COLLEGE WOMEN: Michigan hands second-ranked Notre Dame first loss

• by Soccer America , Oct 29, 2003

Visiting Michigan knocked No. 2 Notre Dame from the ranks of unbeaten women's college soccer teams on Wednesday, making the most of its chances for a 3-2 victory that closed the Fighting Irish's 12-game winning streak.

Katie Kramer and Therese Heaton scored first-half goals and Stephanie Chavez provided a 3-1 advantage in the 49th minute as the Wolverines (7-6-6) made a huge statement that could bode well for an NCAA playoff berth when tournament pairings are announced Nov. 10.

Top-ranked North Carolina (17-0-0) is the lone unbeaten team in Division I.

Notre Dame (18-1-1) had shut out its previous 10 opponents -- the fifth longest such streak in NCAA women's soccer history -- and had gone 956 minutes since surrendering its previous goal, a 66th-minute strike by North Texas' Melinda Pina in an 8-1 Irish romp.

Notre Dame limited Michigan to six shots and quickly answered Kramer's 12th-minute goal, with Amanda Guertin's strike 61 seconds later, but it struggled to penetrate the Wolverines' bunker defense and beat freshman goalkeeper Megan Tuura. Katie Thorlakson narrowed the gap to a goal in the 69th minute.

Michigan's second and third goals were scored from sequences off left-side corner kicks by Robyn Vince. The latter produced three of the victors' six shots on goal.

Notre Dame, playing without All-America candidates Melissa Tancredi and Mary Boland, plays host to Miami, Fla., in the Big East Conference quarterfinals on Sunday.

Michigan meets Ohio State in the Big Ten Conference quarterfinals on Nov. 6 in Madison, Wis.