Blue and Gold Illustrated

Sept. 16, 2013 Issue

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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ND Sports language and used a slightly different style of play forced them to focus on themselves rather than worrying about their opponents. "They used more shots than we're used to seeing," senior Nicole Brown said. "It was a lot of fun, a little more relaxed, but still very competitive. We learned a few things from their skills Irish Roundup Men's Soccer (1-0-1) The No. 7 Fighting Irish sealed their second consecutive adidas/IU Credit Union Classic crown with a 2-1 win over Southern Methodist on the first day of September. Senior forward Leon Brown scored two goals in the first 20 minutes of play to carry the Irish to victory. The previous day, Brown and his teammates played No. 9 UCLA to a scoreless draw in double overtime. Notre Dame's defense held the Bruins to nine total shots and only five on goal. The team plays its first home game of the regular season against Michigan Sept. 17. Women's Soccer (3-1) After averaging four goals per game in their first three contests of the year, the seventhranked Irish women lost to UCLA in a 1-0 shutout at home Sept. 1. Notre Dame outscored Illinois, Northwestern and Oakland 12-2 to start its season on a high note, but fired only one shot on net in the loss to the talented, visiting Bruins. Freshman goalkeeper Kaela Little made fives saves to keep her team within striking distance. Four different players scored for the Irish in their home opener against Oakland, a 4-0 win, Aug. 30. The Irish will play their first Atlantic Coast Conference game Sept. 12 at North Carolina State. and how they did things." Junior Jeni Houser said the trip opened her mind to the possibility of playing overseas professionally when her time at Notre Dame is over. Houser moved from an outside hitter to middle blocker this season for the Irish. An AllBig East first-team pick last year, Houser said playing in the middle is a more natural fit — she played there in high school and during her club career — and the transition has been smooth so far this fall. She finished second on the team last year in both kills (379) and blocks (89). Brown expects her to be able to take over more of a defensive role this season from the middle of the Irish formation. "We've had a couple of position changes that I think have worked very well," Brown said at the start of the season. Notre Dame opened its regularseason slate during the final weekend of August with two losses and a win. The Irish fell to North Carolina and Middle Tennessee State before ending the weekend on a high note with a fiveset win over San Francisco. "I think our team chemistry is really good. It's just a matter of buckling down in pressure situations and being confident," Houser said. Notre Dame got a small memory of their summer trip the following weekend when they played Dabrowa, a visiting team from Poland, Sept. 8. The team has two tournaments remaining in September before starting its inaugural ACC season with games against North Carolina and North Carolina State during the final week of the month. ✦

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