11. Louisville Cards Fly Into Town

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 10 Notre Dame women’s soccer team (6-1-3, 2-0-1) will return home for just a one-match week – Saturday night, under the lights, against the Louisville Cardinals (2-5-2, 1-1-1). The Fighting Irish will look to stay atop the ACC table as they sit in a three-way tie for first place. Currently, four ACC teams rank in the nation’s top 10.

The Fighting Irish and Cardinals will kick off at 7 p.m. ET inside Alumni Stadium. The match will be streamed live on ACCNX.

ANOTHER ACC SEASON UPON US

Since Notre Dame joined the ACC in 2013, the Irish are 60-34-10 in conference games. Their .625 winning percentage in conference games ranks 4th amongst ACC schools.

Last season, the Irish were one win shy of claiming its second ACC regular-season title, finishing 7-2-1. Notre Dame hosted Duke in its regular season finale needing a win and settled for a 2-2 draw. As a result, they earned the No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament. Notre Dame co-shared a regular-season championship with Clemson in 2016.

The ACC will continue to be a battle of the nation’s elite soccer squads – six ACC teams are currently ranked in the top-25.

When it comes to the preseason predicted order of standings in the ACC – ND was picked to finish fourth. Notre Dame is currently in a three-way tie for first place at 2-0-1 with North Carolina and Florida State.

ROAD SWING GIVETH AND TAKETH

On Sept. 21, the Irish earned its first win against Duke since the 2015 season. It wasn’t looking that way though early. Despite pushing the tempo for the majority of the second half, the Irish were down 1-0, 85 minutes in. Then some Irish magic happened.

Insert Ellie Ospeck – who worked some magic of her own in Duke’s box and fired off a shot/cross that deflected off a defender, hit the post, over the goalie and to Kiki Van Zanten’s foot at the far post. A minute later, lightning struck again. Morgan Roy crossed the ball into the middle of the box. A Duke defender went to clear but Leah Klenke got her foot in to block and the deflection went in the goal. Thus two goals in the final five minutes for the 2-1 win over No. 16 Duke.

However, late magic can work both ways. Three days later at Pitt, the Irish scored in the 60th minute and were on cruise control. Yet, in the blink of the eye, the Panthers scored off a corner kick in the 83rd minute and the Irish settled for the 1-1 draw.

RECENT MOVES PAYING DIVIDENDS

Coach Norman has experimented with his lineup as of late and recent moves are paying dividends.

First off, Maddie Mercado has played more of an attacking center mid instead of forward. She has now scored three times over the last six games. Mercado leads the team in scoring with four goals and 10 points.

Second one was moving Kristina Lynch from right-wing midfield to forward. Lynch has scored three times over the past four games

Another was starting freshman Atlee Olofson in goal for both ACC contests last week. Olofson made six saves to preserve the draw at Pitt, including one point-blank diving save late in the second half.

TRENDING

On top of the above-mentioned – Leah Klenke has been a beast, registering points in four of the last six matches. In ACC play thus far – she recorded her first multi-assist performance of her career in the win over Wake, then scored the game-winner against No. 16 Duke. Klenke now has seven points on the season.

Notre Dame ranks 14th in the country and 5th in the ACC in shots per game with 18.6. Maddie Mercado leads the Irish in this category with 3.6 shots per game, which ranks 33rd in the nation and 3rd in the league.

Heading into this week’s game, seven players now boast six points or more on the season: Van Zanten, Lynch, Klenke, Gaetino, Mrowicki, Ospeck and Mercado.

The key to victory – the Irish have scored multiple goals in every game they’ve won this season. Notre Dame has outscored its ACC opponents 6-3 thus far.

ASSIST LEADER – LEAH KLENKE

Klenke has been an absolute sparkplug and the main cog that runs the Notre Dame offense. Klenke leads the team with five assists, which ranks 35th nationally and fifth in the ACC.

Klenke recorded her first multi-assist performance with two against Wake Forest in the ACC opener on Sept. 15.

Last season, Klenke was named the 7th best freshman in the country by Top Drawer Soccer and made their Freshman Best XI First Team. She also earned ACC All-Freshman Team honors. She started all 23 games as a freshman at left-back and even added two goals and two assists to her name.

A GLANCE AT THE DEFENSE THIS YEAR

What’s been frustrating for the Notre Dame defensive unit this season is that they are only allowing 3.1 shots on goal per match thus far – however, teams are making the most of their minimal opportunities. The Irish have allowed 10 goals through 10 matches aka 1.0 goal per match – a higher rate than last year’s 0.7 per match.

The Irish have earned just two shutouts this season.

GOAL SCORERS FROM ALL OVER

Currently, five players have three goals or more. In total, eight different Irish have found the back of the net this season.

All-in-all, the Irish have tallied 21 goals on the year. Last season, 47 of the team’s 56 goals came from Albert, Wingate, Mercado and Van Zanten.

— ND —