and Makinen added both scores in the 2-0 win over Tulsa … they both also scored in the 6-1 win over Santa Clara while Erikson had both game-winners at the Portland Invitational while Makinen had two goals in the 5-1 win over Washington and the lone Irish goal versus Pittsburgh (1-00 … Makinen has been urged by the coaching staff to become more selfish with her scoring opportunities and will be looking to have a season similar to her freshman campaign, when she scored 23 goals (she had 15 in ’98 and 13 in ’99).

“TRIPLE-A” OFFENSE TO THE RESCUE: Notre Dame’s “triple-A combination”-sophomore Ali Lovelace (2G) and freshmen Amanda Guertin (4G-1A) and Amy Warner (6G-3A)-turned in an impressive debut in the win over Detroit and has provided the Irish with a new-and needed-dimension up front due to their speed … that threesome has combined for 12 of ND’s 30 goals and four assists this season, including Lovelace’s pair of crafty goals in the 5-0 win over Washington … Guertin and Warner (who had a hat trick versus Providence) combined to have a hand in all three Irish goals last week, as Warner used her speed to get behind he West Virginia offense for a 1-0 lead while Guertin made things happen in overtime for the unassisted game-winner to beat the Mountaineers … two days later, Warner’s run into the box and pass to Anne Makinen set up the only goal in the 1-0 game with Pittsburgh.

PRETTY GOOD CHANCE AT 50-50: Anne Makinen entered the 2000 season as the nation’s only active player with 40-plus goals and 40-plus assists in her career (51G-41A) and now stands one assist shy of becoming the 13th player in Division I history-and the third ND player-to eclipsed the 50-50 plateau .. Jenny Streiffer (70G-71A, 1996-99) and ’97 grad. Cindy Daws (61G-67A) are the only previous ND players to reach 50 career goals and 50 assists … Makinen also has a good shot at reaching 60-60 in her career, needing two goals and 11 assists to become the sixth Division I player to earn that distinction … the current members of the 60-60 club include Streiffer, Daws, Carin Jennings (102G-60A, UC Santa Barbara, ’83-’86), Mia Hamm (103G-72A, North Carolina, ’89-’93) and Mandy Clemens (67G-65A, Santa Clara, ’96-’99) … 12 more goals and 21 more assists would place Makinen alongside Streiffer and Hamm in the very exclusive 70-70 club.

NO BIG DEAL: Notre Dame senior midfielder Anne Makinen-who had a goal and two assists in the recent 6-1 win over Santa Clara-was named offensive MVP of the KeyBank Classic, marking the fifth time in her career that she has been named a tournament MVP (including ND’s ’97 adidas/Lady Footlocker Classic, the ’98 KeyBank Classic and the ’97 and ’99 BIG EAST Championships).

WEST VIRGINIA RECAP – Amy Warner gave ND an early 1-0 lead but her classmate Amanda Guertin saved the day with a goal in the 10th minute of OT, as the top-ranked Irish survived in a 2-1 game at the Mountaineer Soccer Complex … the Irish owned a 25-8 shot edge while holding an 8-2 edge in corner kicks … WVU (7-2-0)-which entered the week on the fringe of the national top-25 rankings-forged a tie early in the second half, when junior Katie Barnes converted a penalty kick into the lower left corner, after Irish defender Lindsey Jones had taken down a WVU player on a crossing pass from the left wing (56:50) … Guertin’s fourth goal of the season came after a scramble for the ball in the WVU end, with Guertin dribbling down the center of the field and eluding several WVU players before striking a low shot inside the left post (99:49) .. .a quick counterattack gave Notre Dame its first-half lead, with sophomore midfielder Nancy Mikacenic crossing the ball from the right flank … Warner slanted in behind the WVU defense and one-timed a leftfooted shot into the net for her sixth goal of the season (28:18) … WVU sophomore goalkeeper Melissa Haire kept her squad in the game with 10 saves .. ND’s Liz Wagner saw her shutout streak end at 285 minutes, when Barnes scored on the penalty kick.

WEST VIRGINIA (7-2-0) 0 1 0 – 1

#1 NOTRE DAME (8-0-0) 1 0 1 – 2

ND 1. Amy Warner 6 (Nancy Mikacenic) 28:18, WVU 1. Katie Barnes (penalty kick) 56:50, ND 2. Amanda Guertin 4 (unassisted) 99:49.

Shots: ND 25, WVU 8.

Corner Kicks: ND 8, WVU 2.

Saves: ND 4 (Liz Wagner 3, team 1), WVU 12 (Melissa Haire 10, team 2).

Fouls: ND 10, WVU 8.

Yellow Card: Kelly Lindsey (ND, third of season) 27:21.

Offsides: ND 1, WVU 1.

WALDRUM ON THE WVU GAME: “We knew that West Virginia would be a tough team to break down and we also had some concern with fatigue after the tough stretch of games and travel we’ve experienced during the past two weeks. We had several chances to break open the game but just weren’t sharp enough when we needed to be. We had strong play from our central defenders and our goalkeeper and Nancy provided a good spark off the bench, but we need to have more consistency throughout the lineup in order to win these type of games.”

