Sept. 4, 2005
Kerri Hanks scored twice – becoming the first Notre Dame player ever to reach 10 goals in the first four games of the season – while Katie Thorlakson added a goal and pair of assists as part of another strong all-around team effort, as the top-ranked and homestanding Irish won the Inn at Saint Mary’s Soccer Classic with Sunday’s 6-0 victory over Maryland at Alumni Field.
(Note: check back to this release later in the week for photos from Sunday’s game.)
Notre Dame (4-0-0) has rolled up a 27-2 scoring edge in 2005, matching the 1996 team for the most goals by an Irish squad in the first four games of the season. The 2005 team is the first in the Notre Dame program’s storied history ever to score four-plus goals in each of the first four games of the season, with earlier big wins over New Hampshire (11-1), Vermont (6-0) and a Florida team ranked as high as 11th in the nation (4-1). The Notre Dame record for consecutive games with 4-plus goals in eight, from Oct. 20-Nov. 24 of the 1996 season.
Maryland (1-2-1), ranked 25th in this week’s Soccer America poll, was slowed by an early red card issued to junior defender Ashly Kennedy. Notre Dame went on to rack up a 31-1 edge in total shots (19-0 in shots on goal) while attempting nine of the game’s 10 corner kicks.
Notre Dame – now 41-1-2 in its past 44 regular-season games – completed the impressive weekend vs. the pair of ranked teams by outscoring the opposition 10-1, with a 46-8 edge in total shots, 27-4 in shots on goal and 12-5 in corners. The Irish season stats now include a 63-10 shot edge (including 50-5 in first-half shots), plus 42-6 in shots on goal and 24-5 in CKs.
Hanks joins Monica Gerardo as the only Notre Dame players ever to score in the first four games of a season. Gerardo did so 10 years earlier at the start of the 1995 NCAA championship season, ultimately scoring in each of the first five games during that freshman season. Hanks will have the chance next Friday at Santa Clara to match Gerardo’s mark by scoring in a fifth straight game to start the season.
The Irish have rotated their players throughout the first four games and Hanks actually had logged just 225 minutes of game time when she scored her 10th goal, the equivalent of playing every minute for two games and an additional half. That factors out to one goal for every 22 minutes she had been on the field this season (and four goals for each 90 minutes played).
In Sunday’s earlier game, Florida erupted for a 5-0 win over Connecticut that gave the Gators the runner-up trophy (see stats and notes below on the UF-UConn game).
Thorlakson repeated as the offensive MVP of Notre Dame’s annual home tournament while junior midfielder Jen Buczkowski – the event’s offensive MVP in 2003 – completed the rare career double by earning the defensive MVP honors for the 2005 tournament. Notre Dame’s other all-tournament selections included Hanks, fifth-year right back Candace Chapman and freshmen center back Carrie Dew.
Notre Dame is unbeaten in its past 14 regular-season tournament games (13-0-1, dating back to ’02) and has held the opponent to 0-1 goals in 26 of the past 27 games (with 19 shutouts in that span).
Dew notched the first goal of her young Notre Dame career while South Bend native Susan Pinnick picked up her second goal of the 2005 season (in addition to scoring twice in the ’05 preseason). Another newcomer, freshman Beth Koloup, assisted on Pinnick’s goal and then scored her own goal in the lategoing for her first points with the Irish.
The Irish utilized all 24 of their healthy players, with the reserves playing for a large portion of the second half.
Kennedy was issued her red card in the 11th minute, after tackling Thorlakson as she raced into the penalty area. Some confusion then ensued as Thorlakson was awarded a direct kick outside the top of the box. Nikki Resnick made one of her 11 saves on the play but Kennedy had not been sent off the field. The kick then was retaken by Hanks and Resnick again made the save, preserving the early scoreless tie.
Hanks notched her ninth goal of the season four minutes later, knocking in a deflected Thorlakson shot. Buczkowski set up the sequence with a pass into the right side of the attacking third, as Thorlakson turned and ripped a shot for the far-left post. Resnick made a diving save but could not corral the ball, as Hanks slanted in from the far side and quickly sent the ball into the vacated net for the early 1-0 lead (14:20).
Thorlakson picked up her third corner-kick assist of the season (after totaling eight CK assists in ’04) midway through the opening half, serving the ball from the right flag. The 5-foot-9 Dew was stationed at the far post as the ball dipped to her feet, using her size to maintain position before touching the ball into the net (28:30).
