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Women's Soccer
#1 Irish Open Final Weekend Of Regular Season Friday Against #24/18 Rutgers
Oct. 23, 2008
Full Notes Package in PDF Format
#1/1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (16-0-0 / 9-0-0 BIG EAST) vs. #24/18 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (11-4-1 / 6-2-1 BIG EAST) DATE: Oct. 24, 2008 Storylines No. 1 Notre Dame Opens Final Weekend Of Regular Season Friday Against #24/18 Rutgers Notre Dame (16-0, 9-0) locked up this year's division crown with a 2-0 victory at Connecticut last Sunday. Senior All-America forward/Hermann Trophy candidate Kerri Hanks scored twice (her 17th career multi-goal game) and became the school's career goals leader, while also stretching her goalscoring streak to a school-record tying 10 games. The Irish defense was particularly strong as well, holding the Huskies to one shot on goal and only two corner kicks in the contest. Rankings A Quick Look At The Fighting Irish As if that weren't enough, Notre Dame welcomes a highly-regarded nine-player freshman class to campus, with three of those incoming players having earned multiple national All-America honors during their prep or club careers. Leading the way for Notre Dame this season are two of the country's premier front-line players (and '07 NSCAA first-team All-Americans) in senior forward Kerri Hanks and senior forward/midfielder Brittany Bock. A three-time All-American and the '06 Hermann Trophy recipient, Hanks (17G-5A) continues to blaze new trails through the NCAA and Irish record books, having led the nation in assists the past two seasons, and aiming to become the third Division I player to log 70 goals and 70 assists in her career (81G-63A entering Friday's game). She has earned national honors from Soccer America (Team of the Week) and Top Drawer Soccer (Player/Team of the Week) three times each, as well as garnering three BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honors (all in the past four weeks) and her second consecutive Offensive MVP award at the Inn at Saint Mary's Classic with a school record-tying sixth career hat trick vs. Loyola Marymount. Bock (5G-7A), one of the Irish co-captains in 2008, emerged as a genuine offensive threat last season, leading the team in goals and finishing second with 36 points (16G-4A). The reigining BIG EAST Co-Offensive Player of the Year, Bock earned the league's Offensive Player of the Week honor on Sept. 8, as well as a spot on the Soccer America National Team of the Week after scoring the game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory at No. 3/2 North Carolina on Sept. 5. Most recently, she was tapped for the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week on Oct. 21 after registering a goal and four assists in shutout wins at Providence and Connecticut. Another key player for the Irish this season is senior center back and co-captain Carrie Dew (0G-1A), the 2006 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year who made a successful recovery from an ACL injury late in the '06 regular season with a solid '07 campaign. She is the two-time BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week and Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week honoree, and a BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll selection after leading Notre Dame to 10 shutouts and a 0.44 GAA, including four consecutive clean sheets to open this season (the first time the Irish have done that since '95). A Quick Look At Rutgers Rutgers' most recent shutout came last Sunday at Syracuse by that familiar 1-0 score. Senior midfielder Alicia Hall rewarded the Scarlet Knights' patient defensive effort, scoring the lone goal in the 80th minute. A trio of juniors have led the RU surge this season. Forward Caycie Gusman ranks ninth in the BIG EAST with 16 points, while her team-high eight goals are tied for fourth in the conference. Midfielder Gina DeMaio is second in the BIG EAST with 12 assists, while goalkeeper Erin Guthrie is fourth in the league with a 0.49 goals-against average (tops in conference play at 0.33). Head coach Glenn Crooks is in the midst of his ninth season at Rutgers with a 98-67-21 (.583) record. Including prior stops at St. Peter's and Long Island, Crooks has a 16-year coaching record of 143-122-30 (.536). He is 1-7-1 all-time against Notre Dame. The Notre Dame-Rutgers Series An individual game listing for this series can be found on page 100 of the 2008 Irish women's soccer media guide. The Last Time Notre Dame And Rutgers Met The Irish held the Scarlet Knights to five shots (one on goal) and three corners, while Notre Dame had six attempts from the flag in the first half alone. One of those led to the first Irish goal at 32:50, as Hanks' inswinger nearly went in on its own, before Ashley Jones elevated over RU 'keeper Erin Guthrie to score on a point-blank header off the bottom of the crossbar. Hanks then sealed matters at 80:45 after being fouled in the box by Rutgers' Alexandra Hambleton. Hanks buried the ensuing penalty kick to send Notre Dame back to the BIG EAST