Sept. 30, 2004
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NOTRE DAME WOMEN’S SOCCER – at West Virginia and vs. Providence (Oct. 1 and 3, 2004)
The No. 1-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team (10-0-0, 3-0-0 BIG EAST) plays three of its next four games on the road, completing a stretch of seven road games in a 10-game stretch (three of the final four regular-season games then are at home) … the Irish next play at West Virginia (8-2-0, 3-1-0) on Friday, Oct. 1, at 7:00 p.m. EDT (6:00 in South Bend) … the Mountaineers are ranked as high as 20th in the national polls and have played some tough games vs. the Irish in recent years … the Irish then return home on Sunday, Oct. 3 (vs. Providence, 1:00 EST), followed by games next week at Villanova (Oct. 8) and Georgetown (Oct. 10) … ND, coming off home wins over Pittsburgh (3-1) and Wisconsin Green Bay (4-0), is 30-1-1 in its last 32 regular-season games … just two previous ND teams (16-0 in ’00, 13-0 in ’96) have opened with 10 straight wins while six other Irish squads have been unbeaten after 10 games … the Irish have been ranked 1st or 2nd in the NSCAA coaches poll during eight of 11 seasons since ’94 (all but ’99, ’01 and ’02; also #1 in ’94, ’95, ’96 and ’00) … ND wrapped up a 4-game road stretch at #11 ASU (2-1), Texas Tech (3-0), UConn (1-0) and Syracuse (2-1), after a pair of impressive wins at the ND Adidas Classic (1-0 vs. #13 Stanford, 5-2 vs. #4 Santa Clara) … 6th-year Irish head coach Randy Waldrum registered his 100th win with the Irish (now 104-19-4/.835) in the Texas Tech game … the Irish opened at home with wins over Baylor (7-2) and Eastern Illinois (3-0) … senior F and All-America candidate Mary Boland suffered a broken leg midway through the SCU game and will miss the rest of the season (she may be able to apply for a 5th year of eligibility) … junior F Katie Thorlakson and the Irish overcame the loss of Boland to surge past SCU, with Thorlakson becoming the first ND women’s soccer player ever to repeat as BIG EAST offensive player of the week (she also again was named to the Soccer America and Soccer Buzz national teams of the week) … the Irish just received a big piece of good news as Thorlakson announced she will remain at ND for the entire 2004 season, rather than leaving to play with Canada at the Under-19 World Championship (Nov. 10-27, in Thailand) … Thorlakson has combined with 5th-year D Melissa Tancredi and senior Candace Chapman (formerly a right back with the Irish who has been a super-sub at forward in ’04) as ND’s potent “Canadian Connection” through the first five weeks of the season.
INFORMATION HIGHWAY – Gametracker livestats for all ND home games can be accessed via the main page at www.und.com, which also includes a link to West Virginia’s livestats for Friday’s game … internet audio broadcasts also are planned for all remaining ND games, home and away, and are available to College Sports Pass subscribers (see audio/video link on und.com main page) … game recaps are available via the ND Sports Hotline at (574) 631-3000 (press “4” for soccer information and then ‘2″ for women’s soccer).
THORLAKSON TO STAY – Notre Dame junior F Katie Thorlakson (Langley, British Columbia), an early contender for NCAA player-of-the-year honors, has announced her intention to remain with the Irish for the entire ’04 season, foregoing the previous plan to leave for three weeks in order to compete with Canadian side at the Under-19 World Championship (Nov. 10-27, in Thailand) … the Under-19 World Championship overlaps with the first three round of the NCAA Championships and even could prevent players from returning in time for the fourth/quarterfinal round (Nov. 26-28) … several other players – including ND sophomore M Jen Buczkowski (Elk Grove, Ill.) – have made similar decisions in recent months … Buczkowski is the playmaker of the Irish midfield and also has been a starting defender with the U.S. Under-19 squad … unlike their Canadian counterparts, the U.S. federation instituted a residency training camp for the months leading up to the Under-19 World Championship, meaning that the team members had to sit out the entire semester from their respective colleges or high schools (ND signee Kerri Hanks is the leading scorer for the U.S. Under-19s and has delayed her enrollment until the ’05 spring semester) .. the Irish anticipated also not having the services of Buczkowski for the ’04 fall season but she made a surprise announcement at the team’s ’04 spring banquet, informing the team she would be returning to Notre Dame for the fall of ’04.
ND WOMEN’S SOCCER BY THE NUMBERS (see PDF)
TALE OF THE TAPE (see PDF)
ONE-TWO PUNCH – At the midpoint of the 2004 season, Notre Dame boasts possibly the best forward/defender combination in the nation, as junior F Katie Thorlakson (Langley, B.C.) and 5th-year central D Melissa Tancredi (Ancaster, Ont.) have led the Irish domination from their respective positions … Thorlakson (9 goals, 10 asssists, 28 points, 5 gamewinning goals) entered the week ranked 2nd in the nation for points and assists, trailing only her Canadian national teammate Brittany Timko of Nebraska … Thorlakson twice has been the BIG EAST player of the week (also named to Soccer America and Soccer Buzz national teams of the week for both weeks) and already has posted three 8-point weekends (2G-3A vs. Baylor, 1A vs. Eastern Illinois; 3G-2A vs. Santa Clara; 1G-1A vs. Pittsburgh, 2G-1A vs. UW Green Bay) … Tancredi, a 2003 All-American and the reigning BIG EAST defensive player of the year, already has earned thee BIG EAST defensive player-of-the-week honors this season (she also was one of 15 final candidates for the 2003 MAC Hermann national player-of-the-year award) … see more on both players, along with their countrywoman Candace Chapman, in the below Canadian Connection note.
IN THE BIG EAST RANKINGS
Notre Dame – 1st in goals per game (3.1; 13th in nation), shots per game (21.3); 2nd in shutouts (5); 3rd in goals-against avg. (0.70; 34th in nation); 5th in corner kicks per game (5.5)
West Virginia – 1st in corner kicks per game (6.5); 2nd in shots/game (21.0); 3rd in goals/game (2.5); 4th in shutouts (4); 5th in goals-against avg. (0.79)
Notre Dame Players
Katie Thorlakson – 1st in points (28; 2nd nationally), goals (9; 12th nat.), assists (10, 2nd nat.), shots (45), GWGs (5)
Candace Chapman – 2nd in points (15) and goals (6)
Amanda Cinalli – 5th in goals (5), 6th in points (13) and shots (33)
Jen Buczkowski – 5th in assists (4), 8th in points (12)
Annie Schefter – 4th in gamewinning goals (2)
Erika Bohn – 2nd in goals-against avg. (0.63; 27th nationally), 8th in save pct. (.733) and solo shutouts (2)
West Virginia Players
Marisa Kenela – 2nd in goals (6) and shots (40), 4th in points (14) and GWGs (2)
Laura Kane – 4th in shots (37) and GWGs (2), 5th in assists (4), 8th in points (12)
Rachel Minnech – 5th in goals (5), 6th in points (13)
Ashley Banks – 10th in shots (28)
Natalie Cocchi – 4th in GWGs (2)
Lana Bannerman – 4th in solo shutouts (4), 5th in goals-against avg. (0.80), 6th in save pct. (.758)
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS (also see tale of the tape) – West Virginia is 8-2-0 (3-1-0 BIG EAST), with wins at Kentucky (3-2/OT), over Ohio (7-0, at UK), vs. Purdue (1-0), Arizona (2-0), James Madison (2-1), at Providence (5-1), at Boston College (2-0) and vs. St. John’s (4-2) … WVU has lost home games to Virginia and Villanova (both 0-1) … WVU returned 7 starters and 12 of 16 letterwinners from its 2003 team that went 17-4-2 and finished 2nd in the BIG EAST Mid-Atlantic Division (4-1-1) before reaching the BIG EAST semifinals and the NCAA round of 16 … top scorers include junior junior F Marisa Kanela (6G-2A), F/M Rachael Minnich (5G-3A) and senior F Laura Kane (4G-4A) … sophomore Lana Bannerman has logged most of the minutes in the nets, with a 0.80 GAA, 25 saves and 8 GA … Kane led WVU in 2003 with 7G-4A.
