Oct. 30, 2004

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NOTRE DAME WOMEN’S SOCCER – BIG EAST Quarterfinal vs. St. John’s (Oct. 31, 2004)

The No. 2-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team (17-0-1, 9-0-1 BIG EAST) begins its postseason quest with a BIG EAST quarterfinal game vs. St. John’s on Oct. 31 at Alumni Field (1:00 p.m. EST) … SJU (10-7-1/4-6-0) was the only team ND did not face in the BIG EAST regular season (the Irish won at SJU early in the ’03 season, 2-0) … ND – which has dropped a spot in the polls after six weeks at No. 1 – completed the 4th unbeaten regular season in the program’s history with a 4-0 win at Michigan on Oct. 28 (the ’94, ’97 and ’00 teams all went 23-0-1 before losing) … ND owns a 50-11-1 all-time record in postseason play (.815), including 19-1-0 in BIG EAST Tournament games (9-0-0 at home) and 30-3-0 in all home postseason games (.909) … the Irish have gone 13-0-0 on the opponent’s field the past two seasons (8-0-0 in ’04) and have held their last 14 opponents to 0-1 goals (0.42 GAA in that stretch) … the 0-0 game vs. Rutgers on Oct. 22 prevented ND from matching the best start in the program’s history (16-0-0, in ’00) … ND had just 4G in a 4-game stretch before totaling 7G vs. Seton Hall and Michigan … the Irish technically have played 24 games this fall (going 5-1-0 in the preseason Brazil trip) and thus took several days off from training over the past two weeks while playing just once in an 11-day stretch (the 1-0 win over #20 Boston College, on Oct. 16) … ND’s potential BIG EAST semifinal opponents include 4th-place finisher Boston College and Georgetown (the other quarterfinals are Rutgers at 2-seed UConn and Villanova at West Virginia) … the Irish have won the BIG EAST regular-season title 8 of 10 times (all but ’98 and ’02, plus tournament titles from ’95-’01) … ND was the nation’s final unbeaten/untied team and is 37-1-2 in its last 40 regular-season games … 19 players have started for ND this season (17 with 5-plus starts) … since a rare deficit vs. Pittsburgh on Sept. 24, ND has outscored the opposition 24-3 (2 GA in last 7-plus gms) … since joining the conference in ’95, ND is 104-9-3 in all games vs. BIG EAST teams, with a 55-game home unbeaten streak vs. BIG EAST squads (54-0-1) … the Irish nearly have as many goals (48) as opp. shots on goal (52; 2.9/gm) and have allowed just 33 opp. corner kicks all season (1.8/gm; 5 of last 10 opp. held to 0 CKs) … ND has been ranked 1st or 2nd in the NSCAA coaches poll 8 of 11 seasons since ’94 (all but ’99, ’01 and ’02; also #1 in ’94, ’95, ’96 and ’00) … the Irish posted a pair of impressive wins at the ND Adidas Classic (1-0 vs. #13 Stanford, 5-2 vs. #4 Santa Clara) … 6th-year Irish head coach Randy Waldrum registered his 100th win with the Irish (now 111-19-5/.841) in the Sept. 12 Texas Tech game … senior F and All-America candidate Mary Boland suffered a season-ending broken leg in the SCU game (Sept. 7) … the Irish recently received a big piece of good news as junior F and national player-of-the-year frontrunner Katie Thorlakson announced she will remain at ND for the entire ’04 season, rather than leaving to play with Canada at the Under-19 World Championship (Nov. 10-27, in Thailand) … Thorlakson has combined with 5th-year D Melissa Tancredi and senior Candace Chapman (formerly right back with Irish who has played mostly forward in ’04) as ND’s potent “Canadian Connection” while three Chicago-area sophomores – central M Jen Buczkowski (who opted not to play with U.S. squad in U-19 Worlds), defensive M Jill Krivacek and D/M Kim Lorenzen – also are key starters for the ’04 Irish squad.