semifinals for the 12th time in the program's 13-year conference membership. Other Notre Dame-Rutgers Series Tidbits Poll Position Notre Dame last was ranked No. 1 in 2006, assuming that post in all the polls by the end of the season's first month and carrying it through to the NCAA College Cup final, where the Irish fell to North Carolina, 2-1 (one of only two blemishes in a 25-1-1 season). Notre Dame remains the only team in the country to own the No. 1 ranking in the NSCAA poll in four of five years from 2004-08. All-time, the Irish are 84-6-3 (.919) as the nation's top-ranked squad. As has become the custom on the Notre Dame campus, the traditional lighted #1 sign has reappeared atop Grace Hall, and a #1 flag now flies outside the Irish athletic department offices at the Joyce Center (see note on pp. 26 of this year's media guide). This year's women's soccer ranking marks the ninth consecutive academic year (starting in 2000-01) that Notre Dame has fielded at least one top-ranked team, with women's basketball, fencing, baseball and ice hockey also reaching the top of their respective polls during that span. One Tough Slate Notre Dame has five wins over ranked opponents (No. 21/12 Santa Clara, at No. 3/2 North Carolina, vs. No. 12/11 Duke, at No. 17/16 Penn State and at No. 17/16 Georgetown), with the first three in that series coming in succession and the last four all coming away from home. And it's not like the Irish have experience playing SCU, UNC and Duke in a row, having last seen those three powerhouses in succession in 1995 (and not at any point in the same regular season, let alone in a row, since 1999). The 1-0 win at North Carolina on Sept. 5 was even more noteworthy, as it marked just the seventh time the Tar Heels had ever been shut out at home, and only the fifth time by a Division I team. One of those five was a 0-0 tie (Duke), while the other four were 1-0 losses, two at the hands of Notre Dame (the other came in the '95 NCAA semifinals at Fetzer Field, leading to the first of two Irish national championships). Beasts Of The BIG EAST Since joining the BIG EAST, the Irish are 121-8-4 (.925) all-time in regular-season conference games, 29-2-1 (.922) in the BIG EAST Tournament, and hold a 665-80 scoring edge dating back to that first league season in '95. What's more Notre Dame maintains a 13-year, 82-game home unbeaten streak (81-0-1) versus BIG EAST teams, with Connecticut the lone conference team ever to defeat the Irish at Alumni Field (5-4 in OT on Oct. 6, 1995). Numbers Don't Lie Notre Dame is outscoring its opponents by a staggering 55-7 margin with nine shutouts this year. The Irish also rank fourth in the nation in scoring offense (currently 3.44 goals/game), as well as eighth in goals-against average (0.44) and ninth in shutout percentage (0.625). The Irish also allowed just 40 opponent shots on goal all year (15 fewer shots on goal than Notre Dame's goals). By comparison, senior All-America forward and Hermann Trophy candidate Kerri Hanks has 43 shots on goal all by herself. Together, the Irish have registered 183 shots on goal, while their opponents have managed 111 total shots this year. And, Notre Dame has a sizeable 106-34 edge in corner kicks to boot. Lead, Follow Or Just Get Out Of The Way The One And Only At Division II, Grand Valley State (16-0-0) is the only school still perfect thus far. At Division III, Williams (12-0-0) is the only team still with an unblemished record. Dude, We're Going Streaking Notre Dame's current 26-game regular-season unbeaten streak also is the fifth-longest in school history. In fact, it should be noted that, except for a 16-day stretch last September when the Irish lost four times in six games (twice in OT), Notre Dame has not dropped a regular-season game dating back the middle of the 2005 season. What's more, since beginning last season with that tough 3-4-1 start, the Irish are 32-1-1 in their last 34 games overall, with the only loss coming to No. 14 Florida State (3-2) in last year's NCAA College Cup semifinals, and the lone tie occurring at No. 12 West Virginia (1-1) in the '07 BIG EAST tournament final (WVU won the title on penalty kicks, 5-3). We're Kind Of Used To This, Too The current streak also marks the sixth consecutive season in which the Irish have reeled off at least 12 victories in a row. Prior to this season, the longest run in that span (dating back to 2003) had been a 15-game winning streak to kick off the 2004 national championship season. Golden Domers Golden In OT Getting The Jump On The Competition In 11 of their 16 games, the Irish have scored a goal in the first 20 minutes of play (including four games where they scored in the opening 10 minutes), with senior forward Kerri Hanks owning the fastest strike of the season (penalty kick at 2:39 vs. Loyola Marymount on Aug. 29). That marked the 11th-fastest goal of the Randy Waldrum era, and the quickest since Nov. 5, 2006, when Hanks struck 57 seconds into the BIG EAST final against Rutgers (a game the Irish ultimately won, 4-2). Strong Out Of The Blocks Spreading The Wealth For the season, 15 different