Nov. 6, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – In a season of historic and record-setting performances, the top-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team added another page to the program’s history books, as the Irish earned four of the six major individual awards and placed six players on the all-BIG EAST Conference Team during Thursday night’s BIG EAST Women’s Soccer Awards Banquet at the South Bend Marriott. The four individual award recipients matches the 2005 Irish club for the most major award honorees since Notre Dame joined the BIG EAST in 1995, while the six all-conference selections are just two away from the school’s high-water mark set back in 2006.
Senior All-America forward/Hermann Trophy candidate Kerri Hanks (Allen, Texas/Allen) was a unanimous selection as the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year and a first-team all-conference choice by the BIG EAST coaches. Also the 2006 recipient of the award, Hanks joins former teammate Katie Thorlakson (2004, 2005) as the only Irish players to earn the trophy more than once. Collectively, Notre Dame players now have earned the league’s top offensive award in each of the last five seasons, with Hanks’ classmate and fellow All-American/Hermann Trophy candidate Brittany Bock (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) claiming a share of the honor last year — Bock was a first-team all-conference selection this season.
For the second time in three years, senior defender/co-captain Carrie Dew (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon) was lauded as the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year. Dew is the fourth Irish player to be a two-time recipient of the honor, along with Jen Grubb (1998, 1999), Candace Chapman (2002, 2005) and Melissa Tancredi (2003, 2004), with Notre Dame now having a player garner that trophy for the sixth time in seven seasons.
Freshman forward Melissa Henderson (Garland, Texas/Berkner) was named the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year, becoming the fourth Irish player in the past six seasons to collect the league’s top award for first-year players. She’s also the third current Irish player to earn the honor, following in the footsteps of Hanks (2005) and junior forward Michele Weissenhofer (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley), who was the 2006 recipient.
Head coach Randy Waldrum was honored by his peers by being voted the BIG EAST Coach of the Year for the fifth time in his 10 seasons at Notre Dame. Waldrum also took home the honor in 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2004, and now has earned eight conference coach of the year awards in his illustrious career, adding previous citations in the Big 12 Conference (at Baylor in 1998) and Missouri Valley Conference (with Tulsa’s men’s program in 1991 and 1993).
The Irish also fielded four first-team all-conference selections — Hanks, Bock, Dew and Henderson — for the fourth time in the past five seasons. Only Notre Dame’s 1997 squad had more first-team honorees, placing five players on the league’s top team. Hanks’ selection is particularly notable, as she becomes just the third Irish player ever to be a four-time first-team all-BIG EAST selection, joining Grubb (1996-99) and 2000 Hermann Trophy recipient Anne Makinen (1997-2000) in that elite group. Meanwhile, Henderson is the 10th Notre Dame freshman to collect first-team all-conference laurels, joining an impressive list that includes Chapman (2001), current Irish volunteer assistant coach Amanda Cinalli (2004), Meotis Erikson (1997), Monica Gerardo (1995), Grubb (1996), Hanks (2005), Makinen (1997), Amy Warner (2000) and Weissenhofer (2006).
Prior to this season, junior midfielder Courtney Rosen (Brecksville, Ohio/Hathaway Brown) was identified by the Irish coaching staff as perhaps the team’s most improved player. That assessment proved to be accurate as Rosen was voted as a second-team all-BIG EAST selection on Thursday night. Senior defender Elise Weber (Elk Grove, Ill./St. Viator Academy) was an honorable mention all-conference pick this season, earning her second consecutive all-BIG EAST citation, following a third-team honor a year ago.
Hanks is well-positioned to make a run at becoming just the fourth two-time winner of the Hermann Trophy, currently leading the BIG EAST in virtually every offensive category. She also ranks among the top 10 in the nation in four major categories — total points (tied-3rd, 46, one off the national lead), goals per game (4th – 2.42), total goals (tie-5th, 18, three behind the current leader), and points per game (9th – 0.95). What’s more, she set conference records with four BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week selections this season and eight for her career, blowing past the old marks of three in one season and six in a career (both shared by Thorlakson and Seton Hall’s Kelly Smith).
