Oct. 9, 2005
NEWARK, N.J. – Kerri Hanks kept up her torrid pace by scoring her 18th goal of the season early in the first half and five other Irish players added goals, as the 7th-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team turned in another dominating effort with Sunday’s 7-0 win over Seton Hall. The game was shifted to the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s turf facility (Lubetkin Field), after SHU’s home field was deemed unplayable due to heavy rainfall earlier in the weekend.
Notre Dame (12-2-0, 6-1-0 BIG EAST) finished with an 18-3 edge in total shots, accounted for all 14 of the shots on goal and held an 11-4 margin in corner kicks. The Irish entered the week as the nation’s top-scoring team (now 4.36 goals/gm) and now have racked up a 61-9 season scoring edge while totaling nearly as many goals in 2005 as the opponents’ combined shot total (63, with just 31 on goal).
Hanks entered the week as the nation’s third-leading goalscorer and now is two scores shy of becoming the ninth different Notre Dame player to total 20-plus goals in a season. Fellow newcomer Brittany Bock scored twice in Sunday’s game, giving her six goals in 2005 and placing her fourth on the team in scoring with 16 points.
South Bend native Susan Pinnick added a goal and assist, as did Amanda Cinalli and Maggie Manning (who joined Pinnick in scoring her fifth goal of the season, with Cinalli scoring her sixth). Lizzie Reed’s goal shortly before halftime gave the Irish a 2-0 lead at the intermission and marked the first point of the season for the New Jersey native.
Another in-state product, Fort Wayne native Kerry Inglis, assisted on Reed’s goal to pick up her first point with the Irish after missing the first 11 games of the season due to an ankle injury.
Katie Thorlakson assisted on the game’s first goal, marking the 32nd time in her career that she has scored (15) or assisted (17) on a gamewinning goal. Thorlakson’s assist extended her nation-leading total in that category to 16 while marking the 54th assist of her career, good for sixth in the Notre Dame record book. The senior forward also became the ninth player in the program’s history to reach 150 career points, with 48 goals leaving her just shy of the elite 50-goal/50-assist milestone.
Jenny Streiffer (’96-’99) is the only player in Notre Dame history with more gamewinning points (51) than Thorlakson’s 47, with Streiffer having scored/assisted on 36 career GWGs (Thorlakson also is second on that list, with a goal/assist on 32 career GWGs).
Hanks (43 points; 18G-7A), Thorlakson (38; 11G-16A) and Cinalli (19; 5G-9A) entered the week as the only BIG EAST Conference players with more than 15 points, with Bock now joining them among the league’s leading scorers.
Senior starter and preseason BIG EAST goalkeeper of the year Erika Bohn played the second half for the Irish, her first action since the Sept. 9 game at Santa Clara (she missed seven games due to an ankle injury).
The game allowed the Irish to utilize their tremendous depth while resting several regulars for the upcoming BIG EAST showdown vs. Connecticut on Oct. 14 at Alumni Field. Fifth-year veteran Candace Chapman started at forward, where she started for most of ’04 before returning to outside back this season. Senior Jenny Walz filled Chapman’s spot as a starter at outside back while junior Claire Gallerano had a strong showing as the starting defensive midfielder. Manning, Reed and Pinnick rotated in at the forward spots and helped maintain the team’s high level of play for the full 90 minutes.
Notre Dame’s season stats now include the 61-9 scoring edge (avg. 4.36-0.64), plus 302-63 in shots (21.6-4.5), 170-31 in shots on goal (12.1-2.2) and 102-25 in corner kicks (7.3-1.8). The Irish have racked up nearly a 2-to-1 ratio of goals (61) to opponent shots on goal (31), well above the dominant 2004 national championship team that totaled 71 goals with 73 opponent shots on goal (roughly 1-to-1).
Sunday’s game marked Notre Dame’s ninth shutout of the season and seventh in the past eight games (the Irish have held the opponent to 0-1 goals in 12 of 14 games during the ’05 season). Thorlakson initiated the first goal sequence with a pass to Cinalli (who started at midfield) from the right side of the box to the left. Cinalli – whose nine assists this season are nearly double her freshman-year total in 2004 (5) – then slipped a thru-pass to Hanks, who buried an eight-yard shot inside the far-right post (14:33).