Irish players, representing all four classes, have scored at least one goal. In addition, Notre Dame already has tied the school record with 20 different point scorers this season. Junior defender Haley Ford was the latest to join both clubs with her first collegiate goal and an assist at Cincinnati on Sept. 28. The Notre Dame single-season records for goalscorers (17) and point scorers (20) both were set in 1996 (in a 26-game season). No Soup For You The 1995 squad reeled off eight consecutive shutouts to begin what would be a 21-2-2 season, culminating with the program's first national championship. No Shots For You, Either Hanks = History On Sept. 19 at DePaul, Hanks' second-half goal was the 70th of her career, making her the fourth D-I player to amass 70 goals and 60 assists (others are North Carolina's Mia Hamm, Notre Dame's Jenny Streiffer and UC Santa Barbara's Carin Jennings). On Sunday at Connecticut, Hanks scored twice to give her 81 career goals, breaking the Notre Dame record previously held by Jenny Heft (1996-99) and tying for 15th in NCAA history. Hanks also pulled even with former U.S. National Team player and coach (and North Carolina standout) April Heinrichs (1983-86) for eighth place on the Division I career points list (now with 225 points (81G-63A)). The national leader in assists the past two seasons (22 in '06; 21 in '07), Hanks also looks ahead to the historic 70G-70A club, a landmark achievement that only two players (Hamm and Streiffer) in the history of Division I women's soccer have managed to attain (and neither got beyond 72G-72A). One After The Other After The Other The Allen, Texas, native has scored goals in 10 consecutive games (12 total in that span), tying Amanda Guertin's school record originally set from Oct. 12-Nov. 18, 2001 (the final 10 games of Guertin's sophomore season). Hanks' current 10-game goalscoring streak also ties for the sixth-longest in NCAA Division I history, a spot she shares with other notables such as current U.S. National Team standouts Abby Wambach (2001 at Florida) and Christie (Pearce) Rampone (1996 at Monmouth), and one more than a host of others, including another current U.S. National Team forward, Natasha Kai (2003 at Hawaii). Not to be overlooked, Hanks is on a 12-game point-scoring streak, one off her career long that she set in each of the past two seasons. It's also two shy of the school record set by Hanks' former teammate and current Canadian National Team member Katie Thorlakson from Oct. 14-Nov. 25, 2005 (the final 14 games of Thorlakson's career). Hanks Sets The Table, Too Bock Stays A-Head Of The Game Melissa Can't Miss Iantorno Is One Super Sub This year, Iantorno has emerged as Notre Dame "microwave" off the bench, heating up the minute she gets into the game. In fact, less than a minute after subbing into the Penn State game on Sept. 21, the Hinsdale, Ill., native already had chalked up an assist, taking a throw-in, driving to the left endline and whipping a cross into the box that junior forward Michele Weissenhofer buried in the back of the net. Five days later against Louisville, Iantorno posted a three-point night (1G-1A) less than 10 minutes after coming into the game at the 31-minute mark. First, she delivered a sharp cross at the top of the box that Weissenhofer dummied for freshman midfielder Courtney Barg, who scored her first career goal (33:35). Then, senior defender Elise Weber sent a cross into the box that was misplayed by the Louisville goalkeeper and Iantorno was on the doorstep for the easy finish (40:32). Our Fearless Leader Two Milestones For the Price Of One Game #16 Recap: Connecticut Sunday's victory carried added significance for Notre Dame, which historically has had trouble at Morrone Stadium, going 1-2-2 at Connecticut in its five previous trips to Storrs. In 2006, the Irish had come to town in a similar place as this season (with an unblemished record) and left with only a 0-0 tie to show for their efforts. Two years earlier, Notre Dame faced UConn on its home field in the BIG EAST Tournament final and dropped a 2-1 decision to the Huskies in what would be the only loss for the Irish on the road to their second national championship. This time around, Notre Dame was sharp at both ends of the field, outshooting Connecticut, 27-11, including a sizeable 15-1 margin in shots on goal. In fact, the Huskies' lone official shot on frame came 13 minutes into the game from well outside the penalty area, and their best chance of the day with a little more than 12 minutes to play skipped wide of the cage. UConn (5-8-4, 3-3-3) did register the only two corner kicks in the contest, the first time in two seasons (Oct. 22, 2006, at Georgetown) that the Irish didn't earn at least one try from the flag. However, it mattered little for Notre Dame, which controlled the run of play for large portions of the afternoon, keeping the Huskies on the defensive and preventing any meaningful forays into the offensive third by the host school. In what has become a recurring theme this season, Notre Dame jumped out to an early lead, scoring in the first 20 minutes