SERIES NOTES – Notre Dame won the first eight meetings in the series before a 3-0 home win for WVU midway through the ’02 season … the Irish then won the 2003 showdown at Alumni Field, 2-0, and now lead the series 9-1-0 … the midseason matchup in ’03 saw #2 ND dominate the play vs. #5 WVU (17-2 edge in total shots, 11-1 in shots on goal, 9-4 in corner kicks (9-2 until final minutes) … Mary Boland scored ND’s quickest goal of the season in that game (1:24), with a skillful high volley via a long service from Melissa Tancredi … Amy Warner played a strong all-around game and sped free to set up a Katie Thorlakson leftside corner, with Tancredi deflecting the ball to Kimberly Carpenter (who scored on the ensuing volley) … days after rising to the No. 1 national ranking in 2000, the Irish nearly were upset at WVU (Warner scored in regulation, as did WVU’s Katie Barnes on a PK, with Amanda Guertin netting the OT gamewinner) … one year later, goals from Boland and WVU’s Abbott forced another OT – with Guertin’s free-kick cross setting up a double-header sequence by Boland and Mia Sarkesian to end the game … Guertin and Abbott then scored in the 2001 BIG EAST title game, with Guertin’s 76th-minute corner kick and headers by Sarkesian and Tancredi preceding Scheller’s lunging volley for the winning goal.
LAST TIME IN MORGANTOWN – Many of Notre Dame’s veteran players will be eager to erase the memory of the 2002 loss at WVU (3-0) … ND held the edge in shots on goal (7-5) and corner kicks (3-1) in that game while WVU held a 14-12 overall shot edge … a short clearance led to Laura Kane’s looping 25-yard shot to open the scoring … a corner kick then produced a Chrissie Abbott shot and Erika Bohn save, with Leslie Barden sending home the uncleared ball … Abbott then slid onto a cross from Kambria Riggins to cap the scoring.
ND Career Stats vs. West Virginia (see PDF)
FRIEND OR FOE? – Three Notre Dame sophomores – central M Jen Buczkowski, defensive M Jill Krivacek and M/D Kim Lorenzen – a and West Virginia sophomore G Lana Bannerman were teammates on the Chicago Sockers club team.
PRIMETIME PLAYERS – Notre Dame has won 75 percent of its “big games” during the Randy Waldrum era (’99-’04), posting a 39-12-3 record (.750) when facing an NSCAA top-25 or postseason opponent.
PLAYING THE BEST – Notre Dame has played some of its best soccer vs. ranked opponents, going 25-11-3 vs. NSCAA ranked teams in the Waldrum era (since ’99) … that trend held true in ’01 (5-1-0): 2-1 vs. Penn State, 2-0 vs. Hartford, 2-1 vs. West Virginia, 3-0 vs. Miami, 0-3 at UConn, 2-1 vs. Michigan … the Irish had ’02 wins over #25 Maryland (5-2), #8 UConn (3-1), #13 Michigan (1-0) and #14 Purdue (3-1) … over the course of the ’01-’04 seasons, ND has owned a 12-7-1 record vs. NSCAA top-25 teams (40-6-1 vs. unranked teams), including 2003 wins over #16 Santa Clara (2-1), #8 West Virginia (2-0) and #15 UConn (2-0) and a scoreless tie vs. #24 Stanford – plus the recent 5-2 win over #2 Santa Clara.
SCOUTING THE FRIARS – Providence (3-6-1, 0-2-1 BIG EAST) owns wins over Marist (1-0, at Maine), at Quinnipiac (4-3) and vs. Holy Cross (2-1), plus a scoreless tie at Pittsburgh and losses at Maine (0-5), vs. Northeastern (1-2), at Hofstra (0-2), vs. West Virginia (1-4), vs. UConn (1-3) and v. New Hampshire (2-4) … PC plays Georgetown on Friday before heading to Notre Dame … sophomore M BriAnne Brini (5G) and senior M/F Veronica Bakke (4G) have combined to score 9 of PC’s 12 goals … freshman Laura Elfers owns a 2.82 GAA, with 48 saves and 20 GA … PC’s opponents have combined for the statistical edge in scoring (24-12), shots (151-102), shots on goal (88-47) and corner kicks (28-17) … PC returned 9 starters and 15 of 19 letterwinners from its 2003 team that went 7-7-3 (1-3-2 BIG EAST) … ND leads the all-time series with PC 8-0-0 (48-1 scoring edge; last meeting 3-0 at ND in ’02).
QUICK NOTES ON THE IRISH – ND again is on pace to total more goals (currently with 31) than opponent shots on goal (24) … in addition to a 31-7 season scoring edge, the Irish also hold a 213-55 edge in total shots (avg. 21-6), 107-24 in shots on goal (11-2) and 55-15 in corner kicks (6-2) … ND has faced just two deficits this season and has trailed for just 168 total minutes the past two seasons (7% of the total minutes, spanning 39 games) … the Irish own a 16-2 first-half scoring edge this season and have allowed just 24 first-half goals in the past four seasons (75 games) … ND has limited 28 of its last 31 overall opponents to 0-3 shots on goal and has won its last 32 games when scoring first (dating back to a 3-2 loss to BYU on Oct. 19, 2002; ND is just 2-3-0 during that span when the opponent scores first) … the Irish have seen just four of the last 39 opponents come back to tie the game … just five weeks into the college season, ND is one of only four teams out of 308 in Division I women’s soccer that are unbeaten and untied (the others are Washington, Virginia and UC Riverside).
ACCURACY ADJUSTMENT – Notre Dame recently had struggled with its shot efficiency, scoring just three times on 45 shots spanning games at Connecticut and Syracuse and most of the 3-1 win over Pittsburgh … Melissa Tancredi’s game-tying goal versus Pittsburgh sparked a flurry of shot accuracy for Notre Dame, as 7 of 12 shots found the back of the net over the course of the next 60 minutes of game time (the final 29 vs. Pittsburgh and first 31 vs. UWGB) … those seven goals included three by Katie Thorlakson and one each from Tancredi, Candace Chapman, Amanda Cinalli and Annie Schefter.
CONFERENCE CALL – Notre Dame’s all-time record in regular-season conference games is 98-7-2 (.925; 79-7-2/.909 in BIG EAST) … the Irish are 54-1 in home games vs. BIG EAST teams, with 51 straight home wins over BIG EAST teams since a 5-4 OT loss to UConn in ’95 (241-17 scoring edge, 36 shutouts, 14 with 1 GA) … since ’95, ND’s overall record in all games vs. BIG EAST teams now is 98-9-2 (.908; 1-1-0 vs. UConn in NCAAs).