INFORMATION HIGHWAY – Gametracker livestats for ND home games can be accessed via the www.und.com main page … internet audio broadcasts are planned for all remaining games, home and away, available to College Sports Pass subscribers (see audio/video link on und.com main page) … College Sports Pass subscribers can view video/audio of the ND soccer coaches television show while listening to game audio of several sports (men’s soccer, football, basketball, hockey, baseball and more) from ND and other schools … game broadcasts are archived via the women’s soccer schedule page at und.com (see audio/video button for links to coaches shows) … game recaps are available via the ND Sports Hotline at (574) 631-3000 (press “4” for soccer, then ‘2″ for women’s soccer).

RETURN OF THE OFFENSE? – Notre Dame is hoping its last two games (3-1 vs. Seton Hall, 4-0 at Michigan) will jumpstart an offense that had totaled just 4G over the previous 4 games … ND averaged 3.6 goals per game (29) in the ’04 regular season vs. non-conference opponents, compared to just 1.9 gpg (19) in BIG EAST play … defensively, the Irish posted a better goals-against avg. in BIG EAST play (0.49, compared to 0.63 vs. non-conf. teams).

TV ON TAP – Notre Dame is slated to be featured on television in two late regular-season games and also could play on TV twice in the BIG EAST Tournament … the Oct. 24 Seton Hall game was aired on a delayed basis by Comcast SportsNet Detroit and Comcast Chicago (available on South Bend Comcast cable channel 37) while the Oct. 28 ND-Michigan game will be aired by Comcast Detroit on Oct. 31 (2:30 p.m. EST) and Nov. 1 (1:30 p.m. EST) and was shown by Comcast Chicago on Oct. 30 at 8:00 p.m. CDT/EST … if ND wins its BIG EAST quarterfinal, the Irish will play in the late semifinal (7:00 EST) on Nov. 5 (at UConn), with that game to be telecast on a delayed basis by College Sports Television (Nov. 6, 7:30 EST) … the BIG EAST title game (Nov. 7, noon) then will be telecast live by CSTV, Comcast Net Chicago and various other affiliates (full list is TBA) … CSTV can be found on DirectTV channel 610 and via a growing number of cable outlets nationwide (see www.cstv.com).

ND WOMEN’S SOCCER – BY THE NUMBERS (see PDF)

THAT WAS THEN … THIS IS NOW – Despite the loss of several top forwards (to graduation, injuries and national-team duty), the Irish have generated more shots per game but have not been as accurate as in ’03 … corner kicks and 1st-half defense also are improved but the Irish have allowed more 2nd-half goals (6) than in ’03 (5): (see PDF)

BRING ON THE POSTSEASON – Here’s a look at Notre Dame’s all-time postseason records:

MCC Tournament – 5-0-0 (all neutral)

BIG EAST Tournament – 19-1-0/.950 (9-0-0 home, 2-0-0 away, 8-1-0 neutral)

NCAA Tournament – 26-10-1/.716 (21-3 at home/.875, 2-1-1 away, 3-6 neut.)

Postseason Totals – 50-11-1/.815 (30-3 home/.909, 4-1-1 away, 16-7 neutral)

SERIES NOTES – Notre Dame is 8-0-0 all-time vs. St. John’s (40-0 scoring edge), including a 2-0 win at SJU early in ’03 and a pair of ’01 games at Alumni Field (7-0 late-season, 2-0 in the BIG EAST quarterfinals) … ND and SJU did not face each other in ’02 or in the ’04 regular season … in the first ’01 meeting, Melissa Tancredi scored at the 0:27 mark and was followed by six different goalscorers (ND totaled a 25-3 shot edge) … ND outshot SJU 22-7 in the ’01 rematch, with Amanda Guertin and Mia Sarkesian scoring in the first 12 minutes … the ’03 game saw Amy Warner and Amanda Guertin score 2nd-half goals … ND failed to find the net in the first half despite an 8-1 shot edge … Katie Thorlakson set up the first goal on a back pass to the top of the box (Warner ripped a crossing shot from the left side) … Guertin scored on a late counter-attack, taking a pass from Maggie Manning and chipping in a shot from the top of the box … ND owned an 18-6 shot edge (10-2 in shots on goal), 7-2 in CKs.

