Sept. 10, 2000

Notre Dame, Ind. – A long and drizzly day at the KeyBank Classic ended on an own goal, as the fourth-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team emerged with a 2-1 victory Sunday over visiting 10th-ranked Stanford at Alumni Field.

Notre Dame (5-0-0) claimed the lead in the game’s 35th minute but Stanford (3-1-1) netted the equalizer early in the second half. The Irish outshot their opponent for the fifth straight game (27-6) and now own a 166-22 shot advantage for the 2000 season (holding four opponents to 2-6 shots), plus a 47-9 edge in corner kicks.

Senior Carly Smolak made 14 saves to keep Stanford in the game and earned the tournament’s Most Valuable Goalkeeper Award. Notre Dame senior midfielder Anne Makinen-who had a goal and two assists in Friday’s 6-1 win over Santa Clara-was named offensive MVP, 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).

The Cardinal were forced to compete with just 10 players for the final 8:37 of regulation and overtime, after sophomore midfielder Callie Withers was ejected due to a red-card violation (she had retaliated to a foul by aggresively pushing down ND’s Nancy Mikacenic).

Mikacenic and fellow sophomore midfielder Ashley Dryer set up the first Irish goal (34:35), just moments after checking into the game. Mikacenic sent a pass from the right flank to Dryer, whose short feed set up a one-touch goal from freshman forward Amy Warner-who has scored in each of the last three games (with five goals in that stretch).

Stanford tied the game on a similar sequence in the 56th minute, with sophomore midfielder Kelly Carlson and senior midfielder Celine DeLeon setting up the second goal of the tournament-and third of the season-from sophomore forward Marcia Wallis, with Wagner unable to react to the quick counterattack sequence (55:54).

Makinen’s outlet pass sprung Warner on the winning exchange, with Warner then sending a low cross from the right endline. Irish senior forward Meotis Erikson was filling the middle and directed the ball towards the net before a Stanford player stationed near the right post swept the ball away from the goalmouth … but another Stanford player was angling back into the play and deflected the ball between Smolak and the right post (104:42), completing the rapidly-changing sequence.

Notre Dame lost one of its top players early in the overtime, as senior defender and two-time team captain Kelly Lindsey left due to injury, with 10:32 left in the first OT. Lindsey went down after colliding with Irish junior goalkeeper Liz Wagner and a Stanford player, following a free kick that sailed into the penalty box area (her status has yet to be determined).

Irish senior defender Monica Gonzalez nearly ended the game moments later, on senior forward Erikson’s well-placed corner kick from the left side. Gonzalez sailed high above the Stanford players and placed a header on goal, with the ball clanking off the crossbar to maintain the 1-1 tie.

In addition to Makinen, three other Irish players were named to the all-tournament team (see below): Erikson, Wagner and Warner.

Second-ranked Santa Clara (3-2-0) also posted a 2-1 overtime win in Sunday’s early action at the KeyBank Classic, with freshman midfielder Veronica Zepeda putting back her own shot to beat sixth-ranked Connecticut (1-2-1) in the 100th minute of play.

NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH RANDY WALDRUM: “The bottom line is that it’s great to get a pair of wins over opponents of this caliber. There certainly was a level of sluggishness and inconsistency to our play and that probably was due to some mental and physical fatigue. Anytime you play two games in three days versus opponents of this caliber, it’s going to be tough on your players. We are the only country that presents that type of scheduling challenge to its teams, but we found a way to win and there were many positives to the weekend. We were a little shocked when they tied it up, because we had been dominating the play, and then when Kelly went out it sort of deflated us a little more. But Anne made a great outlet pass to set up the winning goal and Amy pressed the action. Even though it was an own goal, it was a result of the pressure that we were putting on for most of the game. Defensively, none of our back four players were very sharp and we were very average in the midfield. In he first half, we were really dominant but you could tell at times when they would counter that we were just not sharp. You have to give credit to Stanford, they are very difficult to break down because of the way they play. It was a big weekend for Liz Wagner. All three of our goalkeepers have been pretty close but Liz showed us something and had a pretty strong pair of games.”

2000 Notre Dame KeyBank Classic All-Tournament Team Heather Aldama (Santa Clara, Sr., F, Redlands, CA), Meotis Erikson (Notre Dame, Sr., F, Kenniwick, WA), Anne Makinen (ND, Sr., M, Helsinki, Finland), Mary-Frances Monroe (Connecticut, Jr., F, East Northport, NY, Lauren Molinaro (UConn Sr., M, Ellicott City, MD), Carly Smolak (Stanford, Sr., G, Lake Oswego, OR), Liz Wagner (ND, Jr., G, Spring, TX), Marcia Wallis (Stan., So., F, Los Gatos, CA), Marcie Ward (Stan. Fr., F, Alamo, CA), Amy Warner (ND, Fr., F, Albuquerque, NM) and Veronica Zepeda (SCU, Fr., M, Riverside, CA).

Offensive MVP: Anne Makinen

Most Valuable Goalkeeper: Carly Smolak

#10 STANFORD (3-1-0) 0 1 0 – 1

#4 NOTRE DAME (5-0-0) 1 0 1 – 2

ND 1. Amy Warner 5 (Dryer, Mikacenic) 34:35, STAN 1. Marcia Wallis 3 (DeLeon) 55:54, ND 2. Own goal 104:42.

Shots: STAN 6, ND 27

Saves: STAN 16 (Carly Smolak 14), ND 2 (Liz Wagner)

Corner Kicks: STAN 3, ND 6

Fouls: STAN 9, ND 15

Offsides: STAN 0, ND 1