NOTRE DAME PLAYER QUICK-FACT SHEET (see PDF for stats and notes on each regular)
WALDRUM PICKS UP 100TH ND WIN – Sixth-year ND head coach Randy Waldrum posted his 200th career win as a Division I women’s head coach in the 2-1 game vs. Miami on Nov. 2, 2003, and recently registered his 100th win at Notre Dame in the 3-0 game at Texas Tech … Waldrum also coached eight seasons as college men’s soccer head coach and is 13 wins shy of his next milestone: 300 combined wins as a men’s and women’s college head coach (287-124-23/.688, in 23 seasons) … Waldrum now owns a 211-69-16 mark (.740) in 15 combined seasons as the women’s head coach at Tulsa, Baylor and Notre Dame … the Irish are 104-19-4 (.835) in the Waldrum era, including 88-15-3 in the past 104 games (since losing 4-2 at SCU on Oct. 17, 1999) …Waldrum repeated as BIG EAST coach of the year in 2000 and then became the first three-time BIG EAST women’s soccer coach of the year (in ’03) … in ’99, he became the only coach in the history of the NCAA women’s soccer championship to lead a team to the title game in his first season as that team’s head coach … he was the fourth 1st-year coach to take his team to the NCAA semifinals, beating top-ranked and unbeaten Santa Clara in San Jose … his women’s soccer record includes 61-36-9 in six years at Tulsa, 46-14-3 in three seasons at Baylor … Waldrum ranks 8th among active women’s coaches for career win pct. (min. 10 Div. I seasons).
SCOUTING THE IRISH – The 2004 Notre Dame squad features 23 former letterwinners and nine players with significant starting experience, among them senior D/F Candace Chapman (missed ’03 season due to injury) … the Irish spent most of ’03 ranked No. 2 in the nation and raced out to an 18-0-1 record before losing to Michigan in the regular-season finale (3-2), Boston College in the BIG EAST semifinals (2-1) and Michigan again in the second round of the NCAAs (1-0, with the Wolverines converting their only shot on goal) … returning starters include senior Mary Boland (Academic All-American, 12G-4A in ’03; now out for ’04 season after broken leg vs. SCU on Sept. 5) and junior Katie Thorlakson (Canadian Under-19 National Team; 10G-11A in ’03) at the forward positions, plus a pair of proven midfielders who are former U.S. Under-19 National Team standouts – junior Annie Schefter (4G-5A in ’03) and sophomore Jen Buczkowski (4G-6A in ’03) – to go along with junior goalkeeper Erika Bohn (Academic All-American; 0.49 GAA and 967-minute shutout streak in ’03) and three defenders: 5th-year Melissa Tancredi (All-American; 4G-5A in ’03) and the sophomore duo of Christie Shaner (’03 BIG EAST rookie of the year, 1G-3A) and Kim Lorenzen (20 GS in ’03; also has played M in ’04) … other top returners include senior D Gudrun Gunnarsdottir (Icelandic National Team), sophomore M/F Lizzie Reed (2G-1A in ’03) and sophomore defensive M Jill Krivacek (2G-3A in ’03) … the four players lost from the ’03 senior class included F Amy Warner (All-American; 37G-25A career, 10G-12A in ’03) and Amanda Guertin (48G-27A in career, 11G-6A in ’03), attacking M Kimberly Carpenter (6G-5A in ’03) and left back Vanessa Pruzinsky (94 career GS) … ND’s domination in ’04 included 20 more goals scored (73) than opponent shots on goal (53) … ND’s freshman class is rated No. 2 by Soccer Buzz and 4th by Soccer America … four of the freshmen had impressive debuts during the preseason Brazil trip: F Amanda Cinalli (prep All-American, U.S. Under-17 National Team), F/M Jannica Tjeder (Finland Under-21 National Team), M Ashley Jones and G Lauren Karas … top scorers on the Brazil tour (5-0-1; 16-3 scoring edge) included Chapman (4G), Thorlakson (6A), Tjeder (3G-2A) and Jones (2G-3A) … leading scorers after 10 games: Thorlakson (9G-10A), Chapman (6G-3A), Buczkowski (4G-4A), Cinalli (5G-3A) and Schefter (3G-3A).
CANADIAN CONNECTION CLICKING – Notre Dame’s three Canadian natives – 5th-year D Melissa Tancredi (Ancaster, Ont.), senior F/D Candace Chapman (Ajax, Ont.) and junior F Katie Thorlakson (Langley, B.C) – have been key leaders of the Irish early-season surge … Thorlakson, the first ND player ever to repeat as BIG EAST offensive player of the week, entered the week 2nd in the nation (among players from 308 Division I teams) with 28 points (9G-10A) while her 10 assists also rank 2nd on the NCAA stat charts … her 8 points vs. #4 Santa Clara (3G-2A; most ever by ND player vs. top-25 teem) are 5th-most in the nation this year and made her the 3rd ND player ever to post a hat trick vs. a top-10 opponent … Thorlakson also became the only ND player ever to score/assist on ND’s first 5 goals in a game, doing so in the opener vs. Baylor (2G-3A) and then in the SCU game … Chapman is 2nd on the team in goals (6G-3A) despite starting just 3 games and playing a reduced number of minutes as she returns from ’03 ACL surgery (she can apply for a 5th year in ’05) … Tancredi, coming off an All-America season in ’03, is the leader of ND’s back line from her central defender spot and has helped the Irish limit the opposition to 55 total shots (5.5 per gm), 24 shots on goal (2.4/gm) and 15 corner kicks (1.5/gm) … Chapman, who started at right back for ND in ’01 and ’02, has started with the Canadian National Team (mostly at flank midfielder) while Tancredi emerged as a starting central D with Canada after the ’03 college season … Thorlakson recently made her first appearance with Canada’s full national team and is a standout with the Canadian Under-19 National Team.
TULISIAK TAKES CHARGE – Senior D Kate Tulisiak played a reserve role her first two seasons and missed most of ’03 due to a back injury, but she picked an ideal time for the first point of her career after intercepting a pass and providing the endline cross as Amanda Cinalli scored in the 84th minute for the 1-0 win at UConn … she also helped ND allow UConn (1-0) and Syracuse (2-1) just 14 combined shots, 4 shots on goal and 3 corner kicks en route to earning BIG EAST defensive player-of-the-week honors.
CINALLI TOP ROOKIE – Freshman F Amanda Cinalli scored the late GWG at UConn and had the primary assist on the first goal (by Jen Buczkowski) at Syracuse, earning BIG EAST rookie of the week honors for Sept. 13-19… Cinalli ranks 3rd on the team in scoring (5G-3A) with 13 points, just two points behind Candace Chapman.
SOCCER “BUZZ” – Sophomore M Jen Buczkowski opened the scoring in the 2-1 win at Syracuse, matching her goal total (4) from all of ’03 after playing just eight games in ’04 … she ranks 4th on the team with 12 points (4G-4A).
SEEING 20-20 – Junior F Katie Thorlakson’s GWG at Syracuse on Sept. 19 made her the 19th player in ND’s storied history to total 20-plus goals and 20-plus assists in her career, doing so over the course of 51 games (now 23G-24A) … she is just 2G-1A shy of becoming the 16th ND player with 25G-25A (9 previous ND players totaled 30G-30A) … Thorlakson is on pace for 50 points (which would best her 42 combined points in ’02 and ’03) in the 18-game regular season and thus would become the first ND player with 50-plus points in a season since Jenny Streiffer had 53 in the first year of the Randy Waldrum era (’99) … Thorlakson already has 5 GWGs in ’04 (9th in ND history) and 10 in her career, good for 9th in the ND record book (2 behind ’01 grad. Meotis Erikson) … just 5 previous ND players have totaled 7-plus GWGs in a season … her 70 career points would rank near the top of many school’s record books but she is 21st in ND career scoring, 4 points shy of cracking the top 20 … the 15 ND players in the 25-goal, 20-assist club include: Shannon Boxx (39G-57A), Cindy Daws (61-67), Meotis Erikson (59-46), Monica Gerardo (73-44), Rosella Guerrero (55-32), Amanda Guertin (48-27), Jodi Hartwig (27-33), Jenny Heft (80-29), Alison Lester (45-36), Anne Makinen (65-56), Michelle McCarthy (59-38), Jenny Streiffer (70-71), Tiffany Thompson (27-37), Amy Warner (37-25) and Suzie Zilvitis (43-26).
