Yeah...I was there...and ND was pretty soft in the back and got opened-up very easily against a very predictable and not as athletic Mexican side. They traded goals and were 2-2 until MexWNT took their first lead in 78' (MWNT player scored a hat-trick, BTW). ND scored twice in final 7 minutes to win 4-3 (87' and 94') - Roccaro scored game-winner with 10 seconds left on clock. ...the previous concerns about their defense, etc...might hold more merit than I first gave them?!??!?
I do not see any cause for alarm considering the competition. You may have noticed there were some position changes (not subs) wed night right before the 1st two goals. Coach is trying things and based on the last meeting where they lost 4-1 on April 23, 2010 they allowed 1 less goal and scored 3 more. That 2010 team ended up OK too.
No, please don't mistaken me...I would tend to agree with you as well - I am just not as familiar with what ND would usually put on the field and what they actually have...I only added that last bit as a response to one of the earlier posts. These youngen's showed tremendous character and this uncanny will of refusing to lose that is a tremendous trait to show; especially in the Spring. Randy is definitely testing his young bunch and that will surely benefit their development...and if the 2010 team fell 4-1, then history may have some golden-laid plans for this bunch I guess the biggest thing for me was there seemed to be a major difference in intensity and focus from ND Wed into Fri?
I was there Wed, not Friday. Wed - they were out classed - as you might expect by professional women - from USA, Canada and Mexico's WNTs. We saw RS players run through ND players and 50 yards with the ball. I did find that in 1v1 scraps the ND players did well, but RS just moved the ball better. And when running to the ball - they we faster. When Randy moved some positions around Wed I thought he was not only testing players but positions as well. I am guessing that same formation was used Friday.
Irish win 2-1 against the Haitan national team. Story at http://www.und.com/sports/w-soccer/recaps/042613aab.html, including the money quote from the coach: "'To be perfectly honest, I was a bit disappointed with our play tonight,' Notre Dame head coach Randy Waldrum said."
ND's 2013 schedule is referenced on the "Schedules" thread, but for completeness, here it is. No western swing, which makes some sense given the ACC travel. Aptly described as "tough" on the school website: AUGUST 14 Wed. XAVIER (exhibition) Notre Dame, Ind. 1 p.m. 17 Sat. BAYLOR (exhibition) Notre Dame, Ind. 1 p.m. 23 Fri. ILLINOIS Notre Dame, Ind. 5:30 p.m. 25 Sun. NORTHWESTERN Notre Dame, Ind. 3:30 p.m. Notre Dame adidas Invitational 30 Fri. Marquette vs. UCLA Notre Dame, Ind. 5 p.m. OAKLAND Notre Dame, Ind. 7:30 p.m. SEPTEMBER Notre Dame adidas Invitational 1 Sun. Marquette vs. Oakland Notre Dame, Ind. 11 a.m. UCLA Notre Dame, Ind. 1:30 p.m. 8 Sun. DETROIT Notre Dame, Ind. 7 p.m. 12 Thurs. at North Carolina State* Raleigh, N.C. 7 p.m. 15 Sun. at North Carolina* Chapel Hill, N.C. 1 p.m. 19 Thurs. SYRACUSE* Notre Dame, Ind. 7 p.m. 26 Thurs. MARYLAND* Notre Dame, Ind. 7 p.m. 29 Sun. PITTSBURGH* Notre Dame, Ind. 1 p.m. OCTOBER 3 Thurs. WAKE FOREST* Notre Dame, Ind. 7 p.m. 6 Sun. at Miami (Fla.)* Coral Gables, Fla. TBD 10 Thurs. at Virginia* Charlottesville, Va. TBD 13 Sun. at Virginia Tech* Blacksburg, Va. Noon 20 Sun. DUKE* Notre Dame, Ind. 1 p.m. 24 Thurs. BOSTON COLLEGE* Notre Dame, Ind. 7 p.m. 27 Sun. at Clemson* Clemson, S.C. TBD 31 Thurs. at Florida State* Tallahassee, Fla. TBD
From the ND website re the upcoming U-20 national camp: "Notre Dame sophomore defender Katie Naughton (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Elk Grove), sophomore forward/midfielder/defender Cari Roccaro(East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) and sophomore forward Crystal Thomas (Elgin, Ill./Wheaton Academy), along with incoming freshman midfielder Morgan Andrews(Milford, N.H./Milford) and rookie goalkeeper Kaela Little (Tulsa, Okla./Bishop Kelley), are among 27 players who have been selected to attend the United States Under-20 Women's National Soccer Team camp July 2-11 at the University of Portland in Portland, Ore."
