Friday, November 17
South Bend, Ind.
5:30 p.m.
Colorado
14-5-4
0
at
3
Notre Dame (Sweet Sixteen)
23-0-1
1
2
F
Colorado
0
0
0
Notre Dame
2
1
3
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Colorado Falls 3-0 to No. 1 Notre Dame in Sweet 16
November 17, 2006 | Soccer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The University of Colorado women's soccer team saw their season come to an end here Friday night with a 3-0 loss to top-ranked Notre Dame in the Sweet 16 of the 2006 NCAA Women's College Cup. It was Colorado's first-ever trip to the third round of the tournament in their 11-year history.Â
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"I'm so proud of my kids for battling for 90 minutes," said head coach Bill Hempen. "Even after the third goal they were still out there battling. They've been doing that since mid-October and we succumbed to a very talented Notre Dame team with a dangerous attack. Hats off to them, but I'm very proud of my kids."
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"If you had to lose to somebody you might as well go out to the No. 1 team in the nation," said senior Katie Griffin. "We worked our butts off. You win some, you lose some, but overall I thought we all played good as a team."
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Notre Dame struck early as Brittany Bock took a pass from Jill Krivacek at the 15:39 mark. Bock had her back to the goal and she was able to quickly turn around and blast a shot towards Colorado's keeper Kirstin Radlinski, who was caught in the quagmire in front of the net and was unable to deny the shot in the upper right hand corner of the goal.
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"I don't know exactly what happened on the first goal, but I think my keeper kind of got stuck in the quicksand back there and really couldn't react one way or the other," said Hempen. "It was a great shot. It's a difficult environment to play in. You've got the No. 1 team in the country, but I refer back to how hard the kids played- they could have just laid back but they were going to try and make something out of this and they certainly did."
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The Irish would take the 2-0 lead with 11:40 to play in the first half when Bock headed the ball off a Kerri Hanks corner kick into the top right corner of the goal, giving Bock her second goal on the night.
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At halftime, ND outshot CU 15-3, with Radlinski making three saves.Â
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Notre Dame added their third goal after being awarded a free kick from about 22 yards out on the left side of the penalty area. Notre Dame's Hanks stepped up to take the kick and sent a bending ball into the right side of the net, beyond the stretched arms of Radlinski with just 1:42 to play in the match.
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The Buffaloes end perhaps their finest season yet with a record of 14-6-4. The Buffs wrapped up with 42 goals, the second-most in program history, as well as 14 wins, also the second-most for Colorado. They finished the regular season with a four-game winning streak, which carried over into another five games in a row unbeaten in the postseason with just a pair of double-overtime ties to mar their record.
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Laura Munnelly, Katie Griffin and Allie True wrap up their careers as the winningest senior class in CU history. As a group, they are the only senior class to make four trips to the NCAA Tournament. They won 56 games, which included a Big 12 regular season title in 2003 and a pair of trips to the Big 12 Championship game in 2005 and 2006.Â
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Munnelly finishes her career as CU's leader in games played and started with 91 of each and having played 8,178 minutes, missing just 20 minutes along the way. Griffin is CU's all-time leader in goals scored with 32 in her career.Â
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"I think throughout this season and especially after we got into that slump, it was all about playing for your seniors," said freshman Nikki Marshall. "I think that's going to be there forever; play for these guys, even though they're not here. We're going to carry on their legacy because they've taught us so much."
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Colorado will return four of its five leading scorers in 2007. Nikki Marshall (17 goals, three assists), Alex Cousins (five goals, seven assists), Nikki Keller (three goals, three assists), and Michelle Wenino (three goals, one assist) will all return. CU will again have a three-woman senior class, as Brittany Dornseif, Maura Gentile and Allison Kidd will lead the Buffs next year.
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"After that midpoint of the season when we were struggling, I think that they get it now," said Hempen. "Nikki's going to make sure that the next group of kids that come in have that same desire and that same intensity every time that they step on the field and put that Colorado jersey on."
