Amanda Clark Class: Junior Hometown: Naperville, IL High School: Neuqua Valley Height: 5-6 Position: Defender/Midfielder Birthdate: 09/15/1987 Club: Eclipse Select

Defensive standout who answered the call as 2006 spot starter at central/right back and defensive midfielder ... stepped in on back line for missing teammates but is most suited for defensive midfielder, an open spot after graduation of Jill Krivacek ... known for intense leadership, tenacious ballwinning and unending competitiveness ... reminds Irish coaches of former Notre Dame enforcer Melissa Tancredi, due to her intensity and toughness ... a subtle player, content to do the dirty work while others receive spotlight ... fearless defender with deceptive ability on the ball ... her intensity in training helps prepare teammates for tough weekend battles ... looking to refine her technique ... her transition to college soccer in 2006 was aided by several intangibles, including plenty of big-game experience with championship teams, familiarity with five teammates who were fellow Chicago-area natives, and unique opportunity to attend Notre Dame in summer of 2006 (early-entry program) ... captained Eclipse Select to pair of national club titles ('04, '05) while helping Neuqua Valley High School win 2005 state title ... Notre Dame's Chicago pipeline includes adding nine players from Eclipse over past five years (six on '07 team) ... longtime teammate of classmate Michele Weissenhofer and junior Brittany Bock ... she and Weissenhofer grew up in same neighborhood, attended same middle school/high school and played on several teams (Brazil Girls, Eclipse, ODP) ... joined Weissenhofer in living on-campus while attending 2006 summer school (her courses were theology, and ecology and evolution) ... Bock similarly had jumpstart on her studies ('05), as did current freshmen Rose Augustin and Taylor Knaack ... one of 17 Illinois natives to play for Notre Dame ... could face several former teammates in 2007: UConn's Elizabeth Eng, Michigan's Niki Moran and Villanova's Molly Williams (all Eclipse), Louisville's Shannon Smyth and Virginia's Kelly Quinn (both ODP Region II) and DePaul's Molly Borchardt (youth teams) ... coached on ODP region team by Louisville head coach Karen Ferguson ... inherited number seven worn by All-America forward Katie Thorlakson ('06), All-America/Academic All-America defender Monica Gonzalez ('02) and clutch scorer Amy VanLaecke ('97).

AS A FRESHMAN: Filled variety of roles while being one of eight to appear in all 27 games (tying ND record shared by members of 2004 team) ... her 14 starts included stints at central back, defensive midfielder and right back ... helped Irish rack up 583-160 season shot advantage (avg. 21.6-5.9) and allow only 2.11 shots on goal/gm (ND record) ... started first four games alongside Kim Lorenzen as central backs (due to Carrie Dew's absence), logging 64 minutes versus Iowa State (9-0), 90 at 24th-ranked Mississippi (2-1), 83 against #19 USC and 78 in showdown with fellow number-one ranked Santa Clara (3-1) ... opened scoring against USC (only points of season), after racing into left side of box and heading a Weissenhofer flip-throw into far-right sidenetting ... made another start as center back at SMU (3-0) and six more regular-season starts as defensive midfielder - versus DePaul (5-0; 60 minutes), Michigan (2-0), Pittsburgh (5-0), Seton Hall (5-0; 53 min.), Providence (5-0; 71 min.) and Georgetown (2-0) ... logged significant reserve minutes in wins over Louisville (2-0; 54 min.) and Cincinnati (3-0; 52 min.) ... a new position was open when the NCAAs began, as left back Christie Shaner missed three starts due to illness ... started at right back for those games (Ashley Jones shifted left), logging 90 minutes versus Oakland (7-1) and Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1-0), plus 78 against 14th-ranked Colorado (3-0) ... gained College Cup final-weekend experience (90 combined minutes) in semifinal win over #5 Florida State (2-1) and title game against fellow number one UNC.

