Oct. 15, 2006
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Kerri Hanks scored a goal and added two assists – reaching 100 career points and 40 goals in record-setting fashion – as the top-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team remained unbeaten with Sunday’s 5-0 victory at Providence. Five different players combined on the goals, as the Irish compiled a 21-4 edge in total shots and held the Friars without a shot on goal or a corner kick. Notre Dame now has posted 12 shutouts for the season and has allowed just one goal in the past 11-plus games, spanning nearly 1,100 minutes. Notre Dame now owns a 50-3 scoring margin for the season, including 36-0 in the second half. The Irish also have allowed just 28 opponent shots on goal all season (1.9 per game) – including just 14 opponent shots on goal in the 11 games since the early-September showdown versus Santa Clara – with Providence becoming the fifth different team that has failed to produce even one shot on goal versus the stout Irish defense this season.
(Note: this recap now includes additional game details, updated team notes and quotes from head coach Randy Waldrum on the weekend.)
Notre Dame (14-0-1, 7-0-1 BIG EAST) officially clinched at leest a top-four finish in the BIG EAST National Division and – barring an unlikely final-week scenario that would require seven games to go the wrong way (including a total of four losses for ND) – the Irish are on pace to play in a BIG EAST quarterfinal game on the weekend of October 28-29 (opponent, date and time all are to-be-determined). Notre Dame now sets its sights on a top-two finish in the division – which would ensure being able to host the quarterfinal – before looking to wrap up the divisional title.
The Irish are unbeaten at the 15-game mark for the sixth time in the past 13 seasons (the ’94, ’97 and ’00 teams all opened 23-0-1 while the ’04 team started 19-0-1 and the ’03 team 18-0-1). Notre Dame also now is 129-11-4 (.910) in all games versus BIG EAST teams, since joining the conference in 1995 (103-8-4 in the regular season)
Notre Dame actually has a “game in hand” versus the other top contenders for the National Division title, due to the game a few weeks ago at Cincinnati that was called off due to lightning. Villanova and Rutgers both are 6-3-1 (20 points) and two points behind Notre Dame (22) in the divisional standings. Each of those teams has a tough game on tap next weekend as the regular-season comes to a close, as Villanova will play host to Notre Dame on Oct. 20 while fourth-place Louisville (18; 6-3-0) will play at Rutgers on Oct. 22.
It’s possible that the ND-Cincinnati game ultimately will not need to be made up, if the Irish and Bearcats are locked into their final spots in the standings by the end of next weekend’s games. Notre Dame could clinch a first-place finish as early as Friday night (Oct. 20) while Cincinnati could end the weekend either locked into the division’s fifth and final playoff spot or eliminated from the postseason (or, option three, within three points of 5th-place, thus necesssitating the potential makeup game with the Irish).
Cincinnati currently is fifth in the National Division with 10 points (3-4-1) and can finish no higher in the standings. The Bearcats would clinch fifth place by winning next Friday at Rutgers and having sixth-place Seton Hall (8; 2-5-2) lose or tie its game that day versus Louisville. Otherwise, Cincinnati may have to wait until its game on Sunday at Seton Hall to clear up the playoff picture (and clarify whether the ND-Cincinnati game will need to be made up). There also is a scenario where Seton Hall could win twice next weekend and Cincinnati lose twice, in which case SHU would be locked in as the #5 seed (and, again, negate the need for making up the ND-Cincinnati game; see other BIG EAST postseason info. below).
Hanks now has 103 career points (40 goals and 23 assists) in 40 career games played, reaching the 40-goal mark quicker than any previous Irish player while tying the team record for quickest to 100 points. Jenny Streiffer had held the record for quickest to 40 goals (43 games) while Hanks now shares the quickest-to-100-points mark with Streiffer and her former late 1990s teammate Anne Makinen. Hanks joins Streiffer and Monica Gerardo (51 games) as the only Notre Dame players ever to reach 40 career goals prior to their junior seasons.
