Irish pick up two conference wins over weekend
By MIKE CONNOLLY
Associate Sports Editor
The Notre Dame women's soccer team left New Jersey on Sunday with a 6-2 record and its third Big East wins of the season.
The Irish trip to the Garden State yielded a 4-2 win over Seton Hall on Friday and a 4-0 shut out of Rutgers on Sunday.
The Irish got goals from four different players in the victory over the Pirates. Senior All-American Jen Grubb opened the scoring for Notre Dame in the 14th minute. After junior All-American Anne Makinen was fouled by the Pirates just outside the box, Grubb lined up for a free kick.
The captain fired the ball into the net from 22 yards out for her second goal of the season. Grubb's previous goal had also come off a free kick.
The Irish struck again the in 19th minute. Jenny Streiffer picked up her first point of the weekend when she dribbled through the Pirate midfield and dropped a pass to senior forward Jenny Heft.
Heft collected the pass and fired the ball into the lower right corner of the net for her third goal of the year to give the Irish a 2-0 lead.
Streiffer got another assist in the 51st minute. Streiffer won the ball along the right sideline and crossed the ball to junior Meotis Erikson. Erikson flipped over backwards and bicycle kicked the ball into the net for her second goal of the season.
Following Erikson's goal, Seton Hall battled back. In the 54th minute, preseason Big East offensive player of the year Kelly Smith took a Dana Sheffer pass behind the Irish defense and scored from just inside the box.
Ten minutes later the Pirates scored again to cut the Irish lead to a single goal. Smith hit Frauke Dittel with a pass 18 yards from the goal that Dittel converted into Seton Hall's second goal of the game.
For the final 27 minutes, the Irish defense shut down the Pirate attack. While allowing just two shuts in the remainder of the half, Notre Dame's defense also set up the final goal of the game.
Freshman defender Vanessa Pruzinsky cleared the ball to fellow freshman Nancy Mikacenic in the 74th minute. Mikacenic lofted a pass to Anne Makinen who volleyed the ball into the net from 15 yards away.
Makinen picked up her second goal of the year in her first game back with the Irish after training with the Finnish National team. Her involvement with the national team caused her to miss the last four Notre Dame games.
Makinen got another goal for the Irish on Sunday in their 4-0 defeat of the Scarlet Knights. Freshman Ashley Dryer and Streiffer assisted on Makinen's game winner in the 16th minute. Makinen dribbled through two defenders and fired a shot that beat goalkeeper Angel Hadaway.
Grubb added her second free kick goal of the weekend in the 34th minute to give the Irish a 2-0 lead. The Irish added another goal four minutes later when Streiffer was fouled in the box by Uchenna Bright. Streiffer converted the penalty kicked into her fifth goal of the year.
In the 53rd minute, Erikson scored her third goal of the year. She took a pass from Streiffer and dribbled through the box before shooting from five yards out to close the Irish scoring on the day.
All Sports Stories for Monday, September 27, 1999
