Aug. 25, 2002
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Kent made five second-half saves and senior midfielder Ashley Dryer scored with 39 seconds left to play as the Notre Dame women’s soccer team posted a 2-1 exhibition victory over Kentucky at Heffern Soccer Fields, in final-day action of the IPFW Soccer Showcase.
Notre Dame continued to play without many of its top players, including five who were sidelined by injuries or illness and two others who are competing at the Under-19 World Championship. An already-thin Irish defense took another shot when sophomore Gudrun Gunnarsdottir was unable to anchor the central defense due to a foot injury – with Sunday’s four starting defenders and freshman goalkeeper Erika Bohn owning no regular-season starts between them on the collegiate level.
Kent made the save of the game in the 85th minute, after Keri Boyce had beat the Irish defense into the left side of the box. Kent anticipated the play and was off her line to cut off the angle, with the point-blank shot kicking off her back foot and bouncing away to end the threat.
The winning goal was set in motion by freshman Miranda Ford’s pass from the back. Junior midfielder Randi Scheller then sent a pass into space down the right flank, with junior forward Amy Warner tracking down the ball in the right corner. Warner worked her way free of a UK defender and sent a cross into the goalmouth, with Dryer then collecting the ball in the far corner and drilling an 18-yard shot into the upper left side of the net.
Both teams scored in the game’s eighth minute, with Irish junior forward Amanda Guertin blasting a strong leftfooted shot from outside the box before Boyce cashed in a chance 18 seconds later.
Guertin – who scored in Notre Dame’s final 10 games of the 2001 season and in six of seven games during the 2002 spring season – rediscovered her scoring form early in Sunday’s game, after failing to score in Friday’s 4-2 loss to North Carolina. Warner set the play in motion by drawing the defenders to the left side of the box and sliding a pass to Guertin, who sidestepped her defender and struck a leftfooted shot from 20 yards into the right sidenetting (7:24).
After the ensuing kickoff, Boyce capitalized on an Irish breakdown in the center of the field, sending a low shot past a charging Bohn and into the left corner for the 1-1 score (7:24).
Notre Dame’s starting lineup was similar to Friday’s unit, with the only changes being junior Kim Carpenter moving back from midfield to central defense, junior Molly Tate at left back and sophomore Sarah Halpenny in the attacking midfielder role. Freshmen Jenny Walz (midfielder/forward), Michelle Daley (forward) and Ford (defense) also saw some action while Kent again split the game with Bohn.
KENTUCKY 1 0 – 1
NOTRE DAME 1 1 – 2
ND 1. Amanda Guertin (Amy Warner) 7:24; UK 1. Keri Boyce (Jen Weakley) 7:42; ND 2. Ashley Dryer (Amy Warner) 89:21.
Shots: UK 4-6/10, ND 5-3/8.
Corner Kicks: UK 3-3/6, ND 1-3/4.
Saves: UK 3(Liz Butler), ND 7 (Erika Bohn 2, Lauren Kent 5).
Fouls: UK 18, ND 16.
Offsides: UK 8, ND 3.