The early goal sent Notre Dame on to the victory, as the Irish now are 56-2-0 in their past 58 games when scoring first.
Inglis set up the second goal from her outside back position, running down the right flank and placing a cross into the box for Manning, who then flicked the ball towards the far post. Reed (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) sliced her shot over `keeper Amanda Becker and into the upper right corner of the net for the junior’s fourth career goal with the Irish (43:12).
Reed’s goal provided the magical cushion, as Notre Dame never has lost when claiming a 2-0 lead (240-0-1, with 217 straight wins when leading 2-0).
Cinalli’s score early in the second half yielded the 3-0 lead. Chapman dribbled down the left side and slid across the top of the box before sending the ball on to the right side for Cinalli, who scored inside the near post for the 15th career goal of her Notre Dame career (63:51).
That goal provided another key indicator for victory, as Notre Dame now is 128-1-0 in its past 129 games when scoring three-plus goals (224-3-1 all-time).
A flurry of shots produced the fourth goal 10 minutes later, as Pinnick tracked down the ball at the top of the 18-yard box and cut past a defender before burying her shot to the lower left (72:30).
Bock showcased her world-class skills on the next two goals, with each coming in the final 10 minutes of play. The midfielder stepped forward to take a direct kick from 20 yards out and struck the ball with the outside of her right foot, bending the shot into the lower left corner for the 5-0 lead (81:15).
Five minutes later, a clearing attempt landed near the top of the box and Bock rocketed a half-volley shot that ripped into the upper right corner of the net for an impressive goal from the rookie (86:30).
Manning – who totaled seven goals in her first three seasons (just two in ’04) – nearly has matched that total this season, notching her fifth goal of ’05 less than a minute after Bock’s blast. Pinnick raced down the right flank and the sophomore sent a driven ball for the back post, with Manning running in for the header to cap the scoring (87:22).
NOTES – Chapman logged her 81st career game with the Irish and is two goals shy of becoming the 20th all-time ND player to reach 20G-20A in her career (18G-20A), despite playing most of her career in the defense … her 56 career points (18G-20A) rank 23rd in the ND record book … Thorlakson has played in 84 straight games (all of her ND career), still 26th on the ND career games played list (14th-most among Waldrum-era players) … ND has totaled 30 more goals this season (61) than its opponents’ combined shots on goal (31) … the ND players have combined to log 1,015 career games (625 starts) … ND is 49-3-2 in its past 54 regular-season games … the Irish improved to 92-8-3 in regular-season games vs. BIG EAST teams (since ’95) … Hanks needs two goals in the UConn game to tie the ND record for quickest players to 20 goals in a season (15 GP) … her 18 goals this season rank 16th in the ND record book … Hanks has scored goals in 10-of-14 games this season and has points in 12 of those games (6 straight) … Thorlakson has points in 11-of-14 games this season … the Irish are 131-22-5 in the seven-year Randy Waldrum era … the Irish are 10-0-0 when Hanks scores a goal this season.
#7 Notre Dame (12-2-0, 6-1-0 BIG EAST) 2 5 – 7
Seton Hall (6-5-3, 2-4-1 BIG EAST) 0 0 – 0
ND 1. Kerri Hanks 18 (Amanda Cinalli, Katie Thorlakson) 14:33; ND 2. Lizzie Reed 1 (Maggie Manning, Kerry Inglis) 43:12; ND 3. Cinalli 5 (Candace Chapman) 63:51; ND 4. Susan Pinnick 5 (-) 72:30; ND 5. Brittany Bock 5 (-) 81:15; ND 6. Bock 6 (-) 86:30; ND 7. Manning 5 (Pinnick) 87:22.
Shots: ND 6-12 – 18, SHU 2-1- 3
Corner Kicks: ND 4-7 – 11, SHU 3-1 – 4
Saves: ND 0 (Lauren Karas, Erika Bohn), SHU 7 (Amanda Becker)
Fouls: ND 19, SHU 20
Offsides: ND 1, SHU 0
Yellow Cards: Jen Michewicz (SHU) 21:44; Ashley Jones (ND; 1st of season) 39:38