Hanks scored again five minutes later, becoming the 17th Notre Dame freshman to reach double-digit goals in season Chapman eluded the Terps near the right flank before launching the ball into the penalty area, from 50 yards out. Hanks timed her jump and beat a Maryland defender to the ball, flicking a 12-yard header into the upper right corner of the net for the 3-0 halftime lead (33:15).
Thorlakson scored her fifth goal of the season and 42nd of her career, early in the second half. Maryland was trying to clear the ball at the top of their defensive third but Thorlakson battled to win possession before quickly striking a rising, 25-yard shot that curled into the far-right sidenetting (57:20).
Hanks hit the post twice in the game, narrowly missing the chance to tie the Irish record for hat tricks in a season (3).
The Notre Dame reserves continued Notre Dame’s high level of play in the final 20 minutes of the game. Koloup, who was inserted at forward, assisted on the fifth goal after winning the ball in a crowd outside the top of the box. The two-sport star (she also will play for the Irish lacrosse team next spring) tapped the ball forward and Pinnick raced free before placing the ball into the lower left corner, giving the sophomore forward her second official goal in her first fall season with the Irish (76:44).
Koloup scored with 1:04 left to play, putting back her own rebound after a cross from the right flank. Koloup elevated near the far-left post and sent a header that was saved by Resnick, with Koloup then quickly volleying the rebound into the goal to cap the scoring (88:56).
(Quotes, notes, all-tournament team and info. from the UF-UConn game are included below.)
#25 Maryland (1-2-1) 0 0 – 0
#1 Notre Dame (4-0-0) 3 3 – 6
ND 1. Kerri Hanks 9 (Katie Thorlakson, Jen Buczkowski) 14:20; ND 2. Carrie Dew 1 (Thorlakson) 28:30; ND 3. Kerri Hanks 10 (Candace Chapman) 33:15; ND 4. Thorlakson 5 (-) 57:20; ND 5. Susan Pinnick 2 (Beth Koloup) 76:44; ND 6. Koloup 1 (-)
Shots: MD 0-1 – 1, ND 18-13 – 31
Corner Kicks: MD 0-1 – 1, ND 4-5 – 9
Saves: MD 13 (Nikki Resnick 11, team 2); ND 0 (Erika Bohn 45:00; Lauren Karas 15:22; Nikki Westfall 15:22)
Offsides: MD 0, ND 4
Fouls: MD 16, ND 10
Red Card: Ashly Kennedy, MD (10:19)
Yellow Card: Kimberly Bunting, MD (22:54)
Attendance: 1,306
UPDATED THORLAKSON NOTES – Thorlakson’s 1G-2A pushed her career point total to 129, moving past Alison Lester into 11th on the ND career scoring list and now just six shy of tying Shannon Boxx for 10th … she also moved past Gerardo and Kara Brown into 9th on the ND career assists list (45), just one behind Meotis Erikson … Thorlakson remains 12th on the ND career goals list (42), just behind Susie Zilvitis (44) and Lester (45) … she now owns 14 career game-winning assists, tied with Anne Makinen for 4th in ND history … her 40 game-winning points (13 GWGs) are 8th in ND history, one behind Gerardo … she nearly has averaged 3.0 points per game in the past two seasons (28G-30A, 86 points in 31 GP), has points in 14 of ND’s past 15 games (17G-19A/53 pts; no pts vs. Vermont, after playing just 29 minutes) and has scored/assisted on 36 of ND’s past 55 goals (66%) … averaging 1.74 pts/gm in her career, 8th in ND record book and close to the Michelle McCarthy (1.75) and Holly Manthei (1.77) career averages … has played in 74 consecutive games with the Irish (her entire career) … now has totaled 60 points (20G-20A, 7 GWG) at Alumni Field during the ’04 and ’05 seasons, in 17 GP (3.53 ppg) … has 33 points in her past 8 home games (11G-11A) and has racked up 78 points at Alumni Field during the ’03-’05 seasons (27G-24A, 9 GWG in 33 GP).
