The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame overcame a mid-season slump and two undefeated teams to become only the third team ever to win an NCAA Division I women’s title.
Forget the green uniforms, or the proverbial luck of the Irish: Notre Dame is good.
The Fighting Irish had been seeded as the No. 4 team in the NCAA Division I women’s tournament, but after a season that included losses to North Carolina and Connecticut and a tie to a mediocre Cincinnati team, their chances to win the championship this year seemed longer than last year when they entered the playoffs as Soccer America’s No. 1 team.
And with nine-time defending champion North Carolina — which drubbed Notre Dame 5-0 in the ’94 final — playing at home, well, 1995 was playing out to be a typical season in women’s college soccer.
But even in women’s college soccer, you never know.
The Irish proved their worth by dispatching Portland 1-0 in the final and earlier stunning North Carolina 1-0 to claim the NCAA Division I championship on the 10-year anniversary of the last time a team (George Mason) other than UNC won it. Back in 1985, UNC lost 2-0 in the final, making this year’s semifinal finish Carolina’s worst in NCAA tournament history.
Notre Dame beat the Pilots in the longest championship ever. The game was scoreless through two overtimes and was in the early stages of the first sudden-death OT when Cindy Daws converted a 23-yard direct free kick through a Portland team that was still setting up its defensive wall.
Daws was also instrumental in the goal in the semifinal, heading a bad UNC clearance back into the Tar Heel box for Cindy Parlow to accidentally head into her own net. For her efforts, the junior midfielder earned the tournament’s Offensive MVP award.
Much of the story for Notre Dame, though, was defense. After getting the early goal against UNC, the Irish were able to withstand an offensive onslaught by the Heels in the semifinals, and they were able to limit what Portland strikers Shannon MacMillan and Wynne McIntosh could do in the final. Kate Sobrero, who at times marked MacMillan and UNC’s Robin Confer, and kept both scoreless, was named the Defensive MVP.
In the final, each time had its chances. Portland came out strong, while Notre Dame was suffering from what Petrucelli called an “emotional hangover” from beating North Carolina.
In the second half, Notre Dame again struggled early, but after the television timeout, the Irish dominated until the end of regulation. Michelle McCarthy was the sparkplug, helping the Irish keep possession of the ball and combining with Daws and Holly Manthei to create numerous scoring opportunities.
The first two overtime periods were more of the same, though Portland had the best chance when Portland freshman Michelle French’s cross found Kim Engesser all alone near the top of the box, but she shot straight at goalkeeper Jen Renola, who made the save.
Five minutes into the sudden death period, Portland defender Kristen Eaton fouled McCarthy a few yards outside the box after one of the latter’s many strong runs through the Pilot defense, and Portland was just not ready for Daws’ quick kick.
“I was lining the wall up and all of a sudden the ball was hit and I started going for it, and it just went in,” said goalkeeper Erin Fahey, who was standing on the near post when Daws fired through the wall toward the far post.
Daws’ heady play wasn’t pure inspiration but rather the product of teamwork. Near the end of the first overtime, Manthei noticed that Fahey was busy setting up the wall on a Notre Dame free kick and, while Fahey punched Manthei’s kick from danger, the sophomore midfielder brought that to the attention of her team.
“I just saw the far right open goal, and I just kind of took a shot,” said Daws, who added that she ignored referee George Noujaim when he asked her whether she wanted him to move the wall back 10 yards.
Own goal ends UNC streak
Autumn on the North Carolina campus seemed normal enough. Fallen leaves covered the ground, students were getting ready for finals and the women’s soccer team was undefeated and on its way to another championship.
But standing in the way of a 10th consecutive title was Notre Dame.
The Irish went into its match with North Carolina a decided underdog. There were UNC’s nine straight titles, the Heels’ 2-0 regular-season win over Notre Dame, home-field advantage as well as the spectre of last year’s rout.
None of that mattered.
