Sept. 1, 2007
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NOTRE DAME WOMEN’S SOCCER NOTES UPDATE – at #7 Florida (Sept. 2, 2007)
IRISH FACE FAMILIAR WEEK-ONE HOME-AND-AWAY CHALLENGE – For the second straight season, the Notre Dame women’s soccer season is facing the touch task of opening at home and then playing later in the weekend on the road, in a warm-weather climate versus a top-25 team … the 2006 team opened with a 9-0 win over Iowa State and then won the next day at #24 Mississippi (2-1; in 90-degree conditions) … Sunday’s game at Florida (ranked as high as #7 in the preseason polls) presents the Irish with a similar week-one challenge … ND returns seven starters and four top reserves from its dominating 2006 team that spent most of the season ranked #1 and reached the NCAA title game before finishing 25-1-1 … Notre Dame – which played a pair of challenging preseason games against #1 North Carolina (2-2) and #9 Virginia (3-1; in Ft. Wayne) – has a challenging first month of the regular season, including games next week at the Santa Clara Classic (vs. #5 SCU and #6 Stanford), plus a Sept. 23 home game vs. #7 Penn State (to be televised by ESPN-U) … see www.gatorzone.com for information on Florida (which opened its regular season on Friday with a 1-0 win over Indiana).
HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION – The ND-Florida game will be televised live on the Sunshine Network (DirectTV channel 632) … a live-stat link is available at und.com … fans are reminded of the Irish Alert text-messaging system for free in-game updates of all ND sports (see the Irish Alert link on the und.com women’s soccer page) … the ND Sports Hotline has postgame wrapups after every game (574-631-3000, then option 4 and then option 2 for women’s soccer info.).
IRISH OPEN WITH SCORELESS TIE VERSUS MICHIGAN – Second-ranked Notre Dame and Michigan played to a 0-0 tie in front of one the largest women’s soccer regular-season crowd in Alumni Field history (3,264), during the season opener for both teams (Aug. 31) … a career-best 10 saves from Madison Gates prevented the Irish from cashing in on a 28-6 edge in total shots (10-2 in shots on goal) and a 10-1 corner kick margin … the tie ended ND’s home winning streak at 32 games, tied for the third-longest D-I women’s soccer history … the Irish still own the third-longest home unbeaten streak in NCAA history (42 games; 40-0-2), dating back to a 2003 loss to Michigan in the second round of the NCAA Tournament … ND’s closest scoring chance came in the third minute of the second half, as junior F Kerri Hanks delivered a leftside free kick to the top of the 18-yard box … freshman M Lauren Fowlkes then struck a sharp header that smacked off the center of the crossbar … the Irish held the Wolverines without a shot for 92 straight minutes of game time, stretching into the second of the two 10-minute overtimes … ND extended its overtime unbeaten streak to 21 games (14-0-7), dating back to the 1999 season …. Michigan has proven to be a tough obstacle to Notre Dame in recent years, with the Wolverines beating the Irish in the final 2003 regular-season game and again in the ’03 NCAAs … the teams now have played to overtime three times in the past 10 years, with the Irish posting OT wins in 1998 and 2001 … sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Lysander started the season opener for the second straight season while Fowlkes had another impressive outing as a starter in her official debut … another newcomer, junior Elise Weber (a transfer from Wisconsin), also started her first official game with the Irish (at right back).
