Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Women's Soccer To Take On Boston College In BIG EAST Semi-final

Nov. 1, 2000

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The Notre Dame women’s soccer team (18-0-1)- ranked No. 1 for the seventh straight week- heads into a BIG EAST semi-final matchup with Boston College in search of its sixth straight BIG EAST championship (the Irish have won the title every season since joining the conference in ’95) … Connecticut and Syracuse will meet in the first semifinal (5:00 p.m.) on Friday, Oct. 3, with Sunday’s championship game (noon) to be carried live by six regional sports networks … ND opened the postseason with a 3-0 win over Miami in the BIG EAST Quarterfinals.

BIG EAST Conference Championship Schedule
Fri., Nov. 3 Syracuse vs. Connecticut (5:00 p.m.)
Boston College vs. Notre Dame (30 minutes after first game)
Sun., Nov. 5 * Championship game (noon)

* Broadcast live on six regional sports cable networks, including Fox Sports Chicago, Fox Sports New England, Fox Sports Net Florida, Madison Square Garden Network, Empire Sports and Comcast Sports Philadelphia.

REAL-AUDIO OFFERINGS:
In addition to the live television broadcast of the championship game (see note above), the BIG EAST and Notre Dame also plan to offer real-audio offerings of both semi-final games and the championship game … further information about these audio offerings will be released to the media and posted on the Notre Dame and BIG EAST websites … links to the internet broadcasts will be available at www.und.com and www.bigeast.org.

AROUND THE HORN – Quick Notes on the Irish
Team Notes

  • ND has outscored its opponents 64-6, an 11-to-1 ratio that ranks behind only ND’s ’97 squad (135-9, 15-to-1).
  • The Miami game marked the 12th time this season that ND has allowed 0-2 shots on goal (2).
  • Prior to the Miami game, ND had played six of seven games on the road (during a 27-day stretch), including 10-of-11 days on the road from Oct. 14-24.
  • ND is 26-0-1 in its last 27 games vs. BIG EAST teams (68-3-2/.945 since joining the BIG EAST in ’95).
  • The Irish have allowed just 3G in the last 14-plus games (1,338 minutes) and have 9 shutouts in the last 11 (59 shots- 27 on goal- and 21 CKs allowed in that 11-game stretch).
  • ND has led for 55% of the minutes while trailing just 1.6% of the time (28 minutes, vs. BC)
  • ND has scored in the first half 14 times while going scoreless past the 55:00 mark just three times.
  • Season stat edges: 476-107 in shots (avg. 25-6), 274-52 in shots on goal (avg. 14-3), 125-42 in CKs (avg. 7-2).
  • ND has reached 30 shots six times this season and has owned a shot margin of 25-plus in seven games.
  • The Irish are 39-4-2 (.889) in the two-year tenure of head coach Randy Waldrum.
  • ND is 113-7-1 (.938) in 11 seasons at Alumni Field, including 89-3-1 in the last 93 and 78-1-0 vs. unranked teams (71 straight wins).
  • The Irish own a 31-3-1 all-time record when playing as the top-ranked team.
  • ND posted the 3rd unbeaten regular season in its 13-year history (17-0-1 in ’94, 18-0-1 in ’97).
  • ND it ranked No. 1 for the first time since ’96.
  • ND returned 16 letterwinners but lost five starters from its ’99 team (21-4-1, NCAA runner-up).
  • The Irish lead nation in team GAA (0.31) and rank 6th in scoring (3.4 goals/gm).
  • ND’s typical starting 11 (from nine states and Finland) is representative of the University’s national student body … the 27-player roster includes players from 17 states, two foreign countries.
  • The Irish opened 16-0-0, besting the top start in team history (13-0-0 in ’96)
  • ND surged to #1 with tough four-game stretch (Sept. 8-17), beating Santa Clara (6-1, most goals vs. SCU in 20 yrs) and Stanford (2-1, OT) in ND’s KeyBank Classic and current #2 Washington (5-0, Huskies have won all their other games) and Portland (1-0, in tough atmosphere) at Portland Adidas Invitational.
  • The current 19-game unbeaten streak ranks 3rd in ND history (24-0-0 from 195-96, 23-0-1 at start of 1997).

Player Notes

  • Anne Makinen has 20 pts (8G-4A) in 9 career BIG EAST Tournament games and 37 (13G-11A) in 21 career postseason games (including NCAAs) … Meotis Erikson has 25 pts (8G-9A) in 21 postseason games (5G-5A in nine BET games).
  • Amy Warner (9), Amanda Guertin (10) and Randi Scheller (6) are close to joining the ’97 trio of Makinen (23) , Meotis Erikson (22) and Monica Gonzalez (10) as the second threesome of ND freshmen to reach 10G in a season … freshmen have scored 40% of ND’s goals (26 of 64).
  • Guertin has 14 pts in the last 9 games (6G-2A), Scheller has 12 (4G-4A).
  • Erikson, Vanessa Pruzinsky and Liz Wagner are the only ND players to start all 19 games this season.
  • Erikson has appeared in all 95 games of her career, one shy of tying Jenny Heft (’00) for 10th on the Irish career GP list.
  • Liz Wagner has come up big in the big games (21 SV, 2 GA in 5 gms vs. top-25 tms) … her 0.293 season GAA (7 solo shutouts, 6 shared) is 1st in the nation among regular goaltenders and second overall (Brown’s Mary Jo Markle has an 0.26 but platoons) … Wagner takes a 512-minute shutout streak into the BC game.
  • Makinen (62G-54A) and Erikson (56G-40A) are the second pair of ND classmates ever to reach 150 career points.
  • Makinen is 6A shy of becoming the sixth Division I women’s soccer player ever to reach 60G-60A.
  • Senior Kelly Lindsey is ND’s only player on the defensive third of the field who had started more than 26 career games prior to 2000 (Makinen and Erikson were the only Ms or Fs with more than 26 GS).