TURNAROUND SUCCESS – Notre Dame is 14-0 the past two seasons (’03-’04) when playing a regular-season game two days after a previous game (41-5 scoring edge) … that’s a big improvement from the 2002 season, when the Irish were just 4-5 (18-16 scoring edge) in regular-season “bounceback” games … the 2003 bounceback games included the big 2-1 win at Santa Clara while the 2004 season already has yielded a 5-2 bounceback win over that same SCU team.
NUMBER-ONE NOTES – This marks the 5th season in the last 11 that the Irish have been No. 1 (also ’94, ’95, ’96 and ’00), with all but the ’95 team earning the top ranking prior to the final poll (the ’95 team never reached No. 1 before winning the NCAA title) … two familiar landmarks have returned to campus, as the lighted No. 1 sign can be seen atop the Grace Hall tower on the northwest corner of campus while the No. 1 flag now waves in front of the Joyce Center … both displays reappear any time an ND team earns the nation’s top ranking (or wins a national title) … ND now has been ranked No. 1 in 19 NSCAA polls, in addition to 39 all-time appearances at No. 2 in the NSCAA poll … during the past 12 years, the Irish have been ranked 1st or 2nd in the NSCAA poll during 10 different seasons while appearing in the top five of 95 of 123 NSCAA polls (77%) over that 12-year span (plus 1st-3rd in 73 NSCAA polls since ’93) … only five weekly polls in the past 12 seasons have seen ND outside the top eight of the NSCAA rankings … the Irish spent most of ’03 and the first few weeks of ’04 ranked No. 2 in the national polls … ND owns an all-time record of 38-4-1 as the top-ranked team in the NSCAA poll (22-1-1 in regular-season play).
No. 1 SIGN RETURNS – The eight-foot No. 1 sign perched atop the Grace Hall tower dates back to the 1974, when it was built by Father Bob Malone and a group of seminarians in recognition of the 1973 national championship football team … the sign was placed atop Moreau Seminary and later moved to Howard Hall before shifting high in the sky to the roof of Grace … the sign was displayed atop Grace Hall during the 1988 national-title football season and returned in parts of the ’89, ’90 and ’93 football seasons … it shone brightly in recognition of ND’s 1994 fencing and 1995 women’s soccer national championships, followed by No. 1 rankings for the women’s soccer program in ’96 and ’00 and for the fencing teams in 2001, ’02, ’03 (also national champs) and ’04 … the ’00-’01 academic year saw an unprecedented four Notre Dame teams earn the No. 1 national ranking: women’s soccer, women’s basketball (also national champs), baseball and men’s fencing.
BEWARE OF THOR! – ND junior F Katie Thorlakson has emerged as an early frontrunner for conference and national honors, entering the week ranked 2nd nationally in assists (10) and total points (28), with two of her Canadian national teammates also owning 28-plus points (Nebraska’s Brittany Timko has 33 points and Portland’s Christine Sinclair 28) … she entered last week as the only player from a top-25 program with 20-plus points and currently is one of just two players in the nation with 9-plus goals and 9-plus assists (as is her fellow Canadian national teammate Brittany Timko of Nebraska) … Thorlakson’s eight points vs. #4 Santa Clara on Sept. 5 (3G-2A) are 5th-most by a Division I player this season (among players from 308 schools) while her seven points in the opener vs. Baylor (2G-3A) rank 13th on that list … only three players in the nation have totaled more assists in a game this season than Thorlakson’s three vs. Baylor (see PDF for stat charts).
IRISH AMONG NATION’S TOP OFFENSIVE TEAMS – Despite the absence of several top offensive players, Notre Dame entered the week ranked 13th in the nation with 3.10 goals per game … only one team in the national top-25 polls (Duke, with 35) has scored more goals than ND’s 31 (the Irish are 6th overall in total goals, also behind Oklahoma State’ 36, St. Bonaventure’s 35, UNC Wilmington’s 35 and Sam Houston State’s 34 … ND also entered the week with a deceiving 0.70 team goals-against avg. (34th in the nation) but has dominated the opposing offenses overall, allowing just 55 total shots (5.5 per gm), 24 shots on goal (2.4/gm) and 15 corner kicks (1.5/gm) … ND is one of just seven teams ranked among the NCAA top-35 in both scoring and GAA … Virginia, North Carolina and California are the only other teams in the top-25 of the national polls that also are in the top-35 of the NCAA scoring and defense stat charts (the others are UC Riverside, North Carolina State and Rice) … ND also is one of just four unbeaten/untied teams among 308 in Division I (the others are UVa at 9-0-0 and Washington and UCR both at 8-0-0).
TANCREDI TABBED THREE TIMES FOR WEEKLY DEFENSIVE HONORS – Another leader of Notre Dame’s Canadian connection, fifth-year D Melissa Tancredi, picked up defensive MVP honors at the Adidas Classic (and BIG EAST defensive player of the week), after leading the way for an Irish squad that allowed just 2 goals, 11 shots, 6 shots on goal and 8 corner kicks in action vs. two of the nation’s top teams … she combined with fellow backline veterans Gudrun Gunnarsdottir and Christie Shaner and defensive midfielder Jill Krivacek in neutralizing Stanford All-America forward Marcie Ward before shutting out Santa Clara for the first 60 minutes and not allowing the second SCU goal until the 82nd minute … Tancredi then repeated the BIG EAST weekly honor after leading the Irish in wins at #11 ASU (2-1) and Texas Tech (3-0), with ND allowing just 11 shots, 5 shots on goal and 2 corner kicks in the weekend … Tancredi picked the perfect time for her first goal of the season, with a classic leaping volley shot on a free-kick service from fellow Canadian Katie Thorlakson for the game-winning goal at ASU … she just picked up the BIG EAST honor for the third time after playing a lead role in wins over Pittsburgh (3-1) and Wisconsin-Green Bay (4-0) … she scored the game-tying goal and then had the primary assist on the final goal (by Candace Chapman) in the win over the Panthers while helping the Irish allow just seven total shots (only one of which came insde the 18-yard box), five shots goal and no corner kicks over the course of the two weekend games.
GREAT STARTS – The ’03 season saw ND go unbeaten after 19 games for the fourth time in the program’s history while the 2004 team is the 7th Irish team in the past 13 years to go unbeaten after 10 games … the ’04 season marks the 3rd time an ND team has won the first 10 games of the season (the 2000 team started 16-0-0, the ’96 team was 13-0-0) … here’s a look at the other longest season-opening unbeaten and unbeaten/untied streaks in the ND record book (see PDF):
FIRST-HALF FORTRESS – The Notre Dame defense has been particularly stingy in the first half the past four seasons, allowing just 24 goals in the first half of those 75 games (0.32/gm) … the first half in ’02 featured little scoring (12-10 ND edge), compared to a 40-7 first-half edge in 2003 (plus 16-2 in 2004) … the Irish have been equally dominant in the first (53-12) and second half (43-13) during the past two seasons (’03-’04).
GOALS-A-PLENTY – Stretching from ’92-’04, the Irish have scored in 94.9% of their games (279 of 294) … since ’94, the Irish have scored in 238 of 250 (.952; three shutouts in NCAA title games) – with goals in 184 of 191 regular-season games (.963) during that 11-year stretch … ND saw its 31-game scoring streak (3rd-best in Irish history) end in ’02.
