Nov. 16, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No.1-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team left it late in a thrilling contest at a wind-chilled Alumni Field on Sunday afternoon. At the 72:03 mark sophomore midfielder Rose Augustin (Silver, Lake Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) emerged with the game-winning goal, as she slid a low shot to the far side of the Spartan net for her third goal of the weekend. With the win, Notre Dame improves to 23-0-0 on the season.
The Irish dominated the offensive side of the field all afternoon, outshooting the Spartans by a 29 to three margin, including an eight to two advantage in shots on net. But with Michigan State playing five across the midfield and keeping 10 players behind the ball, the Irish found it hard to create the final break in the Spartan defense.
Notre Dame’s first scoring chance of the afternoon came just 2:55 into the game when Augustin sent a bending drive high of the Spartan net from 18-yards out after senior All-America forward/Hermann Trophy candidate Kerri Hanks (Allen, Texas/Allen) played in the first of Notre Dame’s four corner kick attempts on the afternoon. In the 9th minute Augustin had two more drives from the top of the box that Fliestra was forced to save.
Around 10 minutes into the contest, Michigan State’s Katelin Chaklos created the Spartans’ most threatening move of the first half as she played a cross from her left flank into the box that a streaking Lauren Hill was looking to get on the end of, but Irish co-captain Carrie Dew (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon) was able to clear away the danger.
In the 26th minute head coach Randy Waldrum inserted sophomore forward Taylor Knaack (Arlington, Texas/Martin) into the lineup to give junior forward Michele Weissenhofer a breather. Just over ten minutes later, Knaack had Notre Dame’s best scoring chance of the half when she volley a Melissa Henderson (Garland, Texas/Berkner) cross just wide of the Spartan goal from eight yards out.
Coming out of the halftime break, Notre Dame looked to take advantage of having the wind at its back, as Weissenhofer returned to the lineup and immediately created havoc in the Spartan box with a flip-throw from the far sideline. Augustin had Notre Dame’s first shot off the play, but her drive was blocked. The loose ball fell to Hanks, who also saw her shot from inside the box blocked out of bounds to create another Notre Dame corner.
As the half wore on, the Irish started to gain more possession as they began to breakdown the Spartan midfield. In the 56th minute, Hanks left the ball for Weissenhofer at the top of the box, but the forward’s shot went just over the Spartan crossbar.
The Irish continued to pressure the ball and created two successive turnovers. First, Weissenhofer threw herself at a Spartan clearing attempt and deflected a shot in on net at 62:44 that Fliestra did well to save. Then Augustin blocked another Spartan clearing attempt and found herself one-on-one with Fliestra, but the freshman goalkeeper charged off her line to come up with a game-saving stop at 63:58.
Next it was Elise Weber (Elk Gove, Ill./St. Viator) who tried her luck in breaking down the Spartan backline, sending in a creative cross from the left flank that found Henderson at the top of the box. With Weber’s pass landing directly at her feet, the freshman was able to play a clever one-touch pass a yard to her right for an onrushing Hanks. But the Spartan defense did just enough to force Hanks into a left-footed drive that went just wide of the net at 65:56.
Hanks then helped to create Augustin’s game winner, threading a through ball to just outside the top of the box that Augustin was able to run onto and slot into the far corner. With the threat of a Hanks drive looming, Spartan goalkeeper Jill Fliestra had been moving to her right and could only watch as Augustin’s well placed shot found the right corner of her net.
About Michigan State’s approach and her goal, Augustin said, “They dropped back a lot and with the ground as mushy as it was it was hard but we knew we could get through. We’ve seen it a lot this year, with teams trying to pack it in and keep us off the board, but we knew we could get through. Everyone on the team has been doing great, Kerri played a great ball today … so I just put away my opportunity.”
“Randy [Waldrum] has probably said it a million times, but good teams find a way to win, whether its in the first five minutes or the last few seconds of the game. Rose [Augustin] did a good job of putting the ball in the back of the net; I mean we should have finished it way before that, but that’s how it goes. Give credit to Michigan State, the goalie did well saving a bunch of shots and their backline held us,” added Hanks.
With the one goal lead, the Irish generated a few more chances, the best of which was a Knaack try at 84:38 off of a Weber cross that went wide of the net, but focused more on keeping the Spartans off the board.
Notre Dame goalkeeper Kelsey Lysander (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernado) had to make a great play with 30 seconds left in regulation. The junior charged off of her line to come up with a loose ball that Michigan State’s Lauren Hill looked as if she would get to first. Lysander then saved Laura Heyboer’s attempt from outside the box at 88:19 to seal the win. Heyboer, the nation’s second-leading goalscorer, was kept without a shot until that last gasp effort as the Irish defense, and in particular freshman central defender Jessica Schuveiller (Plano, Texas/Plano West), did well to stifle her every move of the afternoon.
With the win, Notre Dame is set to play host to Minnesota next weekend at Alumni Field. The Gophers advanced to the third round with a 2-0 win over South Dakota State on Sunday afternoon (the day and time of the game will be determined shortly, check back with UND.com for details).
— ND —
POST GAME NOTES: With the assist on Augustin’s goal, Hanks now has 18 career assists in NCAA tournament play, one behind record holder Lindsay Tarpley of UNC (2002-05) … Hanks also extended her career-long point-scoring streak to 17 games … Augustin is now tied for first in the Irish postseason record books with four game-winning points in one NCAA tournament and two game-winning goals in one NCAA tournament … The Irish are 37-3-0 (.925) all-time at home in NCAA tournament games, with a 132-22 scoring margin in those contests.