Oct. 21, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Jill Krivacek’s goal in the 58th minute sparked off a four-goal second half as the sixth-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team handed visiting Villanova its most lopsided loss since 1999, in a 4-0 game on Friday night at Alumni Field. The win extended Notre Dame’s home unbeaten streak versus BIG EAST opponents to 64 games, dating back to early in the 1995 season. The Irish also are unbeaten in their past 23 overall games at Alumni Field (22-0-1), good for 11th in the NCAA record book.
Notre Dame (15-2-0, 9-1-0 BIG EAST) clinched its divisional title in the BIG EAST standings and will play host to a BIG EAST quarterfinal next weekend (Oct. 29 or 30, TBA) versus the winner of a midweek game between the 5th-place finisher in Notre Dame’s division (currently Rutgers) and the 4th-place team in the other division (currently Syracuse).
The Irish have posted six straight shutouts – matching the third-longest shutout streak in the program’s history – a stretch that includes a 64-2 edge in shots on goal during the past four games. Friday’s action saw Notre Dame roll up a 37-2 edge in total shots and 14-1 in shots on goal while attempting all nine of the night’s corner kicks.
Notre Dame’s season goal total (75) now is four more than its opponents’ combined shot total (71) when facing the Irish this season – with the Irish goal total well more than double the opponents’ combined shots on goal (33). Notre Dame has outscored its opponents 26-0 during the current six-game shutout streak, one shy of matching the longest stretch of consecutive unanswered goals in the seven-year Randy Waldrum era.
Krivacek looped in a shot from outside the box for the game’s first goal, delivering in her first start since returning from an ankle injury that sidelined her for a month. Freshman Brittany Bock scored on a high-level header in the 74th minute, sending home a corner-kick service from Katie Thorlakson for the 2-0 lead. It marked the 60th career assist for Thorlakson, tying her with former UC Santa Barbara standout Carin Jennings for ninth in NCAA history.
Goals in the final 10 minutes from Candace Chapman and Maggie Manning helped put the game out of reach. Chapman’s score gives her 20 goals and 22 assists in a career spent playing mostly in the defense, as she becomes the program’s 21st all-time player with 20 goals and 20 assists. Manning’s goal was her seventh of the season, equaling her combined total from the previous three seasons.
Maggie Manning’s well-placed shot with her left foot capped the scoring vs. Villanova and gave the senior her seventh goal of the ’05 season.
|
 |
Villanova had allowed just 12 goals in 16 previous games this season and had yet to allow more than two goals in a game prior to Friday’s visit to Alumni Field.
The 4-0 loss marked the first time in 132 games that the Wildcats had surrendered four or more goals in a game, dating back to a 4-0 loss to Boston College late in the 1999 season.
The Irish now own a share of the national lead in shutouts (12, including 10 of the past 11 games) and have held the opponent to 0-1 goals in all but two of the 17 games this season (37 of ND’s past 40 opponents have been limited to 0-1 goals). The Notre Dame offense now has scored 4-plus goals in 12 games this season (3-plus in 14).
Notre Dame had several strong scoring chances in the first half but failed to dent the net, despite holding a 15-1 shot edge in the first 45 minutes. The Irish then blitzed the visitors to the tune of 22 second-half shots (11 on goal) and seven corner kicks, with junior ‘keeper Jillian Loyden making seven of her 10 saves to keep the Wildcats within range until the final two ND goals.
Villanova (9-4-4, 5-1-3) nearly claimed a 1-0 lead just 2:10 into the game, after ‘keeper Erika Bohn had wandered out to the top of the box attempting to snuff out a counterattack chance. Megan Farmer found herself with the ball near the upper right corner of the box – near the spot where Krivacek would open the scoring later in the game – and Farmer shot for the open goal, but her try went wide right.
That early chance for Farmer would be Villanova’s only chance of any kind for more than 84 minutes, until Erin Hardiman sent a shot from the top of the box that was easily saved by reserve ‘keeper Lauren Karas. Hardiman’s shot ended a streak in which the Irish had allowed just one shot on goal in nearly 440 minutes of game action, spanning parts of five games.
The spirited Jill Krivacek runs the gauntlet of high-fives after opening the scoring in the win over the Wildcats.
|
|
Krivacek’s fifth career goal ended the deadlock at the 57:16 mark, as the junior defensive midfielder pounced on a failed clearing attempt after a Kerri Hanks shot was blocked on the right side of the box. The 5-foot-11 Krivacek gathered the ball near the upper right corner of the box and blasted the far-post shot over the fingertips of the leaping Loyden, into the upper left corner of the net.
