Sept. 2, 2010
Full Game Notes Package 
| Official Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic Tournament Web Site
2010 ND Women’s Soccer — Games 3-4
18th annual Inn at Saint Mary’s Soccer Classic
#3/4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2-0-0 / 0-0-0 BIG EAST) vs. #8/9 Santa Clara Broncos (2-0-1 / 0-0-0 WCC)
DATE: September 3, 2010
TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET
AT: Notre Dame, Ind. – Alumni Stadium (2,500)
SERIES: ND leads 9-6-0
LAST MTG: SCU 2-0 (9/11/09)
AUDIO: UND.com (live)
STATS/BLOG: UND.com
TWITTER: @NDsoccernews
#3/4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2-0-0 / 0-0-0 BIG EAST) vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-0-0 / 0-0-0 Big 12)
DATE: September 5, 2010
TIME: 1:30 p.m. ET
AT: Notre Dame, Ind. – Alumni Stadium (2,500)
SERIES: ND leads 1-0-0
LAST MTG: ND 3-0 (9/12/04)
WEBCAST: UND.com (live)
STATS/BLOG: UND.com
TWITTER: @NDsoccernews
Storylines
- Notre Dame is 27-5-2 all-time in its home tournament with a 94-36 scoring margin.
- As of this week, the first five opponents on the Irish schedule are ranked or receiving votes in the NSCAA poll, including top-15 foes Santa Clara and UCLA.
No. 3/4 Irish Set To Host 18th Annual Inn At Saint Mary’s Classic
Following a 12-day hiatus (the longest in the program’s 23-year history), No. 3/4 Notre Dame returns to action this weekend for the 18th annual Inn at Saint Mary’s Soccer Classic at Alumni Stadium. The Fighting Irish will play host to No. 8/9 Santa Clara at 7:30 p.m. (ET) Friday, before closing out the tournament at 1:30 p.m. Sunday against Texas Tech. Rounding out this year’s tournament field is Ole Miss, which will play both of its tourney games at 5 p.m. (Friday vs. TTU, Sunday vs. SCU).
Notre Dame last took the pitch on Aug. 22, scoring three second-half goals to post a 3-0 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Alumni Stadium. Senior midfielder Rose Augustin scored twice in less than five minutes for the Irish, while freshman midfielder Elizabeth Tucker netted the gamewinner in the 52nd minute.
Rankings
- Notre Dame is No. 3 in the latest NSCAA poll and No. 4 in the newest Soccer America poll.
- Santa Clara is No. 8 in the latest NSCAA poll and No. 9 in the newest Soccer America poll.
- Texas Tech is receiving votes in the latest NSCAA poll.
A Quick Look At The Fighting Irish
Experience and depth will be the driving forces for Notre Dame, if the Fighting Irish intend to continue their current run of four consecutive NCAA College Cup appearances (and five in the past six years). And, with 16 returning monogram winners, including nine starters, the prospects for meeting those two criteria would seem to be quite good.
Leading the way for Notre Dame will be the “thunder and lightning” offensive tandem of senior Lauren Fowlkes and junior Melissa Henderson that ranked fifth in the nation with 28 combined goals a year ago. Fowlkes (10G-4A in 2009), an NSCAA third-team All-American and ESPN The Magazine second-team Academic All-American, is coming off her best offensive season after moving from her customary defensive role on the Fighting Irish back line.
Meanwhile, Henderson (18G-5A) rebounded from a slow start to fashion one of the finest individual postseason efforts in school history, scoring a program-record 10 goals in the BIG EAST and NCAA tournaments, highlighted by a pair of hat tricks. In her first two seasons at Notre Dame, Henderson has scored 35 goals, ranking fourth among active Division I players.
Junior midfielder Courtney Barg (1G-2A) was a calming presence in the middle of the Fighting Irish system and was a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy on the way to earning NSCAA first-team All-America honors. She and junior defender Jessica Schuveiller (2G-3A) will join Fowlkes and Henderson to form the backbone of a strong Notre Dame attack in 2010.
