NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Sophomore forward Melissa Henderson (Garland, Texas/Berkner) returned from a two-game injury hiatus with a second-half goal, and junior forward Erica Iantorno (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale) added an insurance tally with less than 20 minutes to play, lifting No. 6/7 Notre Dame to a 2-0 BIG EAST Conference win over Villanova on Friday night before a crowd of 1,103 fans at a rainy and wind-swept Alumni Stadium. With the victory, the Fighting Irish locked up their seventh consecutive BIG EAST National Division title, as well as their 13th BIG EAST regular-season crown in 15 seasons as a conference member (nine of the 13 were divisional championships, while the other four were overall regular-season titles).

    In addition, Notre Dame recorded its fifth consecutive win and lengthened its current unbeaten streak to 11 games (10-0-1), while tacking on another game to its NCAA Division I-record 62-game unbeaten streak (59-0-3) against conference foes.

    Junior midfielder Rose Augustin (Silver Lake, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) registered her team-leading fifth assist of the season on Henderson’s goal, while junior defender Julie Scheidler (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) earned her second assist this year, setting up Iantorno’s marker.

    Junior goalkeeper Nikki Weiss (Redding, Conn./Immaculate) continued her solid play between the pipes down the stretch, making five saves to collect her fifth solo shutout of the season. Weiss also got some support from her back line, which cleared a pair of Villanova shots off the goal line in the second half to help Notre Dame notch its 11th clean sheet of the year, and eighth in the past 11 games. Wildcat netminder Molly Williams recorded six saves, but saw her career-long scoreless streak in goal snapped at 451:49 when Henderson struck pay dirt.

    The Fighting Irish (13-3-1, 9-0-1 BIG EAST) ended up with a 24-13 edge in total shots, including a slim 8-7 advantage in shots on goal. The teams each attempted four corner kicks, and fouls were similarly almost dead even (11-9 ND).

    “I’m very proud of our team for the way they have fought and persevered, not just tonight with the less-than-ideal weather, but throughout this season with the injuries and adversity we’ve had to overcome,” Notre Dame head coach Randy Waldrum said. “This team has never quit and never surrendered, and a lot of the credit for that focus goes to our captains (seniors Courtney Rosen and Michele Weissenhofer, and sophomore Jessica Schuveiller) and our upperclassmen. Villanova made us battle very hard for the win tonight, but we were able to accomplish the first of our goals by winning the BIG EAST National Division title. Now it’s time to go back to work and get ready for an excellent Georgetown team on Sunday night on national television, and we hope to have a huge crowd out at Alumni Stadium to cheer us on for Senior Night.”

    Strategy would play a bigger role than usual in Friday’s game with Villanova, thanks in large part to a day’s worth of rain that drained well off the new Alumni Stadium pitch, but turned it into a slick track. What’s more, a steady 20-mile-per-hour wind blew in from the southwest and challenged both teams to adapt their styles with fewer lofted balls and more direct passing. Consequently, the first 15 minutes of play didn’t see much in the way of offensive threats from either side, but that was a testament to the stout defenses on display as much as the inclement weather.

    Playing with the wind at its back in the first half, Notre Dame had the game’s first good scoring opportunity in the 18th minute, as junior forward Taylor Knaack (Arlington, Texas/Martin) ran on to a ball on the right side of the penalty area and had a good 1-on-1 matchup with Williams, but the reigning BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year sent her six-yard shot from an acute angle high and wide of the right post.

    Less than two minutes later, Augustin tried to ride the jet stream, gathering in a Villanova clearing attempt in the right channel and firing a 30-yard laser than twisted wide right and rippled into the side-netting, briefly sending up a cheer from the hardy Fighting Irish faithful.

    Henderson came off the bench midway through the first half and wound up making her presence felt in the final five minutes of the period. Her best look came on an overlapping run down the right flank, when she pivoted just before the end line and sent a cross through the goal mouth, where junior forward Lauren Fowlkes (Lee’s Summit, Mo./St. Teresa’s Academy) found herself unmarked at the back post. However, her left-footed shot from eight yards away was denied on a brilliant reflex save by Williams.

    Meanwhile, Villanova (10-3-5, 3-4-3) caused Notre Dame hearts to skip a beat with a little more than a minute to play in the first half, when Grace Hawkins’ 22-yard shot from the right channel knuckled in the wind and flirted with the goal frame before skimming the top of the crossbar and going harmlessly out of play.

    As it turned out, Hawkins’ shot might just have tipped off the Fighting Irish to the possibilities of playing into the breeze in the second half. Notre Dame cranked up the offensive pressure, registering four shots and a corner kick in the opening five minutes before finally finding the combination that unlocked the rock-solid Wildcat defense. Augustin started the sequence by settling a ball at the edge of the offensive third, then slipping a through-ball to Henderson racing into the penalty area. The second-year Fighting Irish striker took one touch and blasted a left-footed shot from 10 yards out past Williams and into the far right side-netting at 53:20 for her team-leading eighth goal of the year.

    Not content with a one-goal lead, Notre Dame kept Villanova on its heels, squeezing off five more shots in the ensuing 10 minutes, including a pair on frame that Williams did well to stop. The Wildcats did manage a blocked shot and corner kick to alleviate some of the stress on their goalkeeper, but it wouldn’t be enough. Weissenhofer sent a service from the left side that Fowlkes rang hard off the crossbar before collecting the rebound and shoveling it out to Scheidler steaming down the right side. The Fighting Irish defender cut smartly towards the edge of the box, then delivered a sharp cross of her own that homed in on Iantorno at the near post, and she made no mistake with a snap header low into the right corner of the net (70:40).

    Some observers contend a 2-0 lead is the most dangerous lead in soccer, and Villanova certainly held Notre Dame’s feet to the fire during the closing quarter hour, logging seven of their eight second-half shots (and all five shots on goal) in the final 15 minutes. However, Weiss was equal to the task with three saves, including a sliding stop on Amy Greco’s short-range shot with less than 30 seconds to play. Scheidler and Schuveiller also lent a helping hand, clearing shots by Hawkins and Heidi Sabatura off the line in a 25-second span down the stretch.

    Notre Dame will close out the 2009 regular season on Sunday with a 6 p.m. (ET) contest against BIG EAST rival Georgetown (ranked 22nd by Soccer America) at Alumni Stadium. The game will be televised to a national cable audience on Fox Soccer Channel as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) National Game of the Week, but will air on a tape-delayed basis on Tuesday (Oct. 27) ay 8 p.m. (ET). Tickets for this, and all remaining Fighting Irish soccer games (including any potential postseason contests), are available through the Notre Dame Athletics Ticket Office (574-631-7356), by going on-line to www.UND.com/tickets, or by visiting the Alumni Stadium ticket windows on game day.

---

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

2026 Women's WCC Breakout Candidates

2026 Men's WCC Breakout Candidates

Commitments: Heading to NorCal