Claiming the first lead remains a virtual win for the Irish, who improved to 59-2-0 in their past 61 games when scoring first.
Bock’s seventh goal of the season then provided the magical cushion, as the Irish have won 220 straight games when claiming a 2-0 lead (243-0-1 all-time). Thorlakson served the ball from the leftside flag, collecting her sixth corner-kick assist of the season and 14th during the past two years with the Irish. Bock displayed her tremendous athleticism by elevating for the ball near the center of the box and twisting in the air for position before snapping her header into the upper left corner of the net (73:46).
The goal extends an impressive all-around season for Notre Dame’s freshman class, as forward Kerri Hanks (19), midfielder Bock (7) and central defender Carrie Dew (3) now have combined for 29 goals in 17 games (their goal production alone would best many of the current team totals in Division I).
Brittany Bock’s impressive freshman season continued with a skillful header goal in the win over VU.
|
|
The nation’s top scoring team (4.41 goals/gm) showed its relentless nature and tremendous depth by pushing forward for the final two goals.
Sophomore Amanda Cinalli – who again split her time between forward and midfield – nearly scored on a far-post shot from distance in the 81st minute. The 20-yard blast smacked sharply off the left post and carried back across the goalmouth, where Chapman was waiting to punctuate an impressive all-around game by the versatile fifth-year player (she again started at right back but pushed forward with regularity while also logging some strong play at forward). Chapman’s low strike sent the ball back to the left side and inside the far post for her second goal of the season (80:12).
Notre Dame is 131-1-0 in its past 132 games when scoring 3-plus goals (dating back to ’95) and 227-3-1 all-time when scoring three or more.
Candace Chapman’s strong all-around game vs. Villanova included her second goal of the season, making her the 21st player in ND history to reach 20 career goals and 20 assists.
|
|
A big key to Notre Dame’s recent all-around domination has been the play of the reserves, with the Irish attack rarely missing a beat when those players have entered the game. That certainly was the case on Friday night, as senior Maggie Manning combined with junior Lizzie Reed and sophomore Susan Pinnick to form the emerging second forward line.
Hanks – who again was buzzing all around the field but failed to record her 20th goal of the season – set up the final score, after battling to some space near the right endline and skipping a cross into the penalty area. Pinnick was making the near-post run and played a “dummy” move on the ball, allowing it to continue through the box for the waiting Manning. The resulting leftfooted shot from the top of the box clipped the bottom of the crossbar and went into the net, capping the scoring and giving Manning her 14th career goal with the Irish (89:10).
Villanova head coach Ann Clifton had an up-close view of the Irish at the 2004 College Cup – as the team’s NCAA liaison – and again on Friday night. Her comments about the Irish follow below:
VILLANOVA HEAD COACH ANN CLIFTON – “Thorlakson is just a special player and reads the game at another level. Kerry Hanks is a phenomenal freshman but if that team needs three assists to win, Thorlakson is going to do it. If they need three goals, she’ll do that too. Her ability to go to the goal is unbelievable. … You can’t forget what Cinalli does for this team. She creates that space and does the work to open things up for the whole team. … Notre Dame’s depth is pretty impressive and we saw that after it was 2-0. Pinnick is a dynamic player to bring off the bench. … It’s a solid back-four. We could have tested them more tonight. Shaner is a nice complete player, Chapman’s ability to get forward is dangerous and Dew is so exceptional in the air.”
Kerri Hanks (pictured; 19G-10A) and Katie Thorlakson (13G-22A) both picked up assists on Friday night, remaining tied for 2nd in the nation with 48 points.
|
|
UPDATED IRISH PLAYER NOTES – ND’s current players have combined to log 1,082 career games (654 starts) … Thorlakson (13G-22A) and Hanks (19G-10A) remain tied for 2nd in the nation with 48 points … Thorlakson’s 22 assists are tied for 5th on the ND single-season list and 18th in the NCAA record book (she has 46A in the past two seasons, spanning 44 games) … Holly Manthei (30-21-44-34 from ’94-’97) and Cindy Daws (20 in ’93 and ’96) are the only other ND players ever to post multiple seasons with 20-plus assists … Cinalli’s assist was her 12th of the season, good for 2nd on the team and 8th in the nation … Thorlakson’s 60 career assists leave her 9th on that NCAA all-time list, just four behind former UConn player Jen Tietjin … senior M Annie Schefter and junior M Jen Buczkowski still have yet to miss a game in their ND careers (68, with ND 60-6-2 in that ’03-’05 stretch) … Chapman (20G-22A) is the 8th ND player who has competed during the Waldrum era (since ’99) to reach the 20-20 milestone, with others including Jenny Streiffer (70-71), Anne Makinen (65-56), Thorlakson (50-60), Meotis Erikson (59-46), Jenny Heft (55-32), Amanda Guertin (48-27) and Amy Warner (37-25) … Dew’s impressive rookie season includes a team-high 1,427 minutes (84/gm) while she and Chapman are the only players to start all 17 games … Chapman has made 24 consecutive starts while logging 72 career starts and 82 games played with the Irish (32nd in the ND record book) … Thorlakson has played 87 straight games for ND (her entire career) and now ranks 23rd on the career GP list.
