2. Sweet Road Alabama

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Coach Norman knew game one would be a tough one – a top-15 battle for a squad in which five freshmen started. The result was a 2-1 defeat and a learning lesson. Now the Irish have proven that they can bounce back quickly. The program hasn’t suffered back-to-back losses since mid-October of the 2021 season. The next challenge is the first road test of the season, flying south to Samford.

The Bulldogs finished 12-4-5 last season, reaching their fifth straight SoCon Championship game. Samford is coming off a 3-1 victory in their season opener against Tennessee Tech.

STATE OF THE PROGRAM

Doug & Lisa Jones Family Head Coach Nate Norman is certainly hitting his stride on making Notre Dame women’s soccer an impactful program, and he shows no signs of letting up. For starters:

• Back-to-back seasons with either an ACC Midfielder (Korbin Albert in 2022) or Defender of the Year (Eva Gaetino in 2023). Both Albert and Gaetino were also First Team All-Americans and went on to sign with PSG.
• Back-to-back years in which multiple Irish were selected in the NWSL Draft. Kiki Van Zanten and Maddie Mercado were the most recent selections. Seven Irish have gone pro over the last two years.
• Back-to-back years in which the Irish made the ACC Tournament semifinals in Cary, North Carolina.
• Three consecutive seasons of earning a top-3 seed or higher in the NCAA Tournament.
• Three straight years in which Notre Dame has achieved 7 wins during ACC play (10-league game format).
• Notre Dame finished in 2nd place in the ACC in 2023 and outscored league competition 24-11.
• Irish are 8-5-4 against ranked opposition over the last two years.

KLENKE EARNS PRESEASON PRAISE

A Notre Dame standout to keep an eye on — Leah Klenke was named as one of the top returning players in the league and earned a 2024 Preseason All-ACC spot. She was the lone Irish representative out of the 12 honorees.

In addition, Top Drawer Soccer released its preseason top-100 Division I players list and Klenke checked in at No. 18 on the list. Sophomore Clare Logan joined her on the list at No. 51.

In addition, Top Drawer Soccer named Klenke to its Preseason Best XI Second Team.

In 2023, Klenke started all 20 games, logging over 1,740 minutes on the pitch. She led the squad with 10 assists, which ranked fourth in the ACC and 18th in the nation. In fact, she tallied the most assists in conference play with seven.

Klenke posted a career best 14 points on the season.

Klenke also booted in two goals in 2023 – both game-winners. The most memorable being the late game-winner at Duke in the 87th minute for the 2-1 victory. For all of her efforts last season, she was named a 2023 Second Team All-ACC selection.

ACC PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH

1. Florida State (15), 255

2. Stanford (2), 235

3. Notre Dame, 211

4. North Carolina, 187

5. Clemson, 186

6. Virginia, 177

7. Duke, 175

8. Pitt, 168

9. Wake Forest, 160

10. Virginia Tech, 116

11. California, 111

12. NC State, 85

13. Louisville, 80

14. Boston College, 50

14t. SMU, 50

16. Miami, 44

17. Syracuse, 22

YOUTH MOVEMENT

The youth movement is on at Notre Dame and that will be a giant early storyline. A giant 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.

CANADIAN SENSATION

One of said freshmen to keep an eye on is forward Annabelle Chukwu from Ontario, Canada. She didn’t wait long to make an impact, recording her first collegiate goal in the season opener against No. 13 Michigan State.

Chukwu has risen fast through the Canadian National Team system and is expected to be called up for the U20 World Cup. Chukwu has even participated in a camp with the senior national team as well.

Lastly, Chukwu’s performance through the Canadian Youth system has placed her name right next to an all-time great – Christine Sinclair. Chukwu sits just two goals behind Sinclair in most youth goals all-time.

FROSH FORAY

The four other freshmen who received a starting nod in the season opener were goalkeeper Sonoma Kasica, defender Abby Mills, midfielder Grace Restovic and forward Lily Joseph.

First let’s chat Grace Restovich, who was the highest-rated recruit in the signing class, ranking No. 8 nationally. She was the 2022 ECNL National Player of the Year and a two-time ECNL National Champion with her club team Scott Gallagher in St. Louis. She also has Blue and Gold running in her veins — her parents, George (baseball) and Michelle (soccer), both played and met at Notre Dame.

Restovich garnered an assist in her collegiate debut on August 15 against Michigan State.

Abby Mills ranked 34th nationally and fifth in the state of Texas. Mills was a 2024 High School All-American (United Soccer Coaches). Furthermore, she reclassified to join the 2024 incoming freshmen class. Mills has the tough assignment of replacing Waniya Hudson on the backline who started in 96 games over her Irish career.