SJU NOTES – St. John’s (10-7-1; 4-6-0/8th BIG EAST) owns BE wins over Villanova (1-0), SHU (2-1/OT), Pitt. (1-0) and Providence (2-1), with losses to Syracuse (0-3), Georgetown (0-3), WVU (2-4), UConn (0-1), Rutgers (0-3) and BC (1-3) … also see Tale of the Tape and www.redstormsports.com for SJU info.

IN THE BIG EAST RANKINGS

Notre Dame – 1st in goals-against avg. (0.55, 16th nationally) and shots per game (21.9); 2nd in goals per game (2.63, 22nd nationally) and shutouts (10, 15th nationally) and corner kicks per game (5.8)

Notre Dame Players

Katie Thorlakson – 1st in points (43, 8th national), goals (14, 24th nat.), assists (15, 4th nat.), GWGs (7), shots (87)

Candace Chapman – 6th in goals (9), 7th in points (24) and 8th in assists (6)

Amanda Cinalli – 9th in shots (52), 11th in goals (9) and GWGs (2)

Jen Buczkowski – 4th in assists (9), 10th in points (21) and 11th in GWGs (3)

Annie Schefter – 11th in gamewinning goals (2), 12th in assists (5)

Erika Bohn – 1st in goals-against avg. (0.38), 3rd in save pct. (.839) and 5th in solo shutouts (5)

THORLAKSON BUILDS PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR RESUME – Here’s a quick look at junior F Katie Thorlakson’s national player-of-the-year credentials:

• Entered week ranked 6th in nation in points (37, now 43), 1st in assists (13, now 15) and 25th in goals (12, now 14)

• Three-time BIG EAST player of the week (Aug. 30, Sept. 6, Oct. 4)

• Three 8-point weekends and one with 6 points (plus 6-point game at Michigan)

• Has helped overcome loss of several top offensive players due to graduation, injuries and national-team duty

• Has played a role in nearly 65% of team’s goals in ’04 (31 of 48), with many other goals coming when she has been on the bench cheering the reserves

• Posted 5-game goal streak from Sept. 19-Oct. 3 (4 GWGs in that stretch)

• Owns 7 of the team’s 17 GWGs, one shy of ND record (8, by Rosella Guerrero in ’94)

• Her 43 points – most at ND since Anne Makinen had 43 in her player-of-the-year season (’00) – have surpassed her combined total from ’02-’03 (42)

• Totaled most regular-season goals (13) by an ND player since ’99 (Jenny Heft, 16)

• Third ND player to reach 14G-14A in regular season (1st since ’97), joining Cindy Daws (21G-17A in ’96) and Jenny Streiffer (18G-21A in ’96, 16G-16A in ’97) in that distinction

• Her 43 regular-season points rank 10th in ND history and are the most since ’98 … just six previous ND players have combined for nine regular-season point totals that are higher than her 43: Cindy Daws (59 in ’96, 21G-17A; 44 in ’93, 13G-18A), Jenny Streiffer (57 in ’96, 18G-21A; 48 in ’97, 16G-16A), Jenny Heft (56 in ’98, 26G-4A), Monica Gerardo (50 in ’96, 20G-10A; 48 in ’95, 19G-10A), Holly Manthei (48 in ’96, 5G-38A) and Michelle McCarthy (45 in ’95, 17G-11A)

• Entered week as one of three players in the nation with 12-plus goals, 12-plus assists

• Heads into postseason with 3G-3A over the course of previous two games

• Leads BIG EAST in points, goals, assists, GWGs and total shots (87)

• A deep postseason run for the Irish could allow her a shot at a rare 20G-20A season, with Cindy Daws (26G-20A) and Jenny Streiffer (22G-22A) being the only previous ND players to achieve that distinction (both in ’96)

• Owns .161 shot pct. and is averaging 6.2 shots per goal scored (rest of team is just .110/9.1); she is converting 1G for every three shots on goal (14 of 47; 3.4)

