Oct. 27, 2002
NEWTON, Mass. – Amanda Guertin set a Notre Dame record by scoring the third overtime game of her career as the 18th-ranked Irish women’s soccer team closed the regular season with another quality win, downing Boston College, 1-0, in BIG EAST Conference cross-divisional action Sunday afternoon at Newton Campus Field.
Notre Dame (11-7-0) now must wait two weeks until the announcement of the 64-team NCAA tournament field, on Nov. 11. The Irish – who finished tied for fourth in the BIG EAST Mid-Atlantic Division standings (3-3-0) – have won four of their last five games, after entering the week ranked second in the Great Lakes region and owning one of the nation’s toughest schedules, with 12 opponents ranked in the national polls at some point during the 2002 season (seven were ranked in this week’s NSCAA coaches poll).
Sunday’s game extended several Notre Dame streaks, as the Irish are unbeaten in their last 13 overtimes games (10-0-3, since a 3-2 loss to UNC in the ’99 opener) and have won their last 26 games that were played during the final week of the regular season (dating back to 1990; 132-15 scoring edge in those games). Since joining the BIG EAST in 1995, ND’s all-time record in games vs. BIG EAST teams now stands at 86-8-2 (.906).
Freshman Erika Bohn made five saves and foiled several strong BC scoring chances, en route to her fourth solo shutout of the season (to go along with four shared shutouts).
Boston College (10-7-1) – the No. 3 seed from the Northeast Division – will look to strengthen its NCAA tournament chances with next week’s BIG EAST quarterfinal game at Mid-Atlantic Division runner-up Villanova.
Notre Dame outshot its opponent (16-13) for the sixth straight game, 11th time in the last 12 games and 14th time overall in 2002 while also holding the edge in corner kicks (4-3) for the ninth straight game (the opponents have held the CK edge just four times in ’02).
Junior forward Amy Warner – who had ended her five-game goalscoring drought in Friday’s 6-0 win over Syracuse – set up Sunday’s score with a run down the left wing in the final minute of the first 10-minute overtime. Warner played an endline pass to her classmate Guertin, who gathered the ball at the near left post and calmly sent a six-yard shot into the far-sidenetting for her seventh goal of the season and the 33rd of her career (99:13).
Guertin is the first Notre Dame player ever to score three overtime goals in her career, also doing so at West Virginia in 2000 and versus Michigan in ’01 (Warner and 1996 national player of the year Cindy Daws previously shared the record with Guertin, with two OT goals each). It also marked Guertin’s fourth gamewinning goal of the season and the 14th of her career – good for seventh in ND history behind Jenny Heft (19), Michelle McCarthy (18), Rosella Guerrero, Monica Gerardo and Anne Makinen (each with 16), and Jenny Streiffer (15). Seven of Guertin’s GWGs have come in one-goal games, including the recent 1-0 win at #13 Michigan.
Notre Dame’s strong finish coincided with senior midfielder Ashley Dryer’s return from injury, beginning with the Oct. 13 win over #8 Connecticut. The Irish owned a 13-4 scoring edge during that five-game stretch to end the regular season, plus a 93-40 shot advantage (43-23 in shots on goal) and a 30-13 corner-kick edge.
#18 NOTRE DAME 0 0 1 – 1 (OT)
BOSTON COLLEGE 0 0 0 – 0
ND 1. Amanda Guertin 7 (Amy Warner) 99:13.
Shots: ND 6-9-1-16, BC 4-6-3-13.
Corner Kicks: ND 4, BC 3.
Saves: ND 5 (Erika Bohn), BC 6 (Kate Taylor).
Fouls: ND 10, BC 8.
Offsides: ND 2, BC 3.