Oct. 31, 2004
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Katie Thorlakson and her Notre Dame teammates left little doubt that the second-ranked Irish women’s soccer team is charged up for its 2004 postseason run, as Thorlakson’s record-setting 10-point day led the way in a 7-0 BIG EAST quarterfinal victory over St. John’s in Sunday-afternoon action at Alumni Field. Thorlakson – who tied another ND record with four goals (each leftfooted), to go along with two assists vs. the Red Storm – also may have surged to the top of a shrinking list of national player-of-the-year frontrunners, with her season totals now including 18 goals and 17 assists in 19 games played.
Thorlakson’s recent “mini-slump” of four games without a point has been dwarfed by her 19-point output over the last three games, totaling seven goals and five assists over the course of action vs. Seton Hall, Michigan and St. John’s. Earlier this season she had become the first Notre Dame player ever to score or assist on the team’s first five goals in a game (doing so vs. Baylor and again vs. #4 Santa Clara) – but Sunday she went one better by having a hand in each of the first six scores, yielding an even more impressive streak of 12 straight Irish goals in which she scored or assisted (dating back to the second goal in the 3-1 win over SHU).
Notre Dame (18-0-1) moves on to a BIG EAST semifinal matchup vs. Boston College on Friday, Nov. 5, at UConn’s Morrone Stadium (7:00 EST; to be telecast on delayed basis by CSTV on Nov. 6 at 7:30 EST) while St. John’s dropped to 10-8-1. The Irish continued to dominate the full 90 minutes, rolling up a 28-2 edge in total shots and not allowing a shot on goal while holding the opposition without a corner kick for the sixth time in the last 11 games.
The hosts turned in a three-goal flurry in a five-minute stretch midway through the first half but outdid themselves early in the second half, tacking on three more goals in a span of just 78 seconds to suddenly lead by a 6-0 margin.
Seven other Irish players cracked the scoring charts on Sunday, with sophomore midfielder Jen Buczkowski assisting on Thorlakson’s first two goals while her classmates Lizzie Reed and Kim Lorenzen each had a goal and an assist. Sophomore left back Christie Shaner tacked on another impressive header goal while Jill Krivacek, Candace Chapman and Sarah Halpenny chipped in with assists on the big offensive day.
The 10-point day from Thorlakson bested the Notre Dame record of nine, previously shared by 1996 teammates Jenny Streiffer (2G-5A vs. Providence) and Monica Gerardo (4G-1A vs. Seton Hall). It also marked the first time an Irish player had scored more than three goals in a game in seven seasons and tied the team mark of four goals in a game, shared by Streiffer (’97 vs. Georgetown) and Gerardo (’96 vs. SHU and Indiana). Her 53 points this season suddenly are tied for 9th on that ND list and are the most by an Irish player since Streiffer also had 53 in 1999. Thorlakson’s 53 points now are more than double the point total of the 2004 team’s second-leading scorer (Chapman, with 25).
Notre Dame, which posted its most goals since the 7-2 opener vs. Baylor, allowed a harmless shot in the 10th minute and then went 79 minutes before allowing SJU’s second shot of the game, in the closing moments. The Irish improved to 31-3-0 in all-time home postseason games (51-11-1 overall in the postseason) and now are 20-1-0 in BIG EAST Tournament play.
Thorlakson – who entered the week leading the nation with 13 assists (now 17) and ranked sixth in total points (37, now 53) – opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, taking a feed from Buczkowski and sliding in for a 10-yard leftfooted crossing shot that carried into the right sidenetting (22:43). The goal held up as her eighth gamewinning goal of the season, tying another ND record set by future All-American Rosella Guerrero in 1994.
Four minutes later, Thorlakson’s corner kick from the right flag found the head of Shaner, who snapped the ball back across the goalmouth and into the right side of the net (26:21).
The Irish completed the first three-goal flurry 67 seconds later, as Thorlakson and Buczkowski worked a give-and-go down the center of the attacking third. Thorlakson angled away from the defense on the left side of the box and sent home another leftfooted shot for the 3-0 lead (27:28)
Notre Dame put the game out of reach early in the second half, with three goals in a span of 1:18. Thorlakson notched her second assist of the day with a leftside corner kick in the 57th minute. The service deflected off the heads of Krivacek and Reed, with Reed getting credit for her first goal of the season as the ball was knocked into the far right side of the goal (56:27).
Just 35 seconds later, Thorlakson created her own counterattack, broke free down the center of the field and shielded off a tightly-marking defender before converting another one of her patented sliding leftfooted shots, scoring from 12 yards out for her third goal of the day (57:02).
