Sept. 24, 2004
Notre Dame junior forward Katie Thorlakson (Langley, British Columbia) – an early contender for NCAA player-of-the-year honors – has announced her intention to remain with the Irish for the entire 2004 season, foregoing the previous plan to leave for three weeks in order to compete with Canadian side at the Under-19 World Championship (Nov. 10-27, in Thailand). The Under-19 World Championship overlaps with the first three round of the NCAA Championships and even could prevent players from returning in time for the fourth/quarterfinal round (Nov. 26-28).
Several other players – including Notre Dame sophomore midfielder Jen Buczkowski (Elk Grove, Ill.) – have made a similar decision in recent months. Buczkowski is the playmaker of the Irish midfielder and also has been a starting defender with the U.S. Under-19 squad. Unlike their Canadian counterparts, the U.S. federation instituted a residency training camp for the months leading up to the Under-19 World Championship – meaning that the team members had to sit out the entire semester from their respective colleges or high schools (ND signee Kerri Hanks is the leading scorer for the U.S. Under-19s and has delayed her enrollment until the 2005 spring semester). The Irish anticipated also not having the services of Buczkowski for the 2004 fall season but she made a surprise announcement at the team’s 2004 spring banquet, informing the team that she would be returning to Notre Dame for the fall of ’04.
Comments from Thorlakson (who played her first game with Canada’s full national team earlier this fall) and Notre Dame head coach Randy Waldrum will be added to this release later tonight and also will be included with tonight’s game recap.
Katie Thorlakson 2004 BIO. NOTES – Entered the week ranked 8th in the nation with 20 points and 3rd nationally with 8 assists … only player from a top-25 team with 20-plus points … first ND payer ever to repeat as BIG EAST offensive player of the week (Aug. 30, Sept. 6) … her 8 points vs. #4 Santa Clara (3G-2A; most ever by ND player vs. top-25 teem) are 5th-most in the nation this year and made her the third ND player ever to post a hat trick vs. a top-10 opponent … only ND player ever to score/assist on ND’s first 5 goals in a game, doing so in the opener vs. Baylor (2G-3A) and then in the SCU game … recently made her first appearance with Canada’s full National Team and is a standout with the Canadian Under-19 National Team … scored her team-leading 6th goal of the season in Sunday’s 2-1 game at Syracuse (her 3rd GWG of ’04) … that goal made her the 19th player in ND’s storied history to total 20-plus goals and 20-plus assists in her career (20G-22A), doing so over the course of 51 games … pace for 45 points (which would best her 42 combined points in ’02 and ’03) in the 18-game regular season and could become the first ND player with 50-plus points in a season since Jenny Streiffer had 53 in the first year of the Waldrum era (’99) … her 8 career GWGs rank 10th in the ND record book and one behind former teammate Amy Warner (’00-’03) … Thorlakson’s 62 career points would rank near the top of many school’s record books but she stands just 22nd in ND career scoring, 12 points shy of cracking the top 20 … 9 previous ND players have totaled 30-plus goals and 30-plus assists … totaled 10G-11A in ’03 … one of just five players in the nation currently with 6-plus goals and 6-plus assists … named BIG EAST Conference offensive player of the week, after playing a role in eight of ND’s 10 goals during wins over Baylor (7-2) and Eastern Illinois (3-0), then repeated the honor after a strong all-around game vs. #13 Stanford (1-0) and 3G-2A effort vs. #4 Santa Clara (5-2) … her 7 points in the first half vs. Baylor game ranks as one of the top performances in ND’s storied history and she duplicated the 7 points in a half vs. Santa Clara (3G-1A, 2nd half) … tied an ND with seven points (3G-2A) in the first half of the Baylor game while becoming the first ND women’s soccer player ever to score or assist on the team’s first five goals in a game (she duplicated both marks vs. SCU) … also had 7 points in 2nd half vs. SCU … first ND player to score or assist on 5-plus goals during a game since Anne Makinen’s 8-point game vs. Syracuse in ’98 … the Irish had played 123 straight games without seeing an ND player factor into 5-plus goals … it had been six years since an ND player had 7 points in a half, as current Pittsburgh assistant coach Monica Gerardo scored goals 2-4 and assisted on the 5th (by Jenny Heft) as part of the 6-0 halftime lead at Providence on Oct. 11, 1998 (8-0) … her 8 eight points vs. SCU (3G-2A) are most ever by an Irish player vs. a team ranked in the top 25 and seven of her points came in the 2nd half (3G-1A), tying another ND record that she already had shared with two others (after the 2G-3A vs. Baylor) … has scored or assisted on all 7 goals that ND has scored vs. SCU the past two seasons (1G-1A in 2-1 win at SCU in ’03) … had the first hat trick of her career and added assists on the 1st and 4th goals vs. SCU … that marked just the 9th time in the program’s storied history that an ND player has registered a hat trick vs. a top-25 opponent – and first since Jenny Heft in ’98 vs. #25 Wake Forest (3-0) … just two previous ND players had a hat trick vs. a top-10 team: Rosella Guerrero at #5 N.C. State in the ’92 opener (4-3 loss) and Anne Makinen vs. #4 UConn in ’97 BIG EAST title game (6-1, at RU) … her output is all the more noteworthy due to the fact that the ’04 squad was looking to replace graduated top goalscorers Amy Warner and Amanda Guertin while coping with the absence of two freshman frontrunners who were prep All-Americans (Kerri Hanks is training with the U.S. Under-19 National Team; Susan Pinnick was injured in a summer team van accident with her club team) … another top rookie, Finnish national Jannica Tjeder, injured her ankle vs. Baylor and missed five games while senior leader Mary Boland suffered a season-ending broken leg midway through the SCU game … in the first two weeks, she totaled 5G-6A and two other plays where she directly set up goals (no official assist) – meaning she played a lead role in 13 of 16 goals (now 16 of 24) … she did not play the 2nd half vs. Baylor, when two of the other goals were scored, and also was taking a short breather when the late PK was scored vs. Stanford … that all shakes out to 13 goals scored by the Irish in the first four games with Thorlakson on the field – and she played a lead role in all 13 … her eight points vs. SCU are most by an Irish player in six years and one shy of the ND record, shared by ’96 teammates Jenny Streiffer (2G-5A, vs. Providence, Aug. 31) and Monica Gerardo (4G-1A vs. Seton Hall, Oct. 27) … ND players have combined for seven other 8-point games … two of her GWGs in ’03 came vs. top-15 teams (#10 SCU and #15 UConn), plus OT goal vs. Villanova and early strike at Rutgers (3-0) … has combined with 5th-year D Melissa Tancredi and senior Candace Chapman (formerly a right back with the Irish who has been a super-sub at forward in ’04) as ND’s potent “Canadian Connection” through the first month of the 2004 season.