Irish advance to Sweet 16 of College Cup
By KEVIN BERCHOU
Sports Writer
On a frigid Sunday at Alumni Field, the Michigan Wolverines nearly put top-seeded Notre Dame's season on ice in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
It took a return from an injury, an impassioned halftime speech, and all the Irish could muster to hold off a Wolverine team that nearly pulled an upset before Notre Dame could escape with a 3-1 triumph.
After a lackluster first half, which saw the Wolverines take control of the game, the heavily-favored Irish stood tied at one with a season's worth of hopes hanging in the balance.
At the break it was coach Randy Waldrum who tried to restore focus pick his team up for the win.
"I told them if they wanted to throw away 21 games of hard work, then they should just go out and play like they did in the first half," Waldrum said. "It wasn't anything tactical we talked about. We just needed to refocus."
Sophomore Ashley Dryer listened intently to her coach's pleas, and no doubt took them to heart as she shook off a first half leg injury to lead a second half charge.
With a little more than 20 minutes remaining in the game, it appeared as if Dryer's day was done as she lay near the midfield stripe writhing in pain. But a hobbled Dryer returned to seize the day.
"In the first half we didn't have the intensity," Dryer said. "We knew we needed to step it up in the second half."
Just nine minutes into the second half, it was Dryer who took it upon herself to make sure the Irish didn't have an upsetting afternoon. Taking a pass from classmate Aly Lovelace, Dryer sprinted up the right flank before threading a perfect pass to freshman Amanda Guertin who was just joining the play.
Guertin held the ball just long enough for the Wolverine keeper Carissa Stewart to commit, before sliding a shot into the far left corner.
"She's so patient around the net," said Dryer. "You'd never know she was a freshman."
Their will shattered by the goal that broke the tie, the Wolverines were from there on a decidedly different team from the one that had given the Irish fits in the first half. Dryer would complete the scoring, as she took the ball at the top of the box before juking two defenders and ripping a shot past a diving Stewart.
"She doesn't get the attention she deserves," said Waldrum of Dryer. "But she is a key to our midfield."
Dryer's heroics were made necessary by Michigan's first half play.
After senior Meotis Erikson volleyed an Anne Makinen free kick out of the air to put the Irish in front just 11 minutes in, it looked as if Notre Dame was home free. Michigan, however, had other plans.
The Wolverines tightened up on defense and started to look every bit the part of the top seed.
The Wolverines had numerous opportunities before finally forging a tie.
When a Michigan player was fouled just outside the Notre Dame goal box, the Wolverines were awarded a free kick.
Andrea Kayal sent a perfect ball into the box, just over the heads of a Notre Dame wall, to senior Kacy Beitel whose header beat Irish keeper Liz Wagner to tie the score.
Wagner kicked the ground angry at herself and her defense while Waldrum felt like kicking himself.
"I wasn't happy with the way we played today," Waldrum said. "I wouldn't say we did anything well. We just didn't have the focus."
By virtue of their second half surge, the Irish earned the right to take on the Harvard Crimson in the third round at Alumni Field on Friday night.
Despite changing the game by returning, Dryer was quick to downplay her performance.
As she hobbled off the field at the game's conclusion Dryer described her injury as "just a bruise."
Dryer's leg may just be bruised, but her return may have saved the Irish season from being mortally wounded.
All Sports Stories for Monday, November 13, 2000
