Aug. 29, 2004
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Junior forward Katie Thorlakson continued her torrid start to the 2004 season by setting up all three goals and the Irish again led the statistics in dominating fashion, as the Notre Dame women’s soccer team improved to 2-0-0 with Sunday’s 3-0 win over Eastern Illinois at Alumni Field. Notre Dame – ranked as high as second in the national polls – limited the visitors to one shot on goal, two total shots and a single corner kick while the other side of the field produced 38 shots (23 on goal) and 14 corner kicks (seven in each half) for the Irish. Eastern Illinois (1-1-0) registered its first shot and only corner kick of the game in the 14th minute of play, with the hosts then logging 48 minutes without allowing a shot while playing the final 76 minutes without allowing an EIU corner kick. Junior Annie Schefter’s first goal of the season provided an early Irish lead before sophomore midfielder Jen Buczkowski sent home a header for her second goal of 2004. Senior forward Candace Chapman (still easing back from her 2003 ACL knee injury) then continued to perform her role of “super sub,” scoring in the second half for her third goal of the weekend (in addition to a team-best four goals during the six exhibition games in Brazil). Thorlakson officially was credited with only one assist but she also played a key role in the second and third Notre Dame goals. The spunky Canadian Under-19 National Teamer seemingly has been involved in every goal scored when she has been on the field this fall. She led the Irish with six assists during the Brazil trip, with many of the other 10 goals in Brazil being scored when she was on the bench (the Irish used split squads throughout that tour). Then, in Friday night’s opener vs. Baylor (7-2), Thorlakson scored twice and added three assists in the 5-0 first half before subbing out for the second half – meaning she essentially played a leading role in all eight goals that were scored when she was on the field during this weekend’s action. Ten Notre Dame players combined on the 38-shot attack, including eight with three-plus shots. EIU sophomore Tiffany Groene had a busy day and made several key stops, totaling 18 saves while her teammates also prevented two other shots from entering the net. Thorlakson assisted on the first goal with a short corner-kick tap from the left flag. Schefter received the ball and worked towards the box before arching a 20-yard shot that ripped into the far-right sidenetting (4:35). The second Irish goal also started off the foot of Thorlakson, who played a short pass into the right side of the box. Cinalli ran onto the ball and battled past her defender before chipping a cross from the right endline. Buczkowski was in position and sent her header into the right side of the goal for the 2-0 lead (29:31). Notre Dame peppered the goal to open the second half and was averaging a shot per minute for much of the half – but the third Irish goal did not come until Chapman had entered the game. Thorlakson again set up the score despite not receiving an official assist, with a well-placed corner kick from the right side. Chapman elevated at the far post and snapped a header but Groene went low for the save, with Chapman then slamming home the rebound to cap the scoring (72:27). Alumni Field will be the place to be next weekend as the Notre Dame Adidas Classic again will feature one of the nation’s elite tournament fields. Friday’s action (Sept. 3) includes SMU versus Santa Clara (5:00 p.m.) and Notre Dame vs. Stanford (7:30), followed by Sunday matchups (Sept. 5) between SMU and Stanford (11:30) and ND and SCU (1:30). The Notre Dame-Santa Clara showdown may prove to be the top matchup in the entire 2004 Division I women’s soccer season, as the Irish are rated No. 2 in the Soccer Buzz poll and third in the other three national polls while the Broncos are second in every poll except Soccer Buzz (3rd). Eastern Illinois 0 0 – 0 #2 Notre Dame 2 1 – 3 ND 1. Annie Schefter 1 (Katie Thorlakson ) 4:35; ND 2. Jen Buczkowski 2 (Amanda Cinalli) 29:31; ND 3. Candace Chapman 3 (-) 72:27. Shots: EIU 1-1 – 2, ND 16-22 – 38. Corner Kicks: EIU 1-0 – 1, ND 7-7 – 14. Saves: EIU 20 (Tiffany Groene 18, team 2), ND 1 (Erika Bohn 1, Nikki Westfall 0). Fouls: EIU 4, ND 11. Offside: EIU 0, ND 3. Yellow Card: Morgan Frericks (EIU) 87:10.