Irish make Hurricanes look like light rain
By JEFF BALTRUZAK
Assistant Sports Editor
This year, the fifth-ranked Notre Dame women's soccer team's offense has been, in a word, adequate.
Against No. 24 Miami on Sunday, the Irish finally unleashed an offensive fury, drubbing the Hurricanes 4-0.
The high-scoring win followed a dismantling of St. John's on Friday night at home, 7-0.
The Irish traveled Saturday to Miami, returning late Sunday night.
Interestingly, unlike previous games where the Irish did not win handily, Notre Dame did not dominate the shot statistic or corner kick tally on Sunday.
The Irish took 12 shots against Miami keeper Elizabeth Swinson, while the Hurricanes fired nine at Irish goalie Liz Wagner.
"It's the best game we've had in terms of goals and shots," said sophomore striker Amy Warner, who scored twice against the Hurricanes. "It's something that us forwards have been working on, capitalizing on the chances we're given."
The Irish shot total was tied for the lowest output since the first game of Notre Dame's season, a 2-1 victory over Penn State on Aug. 31.
The Irish defense was also solid throughout the game, as Wagner was forced to save just four Hurricane shots.
Warner opened the Irish scoring 20 minutes into the contest. Fellow sophomore Melissa Tancredi set up Warner with a pass into the penalty area, a pass that Warner was able to put into net to give the Irish a 1-0 lead.
"We felt like we did our job [with the scoring]," said Warner.
Mia Sarkesian, who has emerged as an offensive powerhouse for the Irish, put in Notre Dame's second goal. Junior forward Ali Lovelace was the catalyst, beating out a Miami defender for a header, and then passing the ball to Sarkesian to complete the goal.
Sarkesian, who had scored nine goals in her entire Notre Dame career up until this season, already has five scores in 2001, while dishing out four assists.
Sophomore striker Amanda Guertin didn't need help to give the Irish their third goal of the first half. Beginning at the top of the penalty area, she was able to shake off Hurricane defenders, setting up a shot that would become her fifth goal of the season, tied for second on the team with Sarkesian, and behind Warner's seven.
"The first half we didn't actually play that well," said Warner. "But the second half was solid soccer."
Warner's three-goal weekend earned her the Big East Offensive Player of the Week award.
That seventh goal by Warner would come very early in the second half, just four minutes in. After two failed attempts by the Hurricane defense to clear the ball, Warner took an outside shot that found the goal to give Notre Dame a 4-0 lead, and a very solid win over a nationally respected and ranked squad, on a Sunday no less.
"We haven't played well on Sundays since I've been here," said Warner. "It was good to kind of get over that."
Notes:
uThe Irish will look to jump up in the rankings when the new NSCAA/adidas Women's Division I poll is released tomorrow. No. 4 Nebraska, a team the Irish beat earlier in the season at Alumni Field, lost to No. 20 Texas 2-1 on Friday. No. 3 Portland was stunned by No. 13 Saint Mary's (CA) Sunday.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, October 16, 2001