Scouting Santa Clara
Santa Clara (2-0-1) is ranked eighth in the nation, according to this week’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll, while Soccer America has the Broncos ranked ninth this week, and both Soccer Times and Top Drawer Soccer have rated SCU 10th in the land.
The Broncos leave the San Francisco Bay Area for the first time this weekend, following a pair of one-goal home victories on the opening weekend of the season (1-0 vs. San Diego State, 2-1 vs. San Jose State) and a scoreless draw last Friday (Aug. 27) at then-No. 18 California.
Senior forward Maxine Goynes scored the only goal against SDSU in the 22nd minute, while senior forward Anessa Patton was the hero against San Jose State, assisting on the tying goal by freshman forward/midfielder Sarah Jackson (82:47) and then tallying the gamewinner a little more than three minutes later (85:49). Freshman midfielder Julie Johnston was credited with an assist on both gamewinning goals for Santa Clara, while sophomore midfielder/forward Lauren Matheson earned the second assist on Patton’s score against SJSU.
The Broncos were outshot 18-5 (8-3 in shots on goal) against California, but earned the draw behind strong goalkeeping from junior Bianca Henninger, who recorded eight saves.
Head coach Jerry Smith is in his 24th season at Santa Clara, owning a 358-109-37 (.747) career record, including a 6-9-0 mark against Notre Dame.
The Notre Dame-Santa Clara Series
Notre Dame and Santa Clara have played 15 times, with the Fighting Irish holding a 9-6-0 edge in those games. Six of those nine victories have come in South Bend (including the past three series matchups), with two others coming at neutral sites (1-0 NCAA College Cup semifinal wins in 1999 at San Jose, Calif., and 2004 in Cary, N.C.).
Throughout head coach Randy Waldrum’s 12-year tenure at Notre Dame (1999-present), Notre Dame and Santa Clara have met almost annually, playing every season except for 2001 (that contest — scheduled to be played at SCU — was cancelled following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks).
The two sides met last season in the SCU/adidas Classic at Buck Shaw Stadium, with the Broncos snapping Notre Dame’s school-record 15-game road unbeaten streak with a 2-0 win on goals by Jordan Angeli and Lauren Matheson.
Scouting Texas Tech
Texas Tech is receiving votes in this week’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll. The Red Raiders enter the Inn at Saint Mary’s Soccer Classic with a 4-0-0 record that includes home wins over TCU (3-0) and Texas State (2-0), as well as road wins last weekend at Northwestern State (La.) (4-0) and Rice (2-0).
Freshman forward Jessica Fuston came away with both goals against Rice and has a team-high four goals this season. Junior midfielder Taylor Lytle is second on the team with three goals, while sophomore forward Dawn Ward and sophomore midfielder Sarah Ellison each have two goals and two assists this season. Senior goalkeeper Colleen Pitts was named the Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Aug. 23 after recording shutouts against TCU and Texas State — she then added two more shutouts to give her seven career clean sheets.
Head coach Tom Stone is in his fourth season at Texas Tech with a 27-26-7 (.508) career record. Stone formerly piloted the Atlanta Beat in the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) from 2001-03.
The Notre Dame-Texas Tech Series
Notre Dame and Texas Tech have faced off just once before, with the Fighting Irish collecting a 3-0 win over the Red Raiders on Sept. 12, 2004, in Lubbock, Texas. Tthat victory was significant for two reasons, as it was head coach Randy Waldrum’s 100th win at the helm of the Fighting Irish, in addition to being the 300th victory in the program’s history.
Maggie Manning scored twice for Notre Dame in the win, including a crushing second goal with 38 seconds left in the first half that shifted the momentum squarely in favor of the Fighting Irish going into halftime. Amanda Cinalli then added an insurance goal midway through the second half to clinch the victory.
With the win, Notre Dame vaulted to the top spot in the national polls, a perch the Fighting Irish would maintain for the balance of the regular season (some polls wavered after Notre Dame’s scoreless draw with Rutgers in October) on the way to their second NCAA national championship.
The Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic
This weekend marks the 18th edition of Notre Dame’s home tournament, currently called the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic. Since its inception in 1992, the event has been played almost annually (except for 1994), with the Irish posting a 27-5-2 all-time record and a 94-36 scoring margin in the tournament.
Notre Dame has won 12 of the previous 17 Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic titles, most recently claiming the 2008 crown by virtue of wins over Loyola Marymount (4-0) and Santa Clara (2-0). The other five tournament championships have gone to Stanford (1992), North Carolina (1999 and 2009), Santa Clara (2002) and Washington State (2007).
Santa Clara is making its sixth appearance in the tournament, having come to South Bend every other season beginning in 2000. The Broncos are 6-4-0 all-time at the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic, winning the 2002 title on goal differential over Portland (+6 to +3) after defeating Notre Dame (4-0) and Clemson (4-2).
Both Texas Tech and Ole Miss are competing in the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic for the first time. For a full historical recap of the tournament, please see pp. 98 in this year’s Notre Dame women’s soccer media guide.
Other Tournament Tidbits
- Top-10 matchups at the tournament are not at all uncommon. In fact, Friday’s game between third-ranked Notre Dame and No. 8 Santa Clara will mark the 19th time a pair of top-10 opponents have faced off at the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic. Three of those previous 18 contests featured the Irish and Broncos, including two of the past three times SCU visited South Bend (2000 – #4 ND 6-1 over #2 SCU; 2004 – #2 ND 5-2 over #4 SCU; 2006 – #1 ND 3-1 over #1 SCU).
- Texas Tech is the second Texas school to compete at the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic. SMU is 2-2-0 in two appearances at the tournament (1993 and 2004).
- Ole Miss is the third Southeastern Conference school to play in the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic, joining Vanderbilt (1-1 in 1995) and Florida (1-1 in 2005).
- Texas Tech head coach Tom Stone was a Parade All-American in the early 1980s at MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas. His head coach? An up-and-comer named Randy Waldrum.
- The tournament champion is decided by overall record, with goal differential used as the first tiebreaker. The last time that came into play was 2002, when Santa Clara and Portland both went 2-0 in the tourney, but the Broncos had a +6 differential to the Pilots’ +3 spread.
- Only twice in the 17-year history of the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic (covering 68 games) has a contest ended in a draw. During the inaugural tournament in 1992, Central Florida and 14th-ranked Wisconsin played to a 2-2 draw. More recently in 1997, a thrilling 1-vs-2 matchup between top-ranked North Carolina and second-ranked Notre Dame also finished deadlocked at 2-2, with the game called in the 72nd minute due to lightning (the Irish had tied the score just three minutes before the stoppage on Jenny Heft’s goal).
Welcome Back The Champs!
Numerous former Notre Dame women’s soccer players will be back on campus this weekend, including several members of the 2004 national championship team. Among the players expected in town are ’04 Soccer America National Player of the Year Katie Thorlakson, and standout midfielders Jen Buczkowski, Jill Krivacek and Annie Schefter.
Game #2 Recap: Milwaukee
Senior midfielder Rose Augustin scored twice in a 4:34 span as part of a three-goal second-half flurry, helping the fourth-ranked Fighting Irish to a 3-0 win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Aug. 22 at Alumni Stadium. The victory capped off a successful opening weekend for Notre Dame, which recorded its second shutout of the young campaign and now has limited its last 17 opponents to 0-1 goals, going 15-1-1 in that span with 12 clean sheets.
Freshman midfielder Elizabeth Tucker scored the gamewinning goal for the Fighting Irish (2-0), netting her first college tally unassisted in the 52nd minute. It marked the first time a Notre Dame rookie potted the gamewinning goal within her first two college games since Aug. 28, 2005, when two-time Hermann Trophy recipient Kerri Hanks did so as part of a hat trick in a 6-0 win over Vermont at the TD Banknorth Classic in Burlington, Vt.
