Sept. 21, 2004

The Notre Dame women’s soccer team has earned the No. 1 ranking in both of the oldest and most recognizable national polls, with the NSCAA coaches poll following the lead from last week’s Soccer America poll in naming the Irish No. 1. This marks the fifth season in the last 11 that the Irish have been ranked No. 1 (also 1994, ’95, ’96 and ’00), with all but the ’95 team earning the top ranking prior to the final poll (the ’95 team never reached No. 1 before winning the NCAA title).

Two familiar landmarks have returned to the Notre Dame campus in celebration of the No. 1 ranking, as the lighted No. 1 sign can be seen atop the Grace Hall tower on the northwest corner of campus while the No. 1 flag now waves in front of the Joyce Center.

Both of the No. 1 displays reappear any time a Notre Dame team earns the nation’s top ranking (or wins a national championship). The eight-foot No. 1 sign is the older of the two symbols and dates back to the 1974, when it was built by Father Bob Malone and a group of seminarians in recognition of the 1973 national championship football team. The No. 1 sign originally was placed atop Moreau Seminary and later moved to Howard Hall before shifting high in the sky to the roof of Grace Hall.

The No. 1 sign was displayed atop Grace Hall during the 1988 national-title football season and returned in parts of the ’89, ’90 and ’93 football seasons. It then shone brightly in recognition of Notre Dame’s 1994 fencing and 1995 women’s soccer national championships, followed by No. 1 rankings for the women’s soccer program in ’96 and ’00 and for the fencing teams in 2001, ’02, ’03 (also national champs) and ’04. The 2000-01 academic year saw an unprecedented four Notre Dame teams earn the No. 1 national ranking: women’s soccer, women’s basketball (also national champs), baseball and men’s fencing.

Notre Dame now has been ranked No. 1 in 18 NSCAA polls, in addition to 39 all-time appearances as the No. 2 team in the NSCAA poll. During the past 12 years, the Irish have been ranked 1st or 2nd in the NSCAA poll during 10 different seasons while appearing in the top five of 94 of 122 NSCAA polls (77%) over that 12-year span (plus 1st-3rd in 72 NSCAA polls since ’93). Only five weekly polls in the past 12 seasons have seen Notre Dame outside the top eight of the NSCAA rankings.

The Irish – off to an 8-0-0 start for the ninth time in the past 11 seasons – have outscored its opponents 24-6 while overcoming the absence of several top offensive players. The first-month start has included three consecutive wins over teams that were ranked in the top-15 at the time (1-0 vs. No. 13 Stanford, 5-2 vs. No. 4 Santa Clara and 2-1 at No. 11 Arizona State), plus a 1-0 win at BIG EAST rival Connecticut.

The Irish spent most of the 2003 season and the first few weeks of ’04 ranked No. 2 in the national polls. Notre Dame owns an all-time record of 36-4-1 when playing as the top-ranked team in the NSCAA coaches poll, including 20-1-1 in regular-season play.

Notre Dame again is on pace to total more goals (currently with 24) than opponent shots on goal (19). In addition to owning a 24-6 season scoring edge, the Irish also hold a 170-48 edge in total shots (avg. 21-5), 103-19 in shots on goal (13-2) and 44-15 in corner kicks (6-2). Notre Dame has faced just one deficit this season (for 11 minutes at ASU) and has trailed for just 128 total minutes during the past two seasons (6% of the total minutes, spanning 37 games).

The Irish – who own a 12-1 first-half scoring edge this season and have allowed just 23 first-half goals in the past four seasons (73 games) – are 28-1-1 in their last 30 regular-season games and have limited 26 of their last 29 overall opponents to 0-3 shots on goal. Notre Dame also has won its last 31 games when scoring first and has seen just four of the last 37 opponents come back to tie the game.