The only person who could keep Thorlakson off the scoresheet was Irish head coach Randy Waldrum and he was ready to sub her out of the game. But before the next stoppage in play, the fiery Canadian had completed her four-goal day just 43 seconds after having secured the hat trick. Reed fed the ball into the right side and Lorenzen slotted a perfect ball for Thorlakson, who knocked home the goal from the center of the box for the 6-0 lead (57:45).
Senior midfielder Halpenny collected the first point of her three-year Notre Dame career, supplying the primary assist on the game’s final goal in the 70th minute. Halpenny took a pass from her classmate Chapman and sent the ball into the box for Lorenzen, the starting right back who showcased her great versatility by playing at forward for much of the game. Lorenzen gained space on the right side and drilled home her second goal of the season to cap the scoring (69:40).
** Additional player and team notes included below stats **
#2 Notre Dame (18-0-1) 3 4 – 7
St. John’s (10-8-1) 0 0 – 0
ND 1. Katie Thorlakson 15 (Jen Buczkowski) 22:43; ND 2. Christie Shaner 2 (Thorlakson) 26:21; ND 3. Thorlakson 16 (Buczkowski) 27:28; ND 4. Lizzie Reed 1 (Jill Krivacek, Thorlakson) 56:27; ND 5. Thorlakson 17 (unassisted) 57:02; ND 6. Thorlakson 18 (Kim Lorenzen, Reed) 57:45; ND 7. Lorenzen 2 (Sarah Halpenny; Candace Chapman) 69:40
Shots: SJU 1-1 – 2, ND 13-15 – 28.
Corner Kicks: SJU 0-0 – 0, ND 3-2 – 5.
Saves: SJU 8 (Jaime Beran 8 in 69:40, Ellen Hartman 0 in 20:20), ND 0 (Erika Bohn 69:40, Nikki Westfall 20:20)
Fouls: SJU 8, ND 8.
Offsides: SJU 2, ND 2.
Yellow Card: Claire Gallerano 1 (ND) 79:42.
ADDITIONAL THORLAKSON NOTES – A day of many noteworthy moments included Thorlakson becoming just the 10th ND player ever to reach 30 goals and 30 assists in her career (32G-31A) … also passed three players – M Jodi Hartwig (87, ’91-’94), F Amy VanLaecke (90, ’94-’96) and M Tiffany Thompson (91, ’91-’94) – into 15th place on the ND career scoring charts, just behind her former teammate Amy Warner (99, ’00-’03) … she earlier had an 8-point game vs. Santa Clara (3G-2A) and has joined Streiffer (2G-5A vs. Providence, 3G-2A vs. Seton Hall, in ’96) as the only ND players with 8-plus points in multiple games during the same season (Streiffer also had the 4G/8-point game in ’97) … Gerardo, with her pair of 4-goal games, is the only other ND player to hit 8-plus points in a game twice during her career … Thorlakson is 2G-3A shy of becoming the 3rd ND player ever to reach 20G-20A in the same season (Cindy Daws had 26G-20A and Streiffer 22G-22A, both in ’96) … would need 5G-3A the rest of the season to become the first ND player ever with 23 goals and 23 assists in season … averaging 2.79 points per game and would total 78 over the maximum 28-game season (the ND record is 72 points by Daws in her ’96 player-of-the-year season) … had totaled just 2G-2A in seven previous postseason games with the Irish … now has posted 10 (vs. SJU), 8 (vs. SCU), 7 (vs. BU) and 6 (vs. UM) points in a game this season and owns five multiple-goal games (4 vs. SJU, 3 vs. SCU, 2 vs. BU, UW Green Bay and Michigan) … needs 7 points to join Daws (72 in ’96), Streiffer (62 in ’96) and Jenny Heft (61 in ’98) as the only ND players with 60-plus points in a season … others ahead of Thorlakson on the ND single-season scoring chart include: Gerardo (59 in ’96), Anne Makinen (58 in ’97), Streiffer (58 in ’97), Meotis Erikson (57 in ’97) and Holly Manthei (54 in ’96) … during the past two seasons, she has totaled 58 points in 26 games at Alumni Field (21G-16A, 9 GWG) … has had a hand in nearly 70% of ND’s goals this season (37 of 55, including two “unofficial assists”) … entered week as one of three players in the nation with 12G-12A (now has 17-plus of each) … her 14 career GWGs remain 8th in ND history, one behind Streiffer and five shy of Heft’s record … likely one of quickest ND players to 30G-30A and could be one of quickest to 100 points (check back later in week, pending research) … also may hold ND record for most points in 3-game span (19) … first ND player with 3-plus goals in multiple games of a season since Heft had three hat tricks in ’98 … joins Warner (’00 and ’02) as only ND players since ’00 with 3-plus goals more than once in their careers … has played in 62 straight games with the Irish since returning from the 2002 Under-19 World Championship … the other 9 ND players in the 30G-30A club: Shannon Boxx (39G-57A), Daws (61-67), Erikson (59-46), Gerardo (73-44), Guerrero (55-32), Alison Lester (45-36), Makinen (65-56), Michelle McCarthy (59-38) and Streiffer (70-71).
