Sept. 8, 2000
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The second-ranked Santa Clara women's soccer team dropped its second straight game, falling to fourth-ranked Notre Dame 6-1 tonight at Alumni Field, during the first match of the KeyBank Classic in South Bend, Ind.
The defeat marked the first time in six seasons that the Broncos have lost consecutive matches. In September 1994, Santa Clara lost three straight to Loyola Marymount, Stanford and North Carolina.
Tonight's match also marked the first time in 19 matches that Santa Clara has been outshot by an opponent. Notre Dame posted 23 shots on goal while Santa Clara only recorded 10. North Carolina was the last team to outshoot Santa Clara, occurring Sept. 24, 1999.
The loss also marked the most goals allowed by a Santa Clara squad since a 8-0 defeat to UC Davis in 1980. The Broncos have not allowed five goals since 1991, to North Carolina.
"The difference was the depth," head coach Jerry Smith said. "We only had 13 healthy players today. Depth takes over late in the game. We hung with them, but we were spent at the end of the game. The difference was the last 15 minutes when they were a lot fresher."
Santa Clara's lone goal was scored by senior Kathleen Celio, her fourth of the season.
The Classic ranks as the nation's premier regular-season women's soccer tournament and is the only Division I tournament in the 2000 season that features four teams from the NSCAA's top-10 poll: No. 2 Santa Clara, No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 6 Connecticut and No. 10 Stanford.
Notre Dame and Santa Clara have split four previous meetings (2-2-0), including SCU's 4-2 home win in 1999 and ND's 1-0 win in the 1999 NCAA Semifinals.
The Broncos will conclude play at the KeyBank Classic with a match against No. 6 Connecticut on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 11 a.m. CST. The Huskies fell to No. 10 Stanford 3-0 earlier this evening.
-- www.SantaClaraBroncos.com --
Team 1 2 Final
Santa Clara 1 0 1
Notre Dame 2 4 6
Goalie Saves
Gleason 8
Wagner 5
Goal Summary
ND Meotis Erikson (Amanda Guertin) 17:21 ND, 1-0
SCU Kathleen Celio (Veronica Zepeda, Heather Aldama) 20:26 Tie, 1-1
ND Amy Warner (Anne Makinen) 21:57 ND, 2-1
ND Amanda Guertin (Anne Makinen, Monica Gonzalez) 73:13 ND, 3-1
ND Anne Makinen (PK) 80:04 ND, 4-1
ND Kelly Tulisiak (Amy Warner) 86:30 ND, 5-1
ND Kelly Tulisiak (unassisted) 89:06 ND, 6-1