BIG CROWDS COAST-TO-COAST – Notre Dame has a tradition of drawing record-setting crowds, including the largest in NCAA women’s soccer history for the 1999 College Cup final (14,110), in San Jose, Calif. … the Irish played in front of 14,006 two days earlier at Spartan Stadium, in the ’99 semifinals … other record-setting crowds involving Notre Dame have included (among others):
* a Nebraska record crowd of 3,702 watched the Irish and Huskers play to a four-overtime tie in the 1999 NCAA quarterfinals
* a regular-season record 4,051 fans were in attendance when Notre Dame traveled to top-ranked Santa Clara earlier in 1999
* a Maloney Field record crowd of 2,629 saw Notre Dame play at top-ranked Stanford in the 2002 NCAA third round
* the presence of the Irish for the 2005 NCAA quarterfinal at Portland produced a quick sellout (4,892), several days before the game
STREAKS LIVE ON – Notre Dame enters the Florida game with:
• 247 straight wins when taking a 2-0 lead
• a 148-1-0 record in the past 149 games when scoring 3-plus goals (since 1995)
• 35 consecutive victories when scoring first
• 32 straight wins when Kerri Hanks scores a goal (spanning all of the ’05-’06 seasons)
• a 26-game unbeaten streak in regular-season games (24-0-2; since mid-2005)
• a 21-game unbeaten streak in overtime games (14-0-7)
ND-FLORIDA CONNECTIONS
* ND junior D Elise Weber’s Eclipse Select club team lost the 2006 national title (U-19s) to a Colorado Nike Rush that that included Florida’s Ameera Abdullah (one of 16 players from that Rush team who went on to D-I teams)
* Florida’s Melanie Booth and three ND alums recently were named to the Canadian National Team for the upcoming Women’s World Cup … the former ND players on the Canadian team include F Katie Thorlakson, D Candace Chapman and D Melissa Tancredi (all three were NSCAA All-Americans and key members of the 2004 NCAA champs)
* Abdullah and ND junior M Brittany Bock were teammates on the U.S. U-16 and U-17 national teams … Bock and Florida’s Megan Kerns played together on the ODP Region II team
* Florida’s Lauren Hyde and ND defender Rachel VanderGenutgen played for the Carmel Cyclones team that won the 2007 U-19 national championship
RECAPPING THE PREVIOUS GAME IN THE SERIES (ND 4, Florida 1; 9/2/05 at Alumni Field – The defending NCAA champs made their first home appearance of 2005 with the win over the 11th-ranked Gators … Katie Thorlakson – who provided the corner-kick service on Amanda Cinalli’s early header goal – went on to score two goals of her own and was inches away from her third career hat trick, but her 25-yard shot smacked off the left post … Thorlakson’s 2G-1A made her the sixth ND player (34th in D-I history) ever to reach 40 goals (41) and 40 assists (43) in her career … Kerri Hanks became the second ND player ever to score in the first three games of her freshman season while setting the ND overall record for most goals in the first three games of a season (8) … ND jumped ahead in the 12th minute, as Hanks scored after a low far-post pass from Cinalli … six minutes later, Cinalli headed in Thorlakson’s rightside corner … Thorlakson later volleyed in a Christie Shaner cross in the 63rd minute and buried a late PK, yielding the 4-0 cushion … the win marked the sixth time in the Randy Waldrum era (since ’99) that the Irish had defeated an NSCAA top-20 opponent by three-plus goals … the matchup was the first between the former NCAA champions (ND in ’95 and ’04; UF in ’98), as the Gators joined a long list of teams that have failed to beat the Irish in their first visit to Alumni Field (now 3-44-1).
#11 Florida 0 1 – 1
#1 Notre Dame 2 2 – 4
ND 1. Kerri Hanks (Amanda Cinalli, Annie Schefter) 11:46; ND 2. Cinalli (Katie Thorlakson) 17:40; ND 3. Thorlakson (Christie Shaner) 62:49; ND 4. Thorlakson (PK) 75:12; FL 1. Jasmine Johnson (KeLeigh Hudson, Melanie Booth).