Junior forward Melissa Henderson and senior midfielder/forward Erica Iantorno then set up the two scores by Augustin, who registered her fifth career multi-goal game and fourth in the past 34 Notre Dame contests, dating back to the start of the 2008 NCAA Championship.
Senior goalkeeper Nikki Weiss, who has been the starting netminder for the Fighting Irish throughout their current 17-game defensive lockdown, went the distance to earn her second solo shutout, making five saves (all in the first 49 minutes). Milwaukee (1-1) split its goalkeeping duties with Leslie Deebach working a scoreless opening half and stopping two shots before Jamie Forbes came on to play the final 45 minutes and make three saves.
UWM wound up with a slim 13-12 shot advantage for the game, although Notre Dame had a 7-3 edge after halftime. The Fighting Irish also held the upper hand in shots on goal (8-5), corner kicks (6-2) and fouls (6-3).
Following a scoreless opening 45 minutes, the second half saw added offensive pressure by the Fighting Irish, and it didn’t take long after the break for that push to pay off. Following a scramble in the box that didn’t result in a Notre Dame shot, the ball rolled out to Tucker straight away and 20 yards from goal. The Fighting Irish rookie drilled a low daisy-cutter that glanced off a defender near the top of the area and caught Forbes leaning the wrong way, as the ball skirted into the low left corner of the net (51:03).
Notre Dame then got its all-important second goal at 64:43, and it started with senior Lauren Fowlkes, who moved from the front line to center back midway through the first half and delivered a strong ball over the top to Henderson streaking down the right channel. Henderson stopped on a dime at the edge of the penalty area and hammered a low left-footed shot that appeared to be headed straight for Forbes. However, Augustin was positioned near the six-yard box and, using her defender as a screen, re-directed Henderson’s shot off the inside of the far left post and into the net.
Less than five minutes later, Notre Dame slammed the door on the proceedings, and it was the product of an excellent build-up in the attacking third by the Fighting Irish. Senior forward Taylor Knaack won the ball on the right side and angled back towards the center of the field before sliding a pass to junior midfielder Molly Campbell, who in turn sent it wide on the left side for an overlapping Iantorno. The veteran drove smartly towards the end line and then cracked a wicked service across the face of goal. Augustin was crashing the net and needed only to get a foot on Iantorno’s cross to put it past Forbes at 69:17 and seal the victory for the Fighting Irish.
Game #1 Recap: Minnesota
Junior forward Melissa Henderson scored an unassisted goal with 11:18 remaining, lifting the fourth-ranked Fighting Irish to a hard-fought 1-0 win over rising Big Ten Conference power Minnesota on Aug. 20 at Alumni Stadium in the season opener for both teams. With the victory, Notre Dame improves to 20-2-1 all-time in season openers, with a 13-1-1 mark at home and a 10-1-1 record in the 12-year tenure of head coach Randy Waldrum.
Henderson’s goal tipped the scales in Notre Dame’s favor after a well-played, evenly-matched contest that, at times, took on the feel of an NCAA tournament game. The teams each took 15 shots, with the Fighting Irish doubling up the Golden Gophers in shots on goal, 8-4. Minnesota won the corner kick battle, 9-5 (with eight of those coming in the first half), while Notre Dame was whistled for 11 of the 16 fouls on the night.
Senior goalkeeper Nikki Weiss earned the shutout between the pipes for the Fighting Irish (1-0), making three saves and also benefitting from a team save by sophomore defender Jazmin Hall. Meanwhile, Minnesota netminder Cat Parkhill turned aside seven shots in the contest for the visitors (0-1).
The winning Fighting Irish score began with a slick succession of passes in the offensive third, working the ball across the top of the penalty box before Henderson ended up with possession near the penalty spot. She then put on a fancy dribbling display with her back to goal, turning to her left and then back to right and uncorking a low left-footed blast that beat Parkhill inside the far left post (78:42).
Schuveiller, Weiss Nab BIG EAST Weekly Honors
On Aug. 23, junior defender/co-captain Jessica Schuveiller was selected as the first BIG EAST Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the 2010 season, while senior goalkeeper Nikki Weiss earned the first BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week honor this year.