Katie Thorlakson ON REMAINING AT ND FOR ENTIRE ’04 SEASON – “It was a really hard decision. I thought about all the stress and decisions I’ve had to make over the last three years and the positions that I have put myself in ,never really feeling like I was part of something and always going back and forth from one team to another. This year has been so special with ND and I just decided to forego going to the U-19 World Championships. With that team, there will be a number of girls who will step up and be leaders and maybe it will be a good opportunity for them. … I could have gone for just a couple of weeks to Thailand and coach (Waldrum) allowed me to do that and gave me a lot of space in this whole process. When it came down to it, I just realized that I needed to be at school and playing soccer here. … Last weekend there was an incident where I could have gotten into a scuffle and that’s something I might have done in the past, but then I probably would have been kicked out of the game and would not have been able to score the winning goal a few minutes later (at Syracuse). So, it’s all become just a matter of putting the team over myself. I’ve worked hard at showing more restraint in my emotions. … Playing for the National Team is an awesome experience. Most of my best friends are from that team that played in the 2002 Under-19 World Cup. Playing with them every day is awesome. They are the best players in your country and you all are best friends. … At the same time, we are even more like family here at Notre Dame. We are together just about all year-round. Our team concept really came together during the (preseason) Brazil trip, always playing hard and playing to win.”
NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH Randy Waldrum – “We now have had two players on this team make the decision to forego the Under-19 World Championships, as Jen Buczkowski earlier this summer was one of several U.S. players who have opted out of that great experience. Katie and Jen both love their national teams but they also love this team here at Notre Dame, so it’s a tremendously difficult decision for them. But I also think it shows how both have matured so much in the past year. It says a lot about them as people and teammates and shows how much they care about this program and this school. Katie’s attitude, intensity and leadership this season have been just as phenomenal as her performance on the field. She has made a great commitment to being a great player and I can’t think that anyone in the college game is playing as well as she is right now. This is a huge moment for our program because it shows the commitment of an elite player who is willing to stay and help lead us to a national championship.”
GOAL PATROL – Notre Dame players have combined for 17 multiple-goal games over 34 games in the past two seasons (’03-’04; compared to just five in all of ’02), by 10 different players: Mary Boland vs. Hartford (3) and ASU (2) in `03, Maggie Manning and Amanda Guertin vs. Hartford in `03 (both with 2, with Guertin doing so again vs. Georgetown), Jen Buczkowski vs. Oklahoma in ’03 (2), Katie Thorlakson and Annie Schefter vs. Western Kentucky in ’03 (both with 2, then Thorlakson at Rutgers), Melissa Tancredi vs. North Texas in ’03 (2), Amy Warner at Seton Hall in ’03 (3) – and most recently three different players with two goals in the 2004 opener vs. Baylor – Amanda Cinalli, Thorlakson (who then had a hat trick vs. Santa Clara and 2G vs. UWGB) and Candace Chapman – plus Manning with 2G at Texas Tech.
MAGIC NUMBERS ¬- The 3-goal mark has been virtually an automatic win in ND history, with the Irish 205-3-1 all-time (.983) when scoring 3-plus, losing to N.C. State in the ’92 opener (4-3), UConn in ’95 (5-4, OT) and at Georgetown in `02 (4-3), plus a 3-3 tie vs. Vanderbilt in ’91… the Irish had won 88 straight when scoring 3-plus, before the GU loss (now 109-1-0 since Oct. 6, 1995) … ND is 284-9-11 (.952) in all-time games when holding the opponent to 0-1 goals, including tough 1-0 losses in ’02 to eventual NCAA champ Portland and top-ranked Stanford … prior to the UP loss, the Irish had been 56-0-3 in the previous 59 games when allowing 0-1 GA (dating back to 1-0 loss to SMU in ’99, playing minus Finnish national teamer Anne Makinen) … the program’s 17-year history includes just 295 goals allowed in 374 games (0.79 GA per game) … the Irish have allowed more than one goal in only 72 all-time games (19%) and have yielded 3-plus goals in just 33 all-time games (9%; including two 6-goal games by the opponent, four 5-goal and six 4-goal) … 91% of ND’s all-time games have seen the Irish hold the opponent to 0-2 goals (ND is just 4-28-1 all-time when allowing 3-plus).
QUICK-STRIKE ARTISTS – Notre Dame has scored in the first seven minutes of 10 games the past two seasons (’03-’04; total of 11 “quick-strike” goals in that 34-game span) … Mary Boland is responsible for three of those early scores while Katie Thorlakson has two and six others each have scored one quick goal in ’03 or ’04 … the quickest goals in ’03 came vs. West Virginia (1:24; Boland volley on long serve from Melissa Tancredi), at Seton Hall (1:30; Amy Warner near-post shot after taking pass from Jill Krivacek) and twice at Rutgers (2:44 by Thorlakson from close range, after leftside pass from Warner; and at 3:53 on Tancredi header, via Thorlakson corner kick) … the second game of the ’04 season saw Annie Schefter score vs. Eastern Illinois at 4:35 (20-yard shot after short CK) while Thorlakson scored at 2:54 in the 4-0 win over Wisconsin-Green Bay (volleyed in Schefter free kick) … other quick-strike goals by ND in 2003 came vs. Hartford (6:32; Boland puts back own rebound, after classic 5-player combination sequence that includes right endline cross from Warner), vs. Oklahoma (5:58; Jen Buczkowski knocks in rebound after flurry), at Santa Clara (5:03; Boland on lunging poke after leftside service from Katie Thorlakson), vs. North Texas (4:28; Amanda Guertin shot from top of the box via short pass from Warner) and vs. Georgetown (5:39; Kimberly Carpenter redirects Vanessa Pruzinsky shot).
GOING THE DISTANCE – ND is unbeaten in its last 16 overtime games (12-0-4), since the 3-2, double-OT loss to UNC in the ’99 opener … that team went on to post a 2-1, double-OT win at UConn and played to a 1-1 tie at Nebraska in the NCAA quarter’s (adv. on PKs) … the 2000 team had OT wins over Stanford, at West Virginia and vs. Santa Clara in the NCAA quarter’s (all 2-1), also playing to 0-0 at UConn … ’01 featured an unprecedented five OT games (2-1 vs. Indiana, Villanova, WVU and Michigan; 2-2 vs. Wisconsin) while the ’02 team added 1-0 OT wins over Rutgers and BC … the ’03 team had a scoreless tie with Stanford (at SCU), plus OT wins over Villanova (1-0) and Miami (2-1, BIG EAST quarter’s).
SHARING THE WEALTH IN OT – ND’s 11 overtime wins in the six-year Randy Waldrum era include goals from seven players (own goal vs. Stanford in ’00): Anne Makinen (vs. UConn in ’99), Amanda Guertin (ND record 4; vs. WVU in ’00, Michigan in ’01, BC in ’02 and Miami in ’03), Meotis Erikson (vs. SCU in ’00 NCAA quarter’s), Kelly Tulisiak (vs. IU in ’01), Amy Warner (2; vs. VU in ’01, Rutgers in ’02), Mia Sarkesian (vs. WVU in ’01), Katie Thorlakson (vs. Vill. in ’03).
THORLAKSON BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK … AGAIN – Junior F Katie Thorlakson was named BIG EAST offensive player of the week, after playing a role in eight of ND’s 10 goals during wins over Baylor (7-2) and Eastern Illinois (3-0) … she became the first ND player ever to repeat that honor after a strong all-around game vs. #13 Stanford (1-0) and 3G-2A vs. #4 Santa Clara (5-2) … her 7 points in the 1st half vs. Baylor game ranks as one of the top performances in ND’s storied history and she duplicated the 7 points in the 2nd half vs. Santa Clara (3G-1A) … Thorlakson was one of 11 players named to Soccer Buzz “Elite Feet” national team of the week and the Soccer America team of the week (both weeks) … she was the only player to repeat on the SA list and joined three others who were named to both the SA and SB weekly teams for Aug. 30-Sept. 5 … Thorlakson became the first ND women’s soccer player ever to score or assist on the team’s first five goals in a game (vs. both Baylor and SCU) … a standout with Canada’s Under-19 National Team, Thorlakson totaled haa team-best six assists in ND’s preseason training trip to Brazil.