The first five weeks of the season saw Hanks factor into just one-third of the team’s 30 goals (7G-3A) but she now has scored (6) or assisted (7) on 13 of the 20 Notre Dame goals that have been scored in the past three weeks (inluding nine of the past 12, with 4G-5A).
Brittany Bock headed in a Hanks corner kick in the seventh minute (6:25) for the second-quickest goal by the Irish this season, trailing only the goal by Hanks that came just 79 seconds into the opener versus Iowa State. Seven minutes later, Bock’s endline cross set up a shot by Susan Pinnick and Hanks knocked in the rebound for her 12th goal of the season and a two-goal lead. Amanda Cinalli’s eighth goal of the season produced a 3-0 lead in the 50th minute and marked the ninth time this season that the Irish have come out of halftime and scored in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Michele Weissenhofer added her 10th goal of the season – becoming the eighth Notre Dame freshman ever to post 10-plus goals and 10-plus assists (13) in her rookie season (Hanks is the only other to do so since ’99) – and Ashley Jones capped the scoring with a goal in the 68th minute.
Hanks set up the first goal with a perfectly-placed corner kick from the left side. Bock was unmarked in the center of the box and the sophomore forward sent a 12-yard header into the left side of the goal for her fifth goal of the season and 17th of her career (6:25), with a large percentage of her goals with the Irish coming on a variety of header plays. The score held up as Bock’s third gamewinning goal of the season, second-most on the team (behind five from Hanks) despite missing four games at the start of the season due to the Under-20 World Championship.
Bock returned the favor a few minutes later, after running down the ball on the right endline and placing a low pass into the box. Pinnick’s shot was saved but the rebound kicked out to Hanks, who buried her shot from the right side of the box for the sophomore forward’s team-leading 12th goal of the season (13:41).
Weissenhofer was not officially credited with an assist on the next goal but her flip-throw from the left sideline created a scramble for the ball at the left side of the box. The ball was deflected out to the edge of the 18-yard box and Cinalli calmly drilled a low shot into the left side of the net for her eighth goal of the season and 28th of her career (49:35).
An entry pass into the box from Hanks later set up Weissenhofer – who briefly lost control of the ball before chasing it down near the left edge of the penalty area and turning for a leftfooted shot that ripped into the far-right sidenetting (55:24).
A combination sequence that fed through midfielders Jen Buczkowski and Courtney Rosen helped set up the final goal. Jones was pushing up from her right back spot and struck a ball that tracked straight for the upper corner of the goal on the far-left side. Goalkeeper Laura Elfers made a leaping attempt but the ball hit off her arms and carried into the net to give Jones her second goal of the season and fourth of her career (67:32).
WEEKEND WRAPUP QUOTES FROM ND HEAD COACH Randy Waldrum – “I really was not pleased with our performance at UConn until the overtime. I felt we dominated the overtime and probably should have finished it off, but that’s the game of soccer. I was disappointed that we did not match UConn’s energy level immediately and let them believe they were in the game. And when that happens, you can be in trouble. There were times when we had some good stuff going but could not get the final pass or had a bad touch at the wrong time. But a lot of that was due to Uconn’s pressure. They played a very good game. … Kerri Hanks is a competitor and she gets upset when things don’t go right. And that’s why she is so good at scoring goals. We put Kerri in a lot of bad situations in the UConn game, playing her the ball with her back to pressure. … We don’t talk about being number-one, it’s not a focus of our daily preparation. If we can continue to progress, I think we can have a really good team. … There were some things tonight that UConn did that caused us some problems. … I think our national team is missing the boat because Jen Buczkowski is good enough to be in the mix with that national team. I think she will be there eventually. She is such a calming presence and has been a leader through her play since her freshman year. … I didn’t think fitness tonight was an issue and I did not sub that much. … Lauren Karas had to face a lot of action around the goal and handled it very well. You hope she does not get rusty from games where there is not a lot of action.
