15. Momentum Versus #1

DURHAM, N.C. – Like the title says … Thursday night will be a case of momentum versus number one. If you saw the No. 7 Notre Dame women’s soccer squad this past week, you could definitely say they are playing their best soccer right now. They knocked off both No. 25 Cal and No. 6 Stanford and improved to 4-1 against ranked teams this season. The Irish haven’t loss since their season opener against Michigan State.

That will all be tested on Thursday night when the Irish travel to Durham to take on No. 1 Duke. The Blue Devils are 12-1-0 on the year with a perfect 7-0-0 record in ACC play. They too have not lost since their season opener.

No. 7 vs. No. 1 will kick off at 7 p.m. ET on ACCNX inside Koskinen Stadium.

PLAYING #1

Notre Dame is 6-14-2 all-time when playing the No. 1 team in the country. That’s a .318 winning percentage.

Their last win against a No. 1 ranked team came in 2015 – a 2-1 double-overtime victory at Virginia.

The Notre Dame women’s soccer program has a long-standing tradition of wearing green jerseys, specifically when they play the top-ranked team in the country. Nothing has been announced at the time of this writing, but expect to see some green on Thursday night in Durham.

Notre Dame leads the overall series with Duke, 10-8-3. The two clashed last season and it was one of the most thrilling endings in Coach Norman’s tenure. The Fighting Irish trailed 0-1 after 85 minutes but earned a tough 2-1 road-ranked victory. Kiki Van Zanten scored the first Irish goal at 85:07. At 86:40 – the game-winner from Leah Klenke. It marked Notre Dame’s first win against Duke since October of the 2015 season.

NOTRE DAME’S RESUME

• The NCAA committee released its initial top-16 on Oct. 17 and the Irish checked in at No. 15.
• After the big win against No. 6 Stanford, Notre Dame’s RPI shot up from No. 18 to No. 12. They are 3-1 against the RPI Top-25.
• The Irish are 4-1 against ranked opposition this season. They have defeated No. 6 Stanford, No. 25 Cal, No. 13 TCU and No. 14 Virginia. If they get to five ranked wins (they play No. 1 Duke and No. 19 Virginia Tech this week), it’ll mark the most since the 2008 season.
• ND’s lone loss was against No. 13 Michigan State in the season opener. The Irish are unbeaten since.

TRENDING

• It was an Irish sweep of ACC awards on Oct. 22 as Ellie Hodsden earned Offensive, while Leah Klenke was named Defensive Player of the Week.
• Notre Dame’s +31 goal differential ranks 10th in the country and third in the ACC.
• Notre Dame’s scoring offense (2.71) ranks seventh nationally and third in the ACC.
• Coach Norman has stressed to his team about finishing chances. They rank in the top-10 in both SOG (9.2) and shots per game (20.4).
• Irish are 10-0 when scoring first this season. ND is 8-0 when leading at the half.
• They are 9-0-2 when allowing just one goal or less.
• Irish are 12-5-4 against ranked opposition over the last 2.5 seasons (Start of 2022 season-Present Day).
• 31 of the team’s 38 goals have been scored by freshmen.
• Right now the top-four point getters on the team are freshmen: Izzy Engle (23 points), Lily Joseph (17 points), Ellie Hodsden (16 points) and Grace Restovich (14 points).

ACC – Version 2024

Since Notre Dame joined the ACC in 2013, the Irish have gone 69-35-13 in conference games. Their .645 winning percentage in league play ranks fourth behind UNC, Virginia and Florida State.

This year’s ACC slate has been up-and-down. The down being that the three draws were against teams that are currently in the bottom half of the standings. The up being that the Irish have knocked off a ranked Virginia, Cal and Stanford. And even in those tough ties, they battled back — Irish were down 0-2 at BC and 0-1 vs. NC State.

Presently, Notre Dame is 4-0-3 in ACC play. Their 15 points puts them in seventh place but four teams sit right in front with 16 points. They still will play two teams ahead of them in the standings. More on that below.

STRETCH AHEAD

Notre Dame has produced three straight ACC regular seasons in which they have achieved at least seven wins. It’s also been two consecutive seasons in which they’ve made the ACC Tournament semifinals. Now, if they are to reach that seven-win milestone yet again they have work to do and the time is now.

