10. Irish Wear Green Game

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 13 Notre Dame women’s soccer team returns home on Thursday, Sept. 26, for another ACC clash. The Fighting Irish (7-1-1, 1-0-1) will host the NC State Wolfpack (3-6-1, 0-2-0) inside Purcell Pavilion at 7 p.m. ET. The match will be streamed online on ACCNX.

Thursday night will be the program’s annual Irish Wear Green game, encouraging all ND fans to proudly don their best green gear and turn the Alumni Stadium bleachers green. Green pom poms will be given away while supplies last.

In addition, come celebrate Hispanic Heritage Night with us and enjoy a live Mariachi Band performance during halftime. The marketing department will also give students two free tacos, while supplies last.

PREVIOUSLY ON …

Notre Dame is coming off a momentous 1-0 victory over then ranked No. 14 Virginia. Road contests are never easy in the ACC, especially in Charlottesville. With this year’s win, the Irish have now knocked off the Cavaliers in back-to-back meetings for the first time in program history. It also marked their second-ever win in Charlottesville.

Notre Dame was boosted by the returns of its Canadian duo Clare Logan and Annabelle Chukwu, who were both difference-makers last Sunday. Chukwu netted the game-winner in the 47th minute, while Logan helped secure the team’s seventh shutout of the season.

NC STATE SERIES

The Irish look to keep the momentum rolling when they return home to Alumni Stadium for another one-match week. This time, it’ll be the Wolfpack of NC State, who enter with a 3-6-1 overall record. NC State is 0-2 in ACC play with losses to California and Stanford.

Knock on wood, but the  Irish have never lost at home to the Wolfpack, owning a 5-0 record. Overall, Notre Dame is 9-3 against NC State and has won five straight in the series.

The two sides met last season in Raleigh where the Irish earned a 1-0 victory. Leah Klenke netted the game-winner.

THE REINFORCEMENTS ARE HERE

Notre Dame lost three starters to the U20 World Cup and now all three are back in the fold for this week’s matchup.

The Canadian duo of Annabelle Chukwu and Clare Logan were back for the Virginia game, were immediately thrusted into the starting lineup. Leah Klenke returns to South Bend after earning a bronze medal with the U20 USA squad.

Klenke was named as one of the top returning players in the league and earned a 2024 Preseason All-ACC spot.  In 2023, she was a Second Team All-ACC selection. In Top Drawer Soccer’s Top 100 player list, Klenke checked in at No. 18 while Logan came in at No. 51.

ELLIE HODSDEN – THE COMEBACK STORY

Several freshmen have dominated the season storylines for the Irish thus far and yet another star has emerged in Ellie Hodsden. The Texas native missed the first several games due to working herself back into game shape, wrapping up a year-long return from an ACL injury.

It’s been a long road and certainly an emotional journey back for Hodsden. Within a couple of weeks of each other in 2023, Hodsden tore her ACL and then lost her sister in a vehicular accident while she was serving overseas. When she played in her first Notre Dame game and scored against Marquette, the emotions overcame her in the post-game locker room.

Hodsden played hero at Boston College, recording a brace to rally the Irish down 2-0 for the 2-2 tie. Her game-tying goal came via header in the 88th minute.

Hodsden has three goals in 64 minutes of action, which means she’s finding the back of the net every 21.3 minutes.

ELECTRIC ENGLE

Izzy Engle has nationally become a breakout star of 2024 and she’s just a freshman. Engle has 10 goals through nine games, with four multi-goal performances.

• Her 10 goals are the third most in the country, behind only California’s Karlie Lema (13) and Minnesota’s Khyah Harper (12).
• Engle ranks fifth in the country and second in the ACC in goals per game at 1.11.
• Engle boasts three game-winners (Butler, TCU, Marquette), which ranks 11th nationally and second in the ACC.
• Engle’s 21 points rank fifth in the nation and third in the league. Her 2.33 points per game ranks eighth nationally, third in ACC.
• Engle recorded the first freshman hat trick in program history since 2008 in Notre Dame’s win at Samford. She was the third quickest in program history to record a hat trick, doing so in just her second game. Kerri Hanks (2005) and Rosella Guerrero (1992) achieved hat tricks in their freshman debuts.

PICK YOUR POISON

The Irish attack will be very fun to watch moving forward as Coach Norman figures out how to fit his young arsenal together. We’ve seen Izzy Engle, Lily Joseph, Annabelle Chukwu and Ellie Hodsden all be dynmaic up top, now it’s about fitting the pieces together.

At Virginia, Coach Norman started with Chukwu and Hodsden up top and Engle on the Wing. Eventually, Engle moved up top when Hodsden subbed out, while Joseph subbed in at the attacking center mid role.

Joseph has three goals on the year with two coming in the last four games. She also boasts three assists for a total of nine points, which ranks third on the team.

TRENDING

• Notre Dame made a huge jump in the RPI after defeating No. 14 Virginia, climbing from No. 11 to the No. 3 spot.
• Notre Dame’s +22 goal differential ranks sixth in the country and second in the ACC.
• The Irish backline have posted seven shutouts over the last eight games. The defense is allowing 4.6 SOG/Game.
• Notre Dame’s scoring offense (2.89) ranks 12th overall and fourth in the ACC.
• Irish are 7-0 when scoring first and 7-0 when allowing just one goal or less. Notre Dame is 6-0 when leading at the half.

GK DUO

Coach Norman has a talented goalie group at his disposal and both Atlee Olofson and Sonoma Kasica have shown out.

Together the duo, along with the defensive unit, have posted a shutout percentage of 0.778 which ranks fourth in the nation and leads the ACC. Together — a save percentage of .902 which ranks seventh nationally (1st in ACC) and a 0.444 GAA which ranks 15th (4th in ACC).

First, let’s look at sophomore Atlee Olofson. The Austin native has not surrendered a goal this season and is 4-0. She has notched 13 total saves.

She has almost matched last year’s shutout total of five. In 2023, she went 7-3-2 in net with a .763 save percentage and a GAA of 1.17.

Then there’s 5-10 freshman Sonoma Kasica. The St. Petersburg, Florida, native has gotten five starts and has gone 3-1-1.

She is coming off a stellar four-save shutout performance in the 1-0 win at No. 14 Virginia. She has 23 total saves on the season with a GAA of 0.80.

YOUTH MOVEMENT

The freshman class at Notre Dame has been and will be a huge talking point. An infusion of 13 freshmen – the most in program history. Not only that, this freshman class boasted a top-4 national recruiting ranking by Top Drawer Soccer.

Right now five of the top-six point-getters on the team are freshmen: Izzy Engle (21 points), Grace Restovich (13 points) and Lily Joseph (9 points), Ellie Hodsden (6 points) and Annabelle Chukwu (5 points).

22 of the team’s 26 goals have been scored by freshmen.

— ND —