RECORD-SETTING START – Here’s a look at the historical significance behind Katie Thorlakson’s early fireworks:
• Her seven points vs. Baylor at the time tied for most by a ND player in the six-year Randy Waldrum era … just two other Waldrum-era players had totaled seven points in a game (both 3G-1A): Jenny Streiffer vs. Miami on Oct. 24, 1999, and current senior F Mary Boland in the ’03 opener vs. Hartford (Aug. 29, at the UConn Classic).
• She is the first ND player to score or assist on 5-plus goals during a game since Anne Makinen’s 8-point game vs. Syracuse in ’98 … the Irish had played 123 straight games without seeing an ND player factor into 5-plus goals.
• It had been six years since an ND player had 7 points in a half, as current Pittsburgh assistant coach Monica Gerardo scored goals 2-4 and assisted on the 5th (by Jenny Heft) as part of the 6-0 halftime lead at Providence on Oct. 11, 1998 (8-0) … Tasha Strawbridge had 7 points in the second half of a 12-1 win over Valparaiso on Sept. 14, 1990 … Strawbridge scored the first goal of the half (7-1), assisted on the 9th goal (by Denise Chabot) and added goals 10-11.
• It had been five years since an ND player even had opened a game with points on the team’s first four goals (done a total of eight times): Suzie Zilvitis vs. Alma (10/13/89; G-G-A-A; 6-0 final); Alison Lester at Indiana (9/14/93; G-G-A-A for 4-0 lead; 5-1 final); Rosella Guerrero one week later (9/17/93) vs. Michigan State (A-A-G-G; 6-0); Lester again that season at Ohio State (10/23/93; G-G-A-G; 6-0); Michelle McCarthy vs. St. John’s (9/3/95; A-G-A-G; 9-0); Holly Manthei vs. Ohio State (11/1/96; A-A-G-A; 7-0), and at Villanova (9/28/9; A-A-A-A; 4-0); and Meotis Erikson vs. Seton Hall, in the BIG EAST semifinals at Rutgers (11/5/99; A-G-G-A; 5-0).
• She then was an easy choice the next week for offensive MVP honors at the ND Adidas Classic, after a primetime effort vs. #4 Santa Clara (3G-2A) as she again factored into ND’s first 5 goals (5-2 win) … the 8 eight points vs. the Broncos (3G-2A) are the most ever by an Irish player vs. a team ranked in the top 25 and seven of her points came in the 2nd half (3G-1A), tying another ND record that she already had shared with two others (after the 2G-3A vs. Baylor).
• Thorlakson now has scored or assisted on all seven goals that Notre Dame has scored vs. Santa Clara during the past two seasons, also setting up a Mary Boland goal and scoring the late gamewinner in the 2-1 win at SCU in ’03.
• She had the first hat trick of her career and added assists on the 1st and 4th goals vs. SCU … it marks just the 9th time in the program’s storied history that an ND player has registered a hat trick vs. a top-25 opponent – and first since Jenny Heft in ’98 vs. #25 Wake Forest (3-0) … two previous ND players had a hat trick vs. a top-10 team: Rosella Guerrero at #5 N.C. State in the ’92 opener (4-3 loss) and Anne Makinen vs. #4 UConn in ’97 BIG EAST title game (6-1, at RU).
• Her output is all the more noteworthy due to the fact that the ’04 squad was looking to replace graduated top goalscorers Amy Warner and Amanda Guertin while coping with the absence of two freshman frontrunners who were prep All-Americans (Kerri Hanks is training with the U.S. Under-19 National Team; Susan Pinnick was injured in a summer team van accident with her club team) … another top rookie, Finnish national Jannica Tjeder, injured her ankle vs. Baylor and missed five games while senior leader Mary Boland suffered a season-ending broken leg midway through the SCU game.
• With the above limits at forward, Thorlakson took it upon herself to factor into nearly every goal the Irish scored … in the first two weeks, she totaled 5G-6A and two other plays where she directly set up goals (no official assist) – meaning she played a lead role in 13 of 16 goals (now 21 of 31) … she did not play the 2nd half vs. Baylor, when two of the other goals were scored, and also was taking a short breather when the late PK was scored vs. Stanford … that all shakes out to 13 goals scored by the Irish in the first four games with Thorlakson on the field – and she played a lead role in all 13.
• Her eight points vs. SCU are most by an Irish player in six years and one shy of the ND record, shared by ’96 teammates Jenny Streiffer (2G-5A, vs. Providence, Aug. 31) and Monica Gerardo (4G-1A vs. Seton Hall, Oct. 27) … ND players have combined for seven other 8-point games, the last coming when Makinen had 3G-2A vs. Syracuse (Nov. 1, 1998) … the other eight-point games: Stacia Masters vs. Loyola (3G-2A, 12-0, 10/20/93), Michelle McCarthy vs. St. John’s (3G-2A, 9-0, 9/3/95), Gerardo’s four-goal game at Indiana (7-0, 9/7/95), Streiffer in the game where Gerardo also had nine points vs. Seton Hall (3G-2A, 10-0, 10/27/96), Cindy Daws vs. Villanova (3G-2A, 10-1, 11/3/96), Meotis Erikson vs. SHU (3G-2A, 7-1, 10/24/97) and Streiffer’s four-goal game at Georgetown (10/11/97).
BOHN IN THE NETS – Junior G Erika Bohn is 37-4-1 in her last 43 starts with the Irish (since a 3-2 loss to BYU on Oct. 19, 2002), allowing just 23 goals in that 43-game stretch (25 shutouts, 15 with 1 GA) … that 43-game span includes a 4-1 mark to close the 2002 season, a 5-0 showing in the 2003 spring season (dnp in ’04 spring), the 20-3-1 record in the fall of ’03 and eight wins this fall (two in Brazil) … her only losses in that stretch: the ’02 season-ending loss at top-ranked Stanford, with the only goal coming in the 81st minute; the 3-2 loss to Michigan in the final game of the ’03 regular season (UM’s final two goals came on corner-kick breakdowns by the ND defense), a 2-1 loss to Boston College in the ’03 BIG EAST semifinals and the 1-0 loss to Michigan in the ’03 NCAAs … prior to the first loss to Michigan in ’03, Bohn had logged 29 consecutive games with the Irish (24 fall, 5 spring) without allowing multiple goals (previously done by BYU in ’02) … her 50 official starts at ND (in fall games) include 27 in which she did not allow a goal, 14 games with one goal allowed, four with two goals allowed and just five with three-plus goals by the opposition (3-4 at Georgetown, 0-3 vs. West Virginia, 1-3 vs. Purdue and 2-3 vs. BYU in ’02, plus 2-3 vs. Michigan in ’03) … since that BYU game, Bohn has limited the opponent to 0-1 goals in 33 of her last 36 fall starts (22 with no goals allowed, 10 games with one goal allowed, 2-1 loss to Boston College, 3-2 loss to Michigan and 5-2 win over Santa Clara).
