Amanda Guertin's 4 goals, assist help Notre Dame beat Ohio State and Purdue and get Irish to Sweet 16 in NCAA Tournament
By JOE LICANDRO
Sports Writer
There is an old adage in sports that big-time players step up in big-time games. For the past three years, Amanda Guertin has been that big-time player for the Notre Dame women's soccer team. This past weekend, the junior playmaker rose to the occasion again to propel the Irish into the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
Friday night against upstart Ohio State, the forward from Grapevine, Texas, scored two goals in leading the host Irish to a 3-1 victory over the Big Ten champion Buckeyes.
Sunday, Guertin continued her strong play adding two more goals and providing a key assist to lead the Irish to a 3-1 victory over Purdue.
"Amanda has been fantastic. She was just great," Notre Dame head coach Randy Waldrum said. "I'm so happy for her right now. She's such a good player. It's good to see her back on track because we really need her."
Despite not playing a game for three weeks, the Irish did not show any signs of rust Friday night. From the opening moments of the game, the Irish offense was on the move. After holding an impressive 13-2 shot advantage in the first half, the Irish offense broke through when Guertin gathered an Ohio State turnover and juked Buckeye goalkeeper Erica Haynam.
"Everyone around me has been playing awesome," said Guertin. "It's not just me out there. My teammates have just been playing me great balls and I've been putting them in the back of the net. My teammates have just been incredible."
Seven minutes into the second half, Notre Dame struck again. Irish forward Amy Warner used her blazing speed to dribble past the Buckeye defense for a golden scoring opportunity. Haynam blocked Warner's shot, but Katie Thorlakson was there for the rebound, marking the freshman's first career NCAA Tournament goal.
Ohio State came roaring back in the 60th minute of the game, when Buckeye forward Colleen Hoban gathered an errant clear from an Irish defender and shot the ball past Irish goalkeeper Erika Bohn to narrow the score to 2-1. With 12 minutes remaining in the game, Guertin put the game out of reach with her 35th career goal. Amy Warner provided her second assist of the game with a cross from the left sideline to an onrushing Guertin who slid the ball past Haynam.
"I thought we were great tonight. I thought we came out in the first 20 minutes and really set the tone," said Waldrum. "We wanted to jump on them early, and I think we did that. I think really every phase of our game was good. I thought we were really solid defensively. We were really good in the midfield and up front also. I thought the team was good all the way through."
The Irish did not have a lot of time to cherish Friday night's opening round victory. Sunday, the Irish had to return to action against a Purdue team that soundly defeated them 3-1 just over a month ago.
Despite Purdue's physical style of play, the Irish were not intimidated. From the beginning of the game, the Irish were on the attack.
Midway through the first half, Guertin dribbled right past the Purdue defense and registered her first goal of the game by beating Purdue goalie Jocelyn Cavalier.
Early in the second half, the junior forward capitalized again off a Purdue turnover in the goalie box to extend the Irish lead to 2-0.
In the 13th minute of the second half, Purdue's offense finally came to life when Chrissy Creamer's wide open shot from the top of the box found the lower right corner of the net.
After Purdue's goal, however, the Irish defense seized control.
The Boilermakers failed to advance the ball past midfield the rest of the entire game. Junior defender Melissa Tancredi superbly shut down Purdue's leading scorer Annette Kent.
A month ago, Kent scored a quick goal at the beginning of the game to give the Boilermakers the early momentum. But Sunday, she was a non-factor the entire game. Not only did Tancredi shut Kent down, she also got into the act on offense. With eight minutes left, the former forward headed in a beautifully placed Guertin corner kick to shut the door on the Boilermakers.
Despite putting up three goals, the Irish offense never got into a rhythm because of Purdue's physical play. Numerous fouls on both teams and Purdue's constant substitution pattern severely hindered the flow of the game.
Although not altogether pleased with his team's performance, Waldrum was happy with the results.
"It wasn't the attractive soccer we played Friday night," said Waldrum. "Having said that, we played well enough to win. I thought we were the better team. Organizationally we played okay. We didn't quite have the energy and intensity I would have liked to see for a playoff game, but we knew going in that mentally we'd have to get over the hump. We only played 11 players the entire game so a lot of credit for our kids for playing a full 90 minutes."
With the victory over Purdue, the Irish have already advanced further in the tournament than last year when they were upset in the second round by upstart Cincinnati.
Game Notes
u The third round is set to begin this Friday night. The Irish will play at Stanford Saturday in the round of 16.
All Sports Stories for Monday, November 18, 2002