The Irish did exactly what they needed to do last week – defeated No. 25 Cal, 5-2, then looked dominant in a 3-0 victory over No. 6 Stanford.

Notre Dame hasn’t suffered an ACC defeat but sit at 4-0-3. The Irish have three regular-season games remaining: No. 1 Duke, No. 18 Virginia Tech and Pitt — the final two are at home.

ELLIE HODSDEN – THE COMEBACK STORY

Several freshmen have dominated the season storylines for the Irish but there’s not a better one than 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 earned the ACC Offensive Player of the Week after an amazing four-goal week in wins over No. 25 Cal and No. 6 Stanford. Hodsden started with her first career hat trick against Cal – scoring by three different means: chest, head and foot. She then followed that up with a second half goal against Stanford.

Hodsden also 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 eight goals in 227 minutes of action, which means she’s finding the back of the net every 28.4 minutes.

DEFENSE HOLDING STRONG

Notre Dame’s defense has taken shape and has posted 10 shutouts through 14 games. Coach Norman has solidified his backline with Abby Mills, Clare Logan and Leah Klenke.

Notre Dame’s shutout percentage of 0.714 ranks fifth nationally and leads the ACC

Sonoma Kasica & Atlee Olofson have combined for a save percentage of 0.868 which ranks ninth in the country and leads the ACC. Furthermore, their GAA of 0.500 ranks ninth nationally and second in the ACC.

Freshman Sonoma Kasica has gotten the starting nod in four straight contests. The St. Petersburg, Florida, native is 6-1-2 with 31 saves and six shutouts. Her GAA is 0.67

Then there’s 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 with a GAA of 0.200 with 13 saves.

U20 WORLD CUP EXPERIENCE – THE TRIO

Three Notre Dame starters got valuable youth national team experience during the early portion of this season. Leah Klenke (USA), Annabelle Chukwu (Canada) and Clare Logan (Canada) all participated in the U20 World Cup. Klenke returned to South Bend with a Bronze Medal.

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.

During the U20 World Cup, Chukwu broke Canada’s all-time youth scoring record, surpassing Canadian great Christina Sinclair.

ENGLE’S HOT START… NOW GOT OFF THE HUMP WITH FIRST ACC GOAL

Izzy Engle has become one of the many freshman breakout stars of 2024. She scored 10 goals, with four multi-goal performances, during the non-con portion of the schedule. Heading into ACC play, she ranked first in the country in goals per game. It took her a while to find that first ACC goal but it finally arrived against No. 6 Stanford.

Her 11 goals now rank 13th most in the country, and second in the ACC. Her 0.79 goals per game ranks 12th nationally and second in the ACC. Engle leads the Irish with 23 points, which ranks fourth in the league.

AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES

We’ve talked about Izzy Engle, Annabelle Chukwu and Ellie Hodsden, and yet there’s another standout in Lily Joseph.

Joseph brings the flashy play and swag to the Irish. Just this past week, Joseph recorded four points with a goal and two assists. In the game against No. 25 Cal, Joseph scored a heck of a bender from distance to get the scoring going in the 5-2 win. A few days later against No. 6 Stanford, Joseph completely broke down her defender in a counterattack to set up her assist.

At Syracuse, she recorded her first career brace with two first half goals (within 90 seconds of each other).

Joseph is hitting her stride at the right time as well, recording a point in three of the last four matches.

All-in-all, Joseph has six goals and five assists on the year, good for 17 points, which is the second most on the team.

SOLIDIFYING 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 with eight. In fact, Restovich ranks 12th in the country in total assists (8) and eighth in assists per game (0.57). Restovich ranks fourth in the ACC in total assists.

Next, there’s sophomore Charlie Codd, who boasts four assists and one goal for six points. Codd is making a defensive play every 3.5 minutes. She’s started over 35 counter attacks.

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 47 of 52 games played at ND. She boasts an 85 percent passing completion record.

ROAD WARRIORS

Notre Dame has thrived away from South Bend this season. In fact, they haven’t lost a road match yet, owning a 5-0-2 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). 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. That means all five victories were shutouts.

— ND —