Sports

ND Women's Soccer: Late goal dooms ND on the road

A late-game goal sealed the 1-0 win for No. 10 Virginia Tech as the home team handed No. 9 Notre Dame its third-straight loss Sunday in Blacksburg, Va. Hokies junior midfielder Ellie Zoepfl slipped the ball between the legs of Irish freshman goalkeeper Kaela Little in the 87th minute for the match's only score. Little was off balance after making a save off a shot from Hokies redshirt junior forward Shannon Mayrose, who passed the ball across the net to Zoepfl for the assist. The Hokies (11-2-1, 6-1-1 ACC) pestered Little and the Irish (9-4-1, 5-3-1) throughout the first half, controlling most of the possession and keeping the ball in their offensive zone. To fend off the constant pressure, Little made three saves on the day, including one off a first-half Mayrose shot in which she blocked the ball and caught it before Mayrose had a chance to make a second attempt. "Kaela was solid for us," Irish coach Randy Waldrum said. "She coped with a lot of crosses and picked up some loose balls from over the top when she had to come out of the goal and beat the attacker to the ball to get it cleared. I thought once the game got going and once she got her mind into the speed of the game, she was pretty good." The Irish also needed some time to get going, looking slow in the first half next to the speedy Hokies offense, which won most of the battles for loose balls. Coming out of halftime, Notre Dame picked up its pace and its shot count, putting up 10 shots in the second half compared to four in the first. "We had to make a couple of changes to adjust to the speed [Virginia Tech] had up front," Waldrum said. "I ended up pushing [sophomore midfielder] Cari Roccaro back to the right-back spot and bringing [freshman] Rilka Noel in as the attacking midfield player, and I thought that really calmed us down, and we were able to get a handle on more of our possessions." With their energy level and focus picked up in the second half, the Irish put up more shots but could not respond to Virginia Tech's goal in the final minutes. Notre Dame's best scoring opportunity came with two minutes remaining off a free kick from freshman midfielder Morgan Andrews. Andrews's kick lasered to the front of the goal, where junior forward Lauren Bohaboy shot it into the outstretched arms of Hokies senior keeper Dayle Colpitts. "[Colpitts] had to make a little bit of a diving save, but I think Lauren didn't get ahold of it well," Waldrum said. "So even after they scored, we had an opportunity to tie the game up, but that's the difference. They converted [their chances], and we didn't convert ours." The Irish will look to bring an end to their four-game winless streak when they meet Duke on Sunday at Alumni Stadium. Contact Mary Green at mgreen8@nd.edu  

Hockey: Irish shut down Broncos

The No. 8 Irish blanked No. 18 Western Michigan twice this weekend, winning 4-0 Friday at Compton Family Ice Arena and 3-0 Saturday at the Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich.

ND Women's Tennis: Irish split up for weekend

The Irish split up this weekend, while three players travelled to the Bronco Invitational in Kalamazoo, Mich., while other Irish players continued play at the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional Championships at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Men's Soccer: Last-minute victory

Unbeaten Notre Dame captured another close victory Friday, when Irish senior forward Harrison Shipp netted the game-winner in the 90th minute against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. Shipp's unassisted goal secured the 1-0 win for No. 2 Notre Dame (7-0-4, 4-0-3 ACC) and saved the Irish from heading into their sixth overtime period of the season. Irish coach Bobby Clark said Shipp came through for the Irish after they couldn't convert early chances into goals. "Harrison Shipp got in the best spot," Clark said. "We had some headers early on, and we had some great opportunities, and then Harry was able to work his magic." Before unleashing the game winner, Shipp regained possession after a deflection then dribbled up the middle. His shot eluded Hokies senior goalkeeper Kyle Renfro and zipped into the lower right corner of the goal. Although the game's lone goal came in the last possible minute, the Irish threatened to score early in the game. Irish junior forward Vince Cicciarelli created the first scoring opportunity in the third minute, but Renfro came up with his first save of the night. Notre Dame produced a flurry of headers in the 18th and 19th minutes on corner kicks taken by Shipp. Renfro came up with a stop on senior defender Luke Mishu's first attempt to head the ball in, then Virginia Tech (3-4-4, 1-2-4) recorded a team save on a header from Irish senior defender Andrew O'Malley. Renfro saved a header from Shipp shortly thereafter and Cicciarelli had a shot blocked by the Hokies defense to end the threat. Cicciarelli (3), O'Malley (2) and Shipp (2) all had multiple shots on goal for Notre Dame. The Hokies, meanwhile, managed only one shot on goal, delivered by senior midfielder Robert Alberti in the 14th minute. The Irish didn't have to stop many shots, but the defense looked sharp, Clark said. Senior goalkeeper Patrick Wall had just one save, but stayed active in other ways he said. "Wall had what I like to call 'timely interceptions,'" Clark said. "For example, coming off his line for crosses. He looked sharp without lots of saves. He had to be on his toes." Notre Dame kept the ball in Virginia Tech's territory, especially in the first half. The Irish forced eight corner kicks in the first period as the Hokies failed to clear the ball consistently against Notre Dame's pressing offense. Clark said the Irish offense looked good in the first half and played to win in the second. "We had about three or four [corner kicks] in a row at one point," Clark said. "They couldn't clear the ball ... Generally we did good offense in the first half, and we looked like a team that wanted to win in the last 45 seconds." Cicciarelli unleashed two of his three shots on goal during the final 10 minutes of the game. Renfro saved Cicciarelli's shot in the 80th minute, and the forward's shot in the 88th minute sailed wide. Renfro saved seven shots against Notre Dame, who attempted 23 total shots against Virginia Tech's 13. The Irish and Hokies played in front of a large crowd, and Notre Dame learned how tough it can be to win a road game, Clark said. The Irish will face four ranked opponents, both from the ACC and out of conference, in their final six scheduled games this season. "The main thing is that first of all, it's very difficult to go on the road and win games," Clark said. "But they seemed very motivated to win the game all the way up to the 90th minute. I think the team is dealing with ACC travel really well. We still have four very difficult ACC games and tough nonleague games to play." Next up, Notre Dame clashes with No. 14 Northwestern at Alumni Stadium at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Contact Samantha Zuba at szuba@nd.edu

ND Women's Tennis: Vrabel advances to second day

Sophomore Julie Vrabel will move on to the second day of qualifying at the ITA Midwestern Regional Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich., after taking her only match of the day in straight sets.

