Sept. 29, 2006
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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – One of the top-ranked games in Alumni Field history lived up to its billing Friday night, as the Notre Dame women’s soccer team defended its number-one ranking with a 3-1 comeback victory over sixth-ranked West Virginia. The big showdown attracted a spirited crowd of 3,056, the third-biggest home crowd in the program’s history and just a couple hundred shy of the Alumni Field record (3,300 sellout) set in a 1997 game versus North Carolina (and matched later that weekend versus Duke). The game – played on a slick field, with a steady downpour for most of the second half – marked the 11th time in Alumni Field regular-season history that the Irish and their opponent both have been ranked sixth or higher, with the Irish now owning a 9-1-1 mark in those big showdown games.
(Note: this full recap now includes quotes, notes and photos from the game.)
Notre Dame (10-0-0, 3-0-0 BIG EAST) has been a second-half team all season and that continued to be the case versus previously unbeaten West Virginia (8-1-2, 2-1-1), which owned a 1-0 lead at the break thanks to Amanda Cicchini’s goal in the 17th minute. The Irish then received goals from their top three scorers – as Michele Weissenhofer sent home a flick from Brittany Bock, Kerri Hanks headed in a Jen Buczkowski cross, and Amanda Cinalli put back Weissenhofer’s shot from close range to yield the 3-1 final.
Notre Dame – which held WVU without a shot on goal for the final 74 minutes – now owns a commanding 33-3 scoring edge for the 2006 season, but all three goals by the opponents have put the Irish in an early hole versus a top-25 time (also at #24 Mississippi and versus a Santa Clara team that was ranked as high as #1 in the polls). Friday’s midgame adjustment mirrored the Santa Clara showdown and produced the same result, a 3-1 come-from-behind victory.
“Tonight’s halftime was much like the Santa Clara game, by the time the coaches got in the locker room,” said eight-year Notre Dame head coach Randy Waldrum, whose Irish teams now have combined to win nearly 86 percent of their games (151-23-5).
“The staff met outside and had some discussion about what we wanted to do and – by the time we got in there – the players already were solving their own problems. It’s interesting because I asked if they got it all solved and they said it was taken care of, but of course I still threw some things in there. But it’s nice to see that you have that type of leadership in the locker room that’s already sorting things out, and that’s exactly what they did in the Santa Clara game. They have been around and they know what it takes.”
West Virginia entered the game as the nation’s leader in goals per game and goal margin while the Irish were ranked second in goal margin and goals-against average. Friday’s result leaves the teams even in goal margin, at +30 (ND at 33-3, WVU at 37-7). The Mountaineers had yielded just four goals in their first 10 games before seeing the Irish score three times in the second half.
Amanda Cinalli’s 26th career goal capped the 3-1 win.
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The visitors came to play in an action-packed and physical first half that produced just one corner kick (by West Virginia), 11 total shots (six by Notre Dame) and only two shots on goal (both by WVU). The Irish then cranked up the pressure in the final 45 minutes, with a 19-2 shot edge in the second half (including an 8-0 margin in shots on goal).
The Notre Dame seniors never have been outshot in a game during their four-year career (spanning 86 games, with a 77-7-2 career record) but that mark looked to be in jeopardy midway through the first half, with WVU owning a 5-3 shot edge. The Irish then proceeded to attempt the next 13 shots in the game (spanning 40 minutes of game action) and nearly closed the game with a 22-1 shot edge over the final 64 minutes, before WVU’s seventh shot came in the closing moments. Notre Dame
Notre Dame now owns a 25-0 scoring edge in the second half but the Irish have totaled only two first-half goals since the season opener. The Irish have led at halftime only three times all season before dominating in the second half to maintain their perfect record, the fourth time in the program’s history that Notre Dame has opened with 10 straight wins.
West Virginia’s goal snapped Notre Dame’s shutout streak at 545 minutes but the Irish extended several noteworthy streaks, including: 68 consecutive games at Alumni Field versus BIG EAST teams without a loss (67-0-1, since 1995); a 46-game scoring streak (still second all-time, nine shy of the record); 33 straight games at home without a loss (32-0-1; fourth-longest in Division I women’s soccer history); 24 consecutive wins at Alumni Field (now five shy of that record); a 23-1-0 record in the past 24 regular-season games and 17 straight wins in the regular season (three shy of that ND record). The Irish also are 23-0-0 during the past two seasons when Hanks scores a goal, with the sophomore forward now owning 35 goals in 35 career games played.
Bock – who played mostly as a forward, after flipping spots with Cinalli (who dropped back into the midfield) – had the flick that led Weissenhofer into the right side of the box and the freshman buried her sixth goal of the season inside the near post, tying the game early in the second half (48:52). It marked the second time in the past three games that Weissenhofer has scored Notre Dame’s first goal of the game (also at Michigan).
Defender Carrie Dew and goalkeeper Lauern Karas helped hold West Virginia to one goal in a frantic first half.
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Hanks actually helped set up the first Irish goal by making the initial run onto Bock’s flick, with her pressure causing the ball to squirt through the WVU defense and spring Weissenhofer for the quick shot.
