Womens Soccer: Healthy Irish defeat Mexican national team
By ANDY TROEGER
Sports Writer
Despite only being able to play one game in the 2003 International Showcase, Notre Dame's womens soccer team came out of the weekend in strong fashion by defeating the Mexican national team 3-1 Saturday.
After a 2002 season that saw numerous Irish players miss time with injuries, the game against Mexico gave a glimpse into the 2003 season for the Irish, who were only missing starting defender Melissa Tancredi from the lineup.
The defense was especially affected by injuries last season, and Saturday's unit was comprised of senior Vanessa Pruzinsky, sophomores Candace Chapman and Gudrun Gunnarsdottir and freshman Annie Schefter, all of whom returned after having nursed injuries at some point last season.
Freshman Erika Bohn also played very strong in goal for the Irish.
"Erika has had a great spring," said Irish coach Randy Waldrum. "Also throwing Annie Schefter played very well, she is going to be very good for us. For Candace Chapman, it was her first game back and it was Vanessa's first full game in almost a year. For all that, we were very good defensively."
"It was good to get everybody back," said junior Amy Warner. "They really did a good job and they make us so much deeper."
The Irish scored at the end of the first half off a set play. Junior Amanda Guertin's free kick bounced off the crossbar. Mexican goalkeeper Jennifer Molina-Shea was out of position for the loose ball and Schefter put it into the net for a 1-0 lead.
Early in the second half the Irish scored on a similar play. Freshman Katie Thorlakson's shot again hit the crossbar and Guertin scored off the rebound for a 2-0 lead.
Fifteen minutes later, Notre Dame put the game away. Thorlakson passed to Warner on the right flank. Warner flew past the defender and scored off the left post to put the Irish up 3-0.
Mexico scored on a goal from Erica Audelo in the 75th minute to avoid the shutout.
"Guertin, Thorlakson, and Warner are really starting to figure each other out," said Waldrum. "All three had pretty solid games and it was good to see them on the same page. Maggie Manning didn't see a lot of minutes in the fall but has probably made the biggest strides this spring."
In Saturday's first game, Michigan defeated the Canadian Under-19 team 2-1 on a late goal by Colleen McAndrews. Canada had a 21-8 in total shots and a 6-4 edge in shots on goal but were unable to capitalize.
Before the games Saturday, severe weather postponed Friday night's games. The games originally scheduled for Friday were the ones played on Saturday, while Saturday's scheduled games were cancelled.
Despite the weather, which included temperatures in the 20s when the Irish finally took to the field, Waldrum was pleased with the event.
"At least we got the two games in," Waldrum said. "We had a fairly decent crowd of about 800 for the Mexico-Notre Dame game and it was still a successful event. I was really pleased with how we've made a lot of strides this spring. The last two weeks we've played very well. Mexico was very complimentary. There were two very good teams out there."
The Irish spring schedule continues with a game April 12 against Purdue before concluding with home games against Missouri and Iowa State on April 26. The Irish are 4-0 this spring with a total scoring edge of 17-1.
All Sports Stories for Monday, April 7, 2003