Men's Interhall: Dawgs seek to remain undefeated

By EVAN ANDERSON

Hockey: Squad faces rival in new conference

Notre Dame will take the ice in a regular-season game for the first time as Hockey East members tonight after a 21-year run in the CCHA ended last season.

Men's Soccer: Irish travel to Virginia Tech

Women's Interhall: Pangborn and Ryan clash as unbeatens

By REBECCA ROGALSKI

ND Women's Golf: Irish head to elite Tar Heel Invitational

The Irish will face high stakes when they take on a tough field at the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C., this weekend.

ND Volleyball: Irish to visit Clemson, Georgia Tech on road trip

Notre Dame travels south this weekend for ACC matchups against Clemson and Georgia Tech in hopes of snapping a six-match losing streak.

Lorton: If your team loses, cheer for underdogs (Oct. 11)

Men's Swimming: ND hosts Dennis Stark Relays

Notre Dame dives into the 2013-2014 season looking for fast times when it hosts its first two meets of the year today and Saturday at Rolfs Aquatic Center.

ND Women's Soccer: Overtime heartbreaker

Under an unrelenting downpour in Charlottesville, Va., No.9 Notre Dame fell 3-2 in a controversial double-overtime nailbiter to No.1 Virginia Thursday night.

ND Women's Swimming: Irish aim for success again

Notre Dame will look to build off last year's tremendous season when they kick off the 2013-14 campaign this Friday at the Dennis Stark Relays.

Men's Basketball: Brey adresses starters, rebounding at media day

The jerseys were tucked in. The afternoon schedule was mapped out. The assistant coaches had nattily-knotted ties to go with their sharp suits.

SMC Volleyball: Hecklinksi leads Belles to victory over Alma

The Belles beat Alma 3-1 in four tight sets Wednesday at home and pushed themselves back to a winning conference record. Saint Mary's (8-11, 6-5 MIAA) had struggled of late, but the team seems to be coming together, Belles coach Toni Elyea said. "I think we're playing great volleyball," Elyea said. "We're continuing to let teams in sometimes, and we're letting them get key runs of three or four points. We need to run and execute plays which we've had a bit of trouble with but we pulled together tonight." The Belles defeated Alma (9-11, 4-7) in four sets 25-23, 25-23, 16-25 and 25-22. Elyea said that several players turned in great performances in the victory. "We had a great contribution from [sophomore outside hitter] Katie Hecklinski, 17 kills and 14 digs, which was another double-double for her this season," Elyea said. "Defensively, [junior outside hitter] Kati Schneider had 18 digs and [junior libero] Meredith Mersits had 23." Saint Mary's posted a .122 attacking percentage in the first set compared to the Scots' .194 percentage but had the advantage in total kills with 15. The Belles hitters committed nine attacking errors in the first set but improved in each game until they posted a .265 attacking percentage with just four errors in the fourth set. Aggressive serving helped Saint Mary's create better attacking opportunities, Elyea said. "We decided that we were going to serve much more aggressively, which allowed a lot more free balls to come over from them, which we were able to capitalize on," Elyea said. Hecklinski led Saint Mary's with 17 kills. Junior middle hitter Melanie Kuczek smashed 10, and Kati Schneider added eight. The Scots' only win came in the third game when Alma outhit Saint Mary's 12 kills to nine and earned the largest victory margin of the night, 25-16. Senior middle hitter Lea Klooster sparked Alma's offense with 16 kills and a .441 attacking percentage. The Scots committed few attacking errors, but the Belles kept Alma's offense off-balance with strong serving after the third set, Elyea said. Mersits (23), Schneider (18) and Hecklinski (14) secured the Belles defense with digs. "We did not serve aggressively [in the third set]," Elyea said. "They ran their middle extremely well. Lea was on fire tonight, and she just did a tremendous job. We served much more aggressively in the fourth set." Contact Samantha Zuba at szuba@nd.edu  

Hartnett: Will the NFL cross the pond? (Oct. 10)

This Sunday, the Jacksonville Jaguars will take the field as 27.5-point underdogs against ageless wonder Peyton Manning and his Denver Broncos squad.

Making a statement

The No. 2 Irish battled ACC rival No. 5 Maryland down to the wire and pushed the game into a second overtime to finish the match as a 1-1 draw Tuesday at Alumni Stadium in South Bend, Ind. In what was the first and last meeting of Notre Dame and Maryland as fellow members of the ACC, the Irish (6-0-4, 3-0-2) and the Terrapins (5-2-4, 4-0-1) left everything on the field in a fight between two aggressive offensives.

ND Women's Soccer: Moving Forward

Coming off its second loss of the season and first loss in the ACC, No. 5 Notre Dame faces a daunting obstacle in getting back on track in the conference when the Irish take on top-ranked Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. on Thursday night.