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Bulldogs Add National Champion Notre Dame to Exhibition Schedule
July 11, 2005 Trial by fire. That's what coach Woody Sherwood has in store for his 2005 Bulldogs. Butler will open the 2005 schedule with two exhibition matches, including an August 14 get-together with 2004 NCAA champion Notre Dame at Varsity Field on Butler's campus. The Bulldogs will also host Illinois State August 17 in Indianapolis. The Bulldogs and Fighting Irish will square off at 2 p.m. The match will consist of four 30-minute quarters to allow the coaches more opportunities to instruct their players, who will be in the first few days of preseason work-outs. Notre Dame finished the 2004 season with a record of 24-1-1, defeating UCLA on penalty kicks in the national championship game. Illinois State finished the 2004 campaign with a record of 10-6-4. The regular season begins August 26 at Louisville, with the team's home opener set for Sept. 2 against Xavier. Butler, which has finished at least third in the league standings in every season since 1994, returns 17 letterwinners and seven starters from last season's squad, including All-Horizon League first-team players Julie Backscheider, Meredith Buemi and Kate Lord. Butler's seven incoming freshmen are the most-highly decorated group brought in during Sherwood's tenure and are highlighted by 2004 Indiana Soccer Coaches Association (ISCA) "Player of the Year" Angie Muir. The Bulldogs will begin the home portion of the 2005 season at Varsity Field, but should play the second half of the schedule at the Butler Bowl after renovations are completed and a turf field is installed in the early fall.
SUMMER WORK: Four Bulldogs are part of the Carmel United Commotion U19 club team, which won the U.S. Youth Soccer Midwest Region II Championship June 29 with a 5-0 win over Sockers FC Chicago in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The win qualified the team for the national championships later this month in Orlando. Butler's Kristin Harnest scored the game-winner in the 38th minute of the title match before the Commotion piled on four insurance goals in the final 12 minutes. The 2005 regional title came just more than a year after a near fatal team van accident in Lakewood, Colo., caused injuries to all 16 players and left five hospitalized. Rising sophomores Annalise Larkin and Molly Callon, and incoming freshman Crystal Wright join Harnest on the squad. Region II consists of teams from Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The Commotion picked up a 1-0 win over Gladiator United (Neb.) in the semifinals before coasting in the championship match. The National Championships will run from July 26-31 at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. |
