Kerri Hanks scored an early goal in the 5-0 win over Seton Hall (pictured) and went on to factor into six of her team's seven goals during the weekend (3G-3A; all photos by Matt Cashore).

Kerri Hanks Becomes Fourth Member Of 2006 Notre Dame Women's Soccer Team To Be Named A National Player Of The Week

Oct. 10, 2006

Notre Dame junior forward Kerri Hanks (Allen, Texas) has been named the BIG EAST Conference women’s soccer offensive player of the week, in addition to becoming the fourth different member of the 2006 Irish women’s soccer team to be named a national player of the week (per Soccer America, with several other weekly national honors still TBA as of Wednesday morning). Hanks totaled nine points in last weekend’s wins over Seton Hall (5-0) and Rutgers (2-0). She scored the first three goals, for her third career hat trick, and assisted on the fourth to single-handedly sink the Pirates before providing the primary assists on both goals in the win over a Scarlet Knights team that entered the game with just one loss. Senior center back Kim Lorenzen (Naperville, Ill.) also was recognized by being named to the BIG EAST weekly honor roll for the third time this season, after spearheading an Irish defensive unit that yielded just four total shots, one shot on goal and two corner kicks in the weekend action. Lorenzen assisted on the second goal in the win over Seton Hall, for her first point of the season.

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Kim Lorenzen has anchored the Notre Dame defense all season, helping limit the 13 opponents to three total goals and 26 combined shots on goal.

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Hanks – also named to the Top Drawer Soccer national team of the week – currently ranks fourth nationally in goals scored (11) and fifth in points (28), combining with freshman forward Michele Weissenhofer (31 points) to give Notre Dame the nation’s top-scoring duo. Weissenhofer leads the nation in assists (13) and points per game (2.38) while ranking third in points and 13th in goals (9). Junior goalkeeper Lauren Karas has moved up to the third spot nationally in goals-against average (0.27), also ranking 17th in save percentage (.870).

The other Notre Dame players who have been named a national player of the week this season include two other forwards – junior Amanda Cinalli (who also regularly sees times in the midfield) and Weissenhofer – plus sophomore center back Carrie Dew (see more info. on all three below).

During her All-America freshman season in 2005, Hanks earned the Soccer America national player-of-the-week honor in recognition of her seven-goal outburst in the first weekend of her college career. She also was named to the Top Drawer Soccer national team of the week and was the BIG EAST offensive player of the week after that impressive debut that included 3G-1A vs. New Hampshire and four goals vs. Vermont. Hanks now has been named BIG EAST offensive player of the week three times, with the other coming after week-5 of her freshman season (2G-1A vs. Cincinnati; 1G-1A vs. Louisville).

Notre Dame continues to lead the nation in scoring margin (+42; 45-3), with the nation’s second-best scoring offense (3.46 goals per game) and third-lowest team goals-against average (0.23). The Irish also rank fifth in the nation with 10 shutouts.

The Irish women’s soccer program’s impressive national rankings extend beyond the playing field to the stands, as Notre Dame’s average attendance this season of 2,350 fans per game currently ranks third among 310 Division I teams, trailing only perennial attendance leader Texas A&M (3,828) – which will serve as host for the 2007 College Cup final weekend – and defending NCAA champion Portland (3,612). (Look for an attendance release later this week on und.com.)

Notre Dame has been the consensus number-one team in the nation’s primary polls and rankings for the past five weeks, in addition to being listed first in last week’s NCAA release of the RPI (ratings percentage index). This marks the first season that the NCAA has issued an in-season release of RPI for women’s soccer.

Hanks has totaled more than half of her 28 points this season in the past two weeks, with five goals and five assists (15 pts) over the course of those four games. She has 99 career points (39G-21A) in 38 games and – with a point on Oct. 13 at UConn – could reach 100 career points quicker than any previous Notre Dame player (the record is 100 pts in 40 GP, shared by former teammates Jenny Streiffer and Anne Makinen). Notre Dame is 25-0-0 during the past two seasons when Hanks scores a goal and her 11 career gamewinning goals with the Irish include five already during the 2006 season.

