Oct. 26, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The sixth-ranked Notre Dame women?s soccer team wrapped up its regular-season home schedule with a 2-1 double overtime victory over Connecticut and a 7-1 win over Miami this past weekend at Alumni Field. The Irish travel to Wisconsin and Indiana this week before playing host to Miami once again in the BIG EAST championship quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 2, at Alumni Field.
THIS WEEK FOR THE IRISH: Notre Dame concludes its 1999 regular-season schedule with a pair of road games at Wisconsin and Indiana. The Irish travel to the McClimon Soccer Complex to face the Bagders at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 27. Wisconsin enters the game with a 7-6-4 record after a scoreless tie with Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Sunday. Allison Wagner leads the Badgers with eight goals and two assists for 18 points. Goalkeeper Kelly Conway has allowed just 11 goals for a 0.77 goals against average. Notre Dame has recorded nine consecutive wins over Wisconsin after los-ing the first game between the teams in 1989.
The Irish head south to take on the Hoosiers at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 31, at Armstrong Sta-dium. Indiana enters the week with a 4-7-6 record and will play Cincinnati on Thursday before Sunday?s game. Eleven different players have scored for the Hoosiers, while Tracy Grose leads the team with four goals. Goalkeeper Ashley Davis has played all but 14 minutes in goal and has a 0.90 goals against average with five solo shutouts. Notre Dame has beaten Indiana nine consecutive times after losing the first game between the teams in 1988 and has a 7-0-0 since the Hoosiers acheived varsity status in 1993.
HEFT SETS IRISH GOAL-SCORING MARK: Senior Jenny Heft (Germantown, Wis.) scored one goal against both Connecticut and Miami to surpass the 73 goals Monica Gerardo scored from 1995-98 and become Notre Dame?s all-time leading goal scorer with 74 goals. Heft scored 12 goals as a freshman and 20 as a sophomore before setting the Irish single-season mark with 28 goals as a junior in 1998.
STREIFFER REACHES 60-60 PLATEAU: All-American and two-time GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American Jenny Streiffer (Baton Rouge, La.) scored the third hat trick of her career against Miami to join former Irish All-American Cindy Daws (1993-96), UC Santa Barbara?s Carin Jennings (1983-86) and North Carolina?s Mia Hamm (1989-90, 1992-93) as the only players in NCAA women?s soccer history to score at least 60 goals and assist on 60 goals during their careers. Her career totals stand at 62 goals and 65 assists for 189 points, one point behind Gerardo?s Irish record of 190.
IRISH LOOK FOR FIFTH BIG EAST TITLE: Four-time defending champion Notre Dame begins its road for a fifth consecutive BIG EAST championship against Miami in the BIG EAST quarterfinals. The Irish have won four of the six BIG EAST women?s soccer championships held, including all four tourna-ments held since Notre Dame joined the conference in 1995. St. John?s (1994) and Providence (1993) claimed the first two BIG EAST titles. The Irish are 9-0-0 in BIG EAST championship games with an all-time conference championship record of 14-0-0. Notre Dame also captured the 1993 and 1994 Midwestern Collegiate Conference titles.
Following quarterfinal games on November 2 at campus sites, the BIG EAST women’s soccer championship will continue on Friday and Sunday, Nov. 5 and 7, at the Rutgers Soccer Stadium. Following Friday’s semifinal games that begin at 6:00 p.m., winners will meet on Sunday for the championship at 12:00 p.m. The championship game will be televised live on Empire Sports, Fox Sports New England, the Madison Square Garden Network and SportsChannel Florida. Comcast Sports Philadelphia will air the game at 2:00 p.m., while WHME-South Bend will carry the game on Monday, Nov. 8, at 11:00 p.m.
Notre Dame claimed the BIG EAST Conference Mid-Atlantic division title with a 6-0-0 record to set up its game with Miami, the fourth-place team from the Northeast division. The Irish averaged 5.33 goals per game in the six wins, outscoring their Mid-Atlantic opponents 32-3. The complete pair-ings are as follows:
Game 1: #4 NE Miami at #1 MA Notre Dame Game 2: #3 MA Seton Hall at #2 NE Syracuse Game 3: #3 NE Boston College at #2 MA Villanova Game 4: #4 MA Georgetown at #1 NE Connecticut 5: Games 1 and 2 winners (6 p.m. semifinal) 6: Games 3 and 4 winners (8 p.m. semifinal) 7: Games 5 and 6 winners (noon final)
NOTRE DAME-MIAMI PART II: The Hurricanes will make their second trip to Alumni Field in nine days when they meet the Irish in the BIG EAST championship quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Miami will be making its first postseason appearance in just its second season as a varsity sport. Notre Dame beat Miami 7-1 on Sunday in the first meeting between the teams. Jenny Streiffer had a hat trick, Meotis Erikson (Kennewick, Wash.) added a pair of goals and Jenny Heft and Monica Gonzalez (Richardson, Texas) each scored to lead the Irish to the win. Freshman Nancy Mikacenic (Seattle, Wash.) had three first-half assists. The Irish finished with a 28-2 edge in shots and 7-1 in corner kicks.