• Has 12 pts (4G-4A) in five ’04 games vs. nationally-ranked teams, including 3G-2A vs. #4 Santa Clara (only player in nation with 8-plus pts vs. top-25 team; only 5 players have totaled more than 8 points in a game this season)

• 16th ND player to reach 25G-25A in career (28G-29A), could be 10th 30-30

• Averaging 2.39 pts/gm in ’04 and would total 67 pts over full season of 28 games (ND record is 72 points by ’96 national player-of-the-year Cindy Daws)

• 13 career GWGs rank 8th in ND record book (also 18th in points, with 85) … next on that list are M Jodi Hartwig (87, ’91-’94), F Amy VanLaecke (90, ’94-’96), M Tiffany Thompson (91, ’91-’94) and her former teammate F Amy Warner Amy Warner (99, ’00-`03)

• Only 5 players in the nation have totaled more assists in a game this season than her 3A vs. Baylor

• Has posted an 8-point game, a 7-point game and a 6-point game in the ’04 season

• Has appeared in 61 straight games with the Irish (since returning from the ’02 Under-19 World Championship)

IRISH COMPLETE UNBEATEN HOME SLATE – Notre Dame went unbeaten at home in the 2004 regular season (9-0-1), marking the 9th time in the 15-year history of Alumni Field that ND has not lost a regular-season home game (all but ’90, ’92, ’95, ’02, ’03) … the Irish have won nearly 92% of their all-time regular-season home games at Alumni Field (133-11-3, .915), including four seasons with one loss … in 10 of the last 11 seasons (all but ’03), the Irish have suffered 0-1 regular-season losses at home (97-7-3, .921 in that 11-year stretch).

IRISH SQUADS MAKES CASE FOR BEST COMBINED SOCCER PROGRAM – Notre Dame has made a strong case in 2004 for having the nation’s top combined men’s and women’s soccer programs:

• As of Oct. 28, Notre Dame’s soccer teams had more combined wins (29-2-3) than any other Div. I school … only two others – Virginia (28-4-1) and UNC-Greensboro (27-4-2) – had reached more than 25 combined wins (as of Oct. 28).

• The No. 2 ND women are 17-0-1 and rolled to the BIG EAST regular-season title (9-0-1) while the Irish men (No. 5 NSCAA) are 12-2-2 and have clinched their first BIG EAST regular-season title (7-1-1; 16-1-2 combined with the women)

• ND and UVa were the only schools with their men’s and women’s teams in at least the top eight of the Oct. 25 NSCAA polls … UCLA was the only other school with both its teams in the top 15 of the NSCAA polls while six others (Washington, Penn State, Maryland, Boston College, Duke and Santa Clara) have both teams somewhere in the top 25 … the Irish women have lost just once in their last 40 regular-season games (37-1-2).

• UConn, in ’98, is the only other school ever to post the best BIG EAST men’s and women’s soccer records in the same regular season (excluding ties in the standings).

• As of Oct. 29, the ND men are riding an 8-0-1 streak (16-1 scoring edge) while the women have a 24-3 scoring margin over their last 10 games, yielding a 40-4 combined scoring margin in the past month.

• ND was the only school that saw both its men’s (Bobby Clark) and women’s (Randy Waldrum) coaches honored as NSCAA regional coaches of the year in ’03 … Waldrum (111-19-5) and Clark (52-18-9) have combined to win nearly 80% of their games at ND (163-37-14) and the next win by either team will signal the 500th win in Waldrum and Clark’s combined careers as college head coaches (499-205-58, .693) … Waldrum’s 23-year college coaching career (294-124-23) includes previous stints at Tulsa (where he coached the men’s and women’s teams) and Baylor while Clark also enjoyed great success in previous stops at Dartmouth and Stanford (he is 205-81-34 in 18 college seasons).

