Sept. 23, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Kerri Hanks scored her 14th and 15th goals of the season and assisted on a diving header by fellow freshman Brittany Bock, as the fifth-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team extended its home unbeaten streak to 20 games (19-0-1) with Friday night’s 4-0 victory over BIG EAST Conference newcomer Cincinnati. Carrie Dew also scored for the Irish, as part of a strong all-around showing by the team’s newcomers.
(Note that live stats and live audio will be available for Sunday’s game at Louisville, linked via the main page at www.und.com.)
Notre Dame (8-1-0, 2-0-0 BIG EAST) – now unbeaten in its past 61 games at Alumni Field vs. BIG EAST opponents (60-0-1) – posted its third straight shutout and has racked up a 17-1 scoring edge in the four games since suffering its only loss of the season, 2-1 at Santa Clara on Sept. 9. The Irish continued to dominate the run of play and utilized their deep bench, despite again playing minus three starters and two top reserves who all are sidelined due to injury or illness.
Hanks entered the night ranked second nationally in goals and third in points, adding to that total with her five-point night that gives her 15 goals and 34 points in just nine games played this season. Only five freshmen in Notre Dame’s storied history have totaled more goals in their debut season, with Hanks ranking as the program’s highest-scoring freshman since Anne Makinen totaled 23 goals in 1997 (still the ND record for goals by a freshman).
Amanda Cinalli already has totaled more assists this season (7) than in 27 games played during her freshman season (5A, in ’04) (all photos by Pete LaFleur).
|
 |
Sophomore forward Amanda Cinalli set up two of Friday’s goals, as one of six Irish players to pick up assists in the comfortable win. Senior forward Katie Thorlakson helped produce the game’s final goal for her 51st career assist (still 7th in ND history, two back of Jen Grubb) and 141st point, just one shy of Rosella Guerrero’s 9th-place total in the Irish record book.
Notre Dame posted a 27-3 edge in total shots while attempting all eight of the game’s shots on goal and eight of the 10 corner kicks. The Irish entered the week as the nation’s top-scoring team and now own a 45-5 season scoring edge, also limiting the opposition to 16 shots on goal (1.8/gm) and 10 corner kicks (1.1/gm) in the nine games played this season.
The Irish continued to play minus three top defensive starters – junior central defender Kim Lorenzen, junior defensive midfielder Jill Krivacek and senior goalkeeper Erika Bohn – while sophomore midfielder/forward Jannica Tjeder and freshman M/D Kerri Inglis have been sidelined all season (Inglis could return soon from her ankle injury). Two of the freshmen have played key roles in overcoming the absences of their veteran teammates, as Dew remains a steady force at one of the central defender spots while Bock has been a solid replacement in the defensive midfielder role (in addition to playing some at forward).
Brittany Bock scored on a diving header vs. the Bearcats and played another strong all-around game as both a midfielder and forward.
|
|
Senior midfielder Annie Schefter set up the first goal in the 16th minute, on a rightside serve into the box. Cinalli made a touch on the ball and Dew was in position for her second goal of the season, sending a shot from six yards out into the far-right side of the net (15:49). The Irish ultimately improved to 52-1-0 in their past 53 games when scoring first.
A free-kick service from Hanks gave Notre Dame a 2-0 cushion, shortly before the intermission. Hanks served the ball from 40 yards out on the right side, with Bock angling in near the far post for the diving header and her fourth goal of the season (39:03). The goal produced the margin that has signaled victory in all but one game during Notre Dame’s 17-year history, as the Irish now have won 214 consecutive games when claiming a 2-0 lead (237-0-1 all-time).
Jen Buczkowski assisted on Friday’s third goal while appearing in her 60th consecutive game with the Irish.
|
|
Junior midfielder Jen Buczkowski initiated the third-goal sequence in the 70th minute, playing a pass from midfield to Chapman Chapman on her familiar right-flank position. The fifth-year veteran then showcased her strong leg with a booming 40-yard cross into the center of the box. Hanks was in position and elevated for the flick header, producing her 14th goal of the season (69:36). The goal marked another traditional clincher for Notre Dame women’s soccer, as the Irish now are 120-1-0 since mid-1995 when scoring 3-plus goals (218-3-1/.984 all-time).
Thorlakson set up the game’s final goal six minutes later, leading Cinali on a pass from the center of the field. Cinalli gained space for a cross from the right-endline and the ball glanced off the diving ‘keeper Sherry Slye before Hanks scored at the far post for the final margin (75:51). the assist was Thorlakson’s 13th of the season, extending her nation-leading total (she also has 8 goals and entered the week as the nation’s only player with 8-plus goals and 8-plus assists).
