Oct. 17, 2007
Notre Dame junior forward Brittany Bock (Naperville, Ill.) has repeated as both the national and BIG EAST women’s soccer player of the week, after duplicating her production from the previous week by totaling four goals and an assist in wins over Georgetown and Villanova (on Oct. 12 and 14) – producing one of the top two-week scoring tears in the history of Notre Dame women’s soccer. With players from 313 Division I women’s soccer teams to choose from, Soccer America honored Bock as the nation’s top player for the week – a rare back-to-back distinction in the world of collegiate soccer (the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and Top Drawer Soccer both tabbed Bock the nation’s top player the previous week).
Nearly half of Bock’s career goals (16 of 34) have come on headers, including three in last week’s action.
|
 |
Bock also joins former teammate Katie Thorlakson and recent West Virginia standout Christie Abbott as the only BIG EAST players – spanning Notre Dame’s 13 years in the league (1995-2007) – to be named the league’s top offensive player in consecutive week. With two weeks remaining in the regular season, Bock has the chance to join Thorlakson (in 2005) and former seton Hall star Kelly Smith (in ’99) as the only players (since at least 1995) to be named BIG EAST offensive player of the week three times in the same season.
Notre Dame junior left back Elise Weber (Elk Grove, Ill.) similarly was honored by the league office, earning a spot on the BIG EAST weekly honor roll for the second straight week as she continues her impressive first season with the Irish.
In addition to currently leading the BIG EAST in total goals (10; plus a pair of assists) and gamewinning goals (4), Bock also has surged to 15th place among the nation’s goalscoring leaders. In league games only, the converted midfielder leads the BIG EAST with 20 points, nine goals and three GWGs. Her 85 career points (34G-18A) rank 21st in the Notre Dame record book (two behind Jodi Hartwig) while Bock’s 34 career goals are tied for 16th in ND history. She is two assists shy of becoming the program’s 24th all-time player to reach 20G-20A.
One week after scoring the first three goals in the 4-1 win at Syracuse (followed two days later by 1G-1A in a 3-0 game at St. John’s), Bock was bidding for another hat trick in the game versus Georgetown. The first goal came midway through the opening half, following Michele Weissenhofer’s flip-throw from the right side. Bock was stationed near the top of the six-yard box and headed the ball in traffic, with the shot ricocheting into the far-left side of the goal (24:03).
A classic combination sequence provided her second score, capping the 3-0 win over the Hoyas. Senior midfielder Ashley Jones played a pass from the center of the field and freshman forward Erica Iantorno raced into the right side of the box before one-touching a short pass to her left. Bock was in position to convert a low one-timer from 10 yards out (68:31).
Two days later, Bock scored twice in the first half versus Villanova to make yet another run at a hat trick. Junior forward Kerri Hanks assisted on the first goal with a free kick from outside the right edge of the penalty box. Bock was planted in the center of the penalty area and all-BIG EAST goaleeper Jillian Loydan charged out in an attempt to box the ball away – but Bock had inside position and sharply snapped her 10-yard header into the vacated net (24:01).
Freshman right back Julie Scheidler sliced through the center of the field to set up the second goal, sending a pass to Weber on the left flank. Weber then teed up a deep cross from the edge of the attacking third and Bock executed a twisting header on the far-right side, near the top of the six-yard box. Loydan had shifted far to her left and shuffled back inside the post before jumping up for what appeared to be a routine save – but the knuckler glanced off her hands and into the right side of the net.
Nearly half of Bock’s career goals with the Irish (16 of 34) have come on headers, to go along with four rare header assists. After enduring a seven-game goal drought during nearly the entire month of September (Sept. 3-28), she now has totaled nine goals in her current five-game goalscoring streak. Her 10 gamewinning goals over the past two seasons are the most by any Notre Dame player.
Bock – who also repeated as a member of the Soccer Buzz “elite feet” national team of the week (SB does not name a top player) – completed her nine-point weekend by assiting on the third goal in the 5-0 win over the Wildcats. The crisp combination sequence saw Bock provide a short entry pass from the right side before freshman forward Rose Augustin pulled off a quick sweep-tap on the ball that sent senior midfielder Ashley Jones into the right side of the six-yard box, with the shot deposited into the far-left side of the net.
Notre Dame joins Villanova and Connecticut as the only teams to produce both an offensive and defensive player of the week this season, as junior center back Carrie Dew received the defensive honor two weeks ago. Four different Irish players have received national and/or BIG EAST honors this season, as junior forward Kerri Hanks was named to the BIG EAST weekly honor roll on Sept. 24 while Weber was tabbed for the Soccer Buzz “elite feet” national team of the week on Sept. 3.