Don't know about Coach Nuber - heard that he was going to stay in the area and coach club. In other news, Katie Naughton , Cari Roccaro, Crystal Thomas, Morgan Andrews, and Kaela Little called to U-20 camp (USA) and Cindy Pineda is on the Mexico U-20 team.
Heading to Notre Dame tomorrow morning to see what the Irish have for this year. Getting my first look at Morgan Andrews. The Irish are playing a very good team in Baylor so this will be a good pre-season test. I'm hoping for a great Irish year and a trip to the Final Four in Cary, NC.
Went to the Notre Dame vs. Baylor preseason game yesterday. 2-0 for Notre Dame. 1st half for ND was a little sloppy and erratic. I believe that may be due to the kids coming back from U-20's still not in tune with others. The second half was much better, especially when they put Sammy Scofield in at central defender who has scored 2 goals in 2 preseason games for the irish. Scofield is a very strong central defender who is a calming figure in the middle. She rarely panics, is strong in the air and is confident. IMO, she should be starting in that role and push Roccaro up some. Other good performances from the Irish came from Crystal Thomas who is just a little dynamo with the ball as well as Liz Tucker who IMO, is one of the smartest players I have ever seen in the women's game. Anna Maria Gilbertson and Rebecca Twining continue from last year to be good, take the man on forwards. I saved my last comment for Freshman Morgan Andrews who I especially went to see after reading so much about this kid. She didn't disappoint. You know how you can tell a great player just by the sound the ball makes when it comes off her shoe when struck. That's what I get from Morgan Andrews the first time she struck the ball. There is still a way before she jells with the rest of the team completely but this kid will be a star. She has good smarts, has very good vision, holds the ball well and distributes with intelligence. Her crosses are pinpoint. Once she gets into college game shape and develops a rhythm with her team mates, Notre Dame will have a very potent midfield. Maybe tops in college. Although Notre Dame has had many great players over the almost 20 years I've been following this team, I have not seen from first glance a player like this for the Irish since Anne Makinen back in late 90's. Still to this day, IMO, the best player to ever play at ND. Morgan Andrews has the potential to be that kind of player. It will be exciting to watch her college career in a Irish uniform..
One small correction - Twining has been out all preseason with an injury. The player you might be thinking of is Karin Simonian (#15), or possibly the freshman, Kaleigh Olmsted (#27).
Really? I could have sworn it was her. Then I'm wrong, my bad. Thanks for the correction. Some players are easily recognizable and some you have to see a few more times. I've lived in Seattle for a year until coming back to the Chicago area and the last time I saw the Irish live was on their Northwest trip last year when they played Portland and U of Washington and I saw both games. Hope to see more games now regularly like did for many years. I really believe as young as this team is and as tough as the ACC schedule will be, they have a very good chance of being in Cary, NC for the Final Four in Dec.
A big test for the Irish right off the bat against Illinois. The last time I saw ND play Illinois was in the NCAA Tourney in 2011 and it was not pretty for the Irish in Champagne. With the wind blowing like crazy, I don't remember the Irish taking a shot on goal the whole game. They ended up getting knocked out early one year after winning the National Championship in 2010. Today maybe a chance for the seniors and juniors to erase that game from memory.
I think this is a better Notre Dame team than the one that came here two years ago. Should be a fun game, but ND is tough to beat in South Bend.
Probably. I watched last Friday's game from my computer. Just go to the ND website - http://www.und.com/sports/w-soccer/sched/nd-w-soccer-sched.html click on the WatchND link when game starts.