Izzy Engle subbed into the opener and impressed in the midfield. Engle ranked 59th overall nationally as a recruit. As a high school senior, Engle scored two goals in the game that led her team to win the Class 3A Minnesota State Soccer Tournament for the first time since 1986. Not to mention a perfect 22-0 record. Engle was the 2023-24 Gatorade Minnesota Girls Soccer Player of the Year. Furthermore, Engle made Top Drawer Soccer’s Preseason Best XI All-Freshman Team.

Engle, alongside Restovich and keeper Sonoma Kasica, were all invited to the most recent U.S. U19 training camp this past summer where they played a pair of friendlies in Spain.

GOALIE BATTALION

5-10 freshman Sonoma Kasica got the starting nod in game one. Kasica ranked 44th overall in her recruiting class.

Battling her for that role is sophomore Atlee Olofson. The Austin native went 7-3-2 in net in 2023 with five shutouts. She produced 45 total saves with a .763 save percentage. She finished with a GAA of 1.17. The highlight of the season – preserved the 1-1 tie at North Carolina with 2 tremendous saves in the 2nd half (finished with 5).

Rounding out the battalion is grad transfer Katherine Montgomery and sophomore Jackie Hollomon. Montgomery arrives to South Bend after four years at Missouri State.

U20 WORLD CUP – THE GOOD NEWS & THE BAD

You love to see your student-athletes get the call from a national team program, in this instance U20’s. The U20 World Cup is right around the corner and Leah Klenke has already gotten the nod from Team USA. A couple more Irish are expected to receive an invite from Team Canada in the coming days. That’s the good! The bad is that the U20 World Cup takes place in the heart of our 2024 fall season – August 31-September 22 in Colombia.

Klenke is no stranger to the U20 U.S. squad. She is 1-of-10 returning players who were a part of the CONCACAF qualifying team. Klenke also made the U20 USA roster for the 2023 Women’s U20 CONCACAF Championships.

This past summer, both Charlie Codd and Clare Logan competed in a pair of friendlies in Germany with the U20 Canadian squad. Freshman Annabelle Chukwu has also been called onto the U20 squad on several occasions.

For the first time ever the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup will feature 24 nations drawn into six groups of four. The top two finishers in each group along with the four best third-place teams will advance to the Round of 16 to be played on Wednesday, Sept. 11 and Thursday, Sept. 12. The winners of those matches advance to the Quarterfinals on Sunday, Sept. 15, from which the winners will advance to the Semifinals on Wednesday, Sept. 18. The Third-Place Match will be held on Saturday, Sept. 21 with the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup Final taking place on Sunday, Sept. 22.

CUE THE CRAZY FROG

If you see the frog emoji on our social media accounts jut know we are talking about Ellie Ospeck (her goal song is Crazy Frog).

Ospeck collected a career best 17 points in 2023, which is also the highest amongst returners this season.

The graduate turned up the heat in October and November and achieved a lot of firsts: First career ACC POTW honor, first four-point performance of her career in the win over BC on Oct. 5, first three-assist performance of her career in the win over Miami on Oct. 8 and first NCAA Tournament goal (netting the game-winner against Valpo in the first round).

She ended the year ranked second on the team in total points with 17 – for reference, her point total in 2022 was four. She also ranked second on the team in assists with seven. Thus, Ospeck notched five goals.

NOTRE NOTABLES

First let’s talk about two returners who both earned 2023 ACC All-Freshmen Team recognition – Charlie Codd and Morgan Roy.

Codd made four starts (including both NCAA Tournament games) and played significant time in both the midfield and up top in all 20 games. She scored four goals on the year – all from October 5 on – including her first NCAA Tournament goal of her career when ND won against Valpo in the first round. Codd was 1-of-2 freshmen (other being Meg Mrowicki) to tally double-digit points on the season.

Codd started in the No. 9 position in the season opener and picked up the first assist on the year.

Roy started every game in the midfield minus Senior Day and ranked third on the team in shots with 40. She had 2 goals, including one in the ACC Tournament semifinals against Clemson. Her 5 assists were the third most on the team.

Some other key returners who saw significant minutes last season are:

Meg Mrowicki was a great breakout story in 2023. She played in all 20 games with seven starts, and recorded five goals – one of which was in the second round of the NCAA Tournament vs. Memphis. However, Coach Norman has switched it up and deployed the sophomore in the backline this season.

Then there’s senior Sophia Fisher who earned a starting centerback role in the 2nd half of the season. The Irish went 3-2-1 in games she started, which included a 2-0 shutout over Clemson – a game in which she scored on a corner kick.

Next, the calming presence in the midfield of junior Laney Matriano. The Irish were 10-3-3 in games Matriano played. She has now started in 34 of her 38 games played at ND.

Be on the lookout for the return of Berkley Mensik, who redshirted last season after recovering from a tough double-knee surgery. You can read about her journey by copying and pasting the following link: https://www.shawlocal.com/northwest-herald/2024/07/31/it-genuinely-has-changed-my-life-notre-dames-berkley-mensik-returns-after-double-knee-surgery/

— ND —