ADDITIONAL UPDATED IRISH PLAYER AND TEAM NOTES – Buczkowski remains 3rd on the team in scoring with 24 points (7G-10A) and has 3G-5A in the last 6 games (29 of her 38 career points have come at Alumni Field) … Buczkowski and junior M Annie Schefter have played every game the past two seasons (43) … since the 2-1 win at Georgetown on Oct. 10, ND has posted a 15-1 scoring edge, plus 112-14 in shots (avg. 23-3), 42-6 in shots on goal (avg. 8-1) and 17-1 in corner kicks (avg. 3-0), in 5 GP … the Irish have scored 14 straight goals without allowing an opponent score since Seton Hall’s early goal on Oct. 22 (set up by an errant goal kick) … the BIG EAST quarterfinals began in 1998 and ND now is 6-0-0 in the quarterfinal round (24-1 scoring edge) … the Irish are unbeaten after 19 games for the 5th time (also ’94, ’97, ’00, ’03) … SJU was the only team ND did not face in the BIG EAST regular season … the Irish have held their last 15 opponents to 0-1 goals (0.39 GAA in that stretch) … ND had just 4G in a 4-game stretch before totaling 14G vs. Seton Hall, Michigan and SJU … since a rare deficit vs. Pittsburgh on Sept. 24, ND has outscored the opposition 31-3 (2 GA in last 8-plus gms) … since joining the conference in ’95, ND is 105-9-3 in all games vs. BIG EAST teams, with a 56-game home unbeaten streak vs. BIG EAST squads (55-0-1) … the Irish now have totaled more goals (55) than opponent shots on goal (52; 2.7/gm), after totaling 73G and 53 opp. SOG in ’03 … ND is 112-19-5 (.842) in the 6-year Randy Waldrum era while Waldrum now is five wins shy of his 300th win in 23 total seasons as a college head coach (295-124-24, .693) … the Irish had averaged just 1.9 goals per game vs. BIG EAST teams in the ’04 regular season (compared to 3.6 gpg vs. non-conference teams) … junior G Erika Bohn is riding a 476-minute shutout streak, dating back to the GU game … Bohn entered the week ranked 7th in the nation with a 0.41 goals-against avg. and now has her GAA down to 0.36, which would tie the ND record set by LaKeysia Beene in ’97 … Bohn’s 0.72 career GAA is just shy of Jen Renola’s 0.69 for 3rd in ND history (also behind Liz Wagner’s 0.57 and Beene’s 0.62) … ND owns a 210-3-1 (.983) all-time record when scoring 3-plus goals (114-1-0 since 10/6/95) … ND has won its last 38 games when scoring first … the Irish now own a 27-4 scoring edge in the 1st half, 28-6 in the 2nd half … ND now leads the SJU series 9-0-0 (47-0 scoring edge) … the ND men and women lead all of Division I with 31 combined soccer wins this season (31-2-3, .903) … the ’04 defense has allowed just 10 goals (0.52 GAA), 110 total shots (5.8/gm), 52 shots on goal (2.7/gm), 33 corner kicks (1.7/gm) and just four deficits (85 min.) … the four backline starters (Shaner, Lorenzen and senior central backs Melissa Tancredi and Gudrun Gunanrsdottir) have combined for 217 career games played at ND (174 starts) … the Irish own a 423-110 edge in total shots (avg. 22-6), 215-52 in shots on goal (11-3) and 109-33 in CKs (6-2) … ND has trailed for just 266 total minutes the past two-plus seasons (7% of the total minutes, spanning 47 games) … the Irish have allowed just 26 first-half goals in the past four seasons (84 games) … ND has limited 33 of its last 40 overall opponents to 0-3 shots on goal … the Irish have seen just 5 of the last 47 opponents come back to tie the game … ND owns a 162-14-3 all-time record (.913) at Alumni Field … ND owns a 86-25-7 all-time record (.756) in tournament action (24-1-0 in conference tournaments) … the Irish are two wins shy of posting the program’s ninth 20-win season in the last 11.