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"I'm so proud of my kids for battling for 90 minutes," said head coach Bill Hempen. "Even after the third goal they were still out there battling. They've been doing that since mid-October and we succumbed to a very talented Notre Dame team with a dangerous attack. Hats off to them, but I'm very proud of my kids."
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"If you had to lose to somebody you might as well go out to the No. 1 team in the nation," said senior Katie Griffin. "We worked our butts off. You win some, you lose some, but overall I thought we all played good as a team."
Â
Notre Dame struck early as Brittany Bock took a pass from Jill Krivacek at the 15:39 mark. Bock had her back to the goal and she was able to quickly turn around and blast a shot towards Colorado's keeper Kirstin Radlinski, who was caught in the quagmire in front of the net and was unable to deny the shot in the upper right hand corner of the goal.
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"I don't know exactly what happened on the first goal, but I think my keeper kind of got stuck in the quicksand back there and really couldn't react one way or the other," said Hempen. "It was a great shot. It's a difficult environment to play in. You've got the No. 1 team in the country, but I refer back to how hard the kids played- they could have just laid back but they were going to try and make something out of this and they certainly did."
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The Irish would take the 2-0 lead with 11:40 to play in the first half when Bock headed the ball off a Kerri Hanks corner kick into the top right corner of the goal, giving Bock her second goal on the night.
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At halftime, ND outshot CU 15-3, with Radlinski making three saves.Â
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Notre Dame added their third goal after being awarded a free kick from about 22 yards out on the left side of the penalty area. Notre Dame's Hanks stepped up to take the kick and sent a bending ball into the right side of the net, beyond the stretched arms of Radlinski with just 1:42 to play in the match.
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The Buffaloes end perhaps their finest season yet with a record of 14-6-4. The Buffs wrapped up with 42 goals, the second-most in program history, as well as 14 wins, also the second-most for Colorado. They finished the regular season with a four-game winning streak, which carried over into another five games in a row unbeaten in the postseason with just a pair of double-overtime ties to mar their record.
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Laura Munnelly, Katie Griffin and Allie True wrap up their careers as the winningest senior class in CU history. As a group, they are the only senior class to make four trips to the NCAA Tournament. They won 56 games, which included a Big 12 regular season title in 2003 and a pair of trips to the Big 12 Championship game in 2005 and 2006.Â
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Munnelly finishes her career as CU's leader in games played and started with 91 of each and having played 8,178 minutes, missing just 20 minutes along the way. Griffin is CU's all-time leader in goals scored with 32 in her career.Â
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"I think throughout this season and especially after we got into that slump, it was all about playing for your seniors," said freshman Nikki Marshall. "I think that's going to be there forever; play for these guys, even though they're not here. We're going to carry on their legacy because they've taught us so much."
Â
Colorado will return four of its five leading scorers in 2007. Nikki Marshall (17 goals, three assists), Alex Cousins (five goals, seven assists), Nikki Keller (three goals, three assists), and Michelle Wenino (three goals, one assist) will all return. CU will again have a three-woman senior class, as Brittany Dornseif, Maura Gentile and Allison Kidd will lead the Buffs next year.
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"After that midpoint of the season when we were struggling, I think that they get it now," said Hempen. "Nikki's going to make sure that the next group of kids that come in have that same desire and that same intensity every time that they step on the field and put that Colorado jersey on."
Team Stats
CU
ND
Goals
0
3
Shots
5
26
Shots on Goal
0
9
Saves
6
0
Corners
3
3
Fouls
8
11
Scoring Plays
Bock, Brittany (10)
Assisted By: Krivacek, Jill , Jones, Ashley
25-yard knuckler from left side
15:39
Bock, Brittany (11)
Assisted By: Hanks, Kerri
Header into right sidenetting, off lefts
33:20
Hanks, Kerri (22)
Curved 25-yard free kick into right side
88:18
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
2
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
M
/ Soccer
D
/ Soccer
F
/ SoccerF
/ Soccer
M/F
/ SoccerF
/ SoccerF
/ Soccer
D
/ Soccer
GK
/ Soccer
M
/ Soccer
D
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