• The ND women’s soccer roster includes four straight classes that have been ranked among the top-15 recruiting classes (14th in ’01, 9th in ’02, 5th in ’03, 2nd in ’04), with UVa and UNC the only other women’s teams that can make that claim … the ND women also join Texas as the only schools with top-5 recruiting classes each of the past two seasons … each of the past four seasons have seen the seen ND men’s classes ranked 18th or higher (18th in ’01, 14th in ’02, 5th in ’03 and 11th in ’04) … only four other men’s teams – perennial powers Indiana, SMU, UCLA and Virginia – can make such a claim of recruiting class success during the past four seasons.

• Nine current members of the ND women’s program have been active with various national teams, including senior F/D Candace Chapman and fifth-year central D Melissa Tancredi as starters with Canada’s full national team … Chapman and junior F Katie Thorlakson have been standouts with Canada’s Under-19 National Team … four others – junior M Annie Schefter, senior F Mary Boland, sophomore M Jen Buczkowski and F Kerri Hanks – have been starters with the U.S. Under-19s (Hanks currently is training for the Under-19 World Championship and will enroll at ND next semester) while senior central D Gudrun Gunnarsdottir is a standout with Iceland’s national team and freshman M/F Jannica Tjeder has been a regular with Finland’s Under-17, -19 and -21 teams .. the ND men’s program includes three members of the sophomore class – D Greg Dalby, F/M Nate Norman and M Ian Etherington – who were top players on the U.S. Under-18 National Team, with Dalby and Norman now members of the U.S. Under-20 squad … their classmate, D Jorge Schippes, has starred on the national-team stage with Guatemala’s Under-17 and Under-20 national teams.

• Both programs are stocked with former Olympic Development Program standouts … each ND soccer team currently includes 25 non-foreign players, with 19 members of the Irish women’s squad being former ODP state players while the ND men’s team includes 17 state ODP products … the current ND women’s roster also includes 14 players who starred for elite ODP region teams while eight such players currently star for the Irish men’s team.

• The ND student body truly is a national (and international) sampling and that holds true with the various athletic teams … ND’s student-athlete population in ’02-’03 included nearly 800 individuals from 47 states (all but Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada) and 20 foreign countries … the ’04 rosters for the Irish men’s and women’s soccer teams touch all corners of the U.S. while also including players from Canada, England, Finland, Guatemala and Iceland … the current Irish soccer players hail from 20 different states, with both teams including players from California, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Texas … other states represented by the current ND soccer teams include: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.

• Both Irish teams also are coming off stellar 2003 seasons, as the ND women were ranked No. 2 for most of `03 (finishing 20-3-1) while the men earned the highest ranking (No. 3) in the program’s history during the ’03 season.

• Notre Dame also joined North Carolina as the only schools with multiple players on the preseason watch lists for both the men’s and women’s MAC Hermann Trophy, presented to the national player of the year … 5th-year central D Melissa Tancredi and senior F/D Candace Chapman were included on the women’s watch list while G Chris Sawyer and senior D Jack Stewart were on the men’s list.

SHANER SHINES AS MEMBER OF DOMINATING DEFENSE – Sophomore left back Christie Shaner, considered by coach Randy Waldrum to be ND’s “most consistent defender” in ’04, was named BIG EAST defensive player of the week after helping hold #20 Boston College to one shot on goal, in the 88th minute of that 1-0 win … Shaner is part of a veteran back line that also includes: 5th-year central back Melissa Tancredi (a 2003 All-American and one of 12 final candidates for the ’03 Hermann Trophy), senior central back Gudrun Gunnarsdottir (a starter with the Icelandic National Team) and sophomore right back Kim Lorenzen … Lorenzen’s all-around athleticism affords her the versatility to play any field position (she often shifts to a flank M role) and she recently has delivered a clutch GWG at West Virginia (3-1) and the late primary assist to beat Boston College, 1-0 (both teams were #20 at game time) … Tancredi is a starter with the Canadian National Team while Shaner is in the U.S. Under-21 National Team player pool … Shaner’s ’03 honors included 2nd team all-BIG EAST and BIG EAST rookie of the year … the ’04 defense has allowed just 10 goals (0.55 GAA), 108 total shots (6.0/gm), 52 shots on goal (2.9/gm), 33 corner kicks (1.8/gm) and just four deficits (85 min.) … the four backline starters have combined for 213 career games played at ND (170 starts) … Tancredi (1,549; 86/gm) and Shaner (1,508/84) lead the ’04 team in minutes played while Lorenzen is 5th (1,260), with Gunnarsdottir logging 1,074 (dnp 3 gms/minor inj.).