FRONTRUNNERS – Since losing a 3-2 game to BYU on Oct. 19, 2002, ND has trailed in just seven of its past 39 games for a total of 238:11 (or 6.7% of the time, spanning 3,549:29), while going 34-4-1 in those games … the only teams to hold leads on the Irish in that span include: Stanford (9:02; ’02 third-round game at Maloney Field, 1-0), Arizona State (lead 1-0 for 7:18 in ’03, ND wins 3-1), Michigan (lead 1-0 for 1:01, then retake lead for final 58:17 and win 3-1), Boston College (2-1 Eagles win in BIG EAST semifinals, lead for 82:28), Michigan again in the 2nd round of the ’03 NCAAs (lead for 28:22 in 1-0 game), ASU again in ’04 (lead for 11:26, ND wins 2-1) and Pittsburgh in ’04 (lead for 40:18, ND wins 3-1) … prior to the regular-season goal by Michigan in `03, ND had not faced a deficit for nearly two months and 16-plus games, the longest streak in the program’s history … Santa Clara and Miami (BIG EAST quarterfinal) were the only teams to come back and tie the Irish in ’03 (ND retook the lead for good 12 minutes later vs. SCU) … the previous team record for longest streak without facing a deficit was a 14-game stretch in 1997, starting with a 5-0 win over Duke (9/21, after trailing two days earlier in a 2-2 tie vs. UNC) … the ’97 streak continued in a 6-1 win over UConn in the BIG EAST title game (11/9) and ended when Cincinnati opened the scoring in a first-round NCAA Tournament game (ND dominated for a 7-1 win) … the ’97 team spent all season ranked No. 2 in the NSCAA poll … ND’s 2000 squad earned the top ranking after seven games, did not face a deficit the first 13 games (BC scored first and led for 28 minutes, in a 3-1 ND win) and added six more games without trailing before falling behind UNC in the 82nd minute of the NCAA semifinals (2-1 loss).
OPENING-DAY RECORDS – Amanda Cinalli’s opening goal vs. Baylor made her just the 4th freshman ever to score ND’s first goal of a season, with others including Margaret Jarc (’89; 4-1 vs. St. Joseph’s), Rosella Guerrero (’92; 3-4 vs. N.C. State) and current senior Mary Boland (’01; 2-1 vs. Penn State) … Cinalli also became the 4th ND player ever to score the team’s first two goals in a season, with others including Alison Lester (’91; 2-0 vs. Mercyhurst) and Guerrero (’92; 3-4 vs. N.C. St.; ’93, 12-0 vs. LaSalle) … Katie Thorlakson’s 2G-3A vs. Baylor tied the ND record for points in a half (7) shared by Tasha Strawbridge (3G-1A vs. Valparaiso in ’90) and Monica Gerardo (3G-1A at Providence in ’98).
CLUTCH CANADIAN – Sophomore F Katie Thorlakson (Langley, B.C.) picked key times for all four of her game-winning goals in 2003 … two of her GWGs in ’03 came vs. top-15 teams (#10 Santa Clara and #15 Connecticut), plus the overtime goal vs. Villanova and the early strike at Rutgers (3-0) … she also is the only current ND player with multiple career goals vs. UConn (her goal tied the ’02 game, 1-1, in a 3-1 win) … the ’02 ND-UConn game proved to be a key turning point for the program, with current 5th-year senior Melissa Tancredi making the full-time move from F to central D while Thorlakson shifted permanently from M to F … since those key shifts, the Irish are 36-5-1 in their past 42 games.
HOME SWEET HOME – The Irish own a 156-14-2 all-time record (.913) record at Alumni Field (132-10-2 in last 144) – with a 29-game home winning streak (5th NCAA history) from ’99-’01 … eight of ND’s last 10 home losses have been by a single goal … ND’s all-time record at Alumni Field vs. teams not in the NSCAA top-25 poll is 111-4-1 (45-10-1 vs. ranked teams) … junior F Katie Thorlakson has totaled 42 pts at Alumni Field the past two seasons (15G-12A, 6 GWG in 21 GP) while junior M Annie Schefter has scored all seven of her career goals (4 GWG) at home (also 3 of her 5 assists) … sophomore M Jen Buczkowski (7G-8A) has notched 22 of her 26 career points with ND in the confines of Alumni Field.
FIRST-TIME VISITORS – Since 1993, Notre Dame opponents making their first visit to Alumni Field now have lost to the Irish 37 times, with just three wins for the opposition and one tie (37-3-1; .915) … ND’s all-time record in series openers is 68-25-2, including 35-5-0 since 1993 and 47-8-0 in all series openers played at home (21-3-0 since ’93).
TOURNAMENT TOUGH – Notre Dame owns an 85-25-7 all-time record (.756) in tournament action, including 37-13-6 in regular-season tournaments (19-3-2 at home, with 61-23 scoring edge), 23-1-0 in conference tournaments and 25-11-1 in the NCAAs … since ’94, ND is 25-6-3 in regular-season tournaments – with 18 of those wins coming vs. NSCAA top-25 teams … since ’94, the Irish have lost just six regular-season tournament games: vs. UNC (2-0 in ’95, in Houston; 3-2 at the ’99 KBC), vs. SCU in ’96 and ’02 (3-1 at Duke, 4-0 at ND), vs. SMU in ’99 (1-0; in Klein, Texas, minus star player Anne Makinen) and vs. Portland in ’02 (1-0, at ND) – with ties vs. UNC (0-0 in ’94, in St. Louis), Duke (2-2 in ’95, in Houston), UNC (2-2 at ’97 LFC), Stanford in ’03 (0-0, at SCU) … from ’97-’04, the Irish went 20-4-2 in regular-season tournaments.
20-SOMETHING – Notre Dame has posted 20-plus wins in eight of the previous 10 seasons … the 1996 team posted an ND-record 24 wins, with 23 wins in 1994, ’97 and ’00, 21 wins in ’95, ’98 and ’99, and 20 in 2003.
GREAT GRADES – The Notre Dame women’s soccer team consistently has performed at a high level on the field and in the classroom and that certainly was the case in ’03-`04, with a 20-3-1 record followed by a 3.28 team GPA in the `03 fall semester and then a 3.32 GPA in the spring of ’04 (when 22 of 25 players posted a GPA of 3.0 or better, with 13 at 3.4-plus) … the ’04 team includes two Academic All-Americans – senior F Mary Boland (3.90 cumulative GPA, psychology major) and junior G Erika Bohn (3.63, design) – with other candidates for that honor in ’04 including junior M Annie Schefter (3.73, pre-professional studies and psychology) and senior D Gudrun Gunnarsdottir (3.31, finance).
FAR & WIDE – Notre Dame’s 2004 roster includes players from 13 states, two Canadian provinces, Iceland and Finland … the program’s all-time roster canvasses 30 states and three foreign countries … ND’s student-athlete population in the ’02-’03 academic year included nearly 800 individuals from 47 states (all but Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada) and 20 countries.
TANCREDI, CHAPMAN TABBED FOR TOP NATIONAL HONORS – Two ND players received top preseason billing from various national organizations, as 5th-year central D Melissa Tancredi (Ancaster, Ont.) and D/F Candace Chapman (Ajax, Ont.) were among 12 players named to the Soccer Buzz preseason All-America squad while both also were among 25 named to the 2004 preseason watch list for the Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy national player-of-the-year award … Tancredi was one of 11 named to Soccer America ‘s 2004 preseason All-America team … Tancredi was a Soccer Buzz 1st team All-American in ’03 and 2nd team All-American from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America … Chapman was an NSCAA 2nd team All-American in ’02 before missing the ’03 season due to an ACL knee injury … Tancredi – who like Chapman has starred for the Canadian National Team – could prove to be the nation’s top defensive player in 2004, with Tennessee senior Keeley Dowling representing the only other D on both the SA and SB preseason All-America teams … Tancredi, Chapman, Dowling and Virginia’s Becky Sauerbrunn were the only defenders on the MAC Hermann Trophy watch list … Tancredi was one of nine players listed on both the SA and SB preseason All-America teams, with others including Dowling, M Carli Lloyd (Rutgers), Lindsey Huie (Portland), Leslie Osborne (Santa Clara) and Lori Chalupny (North Carolina), Portland F Christine Sinclair and the UNC forward tandem of Lindsay Tarpley and Heather O’Reilly … ND joined UNC and Portland as teams with multiple players on the SB “Elite 12” preseason All-America team while the Irish were one of five with multiple players on the MAC Hermann Trophy watch list (also UNC, Portland, Texas and UVa) … Chapman was on the ’03 watch list (prior to season-ending injury) while Tancredi and former ND forward Amy Warner were on the list of the final 15 candidates for the 2003 MAC Hermann Trophy.