OTHER ND NOTES – Hanks already is the 17th ND freshman with double-digit goals and is nearly halfway to Makinen’s record for goals by an ND freshman (23, in ’97) … other ND freshmen who have scored more than 10 goals in a season include: Meotis Erikson (22), Jenny Streiffer (22), Gerardo (20), Cindy Daws (16), Lester (14), Zilvitis (14), Stacia Masters (13), Rosella Guerrero (13), Jenny Heft (12), McCarthy (12) and Amanda Guertin (11) … Thorlakson (5G-7A) and Hanks (10G-1A) have combined with sophomore Amanda Cinalli (2G-5A) to form a potent forward trio that already has totaled 17 goals and 13 assists (47 points) in the four games this season … Randy Waldrum’s first season (’99) was the previous time that an Irish team had posted 4-plus goals in four straight games (at any time in a season), with the ’99 team ultimately scoring 4-plus in seven straight games ( 7-1 vs. Miami, 9-2 at Wisconsin, 4-1 at Indiana, 5-0 vs. Miami, 5-0 vs. Seton Hall, 4-2 vs. UConn and 5-1 vs. Dayton) … since handing Seton Hall an early lead in the final regular-season game of ’04, the Irish are riding a 56-6 scoring edge over the past 14-plus games … the Irish own a 49-11-2 overall record in tournament play during the Waldrum era (’99-’05), including 20-4-1 in regular-season tournament action … since a 3-2 loss to BYU on 10/19/02, ND has trailed in just 11 of the past 59 games for 283 of 5,390 minutes (5.3%), going 52-5-2 in that 59-game stretch … since ’94, the Irish are 29-6-3 in regular-season tournaments (20 wins vs. NSCAA ranked teams) … ND has allowed just 27 first-half goals in the ’01-’05 seasons (96 GP; 0.28/gm), including just five opponent 1st-half goals in the ’04 (4) and ’05 (1) seasons, spanning 31 games … senior goalkeeper Erika Bohn made her 72nd career start while improving to 56-11-2 in her official decisions with the Irish … Buczkowski and senior M Annie Schefter have played in all 55 games during the ’03-’05 seasons … three juniors – left back Christie Shaner (52), central defender Kim Lorenzen (45), M/F Lizzie Reed (44) and defensive M Jill Krivacek (39) – also have noteworthy streaks of consecutive games played (each has played in 54 of 55 games during their ND careers) … the Irish own a 210-game winning streak when claiming a 2-0 lead (232-0-1 all-time), are 217-3-1 when scoring 3-plus goals (119-1-0 since 10/6/95) and 303-9-12 when holding the opponent to 0-1 goals (108-3-5 since 9/9/99) … the past 123 opponents to face a 2-0 deficit vs. the Irish have been unable to even tie the score (since the ’96 BIG EAST title game) … ND has compiled a 97-25-7 all-time record in tournament action, including 41-13-6 (.733) in regular-season tournaments (20-3-2 at home) … ND owns a 168-14-3 all-time record at Alumni Field (119-4-2 vs. teams not ranked in the NSCAA poll) … the Irish have won nearly 92% of their all-time regular-season home games at Alumni Field (135-11-3).
NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH Randy Waldrum – “Katie and Kerri are different players but they also are similar in that they really understand the game. They really have a great ability around the goal and are going to be a very tough tandem by the end of the year. They are a handful already but they are going to get better. And then when you throw Cinalli and Bock in there, it’s a tough group up front. … We had been pretty efficient in our goalscoring and the finishing has been good. We had the chance to see some young players in the final 25 minutes and still got some goals out of them. Their `keeper was very good today and made some big saves early. … We had talked about using our depth to run them a lot and wear them down, starting the game with a high tempo so they could not slow the pace down. It was a much better start for us than on Friday against Florida. It’s difficult to play on a Friday night and turn around and play on Sunday. … I hope Kerri, Katie and Cinalli keep putting it away. Hanks is off to a great start for a freshman and I hope she can keep that going. I think the good thing is that you have three completely different kinds of players and that makes it hard for a team to key on one of them because the other will beat you in a different way. As long as we can keep them playing so well together, they are going to be a great group of frontrunners for us. … Keeping players fresh and getting our reserves some quality minutes are key and those things helped us win the national championship. Playing a lot of players with different lineups keeps you fresh and cuts down on the risk of late-game injuries and that kind of thing. It’s extremely important that those reserves can come on and give you 25 minutes without skipping a beat.”