Weber had a pair of assists in the win over Villanova while continuing to play a lead role for an Irish defense that limited the two opponents to five combined shots on goal and only four corner kicks. One of five Notre Dame players to start all 14 games this season, Weber ranks seventh on the team with seven points and is tied for second on the squad in assists (5) while her 1,149 minutes played (82/gm) are sixth-most on the team.
Five different Notre Dame women’s soccer players have been named national players of the week during the past two seasons, with the others including Cinalli, Dew, Weissenhofer and Hanks (all in 2006).
TWO-WEEK TEAR – Bock has joined an elite list of six Notre Dame players who have totaled eight or more goals over the span of four games (done a total of eight times) … Hanks (10) and fellow forward Monica Gerardo (9) are the only ND players ever to amass more goals over a four-game span than Bock’s eight … the best two-week scoring tear in ND women’s soccer history still belongs to Hanks, who opened her college career in 2005 (Aug. 28, 30; Sept. 2, 4) by totaling 10 goals over the course of games versus New Hampshire (4; 11-1, at UVm), at Vermont (3; 6-0), vs. #11 Florida (1; 4-1) and vs. #25 Maryland (2; 6-0) … Gerardo similarly started her ND career in 1995 (Sept. 2, 3, 7, 10) by racking up nine goals in action vs. Providence (2; 7-0), St. John’s (2; 9-0), at Indiana (4; 7-0) and at #13 Wisconsin (1; 1-0) … one year later in ’96, Gerardo matched herself with nine goals spaced over four games (Oct. 25, 27; Nov. 1, 3) against West Virginia (2; 11-0), Seton Hall (4; 10-0), Ohio State (1; 7-0) and Villanova (2; 10-1) … near the end of her career in ’98, Gerardo then totaled eight goals in another four-game span (Oct. 2, 4, 9, 11) vs. Butler (1; 5-0), Georgetown (2; 8-0), at Boston College (2; 3-1) and at Providence (3; 8-0) … midfielder Cindy Daws joined Gerardo with a memorable scoring tear during the 1996 season (her senior year) … Daws actually had a five-game goal streak (3-3-0-2-3) that featured three different hat tricks and eight goals over the four-game span at either end … she started that tear with hat tricks vs. Rutgers (Oct. 20; 6-0) and West Virginia (Oct. 25; 11-0) before scoring twice two games later vs. Ohio State (Nov. 1; 7-0; no goals in 10-0 win over Seton Hall on Oct. 27) – and for good measure adding a hat trick in the next game vs. Villanova (Nov. 3; 10-1) … starting with the OSU game, Daws actually had eight goals over another four-game stretch that overlapped the earlier one (not counted among the eight in this list) – as she added a goal in the BIG EAST semifinal vs. Villanova (Oct. 9; 7-0) and scored twice in the title game vs. UConn (Oct. 10; 4-3) … Meotis Erikson – like Gerardo and Hanks – also had her two-week tear as a freshman (in 1997), with a goal at Wisconsin (Oct. 14; 10-0) followed by hat tricks at Syraucse (Oct. 19; 8-0) and vs. Seton Hall (Oct. 24; 7-1), plus another goal vs. #5 UConn (Oct. 26; 1-0) … most recently, Thorlakson totaled eight goals in a four-game span of her junior season in 2004 (Oct. 24, 28, 31; Nov. 5), vs. Seton Hall (1; 3-1), at Michigan (2; Oct. 28), vs. St. John’s (4; Oct. 31) and vs. Boston College (1; Nov. 5, at UConn).
FOUR AND FOUR – Of the eight two-week tears listed above, only three of them have seen the player total four-plus goals in the first two games and also four-plus over the course of games 3 and 4: Gerardo (’95), Erikson (’97) and Bock … that means that Bock is the first ND player in 10 years to score four or more goals in back-to-back 2-game spans … five of the two-week tears listed above came on consecutive weekends (Fri.-Sun.), as Thorlakson’s span actually covered three weeks (Sun.-Thur.-Sun.-Fri.), Erikson’s first game in her streak was a Tuesday, and Gerardo’s third game in the ’95 streak came on a Thursday – meaning that Bock is the only ND player ever with four-goal efforts in back-to-back weekends (Fri.-Sun.) … six of the above scoring tears included at least one road swing (all but Gerardo and Daws in ’96).
Bock is one of only three BIG EAST players (since at least 1995) to be named the league’s top offensive player in consecutive weeks.
|
|
BIG EAST BACK-TO-BACK POW – In addition to Bock’s consecutive honors, only two other players in the past 13 seasons (since 1995) have been named the BIG EAST offensive player of the week in back-to-back weeks (excluding co-honorees): former ND forward Thorlakson (Aug. 30 and Sept. 6, 2004; as a junior) and former West Virginia forward Christie Abbott (Sept. 8 and 15, 2003; as a senior).