From the start, the Irish, wearing green uniforms to give themselves an emotional lift, took the game to Carolina, sending balls down the flanks to Manthei or flooding the UNC backfield with a seemingly endless supply of attackers.
Though UNC had superior talent in other areas of the field, the midfield was one place the Irish controlled. Manthei dominated U.S. national teammate Tiffany Roberts, beating her to balls and pumping crosses into the box time after time.
The game was also a showcase for two of the top freshman players in the country:
forwards Cindy Parlow (UNC) and Monica Gerardo (Notre Dame). The latter was her team’s leading scorer, while Parlow has wowed everyone since graduating from high school early to play at UNC.
Gerardo faced the unenviable task of being marked by Staci Wilson and subsequently had a quiet game. Neither freshman scored for her team, but, unfortunately for Parlow, the goal she did score — an own goal in the first half — was the only one of the match.
The goal developed after constant pressure by Daws, Manthei and McCarthy, the best of the Irish forwards on the day. On a lobbed pass into the Carolina box, Parlow sent a weak clearance to Daws, who headed the ball back into the box and in the direction of teammate Amy VanLaecke. Parlow’s head reached the ball first, but to her horror the ball looped over goalkeeper Tracy Noonan and into the net, just inside the near post. Sweeper Nel Fettig, who had covered the far post when Noonan left her line, tried to reach the ball but couldn’t.
Noonan had initially come off her line to get the ball without calling for it and then changed her mind when she realized that she couldn’t get to the ball and she saw that Parlow might clear it.
“I was caught in no-man’s land,” Noonan said.
Carolina coach Anson Dorrance did not blame anyone for the goal but rather praised the Notre Dame pressure for creating the chance.
“You look at that as sort of a ‘riding-time’ goal,” he said, using a wrestling term that measures how long a wrestler is on top of his opponent. “Notre Dame put themselves in the position where they were putting the ball in our box, and that’s trouble for us. Regardless of what people say about the goal, that’s a result from people getting forward.”
After the goal, the Heels had plenty of chances for to get the equalizer, especially on their seven corner kicks. Confer may have had the best chance of all, a 40-yard strike off the crossbar with about eight minutes left in the first half. She scored from farther out against Santa Clara in the quarterfinal round.
While the Heels may not have completely panicked after the goal, they certainly were not as composed as they usually are. Despite Roberts’ difficulty with Manthei, she and midfielder Sarah Dacey did find some free space down the flanks, yet her teammates often eschewed that route, more often than not going up the middle in hopes of connecting with Parlow or with Confer.
Notre Dame had caused UNC all kinds of problems before the goal, especially in midfield. Dorrance solved that when he dropped Parlow back later in the first half and even had forward Debbie Keller play some in the middle in the second half. Parlow had had some trouble with Julie Vogel before the goal, but after returning to the frontline the freshman was back to the form that made her the ACC Rookie of the Year.
But nothing the Heels did was enough.
Give and take
The second semifinal Dec. 1 had the makings of a high-scoring affair, what with the nation’s top two leading scorers in Danielle Garrett and Courtney Linex on SMU and the No. 4 scorer in MacMillan on hand for the Pilots.
And the teams did not disappoint, as the Pilots won 4-2 in a match with the most free-flowing action of the final four.
Linex and especially the 5-10 Garrett, who was marked mostly by defensive ace Melissa Ribaudo, were definite concerns for the Pilots, but MacMillan and McIntosh proved to be the more dangerous tandem.
McIntosh, ever-dangerous in the air, scored first for the Pilots with a header off a MacMillan pass in only the third minute. About 11 minutes later, MacMillan took a long Holly Pierce feed to make it 2-0. When she wasn’t scoring, MacMillan was creating for her teammates or left the SMU defenders in her wake.
“I think Shannon proved today that she is the best striker in the country,” Portland coach Clive Charles.
SMU, to its credit, would not quit. Portland went up by as many as three goals, but the Mustangs were ever dangerous. It was on one of their offensive forays when they got the first goal, the second own goal in as many games. SMU defender Andrea Durham tried to get a ball to Garrett in the Portland box, but sweeper Tia Sharpe caught up to it first and lobbed Fahey to make it 2-1.
