October 11, 1998
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Notre Dame women’s soccer senior forward Monica Gerardo (Simi Valley, Calif/Simi Valley) scored a hat trick and added two assists to set the Notre Dame career record for goals with 64 as the second-ranked Irish blanked Providence 8-0 on Sunday at Glay Field. Gerardo scored on her first three shots as the Irish built a 4-0 lead 6:02 into the game against the Friars. The win improved Notre Dame to 12-1-0 and 7-0-0 in the BIG EAST while Providence fell to 3-10-0, 2-6-0.
Gerardo entered the game tied with former All-American and national player of the year Cindy Daws, who scored 61 goals from 1993-96. Gerardo had tied the record with two goals in Notre Dame’s 3-1 win at Boston College on Friday, Oct. 9. She scored 20 goals as a freshman in 1995, 23 goals as a sophomore in 1996 and 10 goals as a junior in 1997. Gerardo had scored six goals entering the weekend to bring her career total to 59 but nearly doubled her season total with five against Boston College and Providence.
“It is fitting Monica broke the record in a game where she scored three goals because over her career, she has tended to score goals in bunches,” said Irish head coach Chris Petrucelli. “Our teams have always scored a lot of goals evenly by a lot of players, so Monica had a lot of compeition to reach the record.”
“With all of the great players to have starred at Notre Dame, it is pretty humbling to score more goals than any of them,” said Gerardo. “It probably won’t set in until my playing days are over.”
Gerardo’s eight points in the first half also broke a nine-year old Irish record for most points in a 45-minute half. Tasha Strawbridge recorded seven first-half points against Valparaiso in 1990 before Gerardo bettered that mark against Providence on Sunday. Her three goals in the first half joined eight other Notre Dame players with the most goals in a half.
The Irish struck quickly when junior midfielder Jenny Streiffer scored the game-winning goal just 2:04 into the game when she fired a cross from freshman midfielder Lindsey Jones into the right corner of the net from the left wing. Gerardo scored her first goal 49 seconds later when she blasted a shot from the top of the box into the lower right corner of the net.
Senior midfielder Shannon Boxx headed a cross from junior forward Jenny Heft to Gerardo who headed in the third goal of the game at 4:06. She scored her 64th career goal at 6:02 when she volleyed a cross from Jones at 6:02.
Gerardo then set Notre Dame’s final two goals of the first half with assists to Heft at 28:24 and a give-and-go with sophomore defender Kelly Lindsey at 30:46. The Irish added two more goals in the second half. Boxx scored on a cross from Jones at 59:17, while Heft took a pass from sophomore midfielder Iris Lancaster at 80:32.
The Irish outshot the Friars 30-3, including 23-1 in the first half. Notre Dame returns to action next weekend when it travels to Storrs, Conn., to take on fourth-ranked Connecticut on Fri., Oct. 16, at 3:00 p.m.