Sept. 19, 2004
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Katie Thorlakson’s goal in the 83rd minute helped the top-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team overcome a sluggish effort in Sunday afternoon BIG EAST action at Syracuse, with the Irish remaining unbeaten after a 2-1 win over the homestanding Orange.
Notre Dame (8-0-0) – ranked No. 1 in the Soccer America poll and now 28-1-1 in its last 30 regular-season games – claimed an early lead on Jen Buczkowski’s fourth goal of the season before Syracuse (4-2-1) tied the game with somewhat of a unusual goal midway through the second half. The Irish continued to dominate statistically, with a 16-7 edge in shots, 12-2 in shots on goal and 7-2 in corner kicks. Notre Dame now has limited 26 of its last 29 opponents to 0-3 shots on goal, with SU senior goalkeeper Shannon Myers making up for her team’s offensive limitations with 10 saves in Sunday’s action.
There are 308 teams in Division I women’s soccer but – just one month into the season – there are only five unbeaten/untied teams left in the nation: Notre Dame, Virginia (8-0-0), Washington (6-0-0), UNC Wilmington (8-0-0) and UC Riverside (6-0-0). Strong starts are nothing new for the Irish, with nine of the last 13 Notre Dame teams starting the season 8-0-0 or better.
Notre Dame claimed the early lead in the 15th minute of action, thanks to a skillful shot from Buczkwoski. Freshman forward Amanda Cinalli – who had scored the late gamewinner on Friday at UConn – dribbled down the left side before sending a cross from the endline. Buczkowski was in position at the far post and struck a leftfooted volley into the right side of the net, equaling her goal total (4) from the entire 2003 season (14:22).
Syracuse managed just two shots (none on goal) and no corner kicks in the first half but the hosts tied the game in the 69th minute. Molly McManus took a pass from Kelly Bailey and was being marked closely by Melissa Tancredi near the left sideline. McManus then surprisingly launched the ball on what at first appeared to be a cross, with the ball instead sailing into the upper right sidnetting for the unexpected equalizer (68:18).
The Irish had held a 30-1 scoring edge in the history of the Syracuse series (now 6-0-0) before Sunday’s goal by the Orange. Syracuse became just the fourth opponent in the last 37 games to come back and tie the Irish, joining Santa Clara (’03 and ’04) and Miami (’03) in that distinction.
Thorlakson’s team-leading sixth goal of the season proved to be the difference, with the junior forward scoring at a similar time to Cinalli’s goal in the UConn game. Senior Candace Chapman – who had played mostly at forward this season – assisted on the goal with playing in the defense at left back. Chapman drove a low ball into the box from the left flank, with her fellow Canadian collecting the ball by the near post and quickly turning inside. Thorlakson then fluidly toe-poked an eight-yard shot inside the far-right post for the 20th goal of her Notre Dame career (82:49).
Sunday’s goal made Thorlakson (20G-22A) the 19th player in Notre Dame’s storied history to total 20-plus goals and 20-plus assists in her career, doing so over the course of 51 games.
With Sunday’s victory, the Irish now have won 31 straight games when scoring first – dating back to a 3-2 loss to BYU on Oct. 19, 2002 (ND is 1-3-0 during that span when the opponent scores first).
Notre Dame also now owns a .908 all-time win pct. in BIG EAST regular-season games (78-7-2) while owning a 97-9-2 overall record (.908) vs. BIG EAST teams since joining the league in 1995.
NOTES – Thorlakson entered the week ranked 5th in the nation in scoring and now has totaled 20 points (6G-8A) in eight games … she is on pace for 45 points (which would best her 42 combined points in ’02 and ’03) in the 18-game regular season and could 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 (1999) … the Irish have wrapped up a stretch of four straight road games and next will play three of the next four at home … ND was just 4-5-0 in 2002 regular-season “bounceback” games (played two days after a previous game) but the Irish now have won 14 straight regular-season bounceback games during the past two seasons (with a 41-5 scoring edge) … Thorlakson already has three gamewinning goals this season and eight in her career, good for 10th in the ND record book and one behind former teammate Amy Warner (’00-’03) … Thorlakson’s 62 career points would rank near the top of many school’s record books but she stands just 22nd in ND career scoring, 12 points shy of cracking the top 20 (F Stacia Masters had 74 points from ’93-’96 and M/D Kara Brown 68 from ’96-’99) … nine previous ND players have totaled 30-plus goals and 30-plus assists … ND now owns a 24-6 season scoring edge, plus 170-48 in total shots (avg. 21-5), 103-19 in shots on goal (13-2) and 44-15 in corner kicks (6-2) … the Irish have trailed for just 5.9% of the minutes (198 of 3,370) during the past 37 games (dating back to the ’02 BYU game) … Waldrum’s six ND teams have combined for a 102-19-4 record (.832) … ND owns a 12-1 scoring edge in the first half this season and has allowed just 23 first-half goals in the last four seasons (spanning 73 games) … the Irish now have scored in 182 of 189 all-time regular-season games (.963) … the other 18 ND players with in the 20-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), Holly Manthei (24-129), Masters (24-26), Michelle McCarthy (59-38), Streiffer (70-71), Tiffany Thompson (27-37), Amy VanLaecke (34-22), Warner (37-25) and Suzie Zilvitis (43-26).
Head Coach Randy Waldrum – “We gave the ball away too much today and sort of shut down after scoring the first goal. We basically stopped playing until they tied it up. It was frustrating not to put them away when we had the chance. We did not start Katie Thorlakson in order to get her some rest but she once again showed why she is one of the best players in the country by scoring another great goal.”
#1 Notre Dame (8-0-0) 1 1 – 2
Syracuse (4-2-1) 0 1 – 1
ND 1. Jen Buczkowski 4 (Amanda Cinalli) 14:22.
SYR 1. Molly McManus 2 (Kelly Bailey) 68:18.
ND 2. Katie Thorlakson 6 (Candace Chapman) 82:49.
Shots: ND 8-8 – 16, SYR 2-5 – 7.
Corner Kicks: ND 4-3 – 7, SYR 0-2 – 2.
Saves: ND 1 (Erika Bohn), SYR 10 (Shannon Myers).
Fouls: ND 10, SYR 11.
Offsides: ND 0, SYR 0.