Loyola eliminated in first round of NCAA Women's Soccer Championship

Nov. 17, 2007

(#4 seed) Notre Dame 3, Loyola 0 Box Score
Notre Dame, Ind. - Loyola ended its season with a 3-0 loss at #4 Notre Dame in the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament. Notre Dame dominated the game with their outstanding offense, but the Rambler defense held on through most of the game.

For the first 38 minutes of the game, it looked as though it could have gone either way. The Fighting Irish dominated the ball from the start, but the defense of the Ramblers, as it has all season, kept the game in check. That's when Notre Dame's Brittany Bock broke through with the game's first goal and set the tone for the remainder of the game.

It could have been a different story if Katie Heidenreich's shot on goal, the first against Notre Dame since the Big East championship game versus West Virginia, a time spanning 84 minutes, had not been tipped away by Notre Dame goalkeeper Lauren Karas. It was one of only two Rambler shots-on-goal of the night, the other coming 58 minutes later by Ashley Morawski, once the game was seemingly out of reach.

Heidenreich had broken downfield by herself with only one defender on her and made what seemed to be a perfect shot on the goal, but the ball went off the fingertips of Karas and deflected wide right of the goal.

Once the second half began, it wasn't long before Notre Dame pulled away with two quick goals in a three minute span. From that point on, the Ramblers struggled to get anything going and ended the game with that three-goal deficit.

Colleen Dougherty played sterling defense, particularly in the first half, recording five saves in the match despite giving up the three Notre Dame goals. Dougherty kept the Ramblers in a tight contest throughout the first half even though Loyola was out-shot 13-1 in that half of the game. Overall, the Irish out-shot the Ramblers 19-2.

The Ramblers had a bit of a scary moment in minute number 30 of the first half when star forward Cynthia Morote-Ariza fell to the ground and did not get up for several minutes. She eventully limped off the field and could not return until the beginning of the second half. She did play for the majority of the second half and the injury, apparently a strain, does not appear to be serious.

The Ramblers end their season with a 14-9-1 mark overall.