Sept. 29, 2002
Washington, D.C. – Notre Dame junior Amy Warner registered the second hat trick of her career but Georgetown’s Jessie Beers-Altman capped her own three-goal flurry by scoring the gamewinner with 24 seconds left to play, as the Hoyas defeated the Irish, 4-3, in a back-and-forth BIG EAST Conference Mid-Atlantic Division game Sunday afternoon at North Kehoe Field.
Notre Dame (6-4-0, 2-2-0 BIG EAST Mid-Atlantic Division) owned leads of 1-0 and 3-2 but Georgetown (8-3-0, 3-0-0) forged the game’s third tie in the 80th minute before scoring the decisive goal at the 89:36 mark.
The Irish played minus four starters who have played key defensive roles in recent weeks. The injured starters included both senior captains – defender Vanessa Pruzinsky and midfielder Ashley Dryer – plus sophomore central back Gudrun Gunnarsdottir and junior forward Melissa Tancredi, who started at one of the vacant central defender spots in Friday’s game at Villanova.
Warner – whose seven goals this season already are just one shy of her 2001 total – becomes the 13th Notre Dame player ever to post multiple hat tricks in her career (also vs. Providence on Sept. 3, 2000).
The Irish finished with a 17-13 edge in total shots but the Hoyas – who extended their school-record winning streak to seven games – had more shots on net (10-7), with the visitors owning a 5-2 corner-kick edge.
Warner opened the scoring in the eighth minute, assisted by classmate Amanda Guertin, but GU’s Nicole DePalma answered with her fourth goal of the season at the 15:54 mark, representing the first first-half goal allowed by the Irish in 2002. Casey McCann’s second assist of the game then set up Beers-Altman’s first goal for the 2-1 Hoyas lead, in the 36th minute.
The Irish responded with another Warner goal (39:02), yielding a 2-2 game at the intermission.
Freshman defender Amber McMillin assisted on Warner’s third goal (and the 25th of her career), in the 63rd minute, and the Irish were 10 minutes away from securing the victory before Lauren Calone’s long thru-ball sprung Beers-Altman for the equalizer (79:51).
Warner nearly scored again on a counterattack but Alexis George made the diving save to thwart the breakaway. Notre Dame sophomore defender Candace Chapman followed with her own clutch defensive play, sprinting into the penalty box and knocking the ball clear after Beers-Altman had nudged a shot towards the vacated net.
A cross into the box then set up a leaping header from Beers-Altman, whose 10th goal of the season produced the dramatic gamewinner.
NOTRE DAME 2 1 – 3
GEORGETOWN 2 2 – 4
ND 1. Amy Warner 5 (Amanda Guertin) 7:23; GU 1. Nicole DePalma 4 (Casey McCann) 15:54; GU 2. Jessie Beers-Altman 8 (McCann) 35:18; ND 2. Warner (-) 39:02; ND 3. Warner (Amber McMillin) 62:08; GU 3. Beers-Altman 9 (Lauren Calone) 79:51; GU 4. Beers-Altman 10 (-) 89:36.
Shots: ND 11-6-17, GU 8-5-13.
Corner Kicks: ND 2-3-5, GU 1-1-2.
Saves: ND 6 (Erika Bohn), GU 4 (Alexis George).
Fouls: ND 21, GU 16.
Offsides: ND 1, GU 1.