Schuveiller wound up being a double award recipient on Monday, as she also was named to the 11-player Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week. It’s the second time in her career that Schuveiller has been chosen for both the conference and national honors, previously having garnered the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week award on Sept. 28, 2009, and the TDS National Team of the Week citation on Nov. 9, 2009.
Meanwhile, Weiss collects the first BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week honor in her career, and the first by a Notre Dame netminder since Sept. 8, 2008, when Kelsey Lysander copped the award. Weiss also has been named a member of the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, earning that distinction on Oct. 12, 2009.
Schuveiller, the 2010 BIG EAST Preseason Co-Defensive Player of the Year, started and played all 180 minutes in Fighting Irish victories over rising Big Ten Conference power Minnesota (1-0) and defending Horizon League champion/’09 NCAA Championship participant Wisconsin-Milwaukee (3-0) last weekend. She played a critical part in both wins, particularly against Milwaukee when she stifled three 1-v-1 opportunities and anchored a Notre Dame back line that held UWM to a single shot on goal in the second half (and none during the final 41 minutes).
Like Schuveiller, Weiss went the distance in both contests last weekend, earning solo shutouts in each case. Against Minnesota, she made three saves, and then against Milwaukee, she recorded five stops, including three in the first 21 minutes of action to thwart an early Panther challenge.
Together, Schuveiller and Weiss have been part of a Notre Dame defense that has allowed 0-1 goals in its last 17 games, a streak that began at Pittsburgh on Oct. 4, 2009, when Weiss took over as the full-time starting goalkeeper for the Fighting Irish. In that time, Notre Dame has gone 15-1-1 while posting 12 shutouts (nine solo and three shared by Weiss) and a 0.29 goals-against average.
Pick Three For The Hermann Watch
Senior defender/midfielder Lauren Fowlkes, junior midfielder Courtney Barg and junior forward Melissa Henderson have been named to the 45-player watch list for the 2010 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, it was announced Aug. 11 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). The Hermann Trophy is presented annually to the nation’s top Division I women’s soccer player.
Notre Dame was one of only five schools (along with Boston College, Portland, Stanford and UCLA) to place three players on this year’s Hermann Trophy watch list. Both Fowlkes and Henderson also appeared on last year’s Hermann Trophy preseason chart, while Barg was a midseason addition to the candidate list and wound up being selected as one of 15 semifinalists for the ’09 award.
The BIG EAST Conference had a total of five players named to the 2010 Hermann Trophy watch list, tying the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences for the third-most selections from one league behind the Atlantic Coast Conference (9) and Pac-10 Conference (7).
Notre Dame is one of only two programs to field four or more different recipients of the prestigious Hermann Trophy since its inception in 1988, with Cindy Daws (1996), Anne Makinen (2000) and Kerri Hanks (2006 & 2008) taking home the crystal ball award. The 2010 Hermann Trophy winner will be selected by Division I head coaches who are current members of the NSCAA. The list of 15 semifinalists will be chosen by a coaches committee, with the three finalists revealed in early December. All three will be invited to a news conference on Jan. 7, 2011, at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, where the winner will be announced, with a presentation banquet to follow.
Beasts Of The BIG EAST
With a 2-1 win over Marquette in last year’s BIG EAST Championship final, Notre Dame now owns an NCAA Division I-record 66-game unbeaten streak (63-0-3) against BIG EAST opposition, dating back to a 4-1 loss at No. 15 Marquette on Sept. 30, 2005. In that time, the only ties were scoreless draws at Connecticut (Oct. 13, 2006) and Pittsburgh (Oct. 4, 2009), and a 1-1 deadlock at No. 12 West Virginia in the 2007 BIG EAST final (won by the Mountaineers on penalties, 5-3, but the game is recorded as a tie).