for the 11th time in 16 games. Freshman midfielder Courtney Barg started the sequence by corralling a loose ball in the center of the Connecticut half of the field and quickly threading a diagonal pass to senior All-America forward/Hermann Trophy candidate Brittany Bock, who was racing down the right channel. Bock pushed the dribble to the right endline and delivered a perfectly-placed cross into the heart of the six-yard box, where Hanks rose up and snapped a header into the right-center portion of the net at 8:38. The second-half media timeout proved to be just the tonic the Irish needed to get refreshed and put the game on ice. Freshman forward Melissa Henderson got things moving in the right direction, working the ball across the center line to senior midfielder Rebecca Mendoza, who smartly shoveled a one-touch pass to Bock cutting diagonally across the offensive third. The veteran took one dribble, which looked to be too far in front of her, but she recovered and managed to toe-poke a pass to Hanks near the top right corner of the penalty area. Hanks cut back against the grain and uncorked a world-class left-footed blast from 20 yards out that tucked high into the left sidenetting at 70:14. The Magic Number Most impressively, Notre Dame is 296-0-1 all-time when claiming a 2-0 lead and is unbeaten in its past 273 contests when going ahead 2-0 (dating back to a 3-3 tie with Vanderbilt on Sept. 15, 1991, in Cincinnati). In fact, just two of the past 186 Irish opponents to face a 2-0 deficit have failed to even force a tie, something achieved by four opponents in Notre Dame history: Duke on Oct. 17, 1993, in Houston (Irish won 3-2), Connecticut on Nov. 10, 1996, in the BIG EAST final at Alumni Field (ND led 2-0, later tied 2-2 and 3-3, ND won 4-3), Duke on Nov. 30, 2007, in the NCAA quarterfinals at Alumni Field (Irish won 3-2), and most recently, Villanova on Oct. 12, 2007 in Villanova, Pa. (Irish won 3-2 in OT). You Can Put It On The Board The school record is 55 straight games with a goal from Aug. 29, 1997-Sept. 17, 1999. A Little Added Face Time In addition to its commercial TV coverage, Notre Dame enjoys an extensive broadcast footprint on the Internet. All of the Irish regular-season home games are slated to be broadcast live on the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.UND.com), with supplemental live stats information provided by CBS College Sports Online's GameTracker service. Fans also can follow the Irish on their cell phones by signing up for the Irish ALERT text-messaging system. This free service is available by logging on the women's soccer page at www.UND.com and scrolling down the right-hand sidebar. Finally, the Notre Dame Sports Hotline (574-631-3000) remains a reliable resource for all the latest Irish athletics information. Regular updates on the Notre Dame women's soccer program can be found by calling the Hotline, then selecting option 4 and pressing "2". The Golden Girls The duo join fencer Mariel Zagunis ('10) as Notre Dame Olympians with multiple gold medals. Markgraf also matches Zagunis' career total of three medals (Markgraf won silver with the USA at the '00 Sydney Games), a standard also equalled by former track & field great Alex Wilson ('32). Fowlkes Tapped For U.S. U-20 Camp Should she be selected for the final roster, Fowlkes would miss the remainder of the 2008 season. She has appeared in 15 games for the Irish this year, starting four times, with her lone goal being the gamewinner in a 3-1 victory over No. 12/11 Duke on Sept. 7 at the Carolina Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C. Two nights earlier, Fowlkes got the starting nod against the homestanding Tar Heels and played a pivotal role for the Irish defense, which handed UNC a 1-0 shutout loss at Fetzer Field. Fowlkes is bidding to continue a strong tradition of Notre Dame players on the U.S. U-20 World Cup Team (and its predecessors at the U-19 level). Current Irish senior co-captains Brittany Bock and Carrie Dew donned the Stars & Stripes for the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship in Russia, where the United States finished fourth after scoreless ties in both the semifinal vs. China and the third-place game vs. Brazil (both went against the U.S. on PKs by identical 6-5 scores). Another Notre Dame senior, Kerri Hanks, played for the USA at the 2002 and 2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championships, helping the Americans to the title in 2002 (defeating host Canada 1-0 in overtime in the final) and a third-place finish in 2004 in Thailand. In the '04 third-place game (a 3-0 win over Brazil), Hanks scored the opening goal for the U.S. on a free kick in the 21st minute. Parking Changes Next Game: Seton Hall Seton Hall (5-9-2, 1-7-1 BIG EAST) is closing out its 2008 season, having officially been eliminated from contention for a berth in next week's BIG EAST Championship. After starting out with a 4-2 record, the Pirates have won only once in their last 10 contests (two ties, seven losses), entering Friday's visit to DePaul.
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