Candace Chapman put her diverse skills on display last weekend, logging quality minutes at right back and forward in the wins over UConn and Providence.

Thorlakson Ties Record With Sixth Career Weekly BIG EAST Honor; Chapman Receives Weekly Defensive Award

Oct. 18, 2005

Notre Dame’s Katie Thorlakson and Candace Chapman – teammates on the Canadian National Team – have been honored by the BIG EAST Conference for their roles in the recent wins over 10th-ranked Connecticut (4-0) and Providence (6-0). Thorlakson was named the league’s co-offensive player of the week after a nine-point weekend that included two goals and five assists while Chapman collected the defensive honor, after helping the Irish total a 37-1 margin in shots on goal during the pair of games (she also chipped in a goal and two assists during the weekend).

Thorlakson has been named the BIG EAST offensive player of the week three times this season – tying a record she already shared (in ’04) with former Seton Hall standout Kelly Smith. Thorlakson also tied Smith’s mark for most offensive player-of-the-week honors in a career, with six (she earlier was player of the week this season on Sept. 5 and 19).

Notre Dame players now have combined for eight BIG EAST weekly awards in the 2005 season, with Marquette (6) being the only other team to produce more than three honorees in ’05.

Notre Dame freshman Kerri Hanks (19 goals-9 assists) and the battle-tested senior Thorlakson (13G-21A) remain the nation’s premier scoring tandem, as each is tied for second in the nation with 47 points. Thorlakson’s 21 assists are five more than any other player in the nation while Hanks ranks third nationally in goals, with no other freshman in the nation owning more than 16 goals. Thorlakson’s goal versus Providence made her the 17th player in the 24-year history of Division I women’s soccer to reach 50 goals (50) and 50 assists (59) in her career.

Hanks and Thorlakson are two of just four players in all of Division I women’s soccer – spanning more than 300 teams – who have totaled 9-plus goals and 9-plus assists.

As a team, Notre Dame continues to lead the nation in scoring (4.44 goals per game) and scoring margin (+62; 71-9) while ranking 15th with a 0.56 goals-against average, as one of just three teams ranked 15th or higher in scoring and GAA.

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Katie Thorlakson has tied the record for most career BIG EAST offensive player-of-the-week honors (6).

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Thorlakson was involved in seven of Notre Dame’s 10 goals during the wins over UConn and PC. She opened the weekend with the low service that led to Annie Schefter’s far-post goal for the early lead on the Huskies. Thorlakson later launched a rightside corner kick and took the return pass from Chapman before driving a right-endline pass to Jen Buczkowski for a near-post goal from close range. She gave the Irish a 3-0 lead after running onto Brittany Bock’s thru ball and sending a shot from the right side of the box that carried into the lower left corner.

Two days later, Thorlakson converted a tricky header for another early lead in the game with the Friars. She then threaded a ball to Chapman (who scored on a low shot inside the left post) and moments later flicked the ball into the box for Chapman, who sidestepped the ‘keeper and tapped the ball to Schefter for a goal at the left post – as the Irish suddenly had compiled a 3-0 lead in a six-minute span. Thorlakson helped cap the scoring after driving to the left endline and sending a pass to Hanks for a near-post goal and the 6-0 final.

Thorlakson – who is averaging one goal for every 3.5 shots she takes this season – registered her 10th career game with 5-plus points and third with 3-plus assists (both vs. PC). She assisted on the gamewinning goal vs. UConn and then scored the GWG vs. the Friars, giving her 50 career gamewinning points (16 GWG-18 GWAs) to rank just one shy of Jenny Streiffer’s ND record. Thorlakson heads into the final two regular-season games of her Notre Dame career having registered points in 24 of the team’s past 27 games.

Chapman showed her tremendous versatility last weekend while playing at both right back and forward. She assisted on the Buczkowski goal for the early 2-0 lead vs. UConn and then scored the second goal vs. PC, assisting moments later on Schefter’s score for the quick 3-0 cushion. The fifth-year veteran helped ND dominate the run of play with a 37-1 edge in shots on goal during the weekend (15-0 scoring edge, 60-6 in total shots, 14-5 in corner kicks), helping the Irish complete a stretch in which they did not allow a shot on goal for 250 minutes.

Chapman has pushed her career point total to 60 (19G-22A), good for 23rd in the ND record book despite playing most of her career in the defense. She needs one goal to become the 21st ND player with 20G-20A in her career and has helped the 2005 Irish squad amass more goals (71) than its opponents’ combined shot total (69).

Here are some additional updated notes on the NCAA and BIG EAST stat leaders and the upcoming BIG EAST postseason:

NCAA TEAM STATS – ND leads the nation in scoring (4.44 gpg), goal margin (+62; 71-9) while ranking 2nd in shutouts (11) and 15th in GAA (0.56) … North Carolina (2nd/3.81 gpg; 14th/0.56 GAA) and Portland (6th/3.07 gpg; 3rd/0.33 GAA) are the only other teams in the top-15 for scoring and GAA … ND and UNC are the only teams averaging more than 3.5 gpg … ND’s +62 goal margin leads the nation, followed by UNC (+52; 61-9) and Portland (+41; 46-5) … Florida Atlantic (12) is the only team with more shutouts than ND … ND’s .875 win pct. trails just seven teams: Penn State (15-0-0), Portland (14-0-1), UNC (15-1-0), UCLA (13-1-0), UTEP (15-1-1), BYU (14-1-1) and Lehigh (11-1-1) … the Irish are one of six teams to score 11-plus goals in ’05 (11, vs. UNH/at Vermont)

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Kerri Hanks (19G-9A) joins teammate Katie Thorlakson (13G-21A) as two of just four players in the nation with at least 9 goals and 9 assists.

