12. From The Bend To The Ville

Louisville – It’s been another week-long stretch between matches but that time has come once again for another Notre Dame women’s soccer #GAMEDAY. The No. 13 Fighting Irish (8-1-2, 2-0-2) will make the bus trip south past Indy into Louisville to take on the Cardinals (6-5-2, 1-4-0) on Saturday, Oct. 12.

That match will kick off at 5 p.m. ET inside the Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium and will also be streamed on ACCNX.

Notre Dame owns a commanding lead in the overall series with Louisville, up 15-4-1 overall. The Irish have been quite comfortable in Louisville where they are 7-1 and have outscored the Cardinals, 15-3. The lone loss happened back on Sept. 20, 2018.

They’ll look to win their fifth straight against Louisville on Saturday.

ROAD WARRIORS

Notre Dame has thrived away from South Bend this season. In fact, they haven’t lost a road match yet, owning a 5-0-1 record. Victories include Samford, Michigan, Butler, Syracuse and a ranked Virginia squad.

The top-five point getters on the road are as follows: Izzy Engle (9), Grace Restovich (8), Ellie Hodsden (6), Lily Joseph (5) and Ellie Ospeck (4). Furthermore, 11 total Irish own points in road contests this season.

ND is outscoring opponents 15-2 on the road. Both those goals came in the 2-2 tie at Boston College, which means all five victories were shutouts.

TRENDING

• The win over No. 14 Virginia was the squad’s second top-15 ranked win of the season.
• Notre Dame’s RPI sits at No. 21 heading into the UL match.
• Notre Dame’s +25 goal differential ranks ninth in the country and third in the ACC.
• The Irish backline + goalkeepers have posted eight shutouts over the last 10 games.
• Notre Dame’s shutout percentage of 0.727 ranks fifth nationally and leads the ACC
• Notre Dame’s scoring offense (2.73) ranks ninth in the country and third in the ACC.
• Irish are 8-0 when scoring first and 8-0-1 when allowing just one goal or less. Notre Dame is 7-0 when leading at the half.

POSITION BATTLE

Sonoma Kasica & Atlee Olofson have combined for a save percentage of 0.889 which ranks sixth in the country and leads the ACC. Furthermore, their GAA of 0.455 ranks 10th nationally and third in the ACC.

First, let’s look at sophomore Atlee Olofson. The Austin native surrendered her only goal of the season in the 1-1 tie vs. NC State. She is 4-0-1. Olofson has a GAA of 0.200 with 13 saves.

Then there’s 5-10 freshman Sonoma Kasica. The St. Petersburg, Florida, native has gotten six starts and has gone 4-1-1. She has produced back-to-back ACC shutouts which has included No. 14 Virginia and Syracuse. She has 25 total saves on the season with a GAA of 0.67.

THE ACC – VERSION 2.0.2.4.

This year’s ACC slate has been up-and-down. The down being that the two draws were against teams that are currently in the bottom half of the standings. The up being that the Irish battled back in both those instances — Irish were down 0-2 at BC and 0-1 vs. NC State.

With this year’s 1-0 victory at Virginia, the Irish 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.

Presently, Notre Dame is 2-0-2 in ACC play heading into this week’s matchup at Louisville. Their eight points puts them in a tie for seventh place.

FULL SQUAD

Notre Dame lost three starters to the U20 World Cup and now all three are back in the fold for October matches and beyond.

The Canadian duo of Annabelle Chukwu and Clare Logan were back for the Virginia game. They were immediately thrust into the starting lineup and made an instant impact. Logan solidified a backline that shutout a ranked Cavaliers squad. Then Chukwu netted the game-winner in the 1-0 victory.

Klenke returned to South Bend after earning a bronze medal with the U20 USA squad. Her first game back was NC State.

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.

IZZY ENGLE

Izzy Engle has become one of the many freshman breakout stars of 2024. She has 10 goals, with four multi-goal performances.

• Her 10 goals are the 11th most in the country, and second in the ACC. Her 0.91 goals per game ranks fifth nationally and second in the ACC.
• Engle scored all 10 of her goals during the non-con portion of the schedule and is still searching for her first career ACC goal.
• Engle boasts three game-winners (Butler, TCU, Marquette), which ranks second in the ACC.
• Engle’s 21 points rank 20th in the nation and third in the league. Her 1.91 points per game ranks 10th nationally, third in ACC.

ELLIE HODSDEN – THE COMEBACK STORY

Several freshmen have dominated the season storylines for the Irish and here’s another one — Ellie Hodsden. The Texas native missed the first several games due to working herself back into game shape, wrapping up a year-long ACL injury return.

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 now has four goals in 127 minutes of action, which means she’s finding the back of the net every 31.8 minutes.

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 talked about Izzy Engle, Annabelle Chukwu and Ellie Hodsden, and haven’t even gotten to Lily Joseph yet.

Joseph is the perfect combination of power and agility. She flashed that in Notre Dame’s most recent ACC win when she recorded her first career brace with two first half goals (within 90 seconds of each other) at Syracuse.

Joseph has five goals on the year which ranks as second most on the team. She also boasts three assists for a total of 13 points, which ranks third on the team.

1-2-3 PUNCH IN THE MIDDLE

Notre Dame has developed a three-headed monster in its midfield.

First let’s start with freshman Grace Restovich, who leads the Irish in assists. In fact, Restovich ranks fifth in the country in both total assists (8) and assists per game (0.73). Both rank second in the ACC. Restovich ranks second on the team in points with 14. She has recorded a point in all but three games this season.

Next, there’s sophomore Charlie Codd who ranks second on the team in assists with four. She also has scored one goal this season.

Lastly, there’s junior Laney Matriano, who was named 1-of-4 team captains for the 2024 season. Holding down the tough No. 6 position, Matriano has now started in 44 of 49 games played at ND. She boasts an 86 percent passing completion record.

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 (14 points) and Lily Joseph (13 points), Ellie Hodsden (8 points) and Annabelle Chukwu (5 points).

25 of the team’s 30 goals have been scored by freshmen.

— ND —