3. Another Top-15 Showdown At Alumni

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame women’s soccer has its second top-15 matchup in just three games, as another opportunity presents itself on Sunday, August 25. The No. 14 Fighting Irish (1-1-0) will host the No. 13 TCU Horned Frogs (2-0-0) at 1 p.m. ET inside Alumni Stadium. The two last met in South Bend in a 2022 Sweet 16 matchup, with the Irish taking it 2-0.

TCU is already 2-0 on the young season with a ranked win under their belt – a 3-0 victory over No. 20 Alabama. Notre Dame leads the overall series 3-1.

UNDERCLASSMEN DELIVER AT SAMFORD

The Irish needed a dominant bounce-back win at Samford and they got it, defeating the Bulldogs 6-0. Thus, the program hasn’t suffered back-to-back losses since mid-October of the 2021 season.

Notre Dame scored five of the goals in the second half. That hasn’t been done since defeating Detroit Mercy 8-0 on Sept. 9, 2021.

Fifteen of the 17 points in the match were earned by underclassmen:

• Freshman Izzy Engle scored a hat trick.
• Freshmen Abby Mills and Grace Restovich collected their first collegiate goals, with the latter picking up an assist as well.
• Fellow freshmen Annabelle Chukwu and Lily Joseph respectively earned their first assists.
• Other assists went to sophomores Morgan Roy and Charlie Codd.
• The lone upperclassmen points – a goal from graduate Ellie Ospeck.

HAT TRICK FOR THE RECORD BOOKS

Freshman Izzy Engle stole the show in Notre Dame’s first victory of the season. Engle recorded a hat trick at Samford, with all three goals occurring in the second half.

Engle became the first Irish freshman to record a hat trick since Melissa Henderson back on Sept. 28, 2008.

Engle was the third quickest in program history to record a hat trick, doing so in just her second game. Kerri Hanks (2005) and Rosella Guerrero (1992) achieved hat tricks in their freshman debuts. Engle did tie Hanks though for the earliest hat trick for a true road game.

In addition, Engle was 1-of-4 freshmen nationally to score three goals in the opening week.

PLAYS WITH POISE AND GRACE

Shout out to freshman Grace Restovich who recorded four points in the opening week of play with one goal and two assists. Both her and sophomore midfielder Charlie Codd have recorded assists in back-to-back games.

Restovich 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.

KLENKE EARNS PRESEASON PRAISE

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 in the 2023 season. Klenke booted in two goals in 2023 – both game-winners.

YOUTH MOVEMENT

The youth movement is on at Notre Dame and will be a huge talking point early on. 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.

Though an early sample size, but the top three point-getters on the team are currently freshmen: Izzy Engle (6 points), Grace Restovich (4 points) and Annabelle Chukwu (3 points).

A total of eight freshmen have seen significant time on the pitch already, including five who started in the season opener.

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 was 15 years old when she made her Canadian Youth debut and has left her mark across the youth programs. Chukwu now ranks second all-time in most goals scored through Canadian Youth International competition. Her 25 goals rank second to Canadian great Christine Sinclair (27 goals).

Other highlights include Chukwu winning a CONCACAF silver medal with U15 in 2022, scoring in Canada’s opening match at the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, receiving a National Team call-up in 2022 at the age of 15 and scoring twice in extra time in the bronze medal game to help Canada win and qualify the squad for the U20 World Cup.

GOALIE BATTALLION

Freshman Sonoma Kasica got the starting nod in game one. The 5-10 goalie 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 – a 1-1 tie at North Carolina with tw0 tremendous saves in the 2nd half (finished with 5).

Olofson started in game two and earned the shutout victory

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

FROSH FORAY

Some more freshmen to keep any eye on who we haven’t mentioned already:

• 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.
• In game two, not only did Mills help the Irish get their first shutout of the season, but the freshman also secured her first collegiate goal.
• Forward Lily Joseph has played in both games, with one start, averaging 66 minutes per game. She earned her first collegiate assist in the 6-0 win at Samford.

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 bad news is that the U20 World Cup is taking place August 31-September 22 in Colombia. With that said, the Irish are sending three representatives – Leah Klenke with Team USA and Annabelle Chukwu and Clare Logan with Team Canada.

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.

We’ve already mentioned Chukwu’s vast history with Canada, now here’s Logan’s. Clare was 16 years old when she debuted on the Canadian Youth scene in 2021. She won a bronze medal at the 2022 CONCACAF Women’s U17 Championship. She later helped the U20 squad win bronze as well at the U20 CONCACAF Championships, helping Canada qualify for said U20 World Cup.

CUE THE CRAZY FROG

If you see the frog emoji on our social media accounts just 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.

Ospeck collected her first goal of the season in game two aka Samford.

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 has started in both games in the midfield and has earned an assist in back-to-back games.

Roy started every game in the midfield minus Senior Day in 2023 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.

Roy leads the 2024 Irish in shot attempts with seven.

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.

Lastly, 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 35 of her 39 games played at ND.

Coach Norman has named Matriano as his breakout player to watch for the 2024 season.

– ND –