IRISH WIN BATTLE OF DIVISION CHAMPIONS: In a game pitting the BIG EAST Mid-Atlantic division win-ner, Notre Dame, against the Northeast division champion Connecticut, junior All-American Anne Makinen (Helsinki, Finland) scored the game-winning goal in the 112th minute to lift the Irish to a 2-1 double-overtime win over eighth-ranked Connecticut Friday night at rainy and windy Alumni Field, snapping the Huskies’ 11-game winning streak. Senior Jenny Heft put Notre Dame ahead 1-0 when she scored off a corner kick from senior defender Kara Brown (Avon, Conn.), who served the ball to Heft at the top of the box. Heft settled the kick and volleyed a shot that sailed into the upper middle of the net at 14:29. Connecticut freshman Sarah Popper sent the game into overtime with her first career goal in the 89th minute. Notre Dame outshot Connecticut 25-10 in the contest, including 7-3 in the first half, 11-6 in the second half and 6-0 in the second overtime. After both teams managed just one shot each in the first overtime, the Irish came out fast in the second overtime with five shots in the first 5:29 before the sixth shot ended the game. Makinen scored her third game-winning goal against Connecticut and second in as many games against the Huskies at 111:03. Senior All-American defender Jen Grubb (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) served a corner kick into the box that the Connecticut defense could not clear out of the box. Makinen collected the loose ball from six yards and blasted a shot towards the upper right corner that skimmed off a Husky defender and deflected into the net.
HEAD COACH RANDY WALDRUM: Randy Waldrum, a seven-year member of the United States national team coaching staff, is in his first year as head coach of the Irish after leading Baylor to the ?98 NCAA championship second round in just the third year of the program that he started in 1996. He comes to Notre Dame after being named 1998 National Soccer Coaches Association Central Region coach of the year and Big 12 Conference coach of the year. His 107-50-12 (.669) women?s soccer career record in three seasons coaching the Baylor women?s soccer program and six seasons with the Tulsa women?s soccer program has him listed 13th on the NCAA winningest coaches list by career winning percentage and 26th by wins. The Irving, Texas, native also has coached men?s teams at Tulsa, Texas Wesleyan and Austin College and boasts an overall career record of 183-105-19 in 17 total seasons before coming to Notre Dame.
IRISH AMONG BIG EAST LEADERS: In addition to finishing 6-0 in the BIG EAST Mid-Atlantic and winning its three cross-division games, Notre Dame stands among the BIG EAST statistical leaders. In all games played, the Irish have scored the most goals (63) and recorded the most assists (67). Individually, the Irish boast five of the top seven scorers in BIG EAST games and four of the top nine in all games. Jenny Heft is the leading scorer with 3.5 points per BIG EAST game (nine goals and three assists in six games), while Jenny Streiffer is third with 2.7 points per game. Meotis Erikson and Anne Makinen are fourth with 2.2, while Jen Grubb is seventh with 1.7. Heft and Streiffer are second and third in scoring in all games, while Erikson and Makinen are seventh and ninth.
MAKINEN MATCHES SCORING STREAK RECORD: After not recording a point in the season-opening game against North Carolina, junior All-American midfielder Anne Makinen has at least one point in every game in which she has played since. That streak reached 11 straight games against Miami and tied the school record for consecutive games with a point. Jenny Streiffer, Meotis Erikson and former Irish All-American Holly Manthei also recorded at least one point in 11 consecutive games. After scoring her first goal of the season against Duke, Makinen missed four games from Sept. 12-19, while playing with the Finnish national team. She has eight goals and six assists for 22 points in the last 11 games.
IRISH TAKE OFFENSE: After SMU handed Notre Dame its first shutout in 55 games, the Irish scored 47 goals in the 10 games since that 1-0 loss and at least four goals in eight of the 10 games. Notre Dame has totalled 63 goals in 16 games for an average of 3.94 goals per game, currently fourth best in the NCAA.
GRUBB MATCHES GOAL TOTAL: Irish senior All-American defender Jen Grubb?s six goals in 1999 equal the six career goals she had scored entering her senior year. Grubb scored three as a freshman, two as a sophomore and one as a junior for a total of six goals. She also has four assists to go along with her five goals for 16 points, placing her fifth on the team in scoring. Five of her goals have come from free kicks against Santa Clara, Georgetown, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Butler.