After enduring plenty of frustrating near-misses earlier in the season, Hanks delivered versus Seton Hall with her 10th career multiple-goal game but just the third this season. The three goals produced her third career hat trick while the seven points were one shy of matching her career high.

Less than halfway through her Notre Dame career, Hanks finds herself on an extended pace to challenge two impressive records in the Irish record book: the 80 career goals by Jenny Heft and the 211 career points (70G-71A) by her fellow class of 2000 member Streiffer. Heft also owns the Irish record for career hat tricks (6) while only three others – Rosella Guerrero (5), Monica Gerardo (5) and Michelle McCarthy (4) – have totaled more career hat tricks than Hanks (whose three HTs are tied with seven others, most recently class of ’01 teammates Makinen and Meotis Erikson). Hanks joins Guerrero, Gerardo and Makinen as the only Notre Dame women’s soccer players ever to total three career hat tricks prior to their junior season (each had three HTs in their first two seasons).

Hanks – who has followed two current teammates, Cinalli (27G-25A) and senior M Jen Buczkowski (20G-29A), as one of 24 all-time ND players who have reached 20G-20A in their careers – had not posted a hat trick since opening week of the 2005 season, when she had the 3G-1A vs. New Hampshire and 4G vs. Vermont (her top point totals with the Irish, in addition to the 3G-1A vs. SHU). She now ranks 15th on the Notre Dame career points list (99), plus 14th in career goals (39) and 10th in gamewinning goals (11). She has scored (11) or assisted (5) on 16 of Notre Dame’s 31 game-winning goals during the past two seasons.

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Brittany Bock – shown scoring her goal versus Rutgers – formed a potent forward trio with Kerri Hanks and Michele Weissenhofer (plus Amanda Cinalli often pushing up) during last weekend’s action.

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After setting up an early goal by sophomore forward Brittany Bock in the Rutgers game, Hanks assisted on Cinalli’s goal in the 49th minute of that game. It marked the eighth time this season that the Irish have come out of the halftime locker room and scored in the first 10 minutes of the second half – and Hanks has scored (4) or assisted (2) on all but two of those quick-strike goals in the second half.

Lorenzen’s pass to senior midfielder Jill Krivacek led to the second goal by Hanks in the Seton Hall game. It was Lorenzen’s first point of the season, 11th career point and fifth career assist. The team captain has led an Irish defense that has allowed just three goals all season (none in the second half) and 26 shots on goal (2.00 per game, on pace to set an ND record). She is a key member of the Irish defensive unit that has allowed just two shots on goal in the past three-plus games (spanning nearly 350 minutes) while yielding just one goal since early September (during a 32-1 ND scoring margin, spanning nine-plus games).

The Lorenzen-led defense is on pace to set the Irish record for GAA (0.23), including eight shutouts in the past nine games. Lorenzen has pushed her career games played total to 82 (72 starts) and the Irish are 30-1-0 during the past two seasons in games that she has started (the loss came to the eventual national champs Portland, in the 2005 NCAA quarterfinals).

Lorenzen ranks second on the 2006 team with 971 minutes played (75/gm). She and her classmates have combined for a 80-7-2 career record, giving them the second-most wins of any current senior class in Division I women’s soccer and the second-best four-year win pct. (.910) in the 19-year history of Notre Dame women’s soccer – trailing only the .921 career win pct. (91-6-4, from ’94-’97) compiled by a class of ’98 group that was led by current national-team defender Kate Sobrero and four-year All-America flank midfielder Holly Manthei (who owns the NCAA career and single-season assist records).

Notre Dame currently leads the 16-team BIG EAST in overall goals (45) and goals per game (3.46), also ranking second in shots per game (23.3), GAA (0.23) and shutouts (10), plus third in corner kicks per game (6.6).