TALE OF THE TAPE (see PDF for ND-SJU statistical comparison)

CONFERENCE CALL – Notre Dame’s all-time record in regular-season conference games is 104-7-3 (.925; 85-7-3/.911 in BIG EAST) … the Irish are 57-1-1 in home games vs. BIG EAST teams, with the 0-0 tie v. Rutgers on Oct. 22 ending a string of 53 straight home wins over BIG EAST teams since a 5-4 OT loss to UConn in ’95 (now 54-0-1 in last 55 BIG EAST home games, with a 245-18 scoring edge, 37 shutouts, 15 with 1 GA) … since ’95, ND’s overall record in all games vs. BIG EAST teams now is 104-9-3 (.910; 1-1-0 vs. UConn in NCAAs).

QUICK NOTES ON THE IRISH – In addition to a 48-10 season scoring edge, the Irish also hold a 395-108 edge in total shots (avg. 22-6), 200-52 in shots on goal (11-3) and 104-33 in corner kicks (6-2) … the Irish have held 5 of the last 10 opponents without a corner kick … ND has faced just four deficits in ’04 and has trailed for just 266 total minutes the past two-plus seasons (7% of the total minutes, spanning 46 games) … the Irish own a 24-4 first-half scoring edge and have allowed just 26 first-half goals in the past four seasons (83 games) … ND has limited 32 of its last 39 overall opponents to 0-3 shots on goal and has won its last 37 games when scoring first (dating back to a 3-2 loss to BYU on 10/19/02; ND is 4-3-0 in that span when the opponent scores first) … ND has not lost on the opponent’s field in the past two seasons (13-0-0) … the Irish have seen just five of the last 46 opponents come back to tie the game … ND was the nation’s final unbeaten/untied team (15-0-0), out of 306 in Division I.

PUNCHING THE CLOCK – Current junior F Katie Thorlakson missed the first two games of her ND career due to the 2002 Under-19 World Championship but has not missed a game since joining the Irish (61 straight) … junior M Annie Schefter (missed ’02 due to injury) and sophomore M Jen Buczkowski each have appeared in all 42 games over the past two seasons while four sophomore have played in 41 of the 42: D Christie Shaner (39 straight, dnp vs. ASU in ’03), D Kim Lorenzen (32, dnp vs. Indiana State in ’03), F/M Lizzie Reed (31, dnp vs. West Virginia in ’02) and DM Jill Krivacek (26, dnp vs. UConn in ’03).

SOCCER “BUZZ” – Sophomore M Jen Buczkowski opened the scoring in the 2-1 win at Syracuse, matching her goal total (4) from all of ’03 after playing just eight games in ’04 … she now is 3rd on the team with 19 points (6G-7A) and has tripled her regular-season goal output from 2003 (2), with 3G-3A (2 GWG) in the final five games of the ’04 regular season.

HOME SWEET HOME – The Irish own a 161-14-3 all-time record (.913) at Alumni Field (134-10-2 in last 146) – with a 29-game home win streak (5th NCAA history) from ’99-’01 … 8 of ND’s last 10 home losses have been by a single goal … ND’s Alumni Field record vs. teams not in the NSCAA top-25 is 113-4-2/.958 (46-10-1 vs. ranked teams) … junior F Katie Thorlakson has totaled 48 points at Alumni Field the past two seasons (17G-14A, 8 GWG in 25 GP) while junior M Annie Schefter has scored all 8 of her career goals (4 GWG) at home … sophomore M Jen Buczkowski has registered 8 of her 10 career goals and 26 of her 33 career points with the Irish in the confines of Alumni Field.