I saw the ND vs Northwestern game. There was no doubt Irish would win this game, they were the much stronger side from get-go. Although they have won 2 in a row which is great, there are still some kinks to iron out. The defense needs to get a little tighter in marking on the transition coming into their own half. I do like Scofield in the center defense spot. She wins every head ball and is calm back there. The midfield will be extremely strong when all is said and done. It's still early in the season and with a new kid on the block in Morgan Andrews who holds the ball very well, turns, looks at both sides of the field, etc., there is still some timing issues to solve. Once they learn how to read each other's runs and know where each other is going to be then the midfield will be like clockwork. The timing between the mids and the forward line is still a work in progress but I do like the runs I saw being made. Crystal Thomas is just a little dynamo out there with a will to take the man on. I would like to see Anna Marie Gilbertson do some cutting toward goal like Melissa Henderson used to. IMO, it takes about a 3rd of a season to get into actual game shape and timing form. Unfortunately time won't stand still for you as North Carolina is a couple of weeks away. Next week will be a good test for them when they play UCLA. But don't look past Oakland. Irish need a good showing against every opponent
I saw the Oakland game but missed the UCLA game. As expected ND pretty much dominated the Oakland game, with very good possession and ball movement. The defense looked very good and I continue to be impressed with the freshman, Morgan Andrews and her vision of the game. And BTW, she scored her first collegiate goal on Friday. Other players such as Mandy Laddish and Lauren Bohaboy have really stepped up their game. They both look sharp and in good game shape. I'm hoping Bohaboy can turn into that role of go-to goal scorer like Kerri Hanks and Melissa Henderson were. If anyone here saw the UCLA game, let us know how the Irish played and what happened with the loss.
Huge photo gallery of Illinois at Notre Dame: (460 photos) http://www.flickr.com/photos/joejasper/sets/72157635214547263/ 1.) Left-Click on image, to go to image 2.) When image loads up, right click on image 3.) Click "Original" size for highest resolution
Irish win over North Carolina at Fetzer Field 1-0. Andrews scored the gwg against a technical and very savvy Tar Heel side. ND is 2-0 so far in ACC play. These are sweet wins in September - let's hope for similar results in November-December.
Welcome to the ACC Notre Dame! And you did it in style. Well done. It didn't start off so smooth on Thursday night with a goofy goal allowed, but the Irish recovered well. As a goalkeeper myself, I could see where she may have taken her eye off the ball for a second or maybe the glare from the lights. Irish went on to win 3-1. Yesterday's game at UNC was another classic between two best programs in women's college history. The Irish knocked the ball around quite a bit in the first half and were able to get a nice goal from Andrews on a header. The second half was more defending and marking Crystal Dunn of which Roccaro did well. The Irish knew what they had to do to win this game. Put in any chance they were given, which they did, keep Ohai from getting the ball, of which they did well and slow down Crystal Dunn of which Roccaro did a fantastic job of. As far as the ball that was struck by Dunn and hit the crossbar, hit the ground and Little grabbed it, from my point of view it didn't cross the goal line completely and I believe the ref saw the same thing. The ref can't give a goal unless he is 100% sure it went in. Let's not forget ND fans, Kerri Hanks was pulled down in the box in the 2008 NCAA Championship game against UNC and the ref gave a no call. It is what it is. Still a great game between two great teams. And the Fighting Irish are sitting pretty on top of the ACC.
Well, I have quite a bit to say about this post! Welcome to the ACC, ND and well done indeed! We schooled you ladies when you invited us to your new stadium (that was a happy day!), and you are paying it back, one painful bite at a time! We hate to lose at Fetzer, and there is almost nobody we hate to lose to more than ND! The combination is a real tough meal to swallow! It is a great rivalry. So congratulations, and well done! The Andrews goal was exceptional, and since the Heels now have about 40 corners on the season with virtually no production, if she has no conflicting plans, maybe Andrews could come to CH and give a clinic? There is a lot of silliness on the UNC thread about how we played so much better in the second half... Sorry to say, in the second half we were down a goal... we did not score, we did not really test your keeper... yes, we had the better of possession... should we get style points? Or what? The ND defense did exactly what it needed to do in the 2nd half, and did it brilliantly! On a better day, we would have provided a lot more pressure, but on the day, ND dealt with the pressure that was there with remarkable control. Ouch for us! The Dunn goal was clearly in-- on a better day we get that result, and maybe it changes the game. Didn't happen, so it doesn't matter. No worry for ND, Carolina has had some breaks too in its 35 years... MRAD12, I'll send you a PM about the 2008 final, as that will be so much more fun for me! Thanks to the ND squad for giving me a really great day of soccer, and a totally unwelcome result! You guys out-hussled us in the first half and contained us in the second half. Very good game, and on the day, the better team won. Hope it won't happen again... but... Congratulations!