Since joining the BIG EAST 15 years ago, the Fighting Irish are 134-8-5 (.928) all-time in regular-season conference games, 35-2-1 (.934) in the BIG EAST Championship, and hold a 713-85 scoring edge dating back to that first league season in 1995.
What’s more, Notre Dame maintains a 15-year, 94-game home unbeaten streak (93-0-1) against BIG EAST teams, with Connecticut the lone conference team ever to defeat the Fighting Irish at home (5-4 in overtime on Oct. 6, 1995, at old Alumni Field). The only result separating Notre Dame from a 94-game conference home winning streak has been a 0-0 draw with Rutgers on Oct. 22, 2004, also at old Alumni Field.
Our Fearless Leader
Now in his 12th season at Notre Dame, head coach Randy Waldrum ranks fourth on the NCAA Division I all-time winning percentage list with a .788 (341-84-21) mark in his 21 years in the women’s game. He also is third among active coaches for career winning percentage, while his 341 career wins rank fifth on the all-time NCAA Division I charts.
A two-time National Coach of the Year (2008 by the NSCAA, 2009 by Soccer America), Waldrum has led Notre Dame to seven NCAA College Cups, four NCAA finals and the 2004 national championship. He is second in NCAA Division I history with seven College Cup appearances and four title-game berths in his storied career.
The 2-0 Guarantee
Notre Dame is 317-0-1 all-time when claiming a 2-0 lead and is unbeaten in its past 294 contests when going ahead 2-0 (dating back to a 3-3 tie with Vanderbilt on Sept. 15, 1991, in Cincinnati).
In fact, just two of the past 206 Fighting Irish opponents to face a 2-0 deficit have forced a tie, something achieved by four opponents in Notre Dame history: Duke on Oct. 17, 1993, in Houston (Irish won 3-2), Connecticut on Nov. 10, 1996, in the BIG EAST final at old Alumni Field (ND led 2-0, later tied 2-2 and 3-3, ND won 4-3), Duke on Nov. 30, 2007, in the NCAA quarterfinals at old Alumni Field (Irish won 3-2), and most recently, Villanova on Oct. 12, 2008 in Villanova, Pa. (ND won 3-2 in OT).
Three … Is The Magic Number
Scoring three goals has meant virtually an automatic win in Notre Dame women’s soccer history, with a 287-3-1 (.988) record in those games, including a 189-1-0 (.995) mark since Oct. 6, 1995. The Fighting Irish also are 392-10-15 (.958) when holding the opposition to 0-1 goals.
Golden Domers Golden In OT
Overtime has usually been the right time for Notre Dame, as the Fighting Irish are 20-3-9 (.766) all-time in the Randy Waldrum era (since 1999) when going to an extra period or two, including an active seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2) dating back to the 2007 season.
Last year, Notre Dame went to overtime on three occasions, defeating West Virginia (3-2 on Oct. 2) and St. John’s (2-1 on Nov. 6 in the BIG EAST semifinal in Storrs, Conn.) and ending in a scoreless draw at Pittsburgh (Oct. 4).
Four current Fighting Irish players have scored “golden goals” in their college careers — senior midfielder Rose Augustin (Oct. 12, 2008 at Villanova), junior forward Melissa Henderson (Nov. 9, 2008 vs. Connecticut in BIG EAST final), senior forward Taylor Knaack (Oct. 2, 2009 at West Virginia) and junior defender Jessica Schuveiller (Nov. 6 vs. St. John’s in BIG EAST semifinal).
ND Supporters Group Debuts In 2010
Fans are encouraged to be a part of the new unofficial Notre Dame soccer supporters’ group, The Rakes of Mallow. This student-based organization will attend all Fighting Irish home games this year and is aiming to create a special home pitch atmosphere unlike any in college soccer. They will officially kick off their participation in Notre Dame home contests this year with a special “March To The Match” Friday from Dillon Hall (site of the first football pep rally of the year) to Alumni Stadium. The March will get underway following the conclusion of the football pep rally and will be accompanied by the Irish bagpipers.
To learn more, visit The Rakes of Mallow web site (www.rakesofmallow.net).
— ND —