IRISH PICKED TO WIN BIG EAST; TANCREDI, BUCZKOWSKI TAKE PRESEASON HONORS – Notre Dame was the preseason favorite to win the 2004 BIG EAST Conference regular-season title, with the Irish previously winning eight regular-season and seven tournament titles in nine BIG EAST seasons … 5th-year All-America central D Melissa Tancredi was picked to repeat as BIG EAST defensive player of the year and was joined by sophomore M Jen Buczkowski on the 11-player 2004 preseason all-BIG EAST team … ND senior F Mary Boland was overlooked on the preseason all-BIG EAST team (as selected by the league’s coaches), despite earning 1st team all-BIG EAST and NSCAA 2nd-team all-region honors in ’03 … sophomore D Christie Shaner – the league’s co-rookie of the year and 2nd-team all-BIG EAST in ’03 – failed to crack the ’04 preseason list, which includes two D (Tancredi and Villanova’s Michelle Biehl).
FRESHMAN CLASS RATED 2ND -The Soccer Buzz women’s soccer website ranked ND’s incoming class as the 2nd-best in the nation while Soccer America magazine placed the Irish 5th on its list of the nation’s top ’04 classes … the six ND letter-of-intent signees for ’04 included four highly-regarded forwards – Amanda Cinalli (Maple Hts, Ohio), Kerri Hanks (Allen, Texas), Susan Pinnick (South Bend, Ind.) and Jannica Tjeder (Espoo, Finland) – plus M Ashley Jones (Westlake Village, Calif.) and G Lauren Karas (Flower Mound, Texas) … Hanks is the leading scorer for the U.S. Under-19 National Team while Cinalli and Pinnick have been members of the Under-17 National Team, with each of those three earning prep All-America honors … each of the five U.S. signees was a member of her respective Olympic Development Regional team, with Karas a member of the Under-16 National Team player pool while Jones was a member of the Southern California United club program that won the national title (as did her ODP squad) … Tjeder is one of the top young players in Finland, playing for her national under-21, u-19 and u-17 teams.
RECRUIT RANKINGS HISTORY – ND’s 2004 roster is comprised of some of the top-ranked recruiting classes from the past four seasons … ND joins North Carolina and Virginia as the only teams to have their recruiting classes in the Soccer Buzz top 15 from ’01-’04 (ND also was 14th in ’01, 9th in ’02 and 5th in ’03; UNC 2nd-1st-6th-3rd from ’01-’04; and UVa 1st-3rd-11th-12th) … ND and UNC are the only teams to be in the Soccer Buzz top-15 classes every year since 1998, the first year of the SB recruiting class rankings (ND also was 11th in ’98, 4th in ’99 and 9th in ’00; UNC 2nd-1st-2nd from ’98-’00) … Soccer America has ranked top-10 classes since ’02, with ND and UNC the only teams in the SA top 10 every year from ’02-’04 (ND’s classes also were ranked 9th by SA in ’02 and 5th in ’03; UNC 1st in ’02, 6th in ’03) … ND and Texas (3rd in ’03 and ’04) are the only teams to attract SA top-5 classes each of the last two seasons … SB’s top-15 classes for ’04 were: Texas A&M, ND, UNC, Penn St., Texas, Clemson, Portland, Maryland, Ohio St., California, Villanova, Virginia, Michigan, Illinois, Santa Clara … SA’s top-10: A&M, UNC, Texas, PSU, ND, Nebraska, OSU, Portland, Florida, California.
BALANCED DOMINANCE – The 2003 Notre Dame women’s soccer team joined national champ UNC as the only teams in the top five of final NCAA leaders for scoring (3rd; 3.04 goals/gm) and goals-against average (5th; 0.49).
WINNING TRADITIONS – Several ND women’s soccer players led their clubs and state Olympic Development teams to elite status before becoming part of another winning tradition with the Irish … five members of the current sophomore class helped their teams post top national finishes in ’03 and the current freshman class also lived up to the standard … most notably, Ashley Jones completed the rare double of winning 2004 national titles with her California South state ODP team and her Southern California United club … her classmate Kerri Hanks earlier won the Golden Boot Award as the tournament’s top scorer with the ’03 Dallas Texans national champs while Lauren Karas earned the Golden Glove Award with North Texas at the 2004 ODP nationals (her team lost to Jones and Cal-South, 1-0) … finally, newcomer Susan Pinnick led the Carmel Commotion to a runner-up finish at the 2003 USYSA under-17 nationals while Kelly Simon was a member of the St. Louis-based Busch Soccer Club that was the ’01 and ’02 national runner-up.
NATIONAL TEAMS – Three former ND players – defender Kate Sobrero Markgraf, goalkeeper LaKeysia Beene and defensive midfielder Shannon Boxx – recently have been starters with the U.S. National Team, with Sobrero and Boxx starting for the 2003 World Cup (3rd place) and 2004 Olympic (gold) teams … nine current members of the ND program have been active with various national teams … those players include Candace Chapman and Melissa Tancredi (starters with Canada’s full national team) and Chapman and Katie Thorlakson with Canada’s Under-19 National Team … four others – Annie Schefter, Mary Boland, Jen Buczkowski and Kerri Hanks – have been starters with the U.S. Under 19 National Team while Gudrun Gunnarsdottir is a member of Iceland’s national team and Jannica Tjeder has been a regular with Finland’s Under-17, -19 and -21 national teams … former ND defender Monica Gonzalez is a founding member of Mexico’s women’s national team and captained Mexico in its historic appearance at the 2004 Olympics (former Irish forward Monica Gerardo also was a founding member of the Mexican team).
GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN – Four members of the Notre Dame women’s soccer team – not including senior F Mary Boland (broken leg in 4th game of ’04) – will not compete with the Irish in ’04 … freshman F Kerri Hanks – rated by Soccer America as the nation’s No. 4 signee and part of the nation’s No. 2-ranked freshman class (per Soccer Buzz, No. 4 class per SA) – is training with the U.S. for the Under-19 World Championship (Nov. 10-27 in Thailand) and will enroll at ND next spring … 5th-year M Randi Scheller (hip), freshman F Susan Pinnick (neck/back, suffered in club team van accident) and freshman M Kelly Simon (shoulder surgery) are sidelined due to injuries … Pinnick, like her classmates Hanks and Amanda Cinalli, was a prep All-American and played alongside Cinalli on the U.S. Under-17 National Team.
VIVA BRAZIL! – ND’s training trip in Campinas, Brazil (Aug. 10-19), featured a 5-0-1 record and 16-3 scoring edge vs. top semi-pro women’s teams from the Sao Paulo area … the games attracted many curious local spectators and included the traditional exchange of gifts and group photos … the Irish enjoyed great camaraderie at the wonderful five-star Vitoria Hotel and soaked in the atmosphere at first-division Brazilian men’s professional games held at Ponta Preta and Guarani … meals included Brazil’s many exotic and tasty forms of pizza and the unique Brazilian steakhouses that feature table-top carvings of a variety of entrees … leading scorers on the trip included senior F/D Candace Chapman (4G), junior F Katie Thorlakson (6A) and the freshman duo of Jannica Tjeder (3G-2A) and Ashley Jones (2G-3A).