Oct. 6, 2000
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senior forward Meotis Erikson registered the third hat trick of her career while senior midfielder Anne Makinen had a hand in four Notre Dame goals, as the top-ranked Irish downed Georgetown for their fourth straight shutout, 8-0, in BIG EAST Conference Mid-Atlantic Division action Friday afternoon at Harbin Field.
Notre Dame (12-0-0 overall, 5-0-0 in divisional play) clinched the Mid-Atlantic Division title, with one divisional game left to play (Sunday at Villanova). Georgetown (6-5-2, 1-1-1) fell to 0-6-0 all-time versus the Irish, with Notre Dame scoring 8-10 goals in each of those shutout wins.
The Irish-who are one win shy of tying the best start in team history (13-0-0, in ’96)-set season highs for goals in a game and in a half (six). The eight goals are the most for the Irish in 21 games, since a 9-2 win at Wisconsin on Oct. 27, 1999.
Makinen scored her team-leading 10th goal of the season early in the second half while assisting on all three of Erikson’s scores. Makinen’s 61 career goals tie her with Cindy Daws (’97) for fourth in ND history while her three-assist game gives Makinen 52 career assists to become the 13th player in Division I women’s soccer history-and the third Irish player-to reach 50 goals and 50 assists in her career.
Freshman forward Amanda Guertin added a pair of goals for the Irish, who capped the scoring with the first goal of the season from freshman forward Kim Carpenter and the third from sophomore forward Ali Lovelace (who assisted on Carpenter’s goal). Junior defender Lindsey Jones and sophomore defender Nancy Mikacenic each had an assist to round out the Irish scoring.
Notre Dame again held a dominating shot edge (26-4), with junior Liz Wagner needing to make just two saves in the first 70 minutes before yielding to freshman Lauren Kent (who faced no shots).
Erikson’s hat trick is her first since her freshman season, when she registered three goals twice in a five-game span during late October of the 1997 season (versus Syracuse and Seton Hall). She is the 11th Irish player to post three-plus hat tricks in her career, with the top spots on that list belonging to Rosella Guerrero (6, 1992-95), Jenny Heft (6, ’96-’99), Michelle McCarthy (4, ’92-’95) and Monica Gerardo (4, ’95-’98).
Friday’s game marked the seventh time this season that the Irish have allowed 0-4 shots, including each of the last four games (ND owns a 119-7 shot edge during that span).
Guertin opened the scoring in the 10th minute, cashing in a GU turnover with a shot from outside the box. Less than two minutes later, Makinen played a free kick from the right flank and Erikson headed the ball into the net to match Guertin with her sixth goal of the season.
The Irish dominated play in the second half, with a 14-1 shot edge and six more goals. In the 54th minute, Jones sent a pass from the right side for Makinen, who collected the ball and dribbled past goalkeeper Emily Main for the easy score. Ten minutes later, Erikson made a run up the middle and took a rightside feed from Makinen at the top of the box before spinning and placing a shot into the net for a 4-0 cushion.
Erikson completed her hat trick moments later, after knocking in another cross from Makinen. Mikacenic continued the assault from the back, bringing the ball up the middle of the field before sending the ball into a seam between two defenders-with Guertin running onto the ball all alone versus Main for the 6-0 lead.
Lovelace broke free in the 80th minute but her shot was deflected by backup goalkeeper Alexis George, with Carpenter knocking home the spinning ball for her first goal of the season. In the closing moments, sophomore midfielder Ashley Dryer played a pass to Lovelace, who then used her speed and moves to dribble the ball from 35 yards out before scoring for the final margin.
NOTES: The current four-game shutout streak includes just three shots on goal by the opposition (one by Seton Hall, two by GU) … Erikson’s six-point game gives her 145 points for her career, moving past Guerrero (142) into 8th on the ND all-time list … Erikson’s 54 career goals rank 7th in ND history (one behind Guerrero) while her 37 career assists are one shy of catching McCarthy for 10th on the Irish all-time charts … ND has allowed just one goal (a PK by West Virginia) in the last 678 minutes of action … Makinen joins Cindy Daws (’97) and Jenny Streiffer (’00) as the third ND player ever to reach the 50-50 plateau.
#1 NOTRE DAME (12-0-0) 2 6 - 8GEORGETOWN (6-5-2) 0 0 - 0
ND 1. Amanda Guertin 6 (-) 9:49, ND 2. Meotis Erikson 6 (Anne Makinen) 11:45, ND 3. Makinen 10 (Lindsey Jones) 53:35, ND 4. Erikson 7 (Makinen) 64:01, ND 5. Erikson 8 (Makinen) 69:04, ND 6. Guertin 7 (Nancy Mikacenic) 72:38, ND 7. Kim Carpenter 1 (Ali Lovelace) 79:23, ND 8. Lovelace 3 (-) 87:24.
SHOTS: GU 4, ND 26. CORNER KICKS: ND 4, GU 0.
SAVES: GU 11 (Emily Main 10, Alexis George 1), ND 2 (Liz Wagner 2, Lauren Kent 0).
FOULS: GU 12, ND 12. OFFSIDES: GU 6, ND 1. YELLOW CARD: Kelly Lindsey, ND (4th of season).