PITTSBURGH RECAP – Anne Makinen’s third game-winning goal of the season proved to be the day’s only scoring as ND overcame a defensive-oriented Pittsburgh squad for a 1-0 win at Alumni Field… the Irish-playing their first home game this season as the nation’s No. 1-ranked team-held a dominating 27-1 shot edge but failed to score more than once versus a Panthers defense that regularly packed nine field players into the defensive third … the Irish also held a 10-0 edge in corner kicks and did not allow a shot in the game’s final 76 minutes of play … Pittsburgh stayed in the game behind the steady play of junior goalkeeper Rachel Brown, who made 15 saves … Amy Warner set up the goal-scoring sequence when she made a run through the left side of the box before chipping a pass back to the top of the box … the ball ended up at Makinen’s feet and the All-American shifted to her right before placing a shot into the upper left corner of the net (33:35).

PITTSBURGH (3-7-0) 0 0 – 0

#1 NOTRE DAME (9-0-0) 1 0 – 1

ND 1. Anne Makinen 7 (Amy Warner) 33:35.

Shots: Pitt 1, ND 7.

Corner Kicks: Pitt 0, ND 10.

Saves: Pitt 16 (Rachel Brown 15, team 1), ND 0 (Liz Wagner).

Fouls: Pitt 7, ND 6.

Offsides: Pitt 0, ND 5.

WALDRUM ON THE PITT GAME: “We’ve faced this type of defense before this season and we know we will see it again. It affects the way you play somewhat and we just have to be more efficient in creating chances and then finishing them. There’s a sense right now that the team may have some mental fatigue and we are going to give them a couple days off this week. We play Seton Hall on Friday night and they have given us some trouble in the past, so we hope to be sharper by the time the next games roll around.”

RUGGED STRETCH: The Sept. 17 game at Portland completed a challenging stretch in which the Irish posted three consecutive wins over ranked opponents (then-#2 Santa Clara, then-#10 Stanford and #15 Washington), followed by the win over a Portland team that entered the NSCAA poll the next week at #14 … the last time the Irish played three straight NSCAA ranked opponents was during Notre Dame’s 1995 NCAA championship run . early in that `95 season, ND posted successive wins over #13 Wisconsin, #19 Michigan State and #3 Stanford … later in `95, a rugged four-game stretch in the regular season yielded a 5-4 loss to #5 UConn, a 1-0 win over #6 SCU, a 2-2 tie with #11 Duke and a 2-0 loss to top-ranked North Carolina.

ERIKSON TABBED AS OFFENSIVE MVP AT PORTLAND INVITATIONAL: Notre Dame senior forward Meotis Erikson (Kennewick, Wash.) was named the offensive MVP of the Portland adidas Invitational, after scoring the game-winning goals versus Washington (5-0) and Portland (1-0) … both of Eriskon’s goals showcased strong individual efforts that included tricky turns to shake her defender followed by well-placed shots … her 50th career goal was a huge one, in the win at Portland on a hot day in front of large, hostile crowd (her goal in the eighth minute helped subdue the rowdy fans) … in the first game, Washington had two strong scoring chances and ND was off to a sluggish start before Erikson’s goal sparked the Irish to three goals in a five-minute stretch.

GROWING RIVALRY: Notre Dame now holds a 6-2-0 lead in the Portland series, with all eight contests decided by one goal and four coming in NCAA tournament play (the home team has yet to win in the series) … the Pilots have won nearly 88 percent of their all-time home games at Merlo Field (91-13-2, since 1990), with the Irish handing UP four of those losses … no other team has beaten the Pilots more than twice at Merlo Field.

BRONCO BUSTERS: Notre Dame’s 6-1 win over Santa Clara held several levels of significance, as it marked: SCU’s first consecutive losses since a three-game losing streak in September of 1994 (vs. LMU, Stanford and UNC), the first time SCU was outshot (23-10) in 19 games, and the most goals by an SCU opponent in 20 seasons-dating back to an 8-0 loss to UC Davis in 1980 (the last team to reach five goals vs. SCU was UNC, in 1991) … ND also became the first team to post more than 20 shots versus Santa Clara since Washington did it in 1994 (23-18, in a game that finished 2-2).

SANTA CLARA’S JERRY SMITH ON ANNE MAKINEN: “Anne Makinen is the best player in college soccer. She is a great international player, let alone a great college player. The international game is a much tougher game to be good than the college level. … I have such a high opinion of (Anne) that she would have to play just awesome for me to be kind of surprised. We talked about it in our team meeting. We just don’t have enough players that can kind of corral her.”