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NCAA INDIVIDUAL STATS – Thorlakson (47; 13G-21A) and Hanks (47; 19G-9A) rank behind only Portland’s Christine Sinclair (61; 27G-7A) on the NCAA scoring charts … the ND duo are two of four players in the nation with at least 9G-9A … others are UNC’s Heather O’Reilly (14G-9A) and Jacksonville’s Keri Zwikker (13G-10A) … no other scoring duo in the nation has more than 35 points each … Thorlakson is the nation’s only player with more than 15A, also ranking 9th in goals (13) … ND sophomore Amanda Cinalli (11) ranks 8th nationally in assists, Hanks 12th (9) … Thorlakson and Cinalli are the only teammates in the nation with 11-plus assists … no other team has three players with 9-plus assists (Jacksonville is the only team with two players who have 9A or more) … Thorlakson is the only player in the nation with at least 12 goals and 12 assists … ND and Alabama are the only schools with two players who have posted 8-plus points in games this season (Thorlakson had 2G-4A vs. UNH, Hanks 4G vs. Vermont) … just 12 players in the nation have posted 8-plus points in a game this season (Hanks is one of nine with 4-plus goals in a game, Thorlakson one of six with 4-plus assists in one game) … ND and Jacksonville are the only teams with one player who has posted 4-plus goals and another who has posted 4-plus assists … Thorlakson (3A vs. PC) and Southeast Missouri’s Alaina Lacopo are the only players in the nation with 3-plus assists in two games this season … ND sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Karas, who filled in for injured senior Erika Bohn during a recent 7-game stretch, currently ranks 18th on the national GAA charts (0.58).

BIG EAST STAT LEADERS – ND leads all BIG EAST teams in overall scoring (4.44 goals/gm), shots (22.6/gm), GAA (0.56), shutouts (11) and corner kicks (7.3/gm) … Hanks and Thorlakson sit atop the league scoring charts while Cinalli (21) is 4th and freshman M Brittany Bock 7th (17) … Hanks and Thorlakson are the top goalscorers from BIG EAST teams, with Bock and senior Maggie Manning tied for 7th (6) … ND players hold down the top-5 assist totals among BIG EAST players: Thorlakson (21), Cinalli (11), Hanks (9), Chapman (7) and Schefter (6), plus Bock (11th with 5A) … Hanks paces all BIG EAST players with 92 shots (Thorlakson is 7th with 46) … Hanks is 2nd with 4 GWGs, Thorlakson 5th (3) … Karas holds down the top spot on the league’s GAA charts (0.58).

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Amanda Cinalli (11A) is one of five Notre Dame players who sit atop the BIG EAST assist charts.

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BIG EAST AWARD HISTORY – ND players have combined for five BIG EAST player-of-the-week awards this season (in eight weeks): Thorlakson on Sept. 5, Sept. 19 and Oct. 17; Hanks on Aug. 29 and Sept. 26 … junior Christie Shaner (Oct. 10) and Chapman (Oct. 17) have received the weekly defensive honors while Karas was the league top weekly goalkeeper on Sept. 26 and Hanks the top rookie on Sept. 5 … the BIG EAST weekly awards now have seen 16 ND players combine for the offensive player-of-the-week honor 39 times, led by Thorlakson (5; also Aug. 30, Sept. 6 and Oct. 4 of 2004, and Sept. 5 of ’05) and three four-time honorees: Monica Gerardo (95-96-98-98), Jenny Streiffer (96-97-97-99) and Jenny Heft (97-98-98-99) … two others – Anne Makinen (97-99-00) and Amy Warner (01-02-03) – have been three-time honorees … ND’s 39 all-time BIG EAST offensive player-of-the-week honors are well ahead of the second team on that list (UConn, with 27), followed distantly by West Virginia (13), Seton Hall (8) and Villanova (8).

BIG EAST POSTSEASON FORECAST – All 16 BIG EAST teams remain in the running for the 10 spots in the BIG EAST Tournament, with one weekend left in the regular season … in “Division A,” UConn (8-1-0), Marquette (7-2-0) and West Virginia have clinched spots in the quarterfinals, as has ND (8-1-0) in Division B … Villanova (5-0-3) has locked up a spot in the 10-team tournament but has not quite clinched a first-round bye/quarterfinal spot … the first round will be held Oct. 26-27, as the 4th-place finishers will play host to the 5th-place teams from the opposite division … if the current standings hold, Division’s B’s #5 team Seton Hall (3-5-1) would play at Division A #4 Syracuse (2-4-3), with that team then advancing to play ND in the quarterfinals (at Alumni Field, likely on Oct. 30) … the other 1st-round matchup would pit St. John’s (2-5-2) at Georgetown (4-4-1), with the winner advancing to play at UConn … the other potential quarterfinals would be Louisville (5-4-0) at Marquette and WVU at VU … if the current standings hold and the home teams win, ND would face the host team Marquette in the BIG EAST semifinals (with UConn and Villanova in the other semifinal) … CSTV will air both semifinals live (2:30 and 5:00 CDT; matchups to be slotted after the quarterfinals) while the championship game will be telecast by various BIG EAST regional outlets … teams hoping to surge this weekend into the BIG EAST postseason include Pittsburgh (2-5-2), South Florida (1-5-3), PC (1-6-2), Rutgers (3-6-0), DePaul (2-4-3) and Cincinnati (1-7-1).