Michigan
11-4
Notre Dame
9-6
Second-Half Goal Keeps Michigan Winless Against Irish
10/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 13-ranked University of Michigan women's soccer team fell to 0-7 all-time against Notre Dame, losing a tough 1-0 game to the No. 23-ranked Fighting Irish on a cold Thursday afternoon (Oct. 17) at the U-M Soccer Field. The majority of the game was played at midfield, however, the Irish (9-6) made the most of their best chance to score, tallying the game-winner 13 minutes into the second half to halt U-M's school-record 17-game home winning streak.
| | Williamson |
Michigan worked on creating space for its forwards to play the ball and create opportunities throughout the second half but was continually frustrated by the Irish defense. Freshman forward Therese Heaton (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South HS) nearly beat the Irish defense nine minutes after the goal, taking a pass from Abby Crumpton (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams HS) at the top of the penalty area. Heaton turned and, with no one in front of her, set herself up for a shot on net. The attempt was blocked, however, as an Irish defender got in front of the ball just in time.
The Wolverines' best opportunity to find the equalizer came in the 80th minute following a Notre Dame foul outside its own penalty area on the right flank. Sophomore forward Kate Morgan (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty HS) lofted the ball over Notre Dame's two-player wall, but her cross was just out of the reach of freshman defender Colleen McAndrews (St. Charles, Ill./East HS), with the ball skipping off the top of McAndrews' head across the crease to safety.
The first half was contested throughout the midfield as both teams struggled to sustain offensive pressure and create scoring opportunities. Michigan's defense played well all afternoon and kept Notre Dame from putting much together inside its attacking third of the field. Grech helped keep the game scoreless with a save at 33:54, tipping a header by Melissa Tancredi over the crossbar.
Michigan managed six shots, led by Crumpton's two shots on goal, but Notre Dame's Erica Bohn made saves on all three shots that came her way. Grech recorded four saves in the contest.
The Wolverines (11-4, 6-2 Big Ten) look to rebound in their return to Big Ten Conference play this Sunday (Oct. 20) with a game against Northwestern. The Maize and Blue will take on the Wildcats at 12:30 p.m. CDT on Lakeside Field in Evanston, Ill.
GAME SUMMARY
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
| Notre Dame | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Michigan | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scoring, Time (Assist)
2nd -- UND, Amanda Guertin, 58:22 (unassisted)
Shots: U-M 6, UND 16
Saves: U-M 4 (Suzie Grech), UND 3 (Erika Bohn)
Corner Kicks: U-M 1, UND 4
Fouls: U-M 11, UND 21
Cards: UND, Melissa Tancredi, 41:04 (yellow)
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Debbie Rademacher
On trying to create opportunities ... "The bottom line is that the game was pretty lackluster. They came out at us at the beginning of the second half, and we were not sharp. We didn't really have any spectacular performances and down at the end we were trying to put in as many attacking-minded players to see if we could generate something. They are a good team, but we certainly didn't have that spark that makes us dangerous, and we just weren't on our game. We have got to get that together down the stretch of our season."
On the game's defense ... "Our defenders did their job. We needed to win balls at midfield and find better balls to our forwards to take the pressure off. They have two six-footers in the middle, and to fly balls in all the time isn't going to give us success. We just didn't get any dangerous balls in behind the defense in order to run out on them, which is what we are usually good at doing and get a lot of opportunities from."
Senior Defender Carly Williamson
On Notre Dame's defense ... "They played a tough game. They just have a couple of players in the back that came in and they had some injuries, so we didn't really know what to expect. We were trying to exploit certain sides of the field, but overall they just came out tough. It was a well-fought game."
On possibly putting a ball through at the end of the game ... "Yeah, it was kind of weird. We played a lot of one-touch balls when we should have settled it down and taken the time to keep possession instead of clearing it all the way down the field. I think that we were expecting faster pressure than what we had because normally they are all over us. They started to pick it up at the end, but I think in the middle we had a chance to really slow it down and work it around."
On leading the team down the stretch of the season ... "We just have to make sure that everyone is focused coming into every game. Really realizing how important it is to come out and play like we did against Florida and Penn State for every game. We need to keep that mentality going into our last two Big Ten matches because we have to come out of those games with strong wins. Every senior knows it and is out there trying to give all that they can."
N O T E S
The loss to Notre Dame snapped a school-record 17-game home winning streak for the Wolverines. After losing to Kentucky in its home opener last season (Sept. 7, 2001), Michigan won its last nine home games of 2001 and its first eight this season.
Michigan has been shut out in all four of its losses this season.
Notre Dame junior Amanda Guertin has three game-winning goals in four career games against Michigan, including the overtime strike against the Wolverines last season in South Bend (Oct. 27, 2001).
The Maize and Blue are now 0-7 against Notre Dame since the two programs' first meeting in 1997.
Contact: Andrew Ladd (734) 763-4423
Team Stats
Guertin, Amanda (6)
cross cleared to #6, ball shot into lowe
58:22