“At Providence, it was great to get so many players in the game and get them some time. Susan Pinnick had a great weekend. It also was great to get Amanda Clark some time. All four of our top scorers had goals. To come out of it injury free and to get five goals on the road was pretty productive. Coming off midterms last week, this is a tough time for the players and we also are playing more road games this year [8] than at home [10]. … The Villanova game will be a huge game and it’s a difficult place to play. We have to have a great week of preparation for that. … Friday’s game with the tie, it’s so difficult to go through the whole season without some type of letdown. We just didn’t finish. Defensively, things have come together really well. We want to become better on set pieces for the playoff run and we were happy with that in the Proviodence game.”
UPDATED TEAM NOTES – ND is 17-3-0 in the Waldrum era (since ’99) in games after a loss/tie in the regular season or BIG EAST Tournament (the senior class is 10-0-0 in such games) … the Irish have held their past five opponents to a total of 17 shots (3.2/gm), four shots on goal (0.8) and nine corner kicks (1.8) … the Irish remain unbeaten in 2005-06 during Sunday games (19-0-0; 83-4 scoring edge) … West Virginia remains the only team to score on the Irish in the past 11-plus games, a 1,088-minute stretch that includes a 37-1 scoring edge … the current team holds the ND record for fewest goals allowed in the first 15 games (3) … Santa Clara (10) has more than one-third of the opponent shots on goal (28) vs. ND this season, as each of the other 14 opponents has been held to 0-3 SOG (USC, TCU, Louisville, Rutgers and PC all had 0; DePaul, Pitt and Seton Hall each had 1 SOG; Iowa State, WVU and UConn had 2 each; and Ole Miss, SMU and Michigan each had 3 SOG) … ND now is 38-1-0 in its past 39 games when scoring first (24 straight wins) and has won 239 straight when claiming a 2-0 lead … the Irish dropped their season goals-against avg. to 0.20 (on pace for ND record) … Cinalli’s goal was the ninth that ND has scored this season in the first 10 minutes after halftime … it was the fourth-quickest 2nd-half goal for ND this season, behind scores vs. Rutgers (48:23, by Cinalli), SMU (48:38, Hanks) and West Virginia (48:52, Weissenhofer) … North Carolina (86-3-3) remains the only team with a senior class that has more career wins than ND’s senior group (81-7-3) but the Irish have the nation’s winningest junior class (61-4-2/goals in 65 of 67 games, followed by UNC’s at 59-3-3) … ND has allowed 0-1 goals in 35 games during the past two seasons (in 38 GP; also 26 wins by 3-plus goals and 14 games with 5-plus goals in ’05-’06) … the eight seniors have combined for 527 career GP … ND is 61-5-2 when playing as the #1-ranked team in the NSCAA poll (42-3-3 in the regular season) … the Irish have scored in 50 of 51 games since mid-’04 and have scored multiple goals in 14 of 15 games this season … Sunday’s game was ND’s fourth 5-0 win of the season (plus the 9-0 win over Iowa State in the opener) … the Irish are unbeaten in 22 straight regular-season games (21-0-1), still 10 shy of tying that ND record … ND is 27-1-1 in its past 29 games (including 17-0-1 vs. BIG EAST teams), since losing at Marquette on 9/30/05 … ND now owns a 11-0-0 series edge vs. Providence (62-1 scoring margin), including 5-0-0 in games at PC (Sunday was ND’s first game at PC since ’02) … ND’s past three games vs. PC include a 14-0 scoring edge (93-9 in shots, 54-2 in SOG, 24-1 in CKs).