“A lot of our chances came from `flicks on.’ With the field being wet, we had to anticipate the ball going through,” said Weissenhofer.
Twenty-five minutes later, senior center back Kim Lorenzen’s clearance from midfield preceded Cinalli’s cross to the left flank for Buczkowski, who then found Hanks open at the near post. Hanks placed her header into the left side of the goal for her seventh goal of the season and what would be one of the most memorable of her 10 career gamewinning goals with the Irish (73:13).
“Kimmy went and won the ball at midfield and then played in through the Cinalli and she played it out wide. Buzz crossed it and I finished it, right place at right time,” said Hanks, who also scored the gamewinner in the week-one comeback at Ole Miss (2-1).
“We went in at halftime and figured out what we did wrong in the first half and what we needed to improve on, and then we put it all together. One of the things we needed to do was dribble more in their defensive third.”
Hanks also had a hand in the final goal, feeding the ball from the left side into the heart of the penalty area. Weissenhofer’s point-blank shot was saved but Cinalli collected the rebound and sent it in for her sixth goal of the season and the 26th of her Notre Dame career.
The assist extended Weissenhofer’s nation-leading total to 12. She also added to her NCAA-best points per game total (now 2.40) and has points in nine of the 10 games this season.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS FROM Michele Weissenhofer – “It was really physical and both teams were fighting really hard. Our defense did awesome. They saved us in the first half. In the second half, we just connected and played strong all over the field. We had a lot of opportunities and could have had a lot more goals. … The forwards needed to connect more than we were doing in the first half. In the second half, we were open more and were using the space more, anticipating where the ball was going to go. And with our high-pressure defense, we were right on top of their forwards when they got the ball.”
Michele Weissenhofer’s team-best 24 points includes points in nine of 10 games this season.
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ADDITIONAL COMMENTS FROM Randy Waldrum – “I can’t thank the students and fans enough who came out tonight. It ignited the whole atmosphere of the stadium and the crowd was really into the game. The fans were a big a part of the win as we were. … We just saw West Virginia once last year but never played them and they have made big strides in the past two years, since we last played them in 2004. They are very good and it’s good to see two really good teams in the conference. They truly are deserving of their high ranking and Nikki [Izzo-Brown] has done a great job with her team. … We were better in the final third in the second half and put them under more pressure. They are very good at counter-attacking and did not sit in at all, they came at us – which, I’m sure, made for a fun game for the fans to watch. They are very good at absorbing your pressure and then countering out quick. They are effective at that. … The goal against us was just a mental breakdown, because we ended up with two players on the player in the edge of the box and she played it to Cicchini in the center of the box, and she was free. She was the one player we talked about before the game that we had to keep track of. Our kids looked at it and said ‘good goal’ but then they got back to work. It didn’t break us. … Physically and from a fitness standpoint, at the end of the game we were the better team and that made a big difference. That began to show and we gained some separation late in the game. It’s also usually a mindset at the end and we have a veteran group that does not let their guard down or tire out when the game is on the line. Our senior class is a big part of playing in close games and having the ability to do this when things are tight. They have been through a lot of these wars in their four years, so it’s good to have those type of players leading your team. … We’ve always prided ourselves on being the most fit team in the country. It’s not by design that we are scoring so much in the second half and I would have loved to have been up three in the first half. Our kids now are just learning week-in and week-out how to play when things are close and that’s going to be important come NCAA Tournament time. … We’ve only been ahead at the half three times this season and, in a game like soccer, that’s hard to overcome and still win all your games. … We were more effective holding the ball in the final third during the second half. With Brittany up front, we were trying to get her to post up a little bit more instead of playing so quickly. She is great holding the ball with pressure and then Hanks and Weissenhofer were able to play off her. Sometimes we play so fast that we get turnovers before we have time to support it and Brittany did a great job for us in that regard. She is so strong and difficult to knock off the ball. And the other two were making their runs and really finding their spaces, knowing that Brittany can hold it and not turn it over.”