HAT TRICKERY: Freshman F Amy Warner’s three goals in the Providence game marked the first hat trick by a Notre Dame freshman since current senior M Anne Makinen’s three-goal effort in the 1997 BIG EAST title game versus Connecticut (a 6-1 Irish win) … Warner-who has earned three BIG EAST rookie-of-the-week honors this season-registered the 48th all-time hat trick by an ND player and the 16th by a freshman (by 13 different players), with Makinen and current senior F Meotis Erikson each registering a pair of hat tricks in 1997 … the date of Warner’s hat trick (Sept. 3) ranks as the earliest ever recorded by an ND freshman while Rosella Guerrero holds the mark for earliest freshman hat trick in terms of games played (she scored three times in the ’92 opener at North Carolina State).

FILLING THE VOID: Notre Dame entered the season searching for answers at several positions, after losing five starters from the 1999 NCAA runner-up squad … the early-season starting lineup in 2000 featured sophomore Vanessa Pruzinsky (Trumbull, Conn.) at the central defender spot formerly occupied by All-American Jen Grubb, with senior Kerri Bakker (Washington, N.J.) also starting four games this season at central defender … Pruzinsky’s starting spot on the left flank has been filled in six games by versatile senior Monica Gonzalez (Richardson, Texas), who previously has played up front, while sophomore Ali Lovelace (Dallas, Ga.) and a pair of freshmen-Amy Warner (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Amanda Guertin (Albuquerque, N.M.)-have shared time starting at the two open forward spots … other newcomers to the starting lineup have included junior defender Lindsey Jones (South Bend, Ind.)-who started 17 games as a freshman midfielder and has taken the spot held by 2000 grad. Kara Brown-and junior midfielder Mia Sarkesian (Canton, Mich.), who shared starting time with current sophomore Nancy Mikacenic (Seattle, Wash.) in the ’99 season … junior goalkeeper Elizabeth Wagner (Spring, Texas) has started all nine games this season but many of those games have been fairly uneventful for her (she has 19 saves for the season, or 2.1 per game).

INJURY REPORT: Sophomore F Ali Lovelace started the Detroit game but left that game late in the first half due to injury … Lovelace then did not play the next week’s games before returning to action as a reserve in the KeyBank Classic (she went on to score two impressive goals the next week versus Washington) … sophomore G Sani Post (Davis, Calif.) saw her first action of the season in the second half of the Providence game, after returning from a stress fracture in her leg … Notre Dame is playing the 2000 season without the services of promising freshman Melissa Tancredi (Ancaster, Ontario), who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament during the summer (she was being considered as a candidate in the back).

VIVA BRAZIL!: Notre Dame returned on Aug. 21 from a 10-day tour of Brazil, with the trip including five games versus local professional clubs … the tour provided the Irish with a chance to evaluate different options as they pertain to replacing five starters lost to graduation … senior D and team captain Kerri Bakker provided daily diary entries from the Brazil trip and they are posted on the Notre Dame website at www.und.com.

WALDRUM ON THE BRAZIL TRIP: “The trip was of tremendous value in terms of evaluating new players and seeing how they fit into the team. We still are concerned after replacing the kind of players-particularly goalscorers-that we lost to graduation. Somebody, or a group of players, needs to step up and pick up the slack in that area. This was a great year to do the tour and it eases our minds a little bit heading into the season. Having three games before the big KeyBank Classic games versus Santa Clara and Stanford also is helpful because that will allow us time to answer some of the personnel questions we have and help the new players ease into college soccer.”

RETURNING STARTERS: Notre Dame returns six starters from the 1999 team that posted a 21-4-1 record and advanced to the NCAA title game … the returning starters include senior F Meotis Erikson, All-America senior M Anne Makinen, senior D and second-year team captain Kelly Lindsey, sophomore D Vanessa Pruzinsky and sophomore midfielders Ashley Dryer (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Nancy Mikacenic.

LOTS OF MIDFIELD OPTIONS: Notre Dame has plenty of experience in the midfield, led by three-time All-American and leading national player-of-the year candidate Anne Makinen … top options on the outside include junior Mia Sarkesian and sophomores Ashley Dryer and Nancy Mikacenic (each of those three were starters at some point in the ’99 season) while promising freshman Randi Scheller should be in the mix as well.

CORNER KICKER: Despite being one of Notre Dame’s most dangerous players in the penalty box area, senior M Anne Makinen has taken many of ND’s corner kicks this season and is considered the team’s top option for that role due to her strong leg and pinpoint accuracy … senior F Meotis Erikson also has been used recently on CKs and set up an Irish goal versus PC with one of those set plays (as did Makinen in the Detroit game).

NEW FACES IN THE NETS: Three-year starter and Notre Dame career goals-against average leader (0.63) LaKeysia Beene has moved on to the coaching ranks as a current Irish graduate assistant, leaving the goalkeeping position open to three capable players … junior Liz Wagner made her first career start in the Detroit game (she has started all seven games this season) while sophomore Sani Post played in the second half of the Providence and Santa Clara games, after returning from a stress fracture in her leg … freshman Lauren Kent (Laguna Nigel, Calif.) showed surprising development during the Brazil trip and could see some game time in the earlygoing (she played the final 17 minutes of the Detroit game).