ODP/CLUB: Member of Olympic Development Region II team from 2004-05 (player pool '03-'06) ... toured Europe with ODP Region II ... played for Illinois state ODP team from 2001-06, teaming with Weissenhofer and Bock on squad that reached 2005 national semifinals (Dew's Cal-South team also played for '05 ODP title) ... played internationally with 2004 ODP team ... competed along with Weissenhofer and Courtney Rosen at 2006 U-19 regional (Home Depot Center) ... captain for Eclipse Select that won 2004 and '05 USYS club national titles (narrowly missed '06 title game) ... Eclipse were one of two teams among 48 at 2006 nationals that had won '04 and '05 titles (also Arsenal u-17 boys) ... the 2005 nationals in Orlando saw Eclipse beat Calif.-based Slammers (2-0) and tie CASL (N.C.) Spartan Elite (1-1) before losing to PDA (N.J.) Wildcats (2-3) ... Eclipse won rematch with PDA in '05 title game (3-1) ... earlier helped Eclipse win U-16 title in 2004 (beat Slammers in final), after regional final win over Carmel in double-OT ('03 regional finalist) ... scored in first two games at 2006 U-18 nationals (Des Moines, Iowa) while facing pair of ND signees, defender Haley Ford (3-3 vs. Dallas Texans) and 'keeper Kelsey Lysander (2-0 vs. San Diego Surf) ... a 2-1 loss to PDA Wildcats resulted in Eclipse and Texans tying for final spot in '06 title game (Texans advanced on PKs, 4-2, and beat PDA in 3-1 final) ... helped Eclipse post 28-1 scoring edge at 2006 Region II tournament: 7-0 versus Sparta Velocity (Neb.) and Vardastars (Mich.), 4-1 quarterfinal versus KC Metro Dynamos (Kan.), and 5-0 wins in semifinal (Ohio Internationals, with Rosen) and final (Carmel Cyclones; Rachel VanderGenutgen) ... returned with Eclipse to regionals in 2007 (U-19s), opening with 7-0 win over Dakota Impact (S.D.) before 2-1 loss to St. Louis SC, 7-0 win over Tsunami Sota (Minn.) and 2-1 loss to Cyclones in semifinals ... helped Eclipse win 2004 WAGS and Raleigh tournaments and 2005 Disney Showcase ('06 finalist, lost to Texans) ... played for Team Chicago from 1999-2003 ('01 captain), with 2001-03 teams winning regional titles ('03 Surf Cup runner-up/Raleigh Shootout champs; '02 Raleigh champ/WAGS runner-up; '01 Nike Cup/WAGS champs) ... played for NSA club from '97-'99.

PREP & PERSONAL: A 2006 NSCAA youth All-American who captained Neuqua Valley High School as a senior ... teamed with Bock and Weissenhofer on team that capped 2005 state-title season (27-2-1) with comeback against two-time defending champ New Trier, erasing 3-0 halftime deficit (6-3) ... defensive MVP of back line that helped total 16-6 shot edge in title game ... had corner-kick assist on Weissenhofer goal in 2005 state quarterfinal versus Barrington (5-1), before losing to New Trier ... all-state, all-area, all-academic and team MVP as a senior ... also all-section in 2004 for regional champs ... helped NVHS win first of four straight conference titles and reach state quarterfinals in 2003 (9G-19A, as a freshman) ... member of team that won 2002 regional and national 3-vs.-3 titles ... captained NVHS basketball as a sophomore point guard ... owned 4.33 GPA as member of National Honor Society and Indiana Prairie Scholar ... brother Chris Clark played soccer at Santa Clara, mother Jill was a basketball player at Missouri and grandfather Joe Konicki played football at West Virginia (uncle Jack Konicki was a college football player) ... full name is Amanda Crystine Clark ... daughter of Tim and Jill Clark ... born Sept. 15, 1987, in St. Louis ... enrolled in the Mendoza College of Business.

Clark's Career Statistics

In the Postseason