UPDATED TEAM NOTES – Both games of the 1997 Notre Dame Classic (versus UNC and Duke, on Sept. 19 and 21) were announced as sellout crowds (3,300) … the first game of the Randy Waldrum era (a 2-1, double-OT loss to UNC on Sept. 3, 1999) drew 2,957 fans, the third-biggest crowd at Alumni Field before the 3,056 for the WVU game … Waldrum is 5-2-0 at ND in games where both teams have been ranked in the top-six … ND is 12-6-3 all-time in regular-season games involving top-six teams, regardless of site (1-3-2 vs. UNC, 3-2-0 vs. Santa Clara, 8-1-1 vs. all others) … the 68-game home unbeaten streak vs. BIG EAST teams includes a 297-20 scoring edge, 50 shutouts, 17 games with one goal allowed and just one game when the opponent has scored 2-plus goals (a 4-3 win over UConn in the 1996 BIG EAST title game) … ND has logged 59 straight home games vs. BIG EAST teams without allowing multiple goals … ND joins Navy (11-0-0) and Villanova (11-01-1) as the nation’s only remaining unbeaten teams (out of 301 in D-I women’s soccer) … ND’s 17 consecutive regular-season wins rank third in ND history (behind 18 from 1995-96 and 20 from 1999-2000) … the program’s longest regular-season unbeaten streaks are 32 games from 1993-95 and 31 from 1999-2001 … the Irish own a .728 win pct. in the Waldrum era when facing a top-25 team in the NSCAA coaches poll (40-14-3) … the three other ND teams that have opened 10-0-0 include: 16-0-0 in 2000, 15-0-0 in 2004 and 13-0-0 in 1996 (two of the past three ND teams have won their first 10) … the 2006 team (33-3 scoring margin) has matched the 1995 national-title team for fewest goals allowed in the first three games (the ’95 team had a 41-3 margin after 10 games, going 9-0-1) … the ’96 team had a 58-5 margin in its 10-0 start, the 2000 team was 36-4 and the ’04 team 31-7 … ND’s 10-0-0 start in 2006 includes four games vs. ranked teams and six vs. teams that played in the 2005 NCAAs (plus last week’s game vs. a Louisville team that had yet to lose and the recent game vs. a Michigan team that usually heads to the NCAAs) … WVU’s lead lasted 32 minutes … only three opponents in ND’s past 64 games (Marquette and Portland in ’05, Santa Clara in ’06) have led the Irish for more than 45 minutes … the Irish have posted multiple goals in each of the first 10 games for the second time (the 1996 NCAA runner-up team scored 2-plus in the first 13 games) … ND has allowed just 24 shots on goal all season (2.40/gm) … ND now leads the series with WVU 11-1-0 (7-0-0 at home; 45-9 series scoring edge) … the Irish are 57-5-2 when playing as the #1 team in the NSCAA poll (41-2-2 in the regular season) … ND is 185-14-3 all-time at Alumni Field, 328-9-12 all-time when holding the opponent to 0-1 goals (147-3-5 since 9/19/99; 53-0-1 in ’05-’06), 63-3-2 in the past 68 regular-season games and 75-4-3 overall since starting 2004 with the preseason Brazil trip (including spring games and fall exhibitions) … the Irish have held the opponent to 0-1 goals in 31 of 35 games during the past two seasons.
UPDATED PLAYER NOTES – Hanks still ranks 15th on the ND career goals list (35), two behind Amy Warner … Hanks is 11th in career GWGs (10), two behind Warner and already halfway to breaking Jenny Strieffer’s record (19) … Hanks now has 86 career points (35G-16A), still 19th in ND history but one behind Jody Hartwig, four back of Hartwig and five shy of Tiffany Thompson … Hanks now owns career averages of 1.00 goals/gm and 2.46 points/gm (Streiffer has the ppg record of 2.11, Jenny Heft the gpg record of 0.83) … Hanks needs 14 points in the next four games to reach 100 points quicker than any previous ND player (Jenny Streiffer and Anne Makinen reached 100 in their 40th games) … Cinalli’s 77 career points (26G-25A) move her past Stacia Masters and Stephanie Porter into 21st on that ND list (next up is Jen Grubb, with 83) … she is the 17th all-time ND player to reach 25 goals and 25 assists in her career (10 have been 30-30 players) … Cinalli’s 26 career goals rank 18th, one behind Hartwig and Thompson … ND is 27-1-0 during the past two seasons with Lorenzen in the starting lineup … ND’s eight-member senior class has combined for 496 career games played, led by Buczkowski (all 86/81 starts), center back Christie Shaner (85/77), F/M Lizzie Reed (80/21), Lorenzen (79/69) and M Jill Krivacek 78/51) … Shaner has played in 83 straight games … the seniors now own a .907 career win pct. (77-7-2) and own the second-most career wins in the nation (UNC’s seniors are 81-3-3) … the seniors have helped post 55 shutouts and 22 games with 1 GA (77 of 86 with 0-1 GA) … ND’s junior class now owns a 57-4-1 record (.927) and has helped ND score in 60 of their 62 career games… junior goalkeeper Lauren Karas owns a 21-1-0 career record.
#6 West Virginia (8-1-2, 2-1-1 BIG EAST) 1 0 – 1
#1 Notre Dame 0 3 – 3 (10-0-0, 3-0-0 BIG EAST)
WVU 1. Amanda Cicchini 3 (Deana Everett) 16:33
ND 1. Michele Weissenhofer 6 (Brittany Bock) 48:52
ND 2. Kerri Hanks 7 (Jen Buczkowski, Amanda Cinalli) 73:13
ND 3. Cinalli 6 (Weissenhofer) 86:59
Shots: WVU 5-2 – 7, ND 6-19 – 25
Corner Kicks: WVU 1-2 – 3, ND 0-3 – 3
Saves: WVU 5 (Lana Bannerman), ND 1 (Lauren Karas)
Fouls: WVU 13, ND 14
Offside: WVU 0, ND 5
Yellow Cards: Carrie Dew (ND) 15:19; Carolyn Blank (WVU) 32:58; Lana Bannerman (WVU) 57:01; Michele Weissenhofer (ND) 70:02
Attendance: 3,056