April 19, 2000

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland women's soccer team finished in third place at the fourth annual Kicks Against Breast Cancer Tournament held on April 15-16. The Terps compiled a 3-1 record posting impressive victories against George Mason (3-0) and Illinois (1-0) and falling to Clemson (3-0) in the round-robin round. The Terps captured their third victory of the weekend by defeating James Madison, 2-0 in the third-place game on Sunday afternoon.

"We really played well," said head coach Shannon Higgins-Cirovski. "We are really coming together, play attractively and scoring goals. We are utilizing our talents in all areas."

Day 1 (April 15)

Maryland jumped out to a 2-0 first-half lead against George Mason on goals by sophomores Courtney Beirne (Westminster, Md.) and Carrie Klotz (Cortland, N.Y.). Junior Jennifer Boyd (Herndon, Va.) scored in the second half to close out the scoring for the 3-0 win.

"We did a very good job of possessing the ball against George Mason," said Higgins-Cirovski. "I was very happy with all of the goal-scoring chances we created."

The Terps fell to ACC rival and eventual tournament champion Clemson, 3-0 in their next game. Higgins-Cirovski felt were worked hard in the game though. "The score wasn't indicative of how close the game was," said the coach. "Playing from behind gave us a chance to play in a different sitaution in that game, which can help."

Day 2 (April 16)

In their final round-robin match, Maryland defeated Illinois, 1-0, on a beautiful goal by Klotz in the second half, her second of the tournament. "We had lots of a good chances in the second half against Illinois," said Higgins-Cirovski. "We really showed character and pulled out the win."

In the third place game against James Madison, Maryland got off to a quick start as Carly Viher (Mentor, Ohio) scored off a corner kick from Lindsay Givens (Downingtown, Pa.) just three minutes into the game. Maryland netted its second goal for the final of 2-0 off the foot of Terri Greer (Woodbridge, Va.). "Courtney Beirne and Terri Greer are really coming along in our new formation," said Higgins-Cirovski. "And even though they didn't score Sara Gustafson (Reisterstown, Md.) and Kim King (Media, Pa.) are really adding a lot on offense. We have combined to work together really well. On defense, Valerie Lawrence (Silver Spring, Md.) continues to play amazingly well after being moved to back."

After finishing in eighth place in the eight-team tournament in 1999, Higgins-Cirovski was very happy finishing third behind Clemson and Virginia this year. "This whole tournament was a real positive," said the 1999 ACC Coach of the Year. "Last year we lost lots of offensive power and didn't score a goal in the tournament. This year, we lost our top two scorers to graduation and have still found a way to score."

Maryland continues its spring-season schedule on Saturday as the Terps travel to Fairfax, Va. to play in the George Mason Tournament on Saturday, April 22. Maryland will take on American, West Virginia and club teams Delco U-18 and Chantilly Hotspurs. The Terps will be home at Ludwig Field to host the Maryland Pepsi Pride on April 26 at 7:30 p.m.