Sept. 6, 2002
Santa Clara newcomer Megan Kakadelas scored the game’s first goal and had the primary assist on another score five minutes later as defending NCAA champion Santa Clara broke open a tight game to defeat the host team, 4-0, in first-round action Friday night at the Notre Dame Classic, presented by St. Andrews Products.
Sixth-ranked Notre Dame (2-1-0) – playing in front of a festive crowd of 2,107 – held a 7-5 corner-kick edge (6-1 in the first half) but 13th-ranked Santa Clara (1-1-0) finished with a 13-9 shot advantage, including 8-4 in the decisive half.
The game marked the return of three top players to both squads, as Notre Dame senior defender Vanessa Pruzinsky saw her first action of the season (due to injury) while sophomore defender Candace Chapman and freshman midfielder Katie Thorlakson were back in the fold after competing with Canada at the Under-19 World Championship. Kakadelas joined Leslie Osborne and Jessica Ballweg as the SCU players who recently returned from competing with the U.S. Under-19 National Team.
After a fairly even first half that saw each team attempt five shots, Kakadelas – the Pac-10 Rookie of the Year last season at USC – took advantage of Pruzinsky’s departure from the game by forcing a turnover and knocking in her own rebound for the 1-0 lead (53:25). Minutes later, she took a short pass from Osborne and slotted a right-endline pass to an onrushing Kristi Candau, who rammed the ball into the right side for the 2-0 cushion (66:24).
Micaela Esquivel later surprised ‘keeper Lauren Kent with a 20-yard chip shot from the top of the box (66:24) and Candau capped the scoring with a rising leftfooted shot that ripped into the left corner of the net (79:01).
A flurry of goals is nothing new for the ND-SCU series, which saw the Broncos score four goals in a 20-minute span for a 4-2 win over the Irish in 1999 while ND posted a 6-1 win over SCU at the 2000 Key Bank Classic.
The game ended Notre Dame’s scoring streak at 31 games and represented the program’s largest margin of defeat ever at home. The Irish had not been shut out at home since 1992.
In Friday’s earlier game, Portland defeated Clemson, 2-0, behind goals from Erin Misaki and Christine Sinclair.