Shots: FL 2-5 – 7, ND 8-7 – 15
Corner Kicks: FL 2-2 – 4, ND 2-1 – 3
Saves: FL 4 (Jen Gardner), ND 3 (Erika Bohn)
Fouls: FL 18, ND 11
Offside: FL 0, ND 5
Yellow Cards: Carrie Dew (ND), Jasmine Johnson (FL), Katie Thorlakson (ND), Shaun Hudson (FL)
ND IN FLORIDA – Notre Dame is 10-1-1 in all-time games versus teams from Florida (nine straight wins), with half of those 12 games coming against former BIG EAST Conference member Miami (6-0-0), plus a pair of games with Florida International (1-0-1), wins over Florida, South Florida and Florida State, and a 1991 loss at Central Florida … Sunday will mark Notre Dame’s sixth all-time game in the state of Florida (3-1-1 in those games) – but only the third since 1991 … ND won at USF in 2005 and at Miami in 2001 (both 4-0), which was the program’s first game in Florida in 10 years (the 1991 team tied at FIU, 1-1, and lost 3-0 at UCF while the 1990 team won 3-2 at FIU) … ND’s most recent game versus a team from the Sunshine State came in the 2006 College Cup semifinals, a 2-1 win over Florida State (play in Cary, N.C.) … current sophomore midfielder Courtney Rosen opened the scoring in that, just moments after checking into the action (the goal came on a 20-yard, leftfooted blast outside the top right corner of the box).
Notre Dame Women’s Soccer All-Time Games Versus Teams from Florida
1990 – at Florida International (win; 3-2, overtime)
1991 – at Central Florida (loss; 0-3)
1991 – at FIU (tie; 1-1)
1999 – Miami (win; 7-1)
1999 – Miami (win; 5-0, BIG EAST quarterfinal)
2000 – Miami (win; 3-0, BIG EAST quarterfinal)
2001 – at Miami (win; 4-0)
2003 – Miami (win; 3-0)
2003 – Miami (win; 2-1/OT; BIG EAST quarterfinal)
2005 – Florida (win; 4-1)
2005 – at South Florida (win; 4-0)
2006 – vs. Florida State (win; 2-1, NCAA Semifinal, in Cary, N.C.)
Totals – 10-1-1 (38-10 scoring edge; 34-4 since 1991)
PAIR OF RECORD CROWDS HIGHLIGHT START OF SEASON – Notre Dame’s two home games this season – in the preseason versus North Carolina (3,412) and the regular-season opener against Michigan (3,264) – are the largest women’s soccer crowds in Alumni Field history … the attendance for the ND-UNC game is third-highest for any soccer game at Alumni Field and is the most since a 1994 ND-SMU men’s soccer game drew 3,502 … Notre Dame had the fourth-highest home attendance (1,901) of any Division I women’s soccer program in 2006, behind Texas A&M, Portland and BYU.
SUNDAY, BLOODY SUNDAY – The Irish were nearly unbeaten in 2005-06 during Sunday games (24-0-1; with 22 of those being the second game of the weekend) while outscoring the opponents 93-7 in those games (as opposed to a 19-3-2 record and 90-17 scoring edge in Friday-night games during the 2005-07 seasons) … the only Sunday loss in
TEAM QUICK NOTES – Notre Dame’s returning players accounted for 87% of the team’s goals in 2006 (74 of 85) … senior F Amanda Cinalli – a three-time all-BIG EAST performer who reached double-digit goals in every season with the Irish – scored in the seventh minute of the preseason game vs. UNC and added a pair of goals against UVa … junior F Kerri Hanks also scored in the UNC game (moments after the Tar Heels had taken a 2-1 lead) while freshman M Lauren Fowlkes added a goal in the UVa game (on a header off a Michele Weissenhofer flip-throw) … Weissenhofer’s short cross from the left side also helped set up Cinalli’s goal vs. UNC while Amanda Clark’s long free kick sprung Hanks for her goal … Cinalli’s first goal vs. UVa came on a header (assisted by a Hanks free kick) and she later knocked home Weissenhofer’s rebounded shot … ND’s combined stats in its challenging pair of preseason games included a 30-14 shot margin (13-9 in shots on goal) and a 4-3 edge in corner kicks … the crowd for the UNC game (3,412) was an Alumni Field record for a women’s soccer game and is the biggest crowd at the facility since a 1994 ND-SMU men’s soccer game drew 3,502 … there was an unprecedented 1,318 presold tickets for the ND-UNC game … ND ranked 4th in D-I women’s soccer average home attendance during the 2006 season (1,901), behind Texas A&M, Portland and BYU … the Irish led the nation last season in scoring margin (+74; 85-11) and shutouts (19, ND record) … UNC (163-10-7/.925) and ND (146-20-5/.868) are the winningest programs of the current decade, with upcoming opponent Penn State third on that list (141-22-12/.840) … UNC (216-7-3/.962) and ND (196-27-11/.861) also were the winningest teams of the 1990s.
