Oct. 5, 2003
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Katie Thorlakson took a short free-kick pass from Kimberly Carpenter and drilled home a low, leftfooted shot from 24 yards as the second-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team won yet another defensive struggle with BIG EAST Conference divisional foe Villanova, in Sunday’s 1-0 overtime game at Alumni Field.
Notre Dame (11-0-1) is unbeaten in its last 15 overtime games (11 wins, 4 ties; dating back to a 1999 opening loss to UNC) and has won its last 46 home BIG EAST games, stretching back to 1995. The Irish also now are one of three undefeated teams left in all of Division I women’s soccer – joining UNC and surprising Oklahoma State, which posted a tie over Texas A&M and a win over Texas this weekend – while Notre Dame now owns the nation’s fourth-best team goals-against average (0.41), yielding just two goals and 11 shots on net over the course of the last eight games.
Villanova (10-3-0 – which has allowed just six goals all season – adopted its typical defensive posture with eight players regularly packed in the box, but the visitors also generated several quality scoring chances. The Wildcats had their share of the play in the first 15 minutes before the possession tilted primarily to Notre Dame’s attacking third the rest of the way, with the Irish owning a 16-5 edge in total shots (8-1 in shots on target) while the game featured a low total of five corner kicks (three for the hosts).
Notre Dame has owned a double-digit shot advantage in each of the last four games versus Villanova (84-31 combined shot edge, or 21-8 per game) but the Irish have met with goalscoring frustration in each of those games, winning twice in overtime (2-1 in ’01, 1-0 in ’03) plus a 1-0 win in 2000 and a 2-1 loss at VU in ’01 (for just a 5-3 combined scoring edge in those games). Notre Dame also has limited Villanova to 1-2 shots on net in three of the last four meetings and now owns a 44-3 all-time scoring edge in the 11-game series.
The game-ending goal came with 2:38 remaining in the first overtime, after a Villanova foul near the top right corner of the box. Carpenter – who has been one of Notre Dame’s top all-around players in recent weeks – tapped the kick to her left and the spunky Thorlakson ran onto the play before onetouching a leftfooted shot ripped through a maze of players and settled into the left side of the goal, a few feet inside of the far post (97:22). It was Thorlakson’s fourth goal of the season (equaling her 2002 total), giving her 12 points (4G-4A) in the last eight games.
Both teams had goals wiped out due to offside calls while the Wildcats had a breakaway chance in the 59th minute, after a weak pass by the Irish defense near the midfield stripe. Regina Vlillari took possession and raced towards the left side of the box, with Irish freshman defenders Christie Shaner and Kim Lorenzen giving chase to cut off the angle and force a low shot from 20 yards that knuckled wide of the far right post.
NOTES: The Irish now own a 43-5 scoring edge and still have trailed just once all season, for seven minutes vs. ASU in the third game of the season … ND is 6-0-0 this season when playing the second games in a three-day stretch (19-2 scoring edge), after going just 4-4-0 in “second games” during the ’02 regular season (17-13 scoring edge) … ND is unbeaten after 12 games for the sixth time in the last 13 seasons (four previous ND teams have not lost in the first 13 games while three have opened with a 14-game unbeaten streak) … the Irish allowed 16 shots on net in the first three games but have clamped down in the last nine (12), for 28 total opponents shots on target in 12 games … set plays traditionally have been a key part of the ND offense but the Irish totaled just three goals off set plays in the first three games before recording four set-play goals in the last four games … ND’s 0.41 team GAA trails only UNC (0.23), Oklahoma State (0.33) and Pepperdine (0.36) … ND’s 11 overtime wins in the 5-year Randy Waldrum era have included goals from seven different players (plus an own goal, vs. Stanford in ’00): Anne Makinen (vs. UConn in ’99), Amanda Guertin (ND record 3; vs. WVU in ’00, Michigan in ’01, BC in ’02), Meotis Erikson (vs. SCU in ’00 NCAA quarterfinals), Kelly Tulisiak (vs. IU in ’01), Amy Warner (2; vs. VU in ’01, Rutgers in ’02), Mia Sarkesian (vs. WVU in ’01) and Thorlakson … the ties in the 15-game unbeaten OT streak have come vs. Nebraska (’99 NCAA quarterfinals/advanced on PKs), UConn (’00), Wisconsin (’01) and Stanford (’02) … Carpenter’s 9 points this season (3G-3A) are nearly double her combined points in the 2000-02 seasons (2G-1A), with points in each of the last four games … ND has limited the opposition to 0-1 goals in each of its last 17 fall games (plus all five games last spring), with that 17-game streak of not allowing multiple goals bested by just two previous ND teams (24 games in 2000 and 20 in ’94) … junior F Mary Boland saw her goalscoring streak end at four games … the Irish are 122-8-2 in their last 132 home games (144-12-2 all-time) … ND improved to 70-7-2 in all-time games vs. BIG EAST teams (since ’95) … sophomore G Erika Bohn is 20-1-1 in her last 22 starts with the Irish (including ’03 spring), allowing just 10 goals in that stretch … the 0.41 team GAA is just shy of the top two spots in the ND record book (0.36 in ’97, 0.39 in ’00) while Bohn’s 0.36 GAA would match LaKeysia Beene’s ND record (’97) … the Irish have allowed just 20 first-half goals in the last three seasons (54 games) … Warner drew her 54th consecutive start while fifth-year D Vanessa Pruzinsky logged her 84th career game and 82nd start with the Irish.
1 2 OT F
VILLANOVA 0 0 0 – 0
#2 NOTRE DAME 0 0 1 – 1
ND 1. Katie Thorlakson 4 (Kimberly Carpenter) 97:22.
Shots: VILL 2-2-1 – 5, ND 6-8-2 – 16.
Corner Kicks: VILL 2-0-0 – 2, ND 2-1-0 – 3.
Saves: VILL 7 (Chrissy Dolan), ND 1 (Erika Bohn).
Fouls: VILL 12, ND 17.
Offsides: VILL 1, ND 1.
Yellow Card: Lindsey Finnegan (VILL) 14:25.