Wolverines Fall to Irish in Season Opener

Friday, August 22

South Bend, Ind.

7:30 PM

Michigan

0-1-0

Notre Dame

1-0-0

Michigan

Notre Dame

8/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Site: South Bend, Ind. (Alumni Field)
Score: #5 Notre Dame 7, Michigan 0
Records: U-M (0-1), UND (1-0)
Next U-M Game: Sunday, Aug. 24 --at Eastern Michigan (Ypsilanti, Mich.), 1 p.m.

Boxscore

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The University of Michigan womens soccer team opened up the 2008 campaign with a 7-0 loss to No. 5 Notre Dame Friday evening (Aug. 22) on Alumni Field.

The Wolverine netminders were faced with an unrelenting attack of 34 shots. Freshman goalkeeper Haley Kopmeyer(Troy, Mich./Lasher) got the start and made three stops in 45 minutes in her collegiate debut between the posts. Senior Madison Gates(Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) and redshirt-freshman Kristen Keane(Wheaton, Ill./Warrenville South) split the second half. Gates stopped three shots in 28 minutes of work while Keane made four saves -- three of the spectacular nature -- to close out the contest.

The Wolverines got the first scoring chance of the game on a corner kick five minutes into the contest. Freshman Kelsey Rogind(Emerald Hills, Calif./St. Francis) sent a pass toward the far bar to a waiting senior Katie Miler(Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne), who got a good piece of the ball, but sent it just wide of the goal.

Notre Dame got on the board quickly, taking a 1-0 lead 6:19 into the contest. Irish forward Michel Weissenhofer found a seam on a run, and after surviving a Wolverine tackle, corralled the ball and put it inside the far post. The Irish upped their lead to 2-0 at 29:30 on a goal from Rose Augustin.

The pressure from UND kept coming as they mounted a 4-0 lead heading into the break. The Irish got markers in the 33rd and 37th minute from Melissa Henderson and Erica Iantorno, respectively.

Gates spelled Kopmeyer after the break and was challenged right away. Just 31 seconds into the second half, the Irish sailed a long shot into the net to extend the lead to 5-0. The pressure did not relent, but Gates was up to the task minutes later, making a stop on a free kick and a subsequent scoring opportunity. Notre Dame was finally able to add to its lead with a goal in the 52nd minute.

The play evened up in the latter portion of the second half, with the teams spending much of the time vying for position in the midfield. The Irish threatened to rack up another goal in the 78th minute, but a sprawling save by Keane kept the score where it was. Weissenhofer tried to go inside the left bar from 15 yards out, hitting the post while drawing Keane toward that side. The rebound bounced back to Molly Campbell with plenty of room to score on the right side of the net. She sent a shot screaming for the net, only to have it met by the outstretched arms of a completely horizontal Keane.

Keane made two more diving stops before Notre Dame punched through with just under five minutes remaining to go up 7-0.

The Wolverines return to the field on Sunday (Aug. 24) a little closer to home, taking on Eastern Michigan at Scicluna Field in Ypsilanti, Mich., with kickoff set for 1 p.m.

GAME SUMMARY

By Periods	1	2	F
Michigan	0	0	0
Notre Dame	4	3	7

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- UND, Michel Weissenhofer, 6:19 (Kerri Hanks)
1st -- UND, Rose Augustin, 29:30 (Jessica Schuveiller)
1st -- UND, Melissa Henderson, 32:59 (Courtney Rosen)
1st -- UND, Erica Iantorno, 37:18 (Rosen)
2nd -- UND, Taylor Knaack, 45:31 (unassisted)
2nd -- UND, Hanks, 51:22 (Iantorno)
2nd -- UND, Ellen Jantsch, 85:02 (Rach Vandergenugten)

Shots: U-M 4, UND 34
Shots on Goal: U-M 1, UND 18
Saves: U-M 11 (Haley Kopmeyer 3, Madison Gates 3,Kristen Keane 4, Team 1), UND 1 (Kelsey Lysander 0, Nikki Weiss 1)
Corner Kicks: U-M 2, UND 8
Fouls: U-M 9, UND 9
Cards: UND, Courtney Rosen, 20:03 (yellow)

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Greg Ryan

On opening the season against such a high-caliber opponent... "It is a good thing for us because we need to see where are problems are -- things that we can fix. This game shows us everything we need to know about what we need to improve on and what we need to work towards. A national championship contending team like Notre Dame is going to expose you and we got to see where our weaknesses are, what is going to cost us games. There were two or three areas, in particular defensively -- we pretty much gave them two or three goals. They are very fixable but we are going to have to work on it. It takes a team like Notre Dame to expose you because they are talented enough find those little chinks in the armor."

On the message he gave to his team following the game... We are a young team, we are just starting to rebuild and this is a great game for us because it shows us what it takes to be at the highest level."

On the benefits of emptying the bench... "I think for this team, changing the culture from one where the players werent all behind each other was very important. The starters who came out were cheering for the subs that went on. The subs that didnt start were cheering for the starters. Even when they got down (in the score), they were still pulling for each other and behind each other. I think that is a really important thing for this team. It is easy to get along when things are going your way, but when things go against you -- if you stick together, that forms the basis of a tight team."

N O T E S

Freshmen Kristen Goncalves(Ann Arbor, Mich./Gabriel Richard Catholic), Natalie Horner(Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington), Haley Kopmeyer, Kelsey Rogind, Clare Stachel(Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) and Kim Siebert(Troy, Mich./Avondale) each started in her first collegiate game. Freshmen Meaghan Hennessy(Westlake, Ohio/Magnificat) and Courtney Mercier(Erie, Pa./McDowell) and redshirt-freshman Kristen Keane also made first career appearances, with all three coming off the bench in the second half.

Michigan fell to 5-5-5 all-time in season-opening contests.

Notre Dame added to its 13-2-1 series lead against the Wolverines.