Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/176703
ND Sports regarded as the top player in the country this year, rung one attempt off the crossbar. The ball ricocheted down and bounced on the goal line, but freshman goalkeeper Kaela Little grabbed it before referees could rule the shot a goal. Little finished with five saves in the biggest game of her young career. Four of those saves came on shots from Dunn, but most of them weren't from dangerous parts of the field. Notre Dame sophomore Cari Roccaro shadowed Dunn for most of the game and was able to keep her from getting clean looks at the net. Waldrum said that "heavyweight battle" was the difference in the game for the Irish. Roccaro played with Dunn when both were members of the U.S. National Team that won a gold medal at the U-20 World Championship in Japan last summer. She said that experience helped her keep the dangerous scorer bottled up when they went head to head. "I kind of know how she thinks and of course how she plays, how fast she is," Roccaro said. "I was just trying to contain her, not get the ball from her, but just slow her down and have people double team. I think that was the trick for the game." Notre Dame rides that momentum into a stretch of four straight home games against conference competition that will take them through the month of September. The Irish won't be back in North Carolina until November for the ACC Tournament, when they'll hope to add another win to their résumé in that state. ✦ Irish Roundup Cross Country The Irish host their second consecutive meet, the Notre Dame Invitational, Oct. 4. The men's and women's teams started the year with second- and first-place finishes, respectively, in Valparaiso at the beginning of September. They returned home Sept. 20 for the National Catholic Championships and are geared up for their last home meet of the season to start October. Men's Soccer (3-0-2) After five games and three exhibitions, No. 2 Notre Dame has allowed only two goals. The Irish won back-to-back 3-0 decisions against Syracuse Sept. 13 and Michigan Sept. 17. Five different players scored for the balanced offensive attack during those games. The Irish are currently ranked behind only North Carolina after playing the Tar Heels to a disappointing 1-1 tie Sept. 8. Volleyball (5-3) The Irish are back above .500 after a rocky start to the season. Notre Dame beat Loyola-Chicago, Oakland and Auburn Sept. 13-14 to win the Shamrock Invitational. Conference play begins Sept. 27 with a trip to the University of North Carolina.