WALDRUM NEARING 300TH OVERALL WIN – Sixth-year ND head coach Randy Waldrum posted his 200th career win as a Division I women’s head coach in the 2-1 game vs. Miami on Nov. 2, 2003, and recently registered his 100th win at Notre Dame in the 3-0 game at Texas Tech … Waldrum also coached eight seasons as college men’s soccer head coach and is six wins shy of his next milestone: 300 combined wins as a men’s and women’s college head coach (294-124-24/.692, in 23 seasons) … Waldrum now owns a 218-69-17 mark (.744) in 15 combined seasons as the women’s head coach at Tulsa, Baylor and Notre Dame … the Irish are 111-19-5 (.841) in the Waldrum era, including 99-16-4 (.849) in the past 119 games (since losing 4-2 at SCU on Oct. 17, 1999).

BEWARE OF THOR! – Junior F Katie Thorlakson has emerged as a frontrunner for national player-of-the-year honors, entering the week ranked 6th nationally in points (37, now 43), 1st in assists (13, now 15), 25th in goals (12, now 14) … two of her Canadian national teammates, Nebraska’s Brittany Timko and Portland’s Christine Sinclair, each entered the week with 43 points … Thorlakson and Timko (15G-13A) entered the week as two of only three players in the nation with 12-plus goals and 12-plus assists … her 8 points vs. #4 Santa Clara on Sept. 5 (3G-2A) are 6th-most by a Div. I player this season (among players from 306 schools) and most vs. a top-25 opponent while her 7 points in the opener vs. Baylor (2G-3A) rank 15th on that list … only five players in the nation have totaled more assists in a game this season than Thorlakson’s 3A vs. Baylor … here were the NCAA stat leaders entering this week’s action (see PDF):

BACK OF THE NET – Despite the absence of several top offensive players, ND entered the week ranked 20th in the nation with 2.59 goals per game (now 2.63) … ND also entered the week with a 0.58 team goals-against avg. (17th in nation, now 0.55) and has dominated opposing offenses, allowing just 108 total shots (6.0/gm), 52 shots on goal (2.9/gm) and 33 corner kicks (1.8/gm) … the Irish also ranked 15th in the nation with 9 shutouts (now 10) … ND was one of just four teams entering the week ranked among the NCAA top-20 in scoring and GAA, with the others including North Carolina, Virginia and Central Florida … prior to its 0-0 game vs. Rutgers (Oct. 22), ND was the only unbeaten/untied team left among 306 in Division I … UNC (15-0-1) now is the only other unbeaten team while only two others have one loss/no ties (16-1-0 Dayton, 12-1-0 Princeton), one has a single loss and tie (14-1-1 Penn State) and Campbell is 9-1-6 – meaning that all but six teams in the nation have at least two losses.

NOTRE DAME PLAYER QUICK-FACT SHEET (see PDF)

TOURNAMENT TOUGH – Notre Dame owns an 85-25-7 all-time record (.756) in tournament action, including 37-13-6 in regular-season tournaments (19-3-2 at home, with 61-23 scoring edge), 23-1-0 in conference tournaments and 25-11-1 in the NCAAs … since ’94, ND is 25-6-3 in regular-season tournaments (18 wins vs. NSCAA top-25), and 20-4-2 from ’97-’04.

GREAT STARTS – The 2003 season saw ND go unbeaten after 19 games for the fourth time in the program’s history while the 2004 team is the 4th Irish team in the past 11 years to go unbeaten after 18 games … the ’04 season marked the second time an ND team has won the first 15 games of the season (before the 0-0 tie vs. Rutgers), one shy of the 16-0-0 start in 2000 … here’s a look at the top season-opening unbeaten streaks in the ND record book (see PDF):

FIRST-HALF FORTRESS – The Notre Dame defense has been particularly stingy in the first half the past four seasons, allowing just 26 goals in the first half of those 82 games (0.32/gm) … the first half in ’02 featured little scoring (12-10 ND edge), compared to a 40-7 first-half edge in 2003 (plus 22-4 in ’04) … the Irish have been equally dominant in the first (62-11) and second half (53-11) over the past two seasons.