FINAL PUSH – If Bock can earn one more BIG EAST offensive player-of-the-week honor this season, she would join Thorlakson (Aug. 30, Sept. 6 and Sept. 27 of 2004) and former SHU standout Smith (Sept. 6, Oct. 18 and Nov. 1 of 1999) as the only BIG EAST players to receive that weekly honor three times in the same season.
POLL POSITION – Notre Dame currently is ranked as high as 15th in the national polls (per Soccer America) while Top Drawer Soccer has the Irish slotted 11th for the 2007 NCAA field … last week’s soccerratings.com power rankings had ND listed 10th (still to be updated this week) … 13 different teams on ND’s 2007 schedule (or potential opponents) currently are ranked in the national top-35 of at least one poll (including the TDS projected NCAA field and soccerratings.com, plus the NSCAA, Soccer America, Soccer Times and Soccer Buzz rankings) … Stanford currently is ranked first in several polls while North Carolina also is high as #1, Virginia and Penn State both as high as #3, Santa Clara as high as #5 and Connecticut as high as #6, with others ranked in the top-35 including (highest rank indicated): Oklahoma State (18), Villanova (18), West Virginia (23), Marquette (28), Florida (29), Louisville (30) and Princeton (33) … ND faced UNC and UVa in the preseason while WVU and Marquette are potential BIG EAST Tournament opponents.
BIG EAST STANDINGS – Notre Dame (7-0-0; 21 pts) has clinched a spot in the 10-team BIG EAST Tournament and still owns a six-point cushion atop the BIG EAST National Division standings, followed by Louisville (15; 5-2-0), Seton Hall (10; 3-3-1), Georgetown (9; 3-3-0), Villanova (9; 2-2-3), Cincinnati (6; 2-5-0), Rutgers (5; 1-4-2) and DePaul (3; 1-6-0) … the top-five teams from each division advance, with the top-three in each division receiving a first-round bye while the top-two in each division will serve as host teams in the quarterfinal round (ND is on the verge of clinching a quarterfinal spot and a hosting role).
NATIONAL STAT LEADERS – Despite its slow start offensively this season, Notre Dame currently ranks 14th in the nation with 2.6 goals per game … the only teams in the NSCAA top-25 rankings that are scoring at a higher clip than the Irish are Florida State (3.5 gpg), Missouri (3.0) and UCLA (2.8) … Hanks is one of only five players in the nation with 8-plus goals and 8-plus assists this season while her 25 points rank 18th nationally and her nine assists rank sixth (two shy of the national lead) … Bock ranks 15th among the nation’s goalscoring leaders (10) … senior Lauren Karas has moved up to 37th on the national goals-against avg. list (0.67).
BIG EAST STAT LEADERS – Notre Dame leads the BIG EAST in scoring (2.6 goals/gm) while ranking second in shots (18.0/gm), third in goal margin (+19), fourth in shutouts (7), eighth in corner kicks (4.4/gm) and 10th in goals-against avg. (1.22) … the Irish have played four non-conference games this season vs. teams that were ranked in the NSCAA or Soccer America top-25 at the time of the game (the other 15 BIG EAST teams have combined to play nine games vs. NSCAA or SA top-25 teams) … Notre Dame has an average home attendance this season of 2,389 per game, best in the BIG EAST and likely to rank among the national leaders (ND was 4th among the 2006 national attendance leaders, at 1,901/gm) … Hanks leads the BIG EAST in points (25) and assists (9) while ranking second in goals (8) and third in both shots (56) and gamewinning goals (3) … Bock is the BIG EAST leader in total goals (10), plus second in points (22) and GWGs (4), and fifth in shots (45) … Weber and senior M Ashley Jones are tied for 8th-place among the BIG EAST assist leader (5) while Karas has surged to seventh on the GAA charts (0.67) … ND players (Hanks and Bock) have accounted for two of the five hat tricks by BIG EAST players this season … ND’s six goals vs. Cincinnati are the second-most by a BIG EAST team this season … in league play this season, the Irish lead the BIG EAST in scoring (3.67 goals/gm) and goal margin (+24; 26-2) while ranking second in shots (19.9/gm) and shutouts (5), third in GAA (0.29) and ninth in corner kicks (3.4/gm) … Bock has taken over the top spot among the BIG EAST leaders for points (20; 9G-2A) and goals (9) in conference play, also ranking second in GWGs (3) and third in shots (28) during league action … Hanks has the most assists (5) and shots (34) in BIG EAST play this season, also ranking second in points (15; 5G-5A) and goals (5) and fourth in GWGs during conference games … four other ND players rank among the BIG EAST offensive leaders during conference play: Jones (1st with 5A, 6th with 9 pts), freshman F/M Rose Augustin (3rd with 4G; 6th with 9 pts; 9th with 17 shots), freshman F Erica Iantorno (3rd with 4A) and Webr (7th with 3A) … Karas leads the BIG EAST with a 0.00 GAA and 1.000 save pct. in league play (7 saves).