Sept. 7, 2005
Notre Dame senior forward Katie Thorlakson has been named to Soccer America magazine’s national team of the week while Irish junior midfielder Jen Buczkowski has received the same honor from the Soccer Buzz women’s soccer website.
Thorlakson – named to the Soccer America weekly team for the fourth time during the past two seasons – totaled three goals and three assists last weekend in wins over nationally-ranked teams Florida and Maryland, earning offensive MVP team honors the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic. The nine-point weekend helped her become the 34th player in the 24-year history of Division I women’s soccer to reach 40 goals (42) and 40 assists (45) in her career.
Buczkowski was named defensive MVP of the Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic, completing the rare career double after previsously earning the offensive MVP honor at Notre Dame’s 2003 home tournament. The U.S. Under-21 National Team standout helped the Irish complete an impressive weekend in which they outscored Florida and Maryland 10-1, with a 46-8 edge in total shots, 27-4 in shots on goal and 12-5 in corner kicks. The Notre DAme season stats now include a 63-10 shot edge (50-5 in first-half shots), plus 42-6 in shots on goal and 24-5 in corners. Buczkowski set up the game-winning goal vs. Maryland, playing a pass to Thorlakson that led to a Kerri Hanks rebound goal.
Notre Dame – now ranked No. 1 in three of the four national polls, in addition to leading the nation with 6.75 goals per game – is the only team out of more than 300 in Division I to have produced three different players named to 2005 national teams of the week (Portland and Wake Forest are the only teams with two different national honorees). Freshman forward Kerri Hanks received the honor from Soccer America and Soccer Buzz after scoring seven goals and adding an assist in a pair of games at the season-opening Vermont Classic.
Hanks currently leads the nation in goals (10G-1A) and points (21) while Thorlakson again is the nation’s assists leader (5G-7A). They entered the week as the only teammates in Division I women’s soccer with 12-plus points (Thorlakson is fifth, with 17).
Thorlakson (2G-4A, vs. New Hampshire) and Hanks (4G, vs. UNH) join Portland’s Christine Sinclair as the only players to post 8-plus points in a game this season. Sinclair and Hanks are the only players to score more than three goals in a game while Thorlakson is the only player with more than three assists in a game during 2005.
Sophomore forward Amanda Cinalli already has matched her 2004 assist total (5), ranking behind only Thorlakson and UNC’s Kacey White (6) among the current NCAA assist leaders.
Katie Thorlakson (5G-7A) has started fast for the second straight season, previously totaling 5G-5A in the first four games of the ’04 season.
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Just two weeks into the season, Notre Dame already is part of a shrinking list of teams (now 25) that are unbeaten and untied. Those teams include four with 5-0-0 records (Georgia, Florida State, BYU and UTEP) while Notre Dame joins nine others with 4-0-0 marks: UNC, Portland, UCLA, Penn State, Pepperdine, Mississippi, N.C. State, Colorado College, Utah. Five others own 3-0-0 records (Boston College, Southern Miss., Alabama, Harvard and Lehigh), followed by 2-0-0 teams Cornell, Dartmouth, UNC-Asheville and Oakland (Penn and South Alabama are 1-0-0).
Here’s additional information on this week’s national honorees:
Katie Thorlakson (Sr., F; Langley, B.C.) – repeated as offensive MVP of ND’s annual home tournament (Sept. 2 and 4), after totaling 3G-3A in pair of wins over Florida (4-1; 2G-1A) and Maryland (6-0; 1G-2A) … picked up her fourth career BIG EAST player-of-the-week honor, tied for 3rd-most in the 11-year history of the BIG EAST women’s soccer awards … assisted on goals that held up as the gamewinners vs. the Gators and Terps … became 34th player in Division I women’s soccer history (6th from ND) to reach 40G-40A in her career … had corner-kick assists in both games (giving her 3 CK assists for the season, after 8 in ’04) … provided CK assist on Cinalli’s header for 2-0 lead on Florida team ranked as high as 11th in the nation … later volleyed in a Christie Shaner cross and converted a PK … was inches away from scoring earlier goal that would have produced her third career hat trick, drilling a 25-yard shot that smacked off the left post … the 2G-1A vs. UF represented the 7th time in the past two seasons (31 GP) that she has posted 5-plus points in a game (it was her 9th carer mutli-goal game) … her strong shot produced a Kerri Hanks rebound goal to open scoring vs. Maryland … added CK assist on Carrie Dew’s goal and later ripped 25-yard shot into sidenetting for 4-0 lead … next sets her sights on the 50-G/50-A plateau, a mark reached by only three previous Irish players and 13 others in NCAA history … now ranks 11th at ND in career points (129), 9th in assists (45) and 12th in goals (42) … her 14 career game-winning assists are tied for 4th in ND record book (her 40 game-winning points are 8th) … has averaged nearly 3.0 points per game in past two seasons (28G-30A, 86 points in 31 GP), has points in 14 of ND’s past 15 games (17G-19A/53 pts; no pts vs. Vermont, after playing just 29 minutes) and has scored/assisted on 36 of ND’s past 55 goals (66%) … averaging 1.74 pts/gm in her career, now 8th in ND record book … has played in 74 consecutive games with the Irish (her entire career) … now has totaled 60 points (20G-20A, 7 GWG) at Alumni Field during the ’04 and ’05 seasons, in 17 GP (3.53 ppg) … has 33 points in her past 8 home games (11G-11A) and has racked up 78 points at Alumni Field during the ’03-’05 seasons (27G-24A, 9 GWG in 33 GP) … ND’s other 40-40 players have included Streiffer(70G-71A), Daws (61G-57A), Makinen (65-56), Erikson (59-46) and Gerardo (73-44).
Jen Buczkowski (Jr., M; Elk Grove, Ill.) – named defensive MVP of ND’s Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic, completing the rare career double after earning the offensive MVP honor at ND’s 2003 home tournament … named to the BIG EAST honor roll before receiving national honor from Soccer Buzz … her role as the leader of Notre Dame’s midfield continues to lead the team’s strong possession game and suffocating team defense … helped Irish complete the impressive Sept. 2-4 weekend vs. a pair of ranked teams (4-1 vs. #11 Florida, 6-0 vs. #25 Maryland) by outscoring the opposition 10-1, with a 46-8 edge in total shots, 27-4 in shots on goal and 12-5 in corner kicks … the Irish season stats now include a 63-10 shot edge (including 50-5 in first-half shots), plus 42-6 in shots on goal and 24-5 in CKs … set up the game-winning goal vs. Maryland, playing pass to Katie Thorlakson that led to a Kerri Hanks rebound goal.