Oct. 10, 1999
The sixth-ranked Notre Dame women?s soccer team wrapped up its BIG EAST Conference Mid-Atlantic division crown with a 5-0 win at Pittsburgh on Sunday, as Jenny Heft and Jenny Streiffer each scored a pair of goals. The Irish, who out shot the Panthers 40-2, improve to 11-2-0 and finish their conference schedule with a 6-0-0 record. Goalkeepers LaKeysia Beene and Elizabeth Wagner combined to shut out the Panthers with two saves. Notre Dame returns to action at top-ranked Santa Clara on Sun., Oct. 17, at 1:00 p.m.
Heft?s two goals brought her career total to 72 goals, matching former Irish forward Monica Gerardo for the most goals in Notre Dame history. Streiffer now has 59 career goals and 64 assists and needs just one more goal to become just the fourth player in NCAA women?s soccer to score 60 goals and assist on 60 goals in a career.
Streiffer scored twice on headers in 2:33 span to put the Irish ahead 2-0 at 29:43. The game-winning goal started with a blast from Anne Makinen that skimmed off the crossbar to Heft on the right wing. Heft crossed the ball to Streiffer, who scored on a header from five yards. Freshman Nancy Mikacenic passed from the center of the midfield to Kara Brown on the right side to set up Streiffer?s second goal. Brown sent another cross from the right endline to Streiffer, who beat Pittsburgh goalkeeper Jen Huzvar to the ball for a header from two yards.
Just 6:58 later, Heft made it 3-0 when she punched in a shot from Ashley Dryer that bounced off the crossbar and landed in front of Heft from 10 yards. She converted the loose ball at 36:41 to send Notre Dame into halftime leading 3-0.
The game remained 3-0 until the 70th minute when Iris Lancaster scored for the second consecutive game with another header. Mikacenic dished from the middle of the field to Kelly Tulisiak on the right sideline. Tulisiak dribbled to the right endline and sent a cross to Lancaster, who headed it in for a 4-0 lead at 69:20. Heft then closed out the scoring at 83:41 when Streiffer slipped a free kick from just outside the box through the backline and found Heft from 12 yards on the right side. Heft fired a shot to the left corner, and the ball bounced off the post and into the right corner.
Huzvar finished the came with 10 saves on 40 shots by the Irish. Notre Dame held a 12-0 advantage in corner kicks and committed eight fouls to 11 for Pittsburgh. By winning the Mid-Atlantic division, the Irish will play host to a BIG EAST championship quarterfinal game on Tues., Nov. 2, at 7:30 p.m. against the fourth-place team from the BIG EAST Northeast division.