Sept. 19, 2006
Notre Dame freshman forward Michele Weissenhofer – whose 20 points currently are tied for second among all players in Division I women’s soccer – has been named the BIG EAST Conference rookie of the week for the second time this season, in addition to being named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com national team of the week. Junior right back Ashley Jones also was honored by the conference, as the BIG EAST defensive player of the week, in addition to being named to Soccer America‘s national team of the week.
Jones is Notre Dame’s fifth different defensive player to be honored by the BIG EAST this season, as senior midfielder Jill Krivacek was the BIG EAST defensive player of the week for Aug. 28-Sept. 3 while senior center back Kim Lorenzen, junior goalkeeper Lauren Karas and senior left back Christie Shaner all have been named to the BIG EAST weekly honor roll during the 2006 season. Seven total Notre Dame players now have received weekly BIG EAST honors, including junior forward Amanda Cinalli being named BIG EAST offensive player of the week honors for her lead role in the week-2 wins over USC and Santa Clara (she also was named the Soccer America national player of the week after that 3G-1A weekend vs. USC and SCU).
Weissenhofer (Naperville, Ill.) scored or assisted on five of Notre Dame’s seven goals (3G-2A) during last week’s road action at DePaul (2G-1A; 5-0) and Michigan (1G-1A; 2-0). She led the Irish with five points in her Chicago-area homecoming game versus the Blue Demons and then opened the scoring in the second half to spark the win over the Wolverines. Recently cited by Soccer America as the early frontrunner for national freshman-of-the-year honors, Weissenhofer currently leads the nation in assists (10) and owns the most points (20; 5G-10A) of any freshman in the nation, good for second overall on the Division I scoring charts and just three shy of the national leader.
Jones (Westlake Village, Calif.) – a converted midfielder who made the transition to defense during the 2005 season – helped set up Weissenhofer’s goal versus the Wolverines. She combined with Lorenzen, Shaner, Krivacek, Karas and sophomore center back Carrie Dew in holding both DePaul and Michigan off the scoreboard, as the Irish extended their shutout streak to four-plus games (spanning 438 minutes). Jones and her teammates allowed just nine total shots, four shots on goal and four corner kicks in last weekend’s pair of games.
The veteran Notre Dame defense includes six regulars – Lorenzen (77 GP/67 GS), Shaner (83/75), Jones (60/24), Dew (29/27), Krivacek (defensive midfielder; 76/49) and Karas (33/20) – who have combined to log 358 games played with the Irish (making 262 combined starts).
Cinalli and Jones have been the key members of a third-year group that is on pace to be the winningest class in Notre Dame history (.925), with the Irish going 55-4-1 during the 2004-06 seasons.
Additional quick notes on the Irish follow below:
POLL POSITION – Notre Dame (8-0-0) remains atop the Soccer Times rankings (which polls 16 of the nation’s top coaches) for the fourth straight week while holding down the top ranking from both the NSCAA coaches poll and the Soccer Buzz women’s soccer website for the third straight week … Soccer America still continues to relegate ND to the No. 2 spot (behind Florida State), despite the fact that the Irish have played two games every week of the season (FSU is 6-0-0 and benefited from playing just once on the weekends when it beat Portland and Florida) … the Irish have racked up a 28-2 scoring margin (multiple goals in every game, with winning margins of 2-plus goals in seven of the eight games) while playing five games on the opponent’s field, five games vs. teams that competed in the 2005 NCAAs and six games vs. teams that currently have winning or .500 records … FSU has managed just an 11-3 scoring edge in its six games, with four one-goal wins (one in overtime) while playing only twice on the opponent’s field and four times vs. teams that currently have winning or .500 records.
Michele Weissenhofer currently leads the nation in assists (10) while ranking second nationally with 20 points (photo by Matt Cashore).
|
 |
WEIS MOVES – The addition of Weissenhofer to the Notre Dame attack has helped overcome the loss of 2006 graduate Katie Thorlakson, one of the top all-around offensive players in the history of collegiate women’s soccer … Weissenhofer is just five goals shy of becoming the eight freshman in ND history to reach 10 goals and 10 assists in her first season with the Irish … current sophomore Kerri Hanks (28G-15A in ’05) is the only ND freshman in the previous eight seasons to post double-digit goals and assists … others include Anne Makinen (23G-12A) and Meotis Erikson (22G-12A) in 1997, Jenny Streiffer (22G-22A) and Jenny Heft (12G-12A) in 1996, Monica Gerardo (20G-11A) in 1995, and Cindy Daws (16G-20A) in 1993 … Weissenhofer also is on pace to make a run at the Notre Dame record for assists by a freshman (30, by Holly Manthei in 1994) … Manthei and Thorlakson are two of just three players in NCAA D-I history ever to reach 30-plus assists in a season (Manthei had three seasons with 30-plus assists).
NCAA STAT LEADERS – Notre Dame entered the week ranked fourth nationally in scoring (3.50 goals per game), second in scoring margin (+26), ninth in goals-against average (0.26), seventh in shutouts (6) and 13th in save pct. (.909) … the Irish join Old Dominion (7th with 3.29 gpg; 3rd with 0.14 GAA) as the only teams ranked in the top-10 for both scoring and defense … ND and ODU (7-0) are two of just seven teams from among 301 in D-I that have won all their games this season (Villanova and Navy also are 8-0, Akron and Central Michigan 7-0, and Florida State 6-0) … ND freshman Michele Weisenhofer leads the nation in assists (10) and assists per game (1.25) while ranking second in points (20) and fourth in points per game (2.50) … ND sophomore Kerri Hanks ranks 18th nationally in goals (6) … ND junior Lauren Karas ranks 12th nationally in goals-against avg. (0.32) and 19th in save pct. (.895) … the Irish are one of 10 teams to score nine-plus goals in a game this season (9-0, in opener vs. Iowa State).
RECORD BOOK PROJECTIONS – Shutout wins this weekend over Cincinnati and Louisville would give ND a six-game shutout streak that would match the third-longest shutout streak in the program’s history (the 2003 team had 10 straight shutouts and the 1993 team 8 straight) … the Irish will be looking to extend their ND-record home unbeaten streak (30-0-1) to 32 games, on Sunday vs. Louisville (ND also is unbeaten at home in 66 straight games vs. BIG EAST teams, 65-0-1 since mid-1995) … the 0.26 team goals-against avg. is on pace to best the ND record (0.36, in 1997) … the Irish are allowing just 5.6 shots per game (would rank 4th in ND history), also holding opponents to 2.75 shots on goal per game (would rank 5th) … ND’s average of 7.6 corner kicks per game would rank best of the Randy Waldrum era (since 1999) … Lauren Karas is on track for the best season save pct. (.895) and GAA (0.32) in ND history (Michelle Lodyga had a .884 in ’91, LaKeysia Beene a 0.36 in 1997).