Oct. 1, 2006
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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame’s new forward trio of Kerri Hanks, Brittany Bock and Michele Weissenhofer combined for four goals and two assists, as the top-ranked Irish women’s soccer team improved to 11-0-0 with Sunday’s 5-0 win over visiting Pittsburgh. The crowd of 2,681 represented the largest official attendance for a Sunday game in Alumni Field history and completed an impressive weekend at the gate that saw the Irish draw a two-game total of nearly 6,000 fans for the games versus sixth-ranked West Virginia (3,056, including an advance sale of more than 800 tickets) and Pittsburgh.
The Irish racked up a 31-1 edge in total shots (12-1 in shots on goal) while attempting all eight corner kicks in Sunday’s game. Four of the goals came in the final 45 minutes, extending Notre Dame’s scoring dominance to 29-0 during the second half this season. The Irish have outscored their opponents 38-3 overall in 2006, including 25-1 over the course of the past seven games.
Jen Buczkowski’s right-endline cross set up the game’s first goal in the 13th minute, with Bock originally credited for the score that later was changed to an own-goal. Bock – a midfielder who flipped spots with forward Amanda Cinalli this weekend – picked up her third goal of the season and 15th of her career early in the second half, after heading in a left-flank service from senior defender Christie Shaner.
Pittsburgh’s only shot came in the 32nd minute, on a harmless free kick from 20 yards out. It marked the first shot on goal allowed by Notre Dame in 106 minutes of game time, dating back to West Virginia’s early goal in Friday night’s game. That goal remains the only score allowed by the Irish in their past 708 minutes of action.
Weissenhofer – who entered the week leading the nation in assists (now 12) and points per game – briefly took over the team lead in goals, after scoring for the seventh and eighth time this season. Hanks, who assisted on both of the Weissenhofer’s goals, then registered her own eighth goal of the season to cap the scoring and maintain her career average of one goal per game (36).
Notre Dame’s final regular-season home games are next weekend, versus Seton Hall on Friday, Oct. 6 (7:30) and versus Rutgers on Sunday, Oct. 8 (1:00).
NOTES – The Irish extended several noteworthy streaks, including: a 69-game unbeaten streak at Alumni Field vs. BIG EAST teams without a loss (68-0-1, since ’95); a 47-game scoring streak (2nd all-time, eight shy of the record); 34 straight games at home without a loss (33-0-1; 4th-longest in D-I women’s soccer history); 25 consecutive wins at home (four shy of that record); a 24-1-0 record in the past 25 regular-season games; 18 straight wins in the regular season (two shy of that ND record); a 35-1-0 record in the past 36 games when scoring first (21 straight wins); and 236 straight wins when claiming a 2-0 lead (259-0-1 all-time) … the Irish are 25-0-0 in the past two seasons when Hanks scores a goal … Buczkowski has assists in three of the past four games (after totaling no points in the first seven games of ’06) … ND is 152-23-5 in the 8-year Randy Waldrum era … the ND seniors still have never been outshot in a game during their four-year career (spanning 87 games, with a 78-7-2 career record) … Weissenhoher has points in 10 of 11 games played this season and pushed her team-best point total to 28 (with nation-leading 12 assists) … the 69-game home unbeaten streak vs. BIG EAST teams includes a 302-20 scoring edge, 51 shutouts and 17 games with 1 GA (ND has logged 60 straight home games vs. BIG EAST teams without allowing multiple goals) … ND, Navy (12-0-0) and Villanova (11-0-2) as remain the nation’s only unbeaten teams (out of 301 in D-I women’s soccer) … the 18 consecutive regular-season wins are tied for 2nd in ND history (behind 20 from 1999-2000) … the three other ND teams that have opened 11-0-0 include: 16-0-0 in 2000, 15-0-0 in ’04 and 13-0-0 in ’96 … the ’06 team has set the Irish record for fewest goals allowed in the first 11 games (3) … the Irish have posted multiple goals in each of the first 11 games for the second time (also ’96) … ND has allowed just 25 shots on goal all season (2.27/gm) … ND is 186-14-3 all-time at Alumni Field, 64-3-2 in the past 69 regular-season games and 76-4-3 overall since starting 2004 with the preseason Brazil trip (including spring games and fall exhibitions) … the Irish have held the opponent to 0-1 goals in 32 of 36 games in ’05-’06 … Hanks still ranks 15th on the ND career goals list (36), one behind Amy Warner … Hanks now has 90 career points (36G-18A), now tied with Amy VanLaecke for 17th in ND history, after passing Jody Hartwig (Tiffany Thompson is 16th, with 91) … Hanks owns career averages of 1.00 goals/gm and 2.50 points/gm (Jenny Streiffer has the ppg record of 2.11, Jenny Heft the gpg record of 0.83) … Hanks needs 10 points in the next three games to reach 100 points quicker than any previous ND player (Streiffer and Anne Makinen reached 100 in their 40th games) … ND is 28-1-0 in the past two seasons with Kim Lorenzen in the starting lineup … ND’s eight-member senior class has combined for 503 career games played, led by Buczkowski (all 87/82 starts), center back Christie Shaner (86/78), F/M Lizzie Reed (81/21), Lorenzen (80/80) and M Jill Krivacek 79/51) … Shaner has played in 84 straight games … the seniors now own a .908 career win pct. (78-7-2) and own the 2nd-most career wins in the nation (UNC’s seniors are 82-3-3) … the seniors have helped post 56 shutouts and 22 games with 1 GA (78 of 87 with 0-1 GA) … ND’s junior class owns a 58-4-1 record (.929) and has helped ND score in 61 of their 63 career games… junior G Lauren Karas owns a 22-1-0 career record.
Pittsburgh (7-3-2, 2-2-1 BIG EAST) 0 0 – 0
#1 Notre Dame (11-0-0; 4-0-0 BIG EAST) 1 4 – 5
ND 1. Own Goal 12:10
ND 2. Brittany Bock 3rd of season/15th of career (Christie Shaner) 54:30
ND 3. Michele Weissenhofer 7 (Kerri Hanks; Ashley Jones) 57:14
ND 4. Weissenhofer 8 (Hanks) 64:19
ND 5. Hanks 8/36 (Jen Buczkowski) 72:29
Shots: Pitt 1-0 – 1, ND 13-18 – 31
Corner Kicks: Pitt 0-0 – 0, ND 3-5 8, ND
Saves: Pitt 7 (Alison Finch 4, Katelyn Baranowsky 2, team 1), ND 1 (Lauren Karas, Kelsey Lysander 1)
Fouls: Pitt 6, ND 13
Offside: Pitt 0, ND 1
Yellow Cards: Megan Watson (Pitt) 75:40; ND (Carrie Dew) 76:39; Stephanie Davis (Pitt) 89:10
Attendance: 2,681