Nov. 14, 1999
Jenny Heft’s Postgame Audio!
Download the Free Windows Media Player!
The fifth-ranked and BIG EAST champion Notre Dame women’s soccer team broke open a 1-1 halftime game with four goals in 7:22 in the second half to beat Atlantic 10 champion Dayton 5-1 in the NCAA championship second round on Sunday at Alumni Field. The fifth-seeded Irish advance to the third round to face Pacific 10 champion Stanford, which beat Cal Poly 3-1 on Saturday night. Senior forward Jenny Heft scored her school-record 80th career goal to notch the gamewinner in the 67th minute for Notre Dame, which improves to 19-3-0. Dayton ends its season with an 18-5-0 record.
The Irish held a 29-3 advantage in shots, including 18-1 in the second half. Notre Dame?s defense held Dayton without a shot for the final 23:36 of the contest, which was played with a stiff wind at Dayton?s back in the first half and at Notre Dame?s back in the second half. Dayton goalkeeper Stephanie Weisenfield saved five shots and was helped by a defense which stopped three Irish shots off the line. Irish All-American senior goalkeeper LaKeysia Beene recorded one save in facing three shots. Notre Dame had 10 corner kicks to one for Dayton. The Flyers committed 17 fouls, including 14 in the first half, to 16 for the Irish.
Heft become just the 11th player in NCAA Division I history to score 80 goals when she tapped in a rebound from junior Meotis Erikson at 66:10. Erikson blasted a shot from 15 yards on the right side that Weisenfield tipped down. Heft then pounced on the ball from two yards for the game-winning goal.
Senior defender Kara Brown gave the Irish a two-goal lead just 53 seconds later when her cross from 20 yards on the right side curved and sailed into the upper left corner of the net. Junior Monica Gonzalez then finished a through ball from junior All-American Anne Makinen at 70:34 for a 3-1 lead. Makinen closed out the scoring at 73:32 when a blast from 20 yards on the left wing that went straight into the upper right corner of the net.
Dayton senior Danielle Gillespie sent the game into halftime tied at 1-1 with a goal at 39:15. Freshman Missy Gregg slipped a through ball to Gillespie, who scored from 16 yards on the left side into the right corner of the net. After that goal the Irish defense allowed just one shot the rest of the game.
Irish senior All-American Jenny Streiffer gave the Irish a quick 1-0 lead at 12:21 when she flicked a shot from the right post into the left corner from right endline cross from Makinen for her 69th career goal to go along with her 71 career assists. Streiffer had two chances later in the second half to join Mia Hamm as the only NCAA Division I players to reach 70-70, but Dayton defenders saved her next two shots off the line to hold the Irish to one first-half goal. Streiffer?s school-record 209 career points moved her into a tie for 10th place on the NCAA Division I scoring list with Robin Confer (North Carolina, 1994-97).
The third-round game will mark the first official game between the Irish and Cardinal since a 4-0 Notre Dame win in 1996. Stanford traveled to Notre Dame at the beginning of the season for an exhibition game on August 20. The Irish used goals by Streiffer, Heft and seniors Jen Grubb and Iris Lancaster for a 4-0 win.