TicketsOct. 24, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio - The season came to a close for the Cincinnati women's soccer team as it fell to No. 1 Notre Dame, 3-0, at Gettler Stadium on Tuesday night. The Bearcats needed a win against the undefeated Irish to claim a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament.
UC finished the season 7-9-2 overall and 3-7-1 in the BIG EAST. It was a four-win improvement over the previous year. UND climbed to 17-0-1 and 10-0-1 to remain unbeaten.
The Irish owned a 26-5 edge in shots, as they peppered freshman keeper Andrea Kaminski. She made 10 saves to keep UC within reach, including a pair of point-blank attempts in the second half.
Lauren Karas made two saves for Notre Dame to claim her eighth shutout of the year. UC was held scoreless for the third straight match and seventh time in the last nine contests.
"We gave it everything we had," said head coach Meridy Glenn, who finishes the season one win shy of becoming the second female coach in Division I history to earn 250 women's soccer victories. "Both teams were exhausted at the end."
The first 30 minutes saw the Bearcats stay with the Irish, with neither team garnering many good chances. Kerri Hanks sent a long shot in for Notre Dame in the 14th minute that hit the crossbar and Kate Norton had a free kick from 25 yards for UC in the 22nd minute that went into the side of the net.
Kaminski made a huge save at 23:40 when UND earned an indirect kick inside the box after an illegal touch by the UC keeper. Hanks received the ball at the penalty spot and Kaminski punched her attempt over the net.
Hanks, among the nation's scoring leaders, was involved again as the Irish finally broke through. She drew two defenders to herself at the top right of the box and back-heeled a pass to Brittany Bock, who beat Kaminski for her sixth marker of the year.
The Bearcats looked to be heading into the locker room trailing by just the one when Jen Buczowski found Hanks streaking down the right side. She outraced her defender and slid a shot under Kaminski into the short-side of the net at 44:14 for her 15th goal.
Freshman Michele Weissenhofer put a cap on the scoring when a loose ball came to her inside in the box and she beat a defender and netted the ball from just six yards out in the 78th minute.
"I told the seniors that we've almost completed the transition to the BIG EAST," added Glenn. "The next step is making the conference tournament and we came just one point or one goal short. They made an impression on the BIG EAST and have left this team in good shape. I told the juniors that their road to next year's BIG EAST Tournament starts tomorrow."