ND SENIOR FORWARD Katie Thorlakson – “We are going to have a great team this year. We have built off last year and just are getting stronger and stronger. … Coach is trying to figure out what the lineup is going to be on a more regular basis and when we start figuring that out and knowing each other even more, it should be even better communication, knowing how each other play and that should lead to more chances at goals. … I’m just putting the corner kicks in there and usually somebody will have a chance to score, we have a lot of great players who can score. … Hanks takes a lot of pressure off me. It’s great playing with her, it’s really fun. We get to improvise on a lot of stuff. She has a lot of experience on the international level so it’s nice to have that kind of soccer mind around. … Last year, everything just happened for me. I was working hard and it all seemed to be going my way. But this year, it’s really fun. We have a lot of improvisation. … It started in the spring, Hanks and I were practicing together and playing really well. We have so much fun playing soccer together. Everyone gets mad when we’re on the same team in practice because we put the ball away so much. … The pressure is always there when you play for Notre Dame but it’s just how you deal with it and we’re playing really well right now. We take each game as it comes and keep focused. … It was good to have two games like this heading into the Santa Clara game. For the freshmen, they got some more experience and our defense is looking great, so we hopefully will be able to build on that next week.”
MARYLAND HEAD COACH BRIAN PENSKY – “This was a good weekend for us. Our players put themselves in position to win on Friday and we thought worst-case scenario that we would come away with a draw. And with 1:06 left in overtime to give up a goal and now lose and then to have to emotionally get it together and play them on Sunday, we did that. … We start a lot of seniors and have a lot of experience and will be able to put this behind us. … Thorlakson and Hanks are great. They are very different players. We were watching Thorlakson on Friday vs. Florida and my assistant and I were looking with a half-smile on our face, knowing that she was going to be quite a handful. And then Hanks, she plays with the fury and passion of a youngster. She scored a great goal right before halftime and they are a handful for any team. And then you have eight players around them and a handful off the bench that make this team very dangerous. … In soccer, it doesn’t matter how big you are and that’s why Notre Dame is so good right now because they do have all shapes and sizes and this game rewards you if you are an athlete and know how to play the game. They have kids like Dew who are nice tall, athletic kids that can get on the end of crosses but then they have little crafty players that can run by you and still get up, because Hanks did a pretty good job getting up for that goal. … There’s no question that women’s college soccer can be played at a high level and at a fast pace. That game Friday night, Notre Dame and Florida were flying. It was a fast-paced game and our kids stuck around and watched and `Wow, this is fast.’ I think that, over time, we are going to have a great season ahead of us. As we move forward as a program, we want to improve on our team speed. Both speed of play and general outright speed.”
Inn at Saint Mary’s Notre Dame Soccer Classic All-Tournament Team
Offensive MVP: Katie Thorlakson, Notre Dame (F, Sr.)
Defensive MVP: Jen Buczkowski, Notre Dame (M, Jr.)
Goalkeeper MVP: Jen Gardner, Florida (Sr.)
Also from Notre Dame: Candace Chapman (D, Sr.), Carrie Dew (D, Fr.), Kerri Hanks (F, Fr.)
Also from Florida: Ananda Erickson (M, Jr.), Jasmine Johnson (M, So.)
From Connecticut: Elizabeth Eng (M, Fr.), Brittany Taylor (M, Fr.)
From Maryland: Mallory Mahar (M, Sr.), Sarah Sample (M, Jr.)
FLORIDA-UCONN NOTES – The Huskies had several solid scoring chances in the first half but were caught offside four times while seeing `keeper Jen Gardner foil a couple of good looks at the goal … KeLeigh Hudson converted a PK late in the opening half (after Ameera Abdullah drew the foul) … Cherry Pickman later knocked in a deflected header from Jasmine Johnson, yielding a 2-0 lead in the 59th minute … five minutes later, Johnson headed in a deflected shot from Melanie Booth … Jessica Young’s 79th-minute corner kick found the head of Ananda Erickson, whose header was stopped by `keeper Stephanie Labbe before Katie Green pounced on the deflection for the 4-0 cushion … UF’s fifth and final goalscorer was Lindsey DeLorenze, who hit a driving shot from 16 yards in the 86th minute.
#9 Connecticut 0 0 – 0
#11 Florida 1 4 – 5
UF 1. KeLeigh Hudson (PK) 42:34; UF 2. Cherry Pickman (Jasmine Johnson, Kelli Eisenbrown 58:18); UF 3. Johnson (Melanie Booth) 63:58; UF 4. Katie Green (-0) 78:15; UF 5. Lindsey DeLorenze (-) 85:03
Shots: UConn 14, UF 18
Corner Kicks: UConn 2, UF 4
Saves: UConn 5 (Stephanie Labbe), UF 7 (Jen Gardner 5, Brittni Goodwin)
Fouls: UConn 11, UF 14
Offsides: UConn 7, UD 0
Yellow Cards: Ashley Harris, UF (69:30); Katie Green, UF (83:21)