BROWN, STREIFFER NAMED PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Seniors Kara Brown and Jenny Streiffer have been named BIG EAST Conference players of the week after helping the Irish beat Connecticut and Miami. Brown was named defensive player of the week, while Streiffer was named offensive player of the week along with Syracuse?s Jenna Szyluk. Brown’s solid play in the back helped hold Connecticut to 10 shots in 111 minutes of the double overtime win. She also helped the Irish limit Miami to just two shots. Brown recorded her seventh and eighth assists of the season with one against both the Huskies and the Hurricanes. The defensive player-of-the-week honor is the second for Brown this season and the third weekly honor in her career. Streiffer also was named offensive player of the week twice as a sophomore in 1997 and was a two-time rookie-of-the-week selection in 1996. Streiffer scored a hat trick and added an assist for a seven-point performance against Miami on Sunday, the most single-game points by a Notre Dame player in 1999.
FROSH SPARK IRISH: Notre Dame?s class of 2003 has given the Irish major contributions this season. Vanessa Pruzinsky (Trumbull, Conn.) has started all 16 games, while Nancy Mikacenic has started 15 games. Pruzinsky has assisted on three Irish goals, while Mikacenic scored the game-winning goal against Butler and has eight assists. Ashley Dryer has started seven games and played in 14 games total with six assists, while Ali Lovelace (Dallas, Ga.) has played in 13 games and recorded her first career point with an assist against Santa Clara. Kate Morrel (Carmel, Ind.) and Emily Barnes (Redmond, Wash.) also have played in five games, with Morrel scoring her first career goal against Georgetown and adding an assist against West Virginia.
Goalkeeper Sani Post (Davis, Calif.) has played 174:16 behind LaKeysia Beene (Gold River, Calif.) and has yet to allow a goal. She has two shared shutouts with Beene after playing the final 38:54 of Notre Dame?s 5-0 win against Butler and the entire second half against Rutgers.
IRISH VERSUS BIG 10: Notre Dame enters its game against Wisconsin with 37 consecutive wins against Big 10 teams, a streak that spans 10 years after a 3-0 loss to Michigan State on Sept. 22, 1989. The Irish have recorded 25 shutouts in the 37 wins and have outscored their Big 10 opponents 169-16 during the winning streak, an average margin of 4.57-0.43 goals per game.
IRISH NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: Notre Dame leads the 1999 College Soccer Online Pre-season All-America first team with four players selected to the 11-member team, more selections than any other school. Seniors LaKeysia Beene, Jen Grubb and Jenny Streiffer and junior Anne Makinen were selected to the team. Beene and Makinen also were named to Soccer America first team, with Grubb and Streiffer placed on the second team.
FOUR NAMED PLAYER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS: Senior All-Americans LaKeysia Beene, Jen Grubb and Jenny Streiffer and junior All-American Anne Makinen have been named four of the 15 finalists for the ninth annual Missouri Athletic Club Sports Foundation Collegiate Player of the Year award. Notre Dame leads all schools with four players among the finalists, while North Carolina, with two players, is the only other school with more than one finalist. With Seton Hall?s Kelly Smith and Connecticut?s Mary-Frances Monroe also among the finalists, the BIG EAST Conference accounts for more finalists with six than any other conference. Beene, Grubb, Makinen and Streiffer will be looking to become Notre Dame?s first winner of the M.A.C. award since former Irish All-American Cindy Daws was selected as the recipient following the 1996 season. Beene, Grubb and Streiffer also were finalists for the 1998 award, while Grubb and Streiffer were finalists as sophomores in 1997.
Three Irish women?s soccer players also have been selected as three of 15 finalists for the 1999 Hermann Trophy, to be presented December 11, in Charlotte, N.C. Beene, Makinen and Streiffer join three players from North Carolina in leading the ballot. Makinen was a finalist for the ?98 award, while Beene is the only goalkeeper among the finalists. Notre Dame has had one Hermann Trophy recipient in its history, Cindy Daws, who won the award in 1996.
IRISH HAVE BUSY SUMMER ON NATIONAL TEAMS: A number of current and former Irish women?s soccer players had busy summers with national teams. Senior All-Americans LaKeysia Beene, Jen Grubb and Jenny Streiffer were part of the U.S. under-21 national team that won the 1999 Nordic Cup in Iceland. Streiffer, who tallied the game-winning goal in the ?97 championship game against Norway, scored the game-tying goal in the championship game against Norway in the 85th-minute of the 2-1 overtime win. She also scored in the 22nd minute to lead the Americans to a 1-0 win over Finland in the opening round. Streiffer finished as the team?s leading scorer with three goals and one assist in four games. Former three-time Irish All-American Kate Sobrero played a key role in helping the U.S. claim its second FIFA Women?s World Cup in 1999 as one of the youngest players on the roster. She started five of the six games the Americans played, missing only the Korea game when she rested a sore ankle after the U.S. already had clinched the top spot in its pool. Sobrero starred for the U.S. as the youngest starting defender on team.
Junior Monica Gonzalez and all-time Irish leading scorer Monica Gerardo represented Mexico in that country?s first appearance in the World Cup in ?99. The Irish pair both started Mexico?s first World Cup game against Brazil, while Gerardo, who wrapped up her career at Notre Dame following the 1998 season, also started against Italy.