Women's Soccer Release #12
Nov. 13, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Loyola Draws Notre Dame in Opening Round of NCAA Championship
Horizon League champion Loyola University Chicago won't have to travel far for its first-round match in the 2007 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship. The Ramblers visit fourth seed University of Notre Dame to face the Fighting Irish in the opening round on Friday (Nov. 16). The entire 64-team field was announced Monday (Nov. 12).
Loyola (14-8-1 overall) captured its second consecutive Horizon League title on Sunday (Nov. 11), rallying from a two-goal deficit in the final 15 minutes of regulation to gain a 2-2 tie before outlasting top-seeded University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 3-2 in penalty kicks in the championship match. The Ramblers finished second behind UWM in the Horizon League regular-season standings, posting a 7-1-0 record in loop play.
Loyola stood at 3-5-0 on Sept. 16 but has compiled an 11-3-1 ledger since that time. Rambler coach Frank Mateus leads the circuit's highest-scoring team (40 goals in 2007). LU has matched the program's single-season record for victories, set by last year's team that finished 14-7-3.
The Rambler attack features the 2007 Horizon League Player of the Year in sophomore forward Cynthia Morote-Ariza. The Chicago native assisted on both Rambler goals in the League title match to earn Most Valuable Player recognition in the League tournament and tops the loop charts in goals (17), assists (nine) and points (43). The goal and point totals represent LU single-season records, with Morote-Ariza already owning the Rambler career scoring mark at 70 points.
Senior forward Katie Heidenreich and junior forward Alexia Murray provide support on the Rambler attack. Heidenreich boasts five goals and three assists (13 points) this fall, with Murray's four goals and two helpers giving Loyola a trio of double-digit scorers. Freshman Colleen Dougherty has compiled a 1.02 goals-against average with seven shutouts. She has yielded only two goals in her last four outings, anchoring a defense which owns 11 shutouts this year.
Friday's contest is a re-match of sorts for Loyola. The Ramblers' first NCAA run came to an abrupt end with a 5-0 loss to Notre Dame in 2003. LU returned to the national summit last fall, falling to the University of Florida, 2-0. UND also defeated Horizon League entry Milwaukee 1-0 in the second round last year.
Notre Dame carries a 13-match unbeaten streak into this year's event after finishing second in last year's national tournament. UND (15-4-2) had won 12 matches in a row before dropping a penalty-kick shootout to West Virginia University in the Big East Conference championship contest. A pair of juniors lead the Fighting Irish attack with Kerri Hanks boasting 13 goals and 15 assists (41 points), while Brittany Bock has 12 goals and three helpers for 27 points.
The winner of Friday's match meets either the University of Louisville (13-5-2) or the University of Illinois (11-6-2) in the second round at Notre Dame's Alumni Field. The pod is one of 16 sites hosting first- and second-round action, with this year's national champion crowned Dec. 9 at the Aggie Soccer Complex in College Station, Texas.
Loyola attempts to continue one trend for the Horizon League, which has had teams advance to the second round in each of the last three national tournaments. The University of Detroit Mercy defeated the University of Michigan 3-2 in the first round of the 2004 tournament, with Milwaukee advancing following penalty-kick shootouts against Purdue University in 2005 and versus Michigan last fall.
Defending national champion University of North Carolina and the University of Connecticut are the only two teams who have been invited to the tournament every year since its inception in 1982. UNC has won 18 of the first 25 NCAA women's soccer championships. UNC is the top seed in Loyola's quadrant of the bracket, with Stanford University (14-3-4), Penn State University (16-3-2) and UCLA (16-1-2) receiving the other number-one seeds.
News From Around the League
Ramblers rally to repeat as League champ
For the second year in a row, Loyola won the Horizon League Championship as the second seed. The Ramblers (14-8-1 overall) rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force overtime and won a penalty-kick shootout over Milwaukee in the title match after edging Wright State 1-0 in the semifinals.
Sophomore forward Cynthia Morote-Ariza was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, setting up both markers against the Panthers. She also had the free kick that led to the goal versus WSU, a shot that hit the crossbar and created a goal-mouth scramble. Morote-Ariza already owns Loyola's career scoring mark with 70 points and leads the League in goals (17), assists (nine) and points (43) this season.
Senior defender Heather Lau hit the net versus WSU with junior forward Alexia Murray and sophomore defender Julie Colhoff notching goals against the Panthers. Freshman midfielder Laura Trevillian provided the difference in the shootout, converting her attempt in the sixth round.