SEASON-OPENER SUCCESS – The Irish lost the first game of the Randy Waldrum era (a 3-2, double-OT game with UNC in 1999) but have not lost a season opener in the eight years since then (47-5 scoring edge), with season-opening victories over Detroit (6-0), #8 Penn State (2-1), Providence (3-0, on road), Hartford (9-1; at UConn), Baylor (7-2), New Hampshire (11-1; at Vermont) and Iowa State (9-0) from 2000-06 (plus the 0-0 tie with Michigan in the 2007 opener) … Notre Dame is 17-2-1 in all-time season openers (13-1-1 in the past 15), with the other loss coming at #5 N.C. State in 1992 (3-4)..
PLAYER QUICK NOTES – The Irish must replace four graduated starters – All-America midfielder Jen Buczkowski, defensive midfield standout Jill Krivacek, all-BIG EAST left back Christie Shaner and one of the two starting center backs (’06 team captain Kim Lorenzen) … candidates to step into starting roles include sophomore center back Haley Ford (who started for injured Carrie Dew in the ’06 postseason),versatile sophomore D/M Amanda Clark, sophomore M Courtney Rosen, junior M Becca Mendoza, junior outside back Elise Weber (a transfer from Wisconsin) and freshman Lauren Fowlkes (at defensive midfielder) … junior Kerry Inglis also could emerge among the top options at outside back, after being slowed by an ankle injury the past two seasons … five ND players – Hanks, Dew, Cinalli, Weissenhofer and Brittany Bock – are among the 13 named to the 2007 preseason all-BIG EAST team … Hanks (22G-22A) in 2006 joined former UNC great Mia Hamm as the only players to end a season as the national leader in both goals and assists … Hanks became the youngest player by class year (female or male) ever to receive the Hermann Trophy, as a sophomore … her 137 career points are the third-most ever compiled by a D-I women’s soccer player as a freshman and sophomore … Hanks (66) and Weissenhofer (53) had a rare 1-2 teammate finish atop the national scoring charts in 2006, with Bock (12G-9A) and Cinalli (11G-4A) also totaling double-digit goals … half of Bock’s career goals 912 of 24) have come on headers … ND’s Randy Waldrum (now .772/273-74-18) entered the season tied with Florida’s Becky Burleigh for the 4th-best career coaching win pct. among coaches with a minimum of 10 years on the Division I level, behind UNC’s Anson Dorrance (.945), former Portland coach Clive Charles (.799) and Santa Clara’s Jerry Smith (.777) … in the span of 15 days this season, Waldrum will match wits with Dorrance, Burleigh and Smith … Dorrance (21) and UConn’s Len Tsantiris (4) are the only D-1 coaches that have taken more teams to the NCAA title game than Waldrum (3; 1999, 2004 and 2006).
OLD RELIABLES – Senior F/M Amanda Cinalli and senior D/M Ashley Jones have yet to miss a game in their Notre Dame careers (80), as the leaders of a senior class that owns a .919 career win pct. (72-5-3), just shy of the ND record .921, held by the 1997 senior class that featured current U.S. National Team defender Kate Sobrero Markgraf and midfielder Holly Manthei (the NCAA career assist leader) … Cinalli has started 69 career games while Jones has made 42 starts, with both players having a chance to break the ND record for career games played (held by current volunteer assistant coach Jen Buczkowski, who appeared in all 103 games from 2004-07).
