September 14, 2012
BOOKENDING HALFTIME
Irish use late, early goals to beat Louisville

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Freshman forward Crystal Thomas and sophomore forward Lauren Bohaboy scored unassisted goals on either side of halftime to help Notre Dame open its Big East Conference slate on a winning note, defeating Louisville, 2-1 on Friday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.

Thomas netted her team-high third goal of the year in the 43rd minute, then Bohaboy doubled the Fighting Irish lead in the 49th minute, giving Notre Dame the cushion to withstand a Cardinal goal in the final two minutes and pick up the victory.

The Fighting Irish (4-3-1,1-0-0 Big East) held a slim 14-13 edge in total shots, while each team tallied five shots on goal. The Cardinals fall to 5-2-0 ( 0-1-0)

Freshman goalkeeper Elyse Hight worked the first 45 minutes for the Fighting Irish, registering three saves. Sophomore Sarah Voigt came on to play the second half and made one save. Chloe Kiefer had three saves in the Louisville goal.

“It’s hard to complain about starting off the conference season with a win,” Notre Dame head coach Randy Waldrum said. “I’m a little disappointed we weren’t able to finish off the shutout, because I thought the final score wasn’t entirely representative of the way we played today. A lot of credit goes to our backline, who did a really nice job of bottling up (BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year/Louisville forward) Christine Exeter and forcing them into taking a lot of shots from distance. We also possessed the ball better, and took advantage of our opportunities, so that’s a good sign. Now the challenge for us is to build on a performance like this with another consistent solid effort in our next game on Sunday against Cincinnati.”

Louisville had a couple of first half chances, with Charlyn Corral’s shot from 25 yards out in the 16th minute tipped around the right post by a diving Hight. Five minutes later, Corral’s corner kick from the left side curled off the crossbar and caromed to Angelika Uremovich at the edge of the six-yard box, but Hight and the Fighting Irish defense teamed up to block the shot. The rebound came back to Exeter on the doorstep, but she also misfired, pushing her one-timer wide right.

The Fighting Irish got on the board when Thomas collected a clearance just over the midfield stripe and found room to roam, although she was faced with four retreating Louisville defenders. The rookie forward charged into the attacking third before unleashing a right-footed shot from 25 yards out that twisted high into the upper right corner of the net past a leaping Kiefer.
Notre Dame took a two goal lead on the other side of the half, when freshman forward Cari Roccaro tracked Voigt’s punt well and flicked a header through for an onrushing Bohaboy down the left side. As Kiefer came off her line to clear the ball from danger, her kick caromed off the head of one of her own defenders at the top left edge of the box and dribbled back towards the Louisville goal. Bohaboy did not give up on the play and raced by Kiefer to gather the loose ball and hammer a left-footed shot into the far right-side netting.

Louisville had a own golden opportunity to pull one back in the 67th minute, but Uremovich’s header from eight yards out on the left side of the box sailed off-target.

The Cardinals spoiled the Fighting Irish clean sheet in the 89th minute. Corral delivered an in-swinging cornerkick from the left side, and the service carried through traffic to Uremovich, who nodded the ball inside the right post.

Notre Dame continues its four-match homestand at 1 p.m. (ET) Sunday when it welcomes Big East foe Cincinnati to Alumni Stadium.