Lindsey aims in winning kick, Beene makes final save
Observer Staff Report
One hundred fifty minutes of action could not determine a winner. Five penalty kicks could not determine a winner. Only after junior captain Kelly Lindsey scored on the sixth Notre Dame penalty kick of the overtime shootout and senior goalkeeper LaKeysia Beene saved Nebraska's sixth penalty kick could the Irish make their reservations for San Jose and the women's soccer final four.
Lindsey directed most of the credit for the win to Beene.
"Nebraska is a great team and probably deserves to be there just as much as we do but it came down to that last shot and Keysia made a great save," Lindsey said. "If it wouldn't have been for me. Coach asked who wanted to take the sixth penalty kick and I threw my hand up without even thinking so I definitely wasn't nervous. I was just glad to put it in."
The 1-1 tie after regulation could not be broken by four sudden death overtime periods or five rounds of penalty kicks. Even after Lindsey's goal, the Cornhuskers could still continue the longest game in Irish women's soccer history with a goal of their own. But Beene, who made seven saves on the day, stuffed Husker senior Amy Walsh's shot to the lower right corner and the celebration began.
"I saw my team jumping up and down and I thought `Man, I got to save this,'" Beene said about her emotions before the final penalty kick. "I didn't want to let them down."
The Irish opened the scoring in the second minute. Senior Jenny Streiffer took a pass from sophomore midfielder Mia Sarkesian and beat Nebraska junior goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc to her left. The shot bounced off the left post and rolled into the net.
The goal was Streiffer's 19th of the year and 70th in her career. The goal made her just the second woman ever to score 70 goals and 70 assists in her career. Former North Carolina star Mia Hamm is the only other player to achieve that distinction. Streiffer's 71 assists put her just two assists behind Hamm for second place all-time on the NCAA career assist leaders.
With the Irish leading 1-0, the Husker offense did not remain dormant for long. Kelly Rheem knotted the game at 1 in the 18th minute off a crossing pass from Jenny Benson. The Irish defense held the potent Husker offense in check for the rest of the game, however.
"We felt good about our play today and our game plan," head coach Randy Waldrum said. "We definitely dodged some bullets on corner kicks because they are so good on set pieces. Nebraska has had such a great year. I think they really dictated the quality of the two teams. We battled through a lot of situations through the course of the game and four overtimes that I think shows the character of our team. The last think we said in the locker room was, `Whatever it takes.'"
After both teams went scoreless for the rest of regulation and 60 minutes of overtime, the penalty kicks began. Streiffer and senior Jenny Heft scored on the first two Irish shots while Beene saved Rheem's first shot to give the Irish a 2-0 lead. The Huskers fought back to tie the shootout at 2 with goals by Meghan Anderson and Christine Latham. Anne Makinen's shot bounced off the post for the Irish.
LeBlanc saved junior Monica Gonzalez's shot but Nebraska's Sharolta Nonen's shot sailed over the net to keep the shootout tied at 2. Jen Grubb gave the Irish a 3-2 lead but Benson tied the score of the Huskers on her shot. With the first round of five kicks ending in a draw, the shootout moved to one-shot rounds to determine a winner.
Lindsey scored on the first Irish attempt; Beene stuffed the Huskers and the Irish got ready for the sunny skies of San Jose, Calif., next weekend.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, November 30, 1999