PLENTY OF BC-ND ACTION:
The nine-day stretch of Nov. 3-11 will feature Notre Dame-Boston College matchups in four sports (all at ND) … the BIG EAST-leading Irish women’s volleyball team will be battling BC at the Joyce Center Arena on Friday night, Nov. 3, while both schools will be tangling in women’s soccer at Alumni Field … the ND and BC hockey teams will resume their rivalry on Friday night, Nov. 10 (at the Joyce Center Fieldhouse), followed by a football matchup between the schools on Nov. 11.

SERIES NOTES:
ND has won all five previous games vs. BC and owns a 16-3 series scoring edge … the teams did not meet in ’99 while ND posted a 2-1 win over BC this season (Oct. 13, at Alumni Field, recap below) … senior F Meotis Erikson (1G-3A) is the only ND player with more than two career points vs. BC but has scored just one career goal vs. the Eagles on 13 shots (two of her assists vs. BC set up game-winners, another set up Mia Sarkesian’s game-tying goal in this year’s 2-1 win) … only two other ND players have scored goals vs. BC while senior M Anne Makinen has yet to register a point vs. BC in two GP (she missed the ’98 BC game while playing in Finland with her national team, in a game vs. Russia) … ND owns a 134-13 shot edge in the series (avg. 23-3), including 75-6 in the last three meetings (25-0 in ’97, 29-1 in ’98, 21-5 in 2000).

RECAPPING THE LAST ND-BC MEETING (2-1, Oct. 13, 2000)
– ND faced its first deficit of the season but battled back behind an opportunistic 1st goal of the season from Mia Sarkesian before Amanda Guertin netted the game-winner early in the 2nd half … BC opened the scoring on a counterattack in the 10th minute, when Megan Moore skirted the top of the penalty box before ripping a low crossing shot that tucked inside the left post (ending ND’s shutout streak at 493 minutes) … ND tied the game when Meotis Erikson dropped the ball a few yards outside the top of the box, with Sarkesian making a run onto the ball and finding some space while sliding to her right before lofting an arcing shot toward the upper left corner of the net-with the shot coming from 20 yards out while rising high into the night before tumbling toward the far corner (37:57) … ND posted a dominating 16-3 shot edge in the 2nd half (21-5 overall) … Guertin netted her second game-winner in as many weeks, after picking off a clearing attempt and quickly shooting inside the near right post (52:40) … BC had two shots in the first five minutes before being held without a shot for the next 40 … the pregame ceremonies included an unusually early senior night, which paid tribute to student manager Kevin Murphy and the squad’s five departing seniors (Erikson, Ds Kelly Lindsey and Kerri Bakker, Makinen and M Carolina Marino).

BOSTON COLLEGE (11-5-0)     1   0   -   1NOTRE DAME (14-0-0)         1   1   -   2

BC 1. Meghan Moore 8 (-) 9:59, ND 1. Mia Sarkesian 1 (Meotis Erikson) 37:57, ND 2. Amanda Guertin 8 (- ) 52:40.
Shots: BC 5, ND 21. Corner Kicks: BC 1, ND 2. Saves: BC 11 (Courtney Schaeffer), ND 2 (Liz Wagner).
Fouls: BC 13, ND 13. Offsides: BC 0, ND 0. Yellow Card: Nancy Mikacenic (ND, 1st).

WALDRUM ON THE FIRST BC GAME:
“Mia seems to pick the right time to score her goals and she couldn’t have picked a better time tonight, because defensively BC is a tough team to break down. This was one game where you just kind of had those bad feelings, because you are banged up and injured and changing your lineup a little bit. But I thought overall that we still pretty much controlled the game but they scored a great goal to get the lead and then all of a sudden you’re in trouble. But I was very proud to see how we responded and come back the way we did. … Mia is not necessarily a goalscorer, although she is capable of it. Her strengths are winning head balls in the middle defensively and distributing the ball. She is so skillful and composed when she is under pressure. She is more of a schemer and playmaker for us.”

THE SEMI-FINAL FIELD:
Boston College (14-6-0) braved bitter cold and snow flurries to defeat Seton Hall, 2-0, in other quarterfinal action while Connecticut (14-5-2) survived an upset bid from West Virginia in similar adverse conditions, winning 1-0 in the fifth minute of overtime … Syracuse (14-6-0) advanced by virtue of a 3-1 win at Rutgers … information on each team can be found on their official websites: www.bceagles.com, www.suathletics.com and www.uconnhuskies.com.

SCOUTING THE IRISH:
Notre Dame returned 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 (12G-13A) has scored or assisted on nearly half of ND’s goals this season (25 of 64) while other top scorers include freshman Fs Amy Warner (9G-4A) and Amanda Guertin (10G-3A) and senior F Meotis Erikson (10G-8A) … junior Elizabeth Wagner has played most of the minutes in the nets, with 41 saves, five goals allowed (one on a PK) and the nation’s top GAA (0.29).

FAMILIAR FOES:
Notre Dame’s last three regular-season games vs. BIG EAST Conference teams featured each of the other three BIG EAST semifinalists, with the Irish beating Boston College on Oct. 13 before winning at Syracuse (Oct. 15, 3-0) and playing to an 0-0 tie at UConn (Oct. 21).