Game 17 Preview: #11 Duke Comes to Alumni

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – There will be a lot on the line on Thursday when No. 4 Notre Dame women’s soccer (14-2-0, 7-2-0) hosts No. 11 Duke (11-4-1, 6-2-1) inside Alumni Stadium. If victorious, the Irish can claim at least a share of the ACC regular season title. The top-three seeds in the ACC Tournament will be played out as well as Notre Dame, Florida State and North Carolina are all tied atop the leaderboard.

First touch is set for 8 p.m. ET on ACC Network. Thursday also marks Senior Day for the Irish, with a ceremony taking place before the game.

WHAT’S AT STAKE THURSDAY

Notre Dame is tied for first place in the ACC standings along with Florida State and North Carolina, with one game remaining. 

Due to ACC tiebreakers, if all three teams win on Thursday, ND would be out of luck unless a substantial victory happens (at least a 3-0 win). ND would most likely need a UNC or Florida State tie/loss to occur to obtain a top-two seed.

Regardless of ACC Tournament seeding, a win on Thursday night would earn ND a share of the regular season title. It would mark their second regular-season championship since joining the league back in 2013. They previously co-shared with Clemson in 2016. 

Now back to the pesky tiebreaker:

Tiebreaker #1: Total points in head-to-head conference game results. Not all three have gone head-to-head against each other; therefore, we move to the next tiebreak criteria

 Tiebreaker #2: Most wins in head-to-head conference game results. Not all three have gone head-to-head against each other; therefore, we move to the next tiebreak criteria

Tiebreaker #3: Goal differential (goals scored minus goals allowed) in overall conference game results. 

FSU has 14, UNC has 14, ND has 13. Notre Dame is the #3 seed.

If the No. 3 or 4 seed in the ACC Tournament, the Irish will be playing at home on Sunday afternoon or evening. A loss to Duke would result in a No. 4 seed. 

A WIN ON THURSDAY ALSO …

Would mark Coach Norman’s best year at the helm, already surpassing last year’s win total of 14. 

Would mark the most wins Notre Dame has ever achieved in the ACC with 8. 

NCAA SOCCER COMMITTEE TOP-10

The NCAA women’s soccer committee revelaed its midseason top-10 on Oct. 13 and Notre Dame checked in at No. 3. In fact six  of the spots belong to ACC teams. 

In order: UCLA, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Alabama, Florida State, Virginia, Duke, Arkansas, Pitt, Northwestern

If it were to hold, the Irish could secure their first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since 2008. 

IRISH RESUME

In the RPI rankings on Oct. 24, the Irish remained at the No. 4 spot behind UCLA, North Carolina and Alabama. 

Notre Dame is 3-2 against the current RPI Top-25. Furthermore, the Irish are 7-2 against the Top-50 and 8-2 against the Top-100. 

The Irish boast four ranked wins on the season, including two against the top-three: No. 19 Saint Louis (road game), No. 22 Wisconsin, No. 2 Virginia and No. 3 Florida State.

Notre Dame’s strength of schedule ranks 17th in the country.

HOLD THE LINE

The Irish backline of Gaetino, Hudson and Klenke have only allowed 40 shots on goal over 