UPDATED INDIVIDUAL NOTES – Weissenhofer remains atop the team scoring charts with 33 points (10G-13A) but Hanks now is right behind her with 32 (12G-8A), after totaling 19 points in the past six games (6G-7A) …Hanks has the best career goals per game (1.00) and career points per game (2.58) averages in ND history … she still ranks 15th in ND career points (103) and 13th in goals (40), behind Suzie Zilvitis (112; 43) on both lists … Cinalli still is 21st in points (81, now two behind Jen Grubb) and 17th in goals (28, six back of Amy VanLaecke) … Buczkowski remains 23rd in career points (70, four behind Stacia Masters) … ND is 26-0-0 in the 2005-06 seasons when Hanks scores a goal … the ND senior class still has yet to be outshot in their career, going 81-7-3 (.907) in those games (63-3-3 in the regular season; 29-1-2 in October) … Waldrum now is 155-23-6 (.859) in eight seasons at ND … the Irish are 31-1-1 in the past two seasons (’05-’06) when Kim Lorenzen is in the starting lineup … Buczkowski has played in all 91 games of her career, the sixth-longest streak of consecutive games played in ND women’s soccer history … senior D Christie Shaner is seventh on that list, with an active streak of 88 straight games played (90 of 91 total GP) … three other seniors are nearing 90 career GP: Lorenzen (84), F/M Lizzie Reed (84) and defensive M Jill Krivacek (823) … two ND juniors, Cinalli and Jones, have played in all 67 games of their careers (ND is 61-4-2 from ’04-’06, for a .925 win pct. that puts them on pace to be the winningest class in ND history) … the top four-year win pct. in ND history is .921 (91-6-4), from 1994-97 … Buczkowski’s 91 GP are tied for 18th in ND history (Shaner is tied for 23rd) … Hanks has 2G-4A in two career games vs. PC.
THE BIG EAST PLAYOFF PICTURE – A win over Villanova (20 pts; 6-2-1) next Friday night would clinch a top-two finish for the Irish (22; 7-0-1) in the BIG EAST National Division (the top two earn hosting spots in the quarterfinal round) … Rutgers (20 pts; 6-2-1) then would be the only team remaining that could finish above ND in the division – but RU would have to sweep its games next weeekend (vs. Cincinnati and Louisville), in addition to then needing the Irish to lose to Georgetown and to Cincinatti (in the potential makeup game) … even if ND was to lose to Villanova, the Irish still could then win the division with victories over Georgetown and Cincinnati … the top-five teams in each division advance to the BIG EAST Tournament, with the 4th-place teams playing the other division’s 5th-place teams in the preliminary round on Oct. 25-26 … if ND wins the division, the most probable quarterfinal opponents for the Irish would be Marquette (16; 5-3-1), Connecticut (16; 5-3-1) or St. John’s (15; 4-2-3), which are the three teams most likely to finish fourth in the American Division (and host the National’s #5 team) … Cincinnati (10; 3-4-1) or Seton Hall (8; 2-5-2) are the likely teams to fill the National’s #5 spot … the only other teams that ND possibly could face in the quarterfinal are South Florida (9; 3-6-0) from the American and Georgetown (5; 1-6-2) from the National, but both are longshots to finish in those respective 4/5 spots that are in the same bracket with the National Division champ … there are eight teams that ND cannot face in the quarterfinal: American Division teams West Virginia (22; 7-1-1), Pittsburgh (8; 2-5-2), Syracuse (7; 2-6-1) and Providence (5; 1-6-2), plus National Division teams Villanova, Rutgers, Louisville (18; 6-3-0) and DePaul (1; 0-8-1), which is the only team that is out of the running for a postseason spot.
#1 Notre Dame (14-0-1, 7-0-1 BIG EAST) 2 3 – 5
Providence (4-6-5, 1-6-2 BIG EAST) 0 0 – 0
ND 1. Brittany Bock 5th of season/17th of career (Kerri Hanks) 6:25.
ND 2. Hanks 12/40 (Susan Pinnick) 13:41.
ND 3. Amanda Cinalli 8/28 (-) 49:35.
ND 4. Michele Weissenhofer 10 (Hanks) 55:24.
ND 5. Ashley Jones 2/4 (Courtney Rosen, Jen Buczkowski) 67:32.
Shots: ND 21, PC 4.
Corner Kicks: ND 7, PC 0.
Saves: PC 10 (Laura Elfers 7, Ashley Fedyshyn 3), ND 0 (Lauren Karas, Kelsey Lysander).
Fouls: ND 15, PC 12.
Offside: ND 5, PC 0.