Just four weeks into the college season, Notre Dame is one of only five teams out of 308 in Division I women’s soccer that currently are unbeaten and untied. Two of those teams – Washington (6-0-0; #3 NSCAA, #4 SA) and Virginia (8-0-0; #3 SA, #4 NSCAA) – also are in this week’s Soccer America and NSCAA polls, with the other two including UNC Wilmington (8-0-0) and UC Riverside (6-0-0).

The Irish are led by a veteran core that has combined with the nation’s No. 2-ranked freshman class to form a deep and talented roster. Junior Katie Thorlakson and senior Candace Chapman have paced the Irish offense through the first eight games, with sophomore Jen Buczkowski running the show from her central midfielder spot while fifth-year player Melissa Tancredi, senior Gudrun Gunnarsdottir and sophomore Christie Shaner form the battle-tested back line.

Notre Dame’s No. 1 ranking is all the more impressive when considering the talented players currently sidelined by injury or national-team commitments, among them: former all-BIG EAST midfielder Randi Scheller (hip injury, has applied for sixth year of eligibility after also missing ’03 season); all-region and all-BIG EAST forward Mary Boland (season-ending broken leg vs. SCU; may qualify for fifth year in ’05); and freshman forwards Kerri Hanks (training with U.S. team for Under-19 World Championship), Susan Pinnick (back injury suffered during summer club-team van accident) and Jannica Tjeder (has missed most of season due to ankle injury but could return this week). Hanks was ranked the nation’s No. 4 signee (per Soccer America) while Tjeder was 24th on that list, with the Soccer Buzz women’s soccer internet site listing Hanks on its top-25 recruit list and Pinnick on the top-50 (Tjeder, a native of Finland, was on Soccer Buzz’s list of top international signees).

NSCAA Women’s Soccer Coaches Poll (9/21/04)
1. Notre Dame (8-0-0; 2)
2. North Carolina (7-0-1; 1)
3. Washington (6-0-0; 3)
4. Virginia (7-0-0; 4)
5. Penn State (5-1-1; 5)
6. Portland (5-1-0; 6)
7. Florida (6-1-1; 9)
8. Kansas(8-1-0; 8)
9. UCLA (5-2-0; 20)
10. Illinois (7-1-0; 11)
11. West Virginia (7-1-0; 13)
12. Florida State (7-1-0; 18)
13. California (5-1-1; 14)
14. Texas A&M (5-3-0; 15)
15. Santa Clara (4-2-1; -)
16. Michigan (5-2-0; 25)
17. Princeton (4-1-0; 17)
18. SMU (4-2-1; 21)
19. Wake Forest (6-1-1; -)
20. Stanford (5-2-0, -)
21. Tennessee (3-2-2; 7)
22. Texas (4-2-0; 23)
23. Yale (5-2-0; 19)
24. Pepperdine (5-1-1; 12)
25. Wisconsin (4-0-1; 16)
Also Receiving Votes: Duke, Colorado, Rutgers, Ohio State, Clemson, Boston University, St. Mary’s.

Soccer America Women’s Soccer Top 25 (Sept. 20, 2004)
1. Notre Dame (8-0-0; 1)
2. North Carolina (7-0-1; 2)
3. Virginia (8-0-0; 3)
4. Washington (6-0-0; 4)
5. Penn State (5-1-1; 5)
6. Portland (6-1-0; 6)
7. Florida (6-1-1; 8)
8. Florida State (7-1-0; 9)
9. Santa Clara (4-2-1; 11)
10. UCLA (5-2-0; 12)
11. West Virginia (7-1-0; 18)
12. Illinois (7-1-0; 17)
13. Kansas (8-1-0; 7)
14. Texas A&M (5-3-0; 14)
15. Texas (4-2-0; 15)
16. Stanford (5-2-0; 22)
17. California (5-1-1; 23)
18. Michigan (5-2-1; NR)
19. Washington State (4-1-1; NR)
20. Clemson (5-3-0; 10)
21. Tennessee (3-2-2; 13)
22. Colorado (6-1-1; NR)
23. Wake Forest (6-1-1; NR)
24. Pepperdine (5-1-1; 16)
25. Princeton (4-1-0; 19)