In the second half, SMU was committed to going forward, leaving plenty of space for the Pilots to exploit. Mustang sweeper Emily Rogers was a creative force out of the back and SMU’s flank players were especially offensive-minded. Unfortunately, that allowed Pilots like Maria Schierman to get behind the defense. In the 59th minute, the midfielder brought the ball to the top right corner of the SMU box and found Jody Dutra on the far post. Dutra settled the ball, evaded a defender and slotted the ball past goalie Erin Poole.
The fourth goal came when Portland’s French crossed to Justi Baumgardt, and the central midfielder likewise took her time before beating Poole to make the score 4-1.
In the 79th minute, Melissa Kittner took an SMU corner kick that Linex and Ryanne Bumps each had a touch on before Amy Kline scored for the 4-2 result.
Garrett, who led SMU with six shots on goal, was always dangerous, especially late, firing a shot in the last five minutes that deflected off a Pilot defender for a Mustang corner kick and a few minutes later having a header saved by Fahey.
“We had our chances,” said SMU coach Alan Kirkup, whose team brought a 23-0-1 record into its first ever final four. “Going down early really didn’t help us … I was pleased to see that even at the death when things were looking real bad, we kept battling away.”
Added Kirkup, “I’d also like to say congratulations to Notre Dame. They did our sport a great service … It’s good to see Notre Dame and Portland in the final.” by Soccer America associate editor Dean Caparaz
NCAA Division I Women’s Final Four
Final
Dec. 3 in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Portland 0, Notre Dame 1 (OT). Goal: Daws 125:31.
Report Card
Portland — Fahey (4), Sharpe (5), Ribaudo (6), Eaton (5), Schierman (5), Pierce (5), Stiles (6), French (6), Baumgardt (6), McIntosh (5), MacMillan (6). Subs: Dutra (5), Johnson (5), Charles (5), Engesser (6).
Notre Dame — Renola (6), Scharff (5), Vogel (5), Sobrero (6), Boxx (5), Fisher (4), Manthei (6), Daws (6), McCarthy (7), VanLaecke (6), Gerardo (5). Subs: Maund (6), Guerrero (6), Vanderberg (5).
Att.: 6,926.
Semifinals
Dec. 1 in Chapel Hill, N.C.
North Carolina 0, Notre Dame 1. Goal: Own goal 19:21.
Report Card
North Carolina — Noonan (4), Fettig (5), Wilson (6), A.Roberts (6), Rubio (5), T.Roberts (5), Uritus (4), Dacey (5), Parlow (5), Confer (6), Keller (5). Subs: Sheppard (5), Falk (5), Karvelsson (5).
Notre Dame — Renola (6), Scharff (5), Vogel (5), Sobrero (5), Boxx (4), Fisher (5), Manthei (6), Daws (6), McCarthy (6), VanLaecke (5), Gerardo (4). Subs: Vanderberg (5), Guerrero (5).
Att.: 7,212.
Portland 4, SMU 2. Goals: McIntosh (MacMillan) 2:41, MacMillan (Pierce) 13:38, Dutra 47:30, Baumgardt (French) 58:03; own goal 38:14, Kline (Linex, Bumps) 78:51.
Report Card
Portland — Fahey (5), Sharpe (5), Ribaudo (6), Eaton (5), Schierman (5), Pierce (5), French (5), Baumgardt (6), Engesser (4), McIntosh (6), MacMillan (8). Subs: Stiles (5), Dutra (6), Charles (5), Johnson (5).
SMU — Poole (3), Rogers (4), Campanaro (4), Hirsh (5), Kittner (5), Potthoff (5), Brosseau (6), Kline (6), Bumps (6), Linex (5), Garrett (5). Subs:
Wisner (5), Durham (5), Trivisonno (5).
Att.: 7,212.