NOTRE DAME WOMEN’S SOCCER – BY THE NUMBERS
1,909 – Average 2006 home attendance (third in the nation)
.775 (39-11-1) – ND’s all-time NCAA Tournament win pct. (2nd in women’s soccer history)
349 – Randy Waldrum’s career college soccer coaching victories
341-9-13 – ND’s all-time record when holding opponent to 0-1 goals (.957)
249-3-1 (.986) – ND’s all-time record when scoring 3-plus goals (148-1-0 since 10/6/95)
247 – Win streak when taking 2-0 lead (270-0-1 all-time)
166-24-7 (.860) – Randy Waldrum’s record at Notre Dame
137 – Kerri Hanks’ point total in ’05 and ’06 (3rd-most D-I history after two years)
92 – 2006 seniors career wins (ND record)
+74 – Scoring margin in 2006 season (85-11)
72 – Active home unbeaten streak vs. BIG EAST teams (71-0-1)
70-3-4 – Record in past 77 regular-season games
49 – Scoring streak that ended at UConn (10/13/06)
48-15-3 – Record vs. NSCAA top-25 team in the Waldrum era (since 1999)
47 – ND records held by Kerri Hanks (pre-2007)
45 – Games with 0-1 goals allowed in 2005-07 (of 53)
37 – All-Americans (since 1994)
35 – Consecutive wins when scoring first goal of game (active)
32-0-0 – Record in ’05 and ’06 when Kerri Hanks scored
31 – Wins in 2005-06 by 3-plus goals (in 52 GP)
27-2-0 – All-time record in BIG EAST Tournament
26 – Player home states in the Waldrum era (plus Canada, Finland, Iceland)
24-1-0 – Sunday record in the 2005 and ’06 seasons
21 – Notre Dame’s current overtime unbeaten streak (14-0-7)
20 – Players (of 27) who posted GPA of 3.0 or higher in the 2007 spring semester (11 with 3.4-plus)
19 – Shutouts by 2006 team (led nation; ND record)
18 – Academic All-Americans (since ’95; most in nation)
16 – Team record for consecutive games without deficit (’03 and ’06)
14 – Current players who have won club and/or ODP national titles
13 – Hanks’ point streak to end 2006 season
12 – Notre Dame alums in the WUSA (2001-03)
10 – Home states on 2007 roster
10 – BIG EAST regular-season titles (all but ’98, ’02)
9 – BIG EAST tournament titles (1995-2001; 2005-06)
8 – NCAA College Cup semifinal trips
7 – Starters returning from 2006 team
7 – Consecutive BIG EAST tournament titles (1995-2001)
7-2-1 – Record in NCAA quarterfinals (since ’94)
6 – Seasons with number-one ranking
5 – National players of the year
3.975 – Ashley Jones’ current cumulative GPA (four 4.0s; 26 As, 2 A-minuses)
3.32 – Team’s cumulative GPA, following 2007 spring semester
3 – Consecutive seasons that Irish were ranked #1 (2004-06)
3 – Multiple NCAA-title teams (UNC, ND, Portland)
2 – USYS Golden Boot Awards won by Kerri Hanks (in 2003 and 2005; with Dallas Texans)
1 – Starters remaining from 2004 national champs (Cinalli)
0:51 – Quickest 3-goal span in NCAA history (vs. Georgetown, in ’05)
SPARKED BY DEFEAT – Since losing at Marquette midway through the 2005 season, Notre Dame has gone 38-2-2 in its past 42 games (only losses were to eventual NCAA champions Portland in ’05 and UNC in ’06), with a 135-17 scoring margin in those games …15 of the 17 goals allowed in that 42-game span have come from top-25 opponents … ND now has logged 24 straight games versus BIG EAST opponents without a defeat (23-0-1), dating back to the Marquette loss.
LONGEST HOME UNBEATEN STREAKS IN DIVISION-I WOMEN’S SOCCER HISTORY
1. North Carolina – 84 (1986-94; 84-0-0)
2. North Carolina – 56 (1999-2004)
3. Notre Dame – 42 (2004-06; 40-0-2, active)
Note: the three longest home winning streaks are UNC’s 84 from 1986-95, plus 39 straight home wins by Penn State (from 2001- 04) and ND’s 32-game home win streak (2004-06)
HANKS HAS RARE NO-POINT GAME – Notre Dame junior forward Kerri Hanks had points in each of the final 13 games during the 2006 season but failed to extend that point streak into 2007 (in the 0-0 opener with Michigan) … the 13-game point streak ties the ND single-season record set by Katie Thorlakson during the 2004 NCAA-title season (Thorlakson then entered the scoring column in the 2005 opener but had no points in the second game of ’05).