UPDATED ND TEAM NOTES – ND’s current run of scoring 26 consecutive goals without allowing an opponent score ranks 10th in ND history and best since early in the ’03 season (27) … that record is owned by the potent 1997 team that once scored 50 straight goals without allowing a single score by the opponent … the current shutout streak (6) is tied for 3rd in the ND record book (also ’89, ’95, ’97 and ’98), behind an 8-game shutout streak in ’95 and a 10-game shutout streak from Sept. 30-Oct. 26, 2003 (that ranks 5th in the NCAA record book) … ND now leads the series vs. VU 12-1-0 (48-4 scoring margin) … the previous five ND-VU games were decided by one goal and featured a total of just eight goals (three 1-0, two 2-1) … ND is 118-11-3 overall vs. BIG EAST teams since joining the league in ’95 (95-8-3 regular season) … ND is 63-0-1 at home vs. BIG EAST teams, dating back to early in the ’95 season … ND lowered its season goals-against avg. to 0.53 (would rank 5th in Irish history).
BIG EAST POSTSEASON UPDATE – Providence (1-7-2) and Cincinnati (1-8-1) became the first teams eliminated from the 10-team BIG EAST postseason but seven teams from each division remain in the running (the top five from each division advance) … ND has clinched winning “Division B” while Villanova (5-1-30 and Louisville (6-4-0) now are tied for 2nd with 18 points (VU holds the head-to-head tiebreaker) … Georgetown (4-5-1; 13) is 4th but can finish no higher, with Rutgers (4-6-0) and DePaul (3-4-3) tied for 5th (12) while Seton Hall (3-6-1; 10) has an outside chance … Sunday’s final regular-season games include GU at ND, VU at DePaul, RU at UL and SHU at Cincinnati … GU has the head-to-head edge vs. RU and SHU but lost on Friday at DePaul (RU also would lose head-to-head vs. SHU and DePaul, which tied SHU earlier this season) … VU amd WVU also have a makeup game remaining (Oct. 25) … the top three spots in “Division A” are locked in with Connecticut (9-1-0), Marquette (8-2-0) and West Virginia (6-2-1) … Pittsburgh – coached by former ND assistant Sue-Moy Chin and former ND record-setting forward Monica Gerardo – is 4th with 11 points (6-2-1) but must hold off Syracuse or South Florida (both 2-5-3/9), with St. John’s (2-6-2; 8) holding a slim chance … Sunday’s games include Pitt at UConn, SJU at Marquette, WVU at PC and Syracuse vs. USF (a key game that will be played at Marquette, due to the hurricane) … Pitt would lose the head-to-head with SJU and played to ties with USF and Syracuse … SJU lost to SU and lost in OT on Friday at USF (3-2) … based on the current standings, ND’s quarterfinal next weekend at Alumni Field (Oct. 29-30; date and time TBA) would be vs. the winner of the midweek 1st-round game between the Division A 5th-place team (likely Pittsburgh, or the Syracuse-USF winner) and the Division B 4th-place team (currently GU, with RU and DePaul lurking) … if the current standings hold and the home teams win, ND then would face the tournament host Marquette in the BIG EAST semifinal (with a potential title game vs. UConn).
Villanova (9-4-4, 5-1-3 BIG EAST) 0 0 – 0
#6 Notre Dame (15-2-0, 9-1-0 BIG EAST) 0 4 – 4
ND 1. Jill Krivacek 2 (-) 57:16; ND 2. Brittany Bock 7 (Katie Thorlakson) 73:46; ND 3. Candace Chapman 2 (Amanda Cinalli) 80:12; ND 4. Maggie Manning 7 (Kerri Hanks) 89:10
Shots: VU 1-1 – 2, ND 15-22 – 37
Corner Kicks: VU 0-0 – 0, ND 2-7 – 9
Saves: VU 10 (Jillian Loyden), ND 1 (Erika Bohn 0 in 78:11; Lauren Karas 1 in 11:49)
Fouls: VU 18, ND 16
Offsides: VU 2, ND 3
Yellow Card: Melissa Murowski (VU) 65:17