14. Irish Look to Topple No. 1

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – It’s a big-time showdown at number one’s place on Thursday night, when the 11th nationally ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer squad looks to topple No. 1 Florida State. Quite a few storylines surround the much-anticipated matchup, with the winner jumping ahead to sole possession of first place in the ACC standings. First-kick is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.

THE STORYLINES

Notre Dame technically never suffered a loss to Florida State last season, but they sure have a sour taste left in their mouth from their battle in Cary, North Carolina. The first encounter – a 4-0 victory over the Seminoles, which was the largest win over FSU in the series history. The second encounter – a 3-3 tie in the ACC Tournament semifinals. The Irish have never made an appearance in the ACC Tournament final and the Seminoles kept it that way by advancing in PKs.

Adding to the rivalry this year is the fact that Kiki Van Zanten’s little sister Mimi is now a freshman at Florida State.

WHAT’S AT STAKE

Notre Dame has seen a similar great start to ACC play – going 6-0-0 in 2021 before finishing the league slate 7-3-0. A win or tie on Thursday would mark its longest start to ACC play without a defeat.

Versus No. 1’s — The last time the Irish knocked off the top-ranked team — a 2-1 double OT victory at No. 1 Virginia on Sept. 24, 2015. Back then, it was the program’s sixth win over the nation’s No. 1 team.

Lastly, as previously mentioned, both teams enter the matchup 5-0-1 in ACC play and atop the table. A win would be crucial in taking a step toward the ACC regular season championship.

GOAL SCORERS FROM ALL OVER

This season’s stats allude to the depth and balanced attack Coach Norman has at his disposal. Currently, six players boast four goals or more. All-in-all there have been 11 different goal scorers for the Irish — four of which have been freshmen.

It is three grad players who lead the way –> Maddie Mercado and Kiki Van Zanten with six goals each, followed by Kristina Lynch with five. Ellie Ospeck, Meg Mrowicki and All-American defender Eva Gaetino follow right behind them with four goals.

CUE THE CRAZY FROG

• If you see the frog emoji in the comments section of any Ellie Ospeck post on social, it’s because her goal song is Crazy Frog and the team has rallied behind it.
• Ospeck is coming off a beast of a week with a lot of career firsts: First career ACC POTW honor, first four-point performance of her career in the win over BC on Oct. 5, and first three-assist performance of her career in the win over Miami on Oct. 8.
• She now co-leads the team in total points with 15 – for reference, her point total last year was four.
• She now ranks second on the team in assists with seven, which also ranks third in the ACC and 21st nationally.

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 eight assists, which ranks 12th nationally and first in the ACC.
• Get this, Klenke has registered points in seven of the last nine matches. She has five assists in conference play.
• In ACC play thus far – she recorded her first multi-assist performance of her career in the win over Wake; scored the game-winner against No. 16 Duke; notched assists in three straight contests – Louisville, BC and Miami.
• Lastly, Klenke now has a career-best 10 points on the season.

TRENDING

• Notre Dame possesses the No. 7 rated RPI in the country.
• Van Zanten has been turning up the heat as the weather cools. She recorded two braces over the recent three-match homestand.  Against Louisville on Sept. 30, she recorded a five-point night behind two goals and one assist. It marked the second most points of her career, only behind a hat trick she achieved back in 2020 against Miami. As a result, she was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week.
• Van Zanten now has 11 points in the last five games.
• Both grad Maddie Mercado and freshman Charlie Codd have found the back of the net in back-to-back games.
• Notre Dame ranks 9th in the country and 3rd in the ACC in shots per game with 19.1. Both Mercado and Van Zanten lead the Irish in this category with 3.5 shots per game, which ranks 39th in the nation and 3rd in the league.
• Heading into this week’s game, seven players now boast 10 points or more– Mercado, Ospeck, Mrowicki, Van Zanten, Lynch, Gaetino, Klenke.
• 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 19-6 thus far.

RECENT MOVES PAYING DIVIDENDS

Around the start of ACC play, Coach Norman changed several positions in his lineup and the moves have paid dividends.

First off, Maddie Mercado was moved from forward to center mid. She now leads the team in scoring and has scored five times over the last nine games.

The second one was moving Kristina Lynch from right back in the midfield to forward. Lynch has scored four times over the past seven games.

The next was starting Meg Mrowicki up top and bringing the speed of Ospeck off the bench. Mrowicki has been a great freshman breakout story for the 2023 season. She got the game-winner against Louisville on Sept. 30, which marked her fourth goal of the season.

Another has been the switch to Atlee Olofson in goal. She’s played in four ACC contests. Olofson earned her second shutout in the 3-0 win over Louisville, then made a career-high eight saves in the 3-1 win over BC.

— ND —