Three Irish players rank among the BIG EAST’s top-10 point leaders: Weissenhofer (2nd; 31), Hanks (3rd; 28) and Cinalli (9th; 17). Bock missed the first four games of the season due to the Under-20 World Championships but currently ranks ninth among BIG EAST players in points per game (1.33). Hanks (11), Weissenhofer (9) and Cinalli (7) rank 2-4-6 among the BIG EAST’s goalscoring leaders while Weissenhofer is first in assists (11), followed by Hanks (4th; 6), with Buczowski and Krivacek tied for sixth (5). Bock is sixth among BIG EAST players in assists per game (0.44)

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Lauren Karas continues to rank among the national and BIG EAST goalkeeper statistical leaders.

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Hanks also leads the BIG EAST in shots (64) and gamewinning goals (5), with Weissenhofer’s 49 shots ranking fourth in the BIG EAST. Karas is second among the BIG EAST’s GAA leaders (0.27), plus fourth in save pct. (.870) and solo shutouts (6).

Hanks is the fourth different individual from Notre Dame to be a national player of the week this season, with the others including: Cinalli (week-2, Aug. 28-Sept. 4, by Top Drawer Soccer), Dew (week-5, Sept. 18-24, by Soccer Times) and Weissenhofer (week 6, Sept. 25-Oct. 1, by TDS and Soccer America). Notre Dame’s four players and five total national POW honors are most by any team in the nation. Cinalli also was tabbed by Soccer Times as the “best of the rest” (i.e. runner-up for national player of the week) for week-2, as was Weissenhofer for week-6

North Carolina is the only other team with multiple players who have been a national player of the week this season: D Kristi Eveland (week-4, ST) and F Heather O’Reilly (week-5, TDS and SA). Weissenhofer, O’Reilly and UCLA F Danesha Adams (week-3, TDS and SA) are the only other players to be a national player of the week from multiple selectors in the same week. Nine other teams have produced one national POW selection (Florida State, Missouri, West Virginia, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Boston University, BYU and Nebraska).

When it comes to the weekly conference awards, Weissenhofer remains the only player to earn multiple BIG EAST rookie-of-the week honors (for week-1 and week-4) and Notre Dame is the only team with multiple BIG EAST offensive players of the week this season (Weissenhofer, Cinalli and Hanks). The Irish also are the only team with three BIG EAST defensive players of the week this season (Krivacek in week-2, junior outside back Ashley Jones in week-4 and Dew in week-5). Villanova is the only other team with multiple weekly defensive honorees (Kayce Blanford and Kelly Eagan).

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Amanda Cinalli is one of four Irish players who already have been named a national player-of-the-week this season.

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The BIG EAST has presented 29 total weekly awards this season (offensive, defensive, goalkeeper and rookie) and Notre Dame has totaled eight honorees, followed by Villanova (6), West Virginia (3) and Rutgers (3). Notre Dame typically does not have candidates for the goalkeeper award, because the ‘keepers face such a low number of shots/threats. When excluding the ‘keeper honors, Notre Dame still leads (8), followed by Villanova (3), Rutgers (2), South Florida (2) and West Virginia (2).

When including the weekly “honor roll” (5 per week, for 64 total BIG EAST awards this season), Notre Dame (13) and Villanova (14) have the most total BIG EAST weekly honors this season, followed by WVU (10) and Rutgers (6). More than one-third of Villanova’s honors (5) have been for its goalkeeper while 12 of ND’s 13 honors are for field players (WVU has six field-player honors, Rutgers five).