Freshman goalkeeer Colleen Dougherty recorded a pair of shutouts, stopping eight shots in each match. She now has seven clean sheets and a 1.02 goals-against average for the season. Senior Lauren Sommer took over in net for the penalty kicks, stopping two shots and watching two others miss the target. Sommer had played in only two matches since mid-September before Sunday's final.
Panthers come up short again
Milwaukee finished the season at 13-4-4 overall. The Panthers came from behind to force overtime and defeat Butler 2-1 in the semifinals but could not hold off Loyola in the championship showdown. As a result, UWM---which has won eight consecutive regular-season League titles---has won the tournament only once in the last five years despite reaching the semifinals 13 times in 14 seasons as a League member.
Senior defender Pam Shipway and junior midfielder Sarah Teegarden combined to provide the heroics in Friday's victory, with Teegarden hittign the net in the 108th minute for her third goal of the season. Shipway forced the extra session with her fifth marker of 2007.
Freshman forward Nicole Hirsch gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead in the title tilt, setting up UWM's first goal and scoring the second within a four-minute flurry. The goal was Hirsch's first in a Milwaukee uniform.
Sophomore midfielder Erin Kreuser ranks second in the League with seven assists among her 13 points, while freshman forward Nicole Sperl finished the season with five goals and four assists for 14 points.
Junior goalkeeper Erin Kane registered nine saves in the title match. She leads the circuit with a 0.73 goals-against average and ten shutouts, with the latter number extending her own League standard to 36 in her career.
Raider attack goes cold in semifinals
Wright State's 1-0 semifinal loss to Loyola closed a record-setting season as the Raiders (13-6-1) set a school single-season mark for victories.
The offensive firepower that sparked those 13 wins was stifled against Loyola, however, as WSU was shut out for only the third time in its last 15 matches. Ironically, two of those five came against Loyola, which also scored a 2-0 victory in Dayton on Oct. 28. Milwaukee (Oct. 21) was the only other school to stop the Raider attack.
Freshman forward Amber Kasmer was named the League's Newcomer of the Year as well as a First-Team All-League performer. Kasmer finished the season second on the League scoring charts with 12 goals and 29 points, ranking fifth with her five assists. Junior midfielder Amy Miller is two spots behind her teammate with nine goals and 22 points as part of an attack that logged 38 goals in 2007.
Junior midfielder Jess.Rooma scored two goals versus Detroit in the quarterfinals of the League Championship to finish the season with six. Rooma joined an exclusive group with her third consecutive First-Team All-League citation in 2007. Senior defender Megan Mattioda is third in the circuit with six assists.
Freshman goalkeeper Meghan Hackerson ranks second in the League with a 0.85 goals-against average and seven shutouts.
Bulldogs can't avoid Milwaukee mystique
Butler closed the season at 10-9-1 following a 2-1 overtime loss to Milwaukee in the semifinals. The Bulldogs have now lost 14 consecutive matches to UWM, including six League Championship contests.
The ten victories marked Butler's best showing since the 2002 squad finished 15-6-0.
Sophomore forward Carrie Twyman gave BU a 1-0 lead with 15 minutes remaining in regulation Friday, stealing a pass for a breakaway and her seventh goal of the season. The Bulldogs could not hold that advantage, however, despite four saves by senior goalkeeper Annalise Larkin.
Twyman finished second on the team scoring charts with those seven goals and 15 points, ranking among the League's top ten performers in each category. Junior midfielder Angie Muir is third in the circuit in all three scoring categories with ten goals, six assists and 26 points. Muir stands eighth on Butler's career charts with 22 goals and sixth with 60 points.
Sophomore forward Lindsey Fox added five goals and four helpers for 14 points this season.
Larkin ranks third among Horizon League goalkeepers with a 1.02 goals-against average. She recorded 91 saves---nine more than her total in her first three seasons at the school---with five shutouts in 2007.
Loyola tries to keep League streak intact
When Loyola faces Notre Dame on Friday night, the Ramblers will attempt to continue a string of success for Horizon League entrants in the NCAA Championship. The League has had teams advance to the second round in each of the last three national tournaments, starting with Detroit's 3-2 victory over Michigan in 2004.
Milwaukee ousted Big Ten Conference foes in each of the next two years, with the Panthers eliminating Purdue in penalty kicks (6-5) following a scoreless draw in 2005 and using the same script to get past Michigan (5-3 in the shootout) last fall.
Prior to 2004, only one Midwestern colelgiate Conference/Horizon League entry had ever advanced past the first round. Notre Dame (yes, that Notre Dame) represented the MCC when the Fighting Irish reached the national championship match in 1994, falling to North Carolina.
The Horizon League is 4-13-2 all-time in the NCAA Championship.