MOST D-I WOMEN’S SOCCER WINS DURING THE PAST FIVE SEASONS (2003-07)
1. North Carolina – 97-4-3
2. Notre Dame – 92-8-4 (.904 win pct.; 2nd in ND history behind .921/91-6-4, ’94-’97)
3. UCLA – 81-15-5
4. Penn State – 77-12-6
5. Portland – 75-11-8
MOST D-I WOMEN’S SOCCER WINS DURING THE PAST FOUR SEASONS (2004-07)
1. Notre Dame – 72-5-3 (.919 win pct.; ND four-year record is .921)
2. North Carolina – 70-4-3 (.929)
3. UCLA – 61-13-2
4. Penn State – 58-9-3
5. Portland – 57-8-6
6. Texas A&M – 53-15-3
7. Santa Clara – 51-15-5
GOING THE DISTANCE IN OT – Notre Dame now is unbeaten in its past 21 overtime games (14-0-7) and is 14-1-7 in OT during the Randy Waldrum era (which began with a 3-2, double-OT loss to UNC in ’99) … the Irish had 26 games without overtime before the Oct. 13, 2006, scoreless tie at UConn (first OT since 1-0 win at Rutgers on 10/7/05) … ND has played to OT only four times in its past 63 regular-season games (56-4-3 in that stretch) and has played to OT only four times in the past 82 overall games (0-0 vs. Rutgers, on 10/22/04; 1-1 in the ’04 NCAA title game vs. UCLA/4-3 in PKs; 1-0 at RU on 10/7/05) … ND’s 14 OT wins in the Waldrum era include OT goals from eight players (ND-record four from Amanda Guertin) … Kerri Hanks is the only current ND player who has scored an overtime goal (2005, at Rutgers).
BIG-GAME PLAYERS – Notre Dame has won nearly 80% of its “big games” in the Randy Waldrum era (since 1999), with a 65-16-3 record (.792) when facing an NSCAA top-25 or postseason opponent.
RARE SCORELESS TIES – Notre Dame’s 20-year women’s soccer history includes only seven scoreless ties in 443 total games played (1.6%), with two coming at UConn (in 2000 and ’06), also vs. Dayton in ’91, North Carolina in ’94, Stanford in ’03, Rutgers in ’04 and Michigan in 2007 … the 0-0 game vs. UNC (in St. Louis) halted the Tar Heels’ NCAA-record winning streak at 92 games … the first 15 years of ND women’s soccer featured only three scoreless ties but there now have been four 0-0 games involving the Irish in the past five seasons.
BIG WINS – The 4-1 win over #11 Florida in 2005 marked the seventh time in the Randy Waldrum era (since ’99) that the Irish have defeated an NSCAA top-25 foe by three-plus goals, followed by five more in ’05: the 4-0 regular-season win over UConn (17th in the coaches poll), two big wins in the BIG EAST Tournament (3-0 vs. #11 Marquette, 5-0 vs. #15 UConn) and NCAA wins over #25 Michigan State (3-0) and #22 Yale (5-2), plus the 2006 NCAA wins over #16 Colorado (3-0) and #8 Penn State (4-0) … the 2005 season produced the most times (6) in one season that the Irish had defeated top-25 teams by 3-plus goals (the ’97 team had five “big wins”) … other Waldrum-era big wins over NSCAA top-25 teams: vs. #16 Michigan in ’99 (4-1), #2 Santa Clara (6-1) and #15 Washington (5-0, at Portland) in 2000, at #24 Miami in ’01 (4-0), at #25 Maryland in ’02 (5-2) and vs. #4 SCU in ’04 (5-2).