Here’s a complete listing of Notre Dame’s 2006 awards and honors (including preseason):

Michele Weissenhofer (F, Fr.; Naperville, Ill.)
Soccer America National Player of the Week – week-6 (Sept. 25-Oct. 1)
Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week – week-6 (Sept. 25-Oct. 1)
Soccer Times National Player of the Week Runner-Up (“best of the rest”) – week-6 (Sept. 25-Oct. 1)
Soccer Buzz National Team of the Week – week-6 (Sept. 25-Oct. 1)
Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week – week-4 (Sept. 11-Sept. 17)
BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week – week-6 (Sept. 25-Oct. 1)
BIG EAST Rookie of the Week – week-1 (Aug. 21-Aug. 27); week-4 (Sept. 11-Sept. 17)
ND Classic All-Tournament Team

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Michele Weissenhofer’s flip-throw has been just part of her all-around offensive arsenal during the 2006 season.

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Amanda Cinalli (M/F, Jr.; Maple Heights, Ohio)
Soccer America National Player of the Week – week-2 (Aug. 28-Sept. 3)
Soccer Times National Player of the Week Runner-Up (“best of the rest”) – week-2 (Aug. 28-Sept. 3)
Top Drawer Soccer – National Team of the Week – week-2 (Aug. 28-Sept. 3)
Soccer Buzz National Team of the Week – week-2 (Aug. 28-Sept. 3)
BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week – week-2 (Aug. 28-Sept. 3)
ND Classic Offensive MVP
Preseason All-BIG EAST Team

Carrie Dew (D, So.; Encinitas, Calif.)
Soccer Times National Player of the Week – week-5 (Sept. 18-Sept. 24)
Soccer America National Team of the Week – week-5 (Sept. 18-Sept. 24)
Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week – week-5 (Sept. 18-Sept. 24)
Soccer Buzz National Team of the Week – week-5 (Sept. 18-Sept. 24)
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week – week-5 (Sept. 18-Sept. 24)

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Carrie Dew’s dominating presence combines with fellow central defender Kim Lorenzen and outside backs Christie Shaner and Ashley Jones to give Notre Dame a veteran defensive core.

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Kerri Hanks (F, So.; Allen, Texas)
Soccer America National Player of the Week – week-2 (Aug. 28-Sept. 3)
Top Drawer Soccer – National Team of the Week – week-2 (Aug. 28-Sept. 3)
BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week – week-2 (Aug. 28-Sept. 3)
BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year/Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
M.A.C. Hermann Trophy Watch List
Soccer America Preseason All-American
Soccer Buzz Preseason All-American

Jill Krivacek (M, Sr.; Geneva, Ill.)
Soccer America National Team of the Week – week-2 (Aug. 28-Sept. 3)
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week – week-2 (Aug. 28-Sept. 3)
ND Classic Defensive MVP

Ashley Jones (M, Jr.; Westlake Village, Calif.)
Soccer America National Team of the Week – week-4 (Sept. 11-Sept. 17)
Top Drawer Soccer – National Team of the Week – week-4 (Sept. 11-Sept. 17)
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week – week-4 (Sept. 11-Sept. 17)

Christie Shaner (D, Sr.,; Ambler, Pa.)
Top Drawer Soccer – National Team of the Week – week-3 (Sept. 4-Sept. 10)
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll – week-3 (Sept. 4-Sept. 10)
BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year/Preseason All-BIG EAST Team

Kim Lorenzen (D, Sr.; Naperville, Ill.)
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll – week-1 (Aug. 21-Aug. 27); week-6 (Sept. 25-Oct. 1); week-7 (Oct. 2-Oct. 6)

Lauren Karas (G, Jr.; Flower Mound, Texas)
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll – week-2 (Aug. 28-Sept. 3)
ND Classic Goalkeeper MVP

Jen Buczkowski (M, Sr.; Elk Grove, Ill.)
ND Classic All-Tournament Team
M.A.C. Hermann Trophy Watch List
BIG EAST Preseason Midfielder of the Year/Preseason All-BIG EAST Team

Brittany Bock (F/M, So.; Naperville, Ill.)
Preseason All-BIG EAST Team