| NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals: | #4 Notre Dame (14-3-4) |
|---|---|
| Opponent: | #3 Stanford (15-4-2) |
| Where: | Stanford, CA | Maloney Field at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium |
| When: | Friday, Nov. 29 | 5 pm ET |
| Watch: | ESPN+ |
| Social: | NDWSOC Twitter NDWSOC Instagram |
CARY, N.C. – The time is now for the Notre Dame women’s soccer team. Postseason play is upon us and the Irish have earned the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament. As a result, they jumped straight to the semifinal round at WakeMed Stadium Thursday night. The opponent – none other than the team they played just this past week in the regular-season finale – Clemson. The Irish claimed that initial encounter, 2-0.
Thursday’s match will kick off at 5:30 p.m. ET on ACC Network. If the Irish win, it would mark their first appearance in an ACC Tournament championship match.
IRISH A NO. 2 SEED
- This marks the third straight year Notre Dame achieved seven wins in ACC play and sixth time overall. It also tied their league-high win mark.
- It’s the first time they’ve been the No. 2 seed and it’s their highest seeding since 2016, when they had their lone No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament.
- The Irish are 1-7-2 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.
WHAT’S ON THE LINE
- Notre Dame joined the league back in 2013 and are searching for its first appearance in the ACC Tournament Championship game.
- Also, looking at the bigger picture that is the NCAA Tournament, if the Irish can knock off Clemson again, it would almost guarantee Notre Dame being a top-8 team and earning a No. 2 seed. Therefore, that means the Irish will host three games in South Bend until the quarterfinal round. The NCAA Tournament seeding committee had the Irish at No. 9 and the Tigers at No. 8 before the last week of the regular season when ND beat Clemson 2-0.
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 — all equating for 40 goals.
- It is three grad players who lead the way –> Mercado (7), Van Zanten (6) and Lynch (6). 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 has been an absolute sparkplug and the main cog that runs the Notre Dame offense. Klenke leads the team with 10 assists, which ranks 11th nationally and second in the ACC. Her 0.6 assists per game rank 13th in the country and second in the league.
- Get this, Klenke has registered points in 10 of the last 13 matches.
- She had 7 assists in conference play.
- Klenke now has a career best 14 points on the season.
TRENDING
- Notre Dame jumped from an RPI of No. 11 to No. 8 after the Clemson victory.
- As previously stated, Leah Klenke has notched at least one point in 10 of the last 13 matches.
- Kristina Lynch has recorded a point in three of the last six matches.
- Charlie Codd has scored all three of her goals in the month of October.
- 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 10-0-2 when scoring two goals or more.
- Notre Dame outscored its ACC opponents 24-11 during the regular season.
— ND —