Sept. 15, 2003
Notre Dame fifth-year defender Vanessa Pruzinsky (Trumbull, Conn.) has been named the BIG EAST Conference women’s soccer defensive player of the week for the fifth time in her career, after playing a lead role in last week’s wins over St. John’s (2-0) and Western Kentucky (5-0) – while the Irish (6-0-0) are now a unanimous No. 2 in the national rankings as they head into west-coast showdowns with Stanford and Santa Clara at next weekend’s SCU Classic.
Pruzinsky – who played sparingly in the fall of 2002 due to an ankle injury before graduating last May with a 4.0 GPA as a chemical engineering major – has sparked the Notre Dame defense in the last four games since making her full-time return to the lineup, as the Irish cope with the absence of two other injured defensive starters in Candace Chapman and Gudrun Gunnarsdottir. The two-time Academic All-American started at outside back last week while leading an Irish defense that shut down SJU and WKU to the tune of a 7-0 scoring edge, a 39-9 combined shot margin (13-3 in shots on target) and a 16-4 corner-kick edge.
Since returning to the starting lineup, Pruzinsky has been named defensive MVP of the Notre Dame Classic while helping hold the last four opponents to a total of two goals, 24 shots (7 on target, or 1.8 per game) and 8 corner kicks. She also was BIG EAST defensive player of the week three consecutive times as a sophomore in 2000 (Oct. 3-17) and on Oct. 30, 2001, during her junior season.
Pruzinsky will be showcased in upcoming features on College Sports Television (DirectTV channel 610) and in the new magazine Sports Illustrated On Campus.
Notre Dame will be facing a pair of perennial national powers and current top-25 teams in next week’s action, taking on Stanford in Friday night’s action (5:00 PDT) and host Santa Clara on Sunday afternoon (1:30 PDT). Both games will be telecast live by College Sports Television.
The first three weeks of the season have taken their toll on many top teams throughout the nation, as only 13 Division I teams currently sport perfect records. The BIG EAST leads the nation’s conferences with three unbeaten/untied teams (ND, Boston College and Villanova) while the Southeastern Conference (with Florida and Mississippi) is the only other league with multiple teams on that list. The other eight teams that have yet to suffer a loss or tie include three that are in the current national rankings – top-ranked North Carolina, Ohio State and Princeton – plus Cal Poly, East Tennessee State, Navy, Oklahoma State and Oregon.
NSCAA/adidas National Rankings
2003 NCAA Division I Women – National (Sept. 15, 2003)
Rank School W-L-T Prev.
1 North Carolina 6-0-0 1
2 Notre Dame 6-0-0 3
3 UCLA 4-0-2 4
4 Texas A&M 4-1-0 5
5 Florida 6-0-0 6
6 Pepperdine 5-1-0 9
7 *Connecticut 3-0-2 8
8 Virginia 4-1-1 18
9 Texas 4-2-0 11
10 California 2-0-2 13
11 Penn State 4-1-1 7
12 Ohio State 5-0-0 15
13 Clemson 5-1-0 19
14 Washington 3-1-2 24
15 *West Virginia 5-1-0 12
16 Colorado 4-1-0 16
17 Duke 4-1-1 10
18 *Santa Clara 2-1-3 2
19 Denver 4-1-0 21
20 Boston College 6-0-0 20
20 Portland 4-2-0 17
22 Dayton 4-1-1 22
23 Tennessee 5-1-0 —
24 *Stanford 3-2-0 —
25 Princeton 3-0-0 —
Also receiving votes: *Villanova, Michigan State, Syracuse, Cal-Poly, Nebraska, BYU, Auburn
Soccer America Women’s Top 25 (Sept. 15)
Rank Team (Record) Prev.
1. North Carolina (6-0-0) 1
2. Notre Dame (6-0-0) 2
3. UCLA (4-0-2) 4
4. Florida (6-0-0) 6
5. Pepperdine (5-1-0) 7
6. Texas (4-2-0) 5
7. Virginia (4-1-1) 17
8. *West Virginia (5-1-0) 8
9. Penn State (4-1-1) 10
10. *Santa Clara (2-1-3) 3
11. Tennessee (5-1-0) 13
12. *Connecticut (3-0-2) 18
13. Portland (4-2-0) 9
14. California (2-0-2) 14
15. Texas A&M (4-1-0) 15
16. *Stanford (3-2-0) 16
17. Clemson (5-1-0) 19
18. *Villanova (6-0-0) 21
19. *Arizona State (3-1-1) 11
20. Washington (3-1-2) 25
21. BYU (4-1-1) 12
22. Duke (4-1-1) 20
23. Cal Poly (6-0-0) NR
24. Utah (4-1-0) 24
25. Denver (4-1-0) NR
* Notre Dame’s 2003 opponents are indicated by asterisks