In addition, Hanks has been a fixture on the national weekly honor pages, earning four selections to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week, as well as three Soccer America National Team of the Week citations. By comparison, when she won the ’06 Hermann Trophy, Hanks took home two National Team of the Week certificates all season. She already ranks eighth in Division I history with 232 career points (82G-68A) and she is tied for 14th in career goals, and she stands just two assists away from becoming only the third Division I player ever to amass 70 goals and 70 assists in her career. The others in that elite club are legendary U.S. National Team and North Carolina forward Mia Hamm (103G-72A from 1989-93) and former Notre Dame great Jenny Streiffer (70G-71A from 1996-99).
The other team co-captain, Bock has provided the perfect running mate for Hanks on the Irish front line the past two seasons. After leading the team with 16 goals last season, the powerful front-liner has proven to be equally adept as a playmaker, ranking second on the team and sixth in the conference with nine assists. She’s also fifth in the BIG EAST in points per game (1.17) and sixth in total points (21, 6G-9A), and she’s the 15th Notre Dame player to be a two-time first-team all-conference selection. The All-American stands 12th in school history with 46 goals and she and Hanks have combined for 128 goals in their brilliant careers, ranking second in the Irish record books for combined goals by classmates.
Dew and Weber helped anchor a Notre Dame defense that currently ranks seventh in the nation with a 0.42 goals-against average and has posted 12 shutouts in 19 games. The pair also are largely responsible for the Irish allowing just eight goals all season and more than one goal in a game only once all year (a 3-2 overtime win at Villanova on Oct. 12). In addition, with Dew and Weber on patrol, Notre Dame has given up just 45 shots on goal all season, a miniscule 2.37 per-game average that is on par with some of the best teams in program history. Furthermore, both players have contributed to the Irish offensive success this season, with Weber chalking up five points (1G-3A) and Dew adding an assist.
Henderson and Rosen have been instrumental in sparking Notre Dame to the top of the NCAA statistical charts in scoring offense (3.63 goals per game). Despite playing less than half of her team’s minutes this season, Henderson ranks second in the BIG EAST and 18th in the country with 0.79 goals per game (15 total), including four multi-goal games. Were she to stay on her current scoring pace and play a full 90 minutes, Henderson would have 30 goals this season, topping Hanks’ single-season school record (28 as a rookie in 2005) and nine more than current national leader Sarah Hagen of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Meanwhile, Rosen has been a steady presence in the midfield for the Irish, calmly organizing the offense and also keeping an even hand on Notre Dame’s defense. She is one of six players with double-digit points this season, having reached the 10-point mark (3G-4A) with her first-half goal in last Sunday’s 5-0 win over Cincinnati in the BIG EAST quarterfinals at Alumni Field.
Waldrum has piloted Notre Dame to the first unbeaten and untied regular season in the program’s 21-year history. Deftly mixing his veterans with an influx of young talent, Waldrum has kept the Irish as the nation’s only unblemished Division I team (and one of only two at all NCAA levels through Thursday night), while knocking off six Top 25 teams this season. What’s more, Notre Dame has tied or broken school records for the most different goalscorers (17 – tied) and point scorers (21) in a single season, with both marks previously being held by the 1996 Irish squad. In addition, Notre Dame has won 16 of 19 games this year by at least two goals, is in the midst of the second-longest winning streak in school history (19) and has trailed for a grand total of 1:59 all season, all under Waldrum’s watchful eye.
No. 1 Notre Dame (19-0-0, 11-0-0 BIG EAST) has won its 11th BIG EAST regular-season title in 14 seasons of league membership and is the only school to register an 11-0 record in BIG EAST play, having done so each of the past two years. The Irish also have advanced to the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship for the 13th time in 14 seasons, with Notre Dame set to take on Marquette in this year’s semifinal round on Friday at 5 p.m. (ET) at Alumni Field. That game, as well as the early semifinal between No. 13/12 West Virginia and Connecticut (2:30 p.m. ET), and the conference championship game on Sunday at noon (ET), can be seen live on CBS College Sports (DirecTV channel 613, Dish Network channel 152).
Tickets for the BIG EAST Championship semifinals and finals can be purchased by contacting the Notre Dame Athletics Ticket Office (574-631-7356) or by stopping by the Joyce Center Gate 1 ticket windows on the second floor during normal business hours (9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET, weekdays). In addition, fans can buy their Irish women’s soccer tickets on-line by going to the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.UND.com) and clicking on the “tickets” bar on the main page of the site, or by visiting the Alumni Field ticket windows on game day.
— ND —