GOALS-A-PLENTY – Stretching from ’92-’04, the Irish have scored in 94.7% of their games (285 of 301) … since ’94, the Irish have scored in 244 of 257 (.949; three shutouts in NCAA title games) – with goals in 190 of 198 regular-season games (.960) over that 11-year stretch … ND saw its 31-game scoring streak (3rd-best in Irish history) end in ’02.

GOAL PATROL – Notre Dame players have combined for 19 multiple-goal games over 42 games in the past two seasons (compared to just five in all of ’02), by 10 different players … most recently, three different players – Amanda Cinalli, Katie Thorlakson and Candace Chapman – had two goals in the 2004 opener vs. Baylor, with Thorlakson adding 3G vs. Santa Clara and 2G vs. both UWGB and Michigan while Maggie Manning had 2G at Texas Tech and Chapman added 2G vs. Seton Hall.

QUICK-STRIKE ARTISTS – Notre Dame has scored in the first seven minutes of 11 games the past two seasons (12 “quick-strike” goals in that 36-game span) … the second game of ’04 saw Annie Schefter score vs. Eastern Illinois at 4:35 (20-yard shot after short CK) while Katie Thorlakson scored at 2:54 in the 4-0 win over Wisconsin-Green Bay (volleyed in Schefter free kick) and Christie Shaner headed in a Thorlakson corner at 2:38 of the 3-1 win at WVU.

FRONTRUNNERS – Since a 3-2 loss to BYU (10/19/02), ND has trailed in just 9 of 46 games for 266:14 (6.3% of 4,199:29), going 40-4-2 in that 46-game stretch … four of ND’s nine deficits in that span have been 11 minutes or shorter while only three teams have led the Irish more than 40 minutes over that 46-game stretch (Michigan for 60, Boston College for 83, Pittsburgh for 41).

BOHN IN THE NETS – Junior G Erika Bohn is 44-4-2 in her last 50 decisions with the Irish (since 3-2 loss to BYU on 10/19/02), allowing just 24 goals in that 50-game stretch (30 with 0 GA, 16 with 1 GA) … that span includes a 4-1 mark to close the ’02 season, 5-0 in the ’03 spring season (dnp ’04 spring), the 20-3-1 record in the fall of ’03 and 15-0-1 this fall (two wins in Brazil) … her only losses in that stretch: final ’02 loss at #1 Stanford (0-1, goal in 81st minute), 3-2 loss to Michigan in final game of ’03 regular season (UM’s final two goals came on CK breakdowns by ND defense), 2-1 loss to Boston College in ’03 BIG EAST semi’s and 1-0 loss to Michigan in ’03 NCAAs … prior to the first ’03 loss to Michigan, Bohn logged 29 consecutive games with the Irish (24 fall, 5 spring) without allowing multiple goals (previously by BYU in ’02) … her 55 official starts at ND (in fall games) include 31 in which she has not allowed a goal, 15 with one goal allowed, four with two goals allowed and just five with three-plus goals (3-4 at Georgetown, 0-3 vs. West Virginia, 1-3 vs. Purdue and 2-3 vs. BYU in ’02, plus 2-3 vs. Michigan in ’03) … since the BYU game, Bohn has limited the opponent to 0-1 goals in 39 of her last 42 fall starts (28 with 0 GA, 11 with 1 GA, 2-1 loss to BC, 3-2 loss to UM, 5-2 win over Santa Clara).

20-SOMETHING – Notre Dame is three victories shy of reaching the 20-win plateau for the ninth time in the past 11 seasons … the 1996 team racked up an ND-record 24 wins, with 23 victories in 1994, ’97 and ’00, 21 wins in ’95, ’98 and ’99, and 20 Ws in 2003.

** NOTE – see gamenotes prior to Oct. 28 game at Michigan for additional/complete notes on Notre Dame’s 2004 season **