Candace Chapman delivered a strong cross on the game’s third goal while helping hold Cincinnati to three shots, no shots on goal and a pair of corner kicks.
|
|
Hanks could have registered a hat trick in the first half, when she totaled seven of her 12 shots and had several near-misses. The second-semester freshman had back-to-back chances from close range in the 5th minute and then had headers in the 10th and 11th minutes, including one in which she sent the ball wide right with just Slye to beat from six yards out. Her best chance came eight minutes later, on a 22-yard free kick from outside the top left corner of the box that smacked off the crossbar.
PLAYER NOTES – Hanks already has racked up 67 shots this season (7.0/gm) and is well on her way to challenging the team record (127) set by Thorlakson in 2004 … the top freshman goal totals in ND history include Makinen’s 23 and Meotis Erikson’s 22 in 1997, Jenny Streiffer’s 22 in ’96, Monica Gerardo’s 20 in ’95 and 16 by Cindy Daws in ’93 … Hanks is on pace for 30 goals in the 18-game regular season, which would best the ND record for goals in an entire season (28, by Jenny Heft in ’98) … she also is on pace for 68 points in the regular season, which would rank 3rd all-time (before any postseason points) behind totals posted by Daws in ’96 (72) and Thorlakson in ’04 (70) … no Division I women’s soccer freshman has reached 30 goals since 1996, with the top freshman goalscoring seasons belonging to SMU’s Lisa Cole (37, in 1987), Baylor’s Molly Cameron (32, in 1996) and Washington State’s Kim Lynass (30, in 1990) … Cameron – who played for current ND head coach Randy Waldrum when he was the founding coach of the Baylor program – is the only freshman in the previous 14 seasons to reach 30 goals … Thorlakson has points in 18 of her past 20 games with the Irish … Thorlakson (79), Schefter (60) and Buczkowski (60) have played in every game of their ND career while junior D Christie Shaner has appeared in 57 straight and 59 of 60 … Thorlakson’s next game played will make her the 35th player in ND history (and 17th in the Waldrum era) to log 80-plus games … Buczkowski has totaled 37 of her 49 career points (76%) with the Irish at Alumni Field (10G-17A)
Maggie Manning was one of six Irish reserves who logged significant minutes in Friday’s win.
|
|
TEAM NOTES – The 2005 team ranks as the highest-scoring ND squad (5.0 goals/gm) since the 1997 team averaged 5.45 goals/gm … ND’s updated season stats include the 45-5 scoring edge (avg. of 5.0-0.56), plus 198-30 in shots (22.0-3/7), 107-16 in shots on goal (11.9-1.8) and 58-10 in corner kicks (6.4-1.1) … the 1997 ND defense had a dominating season but the current squad is on pace to best the ’97 team’s ND records for fewest shots (4.0/gm), shots on goal (2.1) and CKs (1.2) allowed in a season … the ’05 team has an avg. margin of +4.94 goals (which would rank 2nd all-time behind the ’97 team’s +5.1) … the ’05 team also is averaging a goal every 4.45 shots (which would the the ND record, set in ’96) … ND’s current players have combined to play 930 career games, with 566 starts … the Irish have held 30 of their past 32 opponents to 0-1 goals … ND has allowed just 28 first-half goals in the past five seasons (102 GP; 4 in ’04, 2 in ’05) … the Irish are 172-14-3 (.918) all-time at Alumni Field, including 123-4-2 (.961) vs. teams not in the NSCAA top-25 … there are only six teams remaining, out of 300-plus in Div. I, that have no losses and no ties (UNC, Penn State, Portland, Cornell, UTEP and BYU) while three others have no losses and one tie (BC, Duke and Pepperdine) and Oklahoma State is unbeaten with two ties (Cal Poly is unbeaten with three ties) … ND is one of six teams with one loss and no ties (as are UCLA, FSU, Oklahoma, Vanderilt and Ball State).
Becca Mendoza (left) and Lizzie Reed (right) helped the Irish dominate possession throughout Friday’s game.
|
|
Cincinnati (2-5-2, 0-2-0 BIG EAST) 0 0 – 0
#5 Notre Dame (8-1-0, 2-0-0 BIG EAST) 2 2 – 4
ND 1. Carrie Dew 2 (Annie Schefter, Amanda Cinalli) 15:49; ND 2. Brittany Bock 4 (Kerri Hanks) 39:03; ND 3. Hanks 14 (Candace Chapman, Jen Buczkowski) 69:36; ND 4. Hanks 15 (Cinalli, Katie Thorlakson) 75:51.
Shots: CIN 1-2 – 3, ND 13-14 – 27
Corner Kicks: CIN 2, ND 8
Saves: CIN 4 (Sherry Slye 3, team 1), ND 0 (Lauren Karas)
Fouls: CIN 20, ND 12
Offsides: CIN 2, ND 3
Yellow Cards: Kate Norton (CIN) 15:49; Kim Sykes(CIN) 56:18; Carrie Dew (ND; 2nd of season) 77:15; Lindsey Noteboom (CIN) 79:37
Attendance: 2,136