| 3-seed Notre Dame (12-3-4) | NCAA Tournament 2nd & 3rd Rounds |
|---|---|
| Where: | Fayetteville, AR | Razorback Stadium |
| Watch: | ESPN+ |
| 2nd Rd Opponent: | 6-seed Memphis (19-1) |
| When: | Friday, Nov. 16 | 4 p.m. ET |
| 3rd Rd Opponent: | Pitt or Arkansas |
| When: | Sunday, Nov. 18 | 7 p.m. ET |
| Social: | NDWSOC Twitter NDWSOC Instagram |
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – It all comes down to the regular-season finale in South Bend between two teams vying for a top-two seed in the ACC Tournament and a straight shot to Cary, North Carolina. On Thursday, Oct. 26, the 11th nationally ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer squad will host No. 8 Clemson. It’ll mark the third top-10-ranked team the Irish have faced over the past four games. First touch is set for 8 p.m. ET, live on the ACC Network.
ANOTHER ACC BATTLE AT THE TOP
Notre Dame’s path to a second-place finish and an ACC Tournament bye (straight shot to Cary, NC) is to win on Thursday. Beat No. 8 Clemson and jump into the semifinal round. A tie or loss would most likely shoot Notre Dame down to a No. 4 seed and hosting Pitt in the Quarterfinal round.
Notre Dame is currently in third place in the ACC standings with 20 points and a 6-1-2 league record. Clemson is in second with 22 points with UNC right behind with 19.
LOOK AHEAD TO ACC TOURNAMENT
Notre Dame joined the league back in 2013 and are searching for its first appearance in the ACC Tournament Championship game.
The Irish are 1-8-1 all-time in the ACC Tournament. They’ve appeared in the semis three times (2014, 2016, 2022) and its lone win was a quarterfinal matchup in 2016.
GOAL SCORERS FROM ALL OVER
Last season, 47 of the team’s 56 goals came from Korbin Albert, Olivia Wingate, Mercado and Van Zanten.
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 –> Mercado, Van Zanten and Lynch all have six goals. Ellie Ospeck, Meg Mrowicki and All-American defender Eva Gaetino follow right behind them with four goals.
POINTS SPREAD
Heading into this week’s game, seven players now boast 11 points or more– Mercado, Ospeck, Mrowicki, Van Zanten, Lynch, Gaetino, Klenke. It marks a career high for everyone except Mercado and Van Zanten.
No other team in the ACC has seven players with double-digit points. In terms of ranked teams, only BYU has more with nine players with double-digit points.
ASSIST LEADER – LEAH KLENKE
Klenke leads the team with nine assists, which ranks 13th nationally and second in the ACC. Her 0.6 assists per game ranks 16th in the country and second in the league. Get this, Klenke has registered points in nine of the last 12 matches. She has six 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 four straight contests – Louisville, BC, Miami and Florida State.
Klenke now has a career best 13 points on the season.
TRENDING
Notre Dame boasts an RPI of No. 11 with Clemson right in front of them at No. 10. In the first NCAA top-16 seeding announcement, the committee had the Irish at No. 9.
As previously stated, Leah Klenke has notched at least one point in nine of the last 12 matches.
Kristina Lynch has recorded a point in three of the last five matches.
Charlie Codd has scored all three of her goals over the past five matches.
The key to victory – the Irish have scored multiple goals in every game they’ve won this season except the 1-0 win at NC State. Irish are 9-0-2 when scoring two goals or more.
Notre Dame has outscored its ACC opponents 22-11 thus far.
TURNED A “CORNER” THIS SEASON
You can say the Irish have turned a corner in 2023 in terms of scoring off of set pieces, specifically corner kicks. Last season, the Irish ranked 1st in the ACC in corners per game (6.4), but only had three goals to show for the 146 total corners taken.
This year has been quite the different story. Out of 94 corners taken, the Irish have scored six goals — three from Gaetino, one from Fisher, one from Ospeck and one from Klenke.
Now add in a goal scored off of a free kick from Mercado and the Irish have scored seven set-piece goals out of their 38 total goals on the year.
MULTIPLE FRESHMEN STEPPING UP
First let’s look at Meg Mrowicki, who has been a great breakout story for the 2023 season. She’s played in all 16 games with seven starts. She’s tied for third in the team in goals with four.
Next, there’s 5-8 center midfielder Morgan Roy. The Michigan native has started every game in the midfield minus Senior Day and ranks third on the team in shots with 30.
Charlie Codd has made two starts and seen significant time in the midfield in all 16 games as well. She boasts three goals on the year – all in October.
Freshman Atlee Olofson battled Naylor for the GK role in preseason. Olofson, who was ranked 35th in her class, is a 5-8 goalkeeper out of Austin, Texas. She was First Team All-State as a senior and set a school record with no goals against in a season. Olofson, now 5-1-2 on the year, has three shutouts and a 1.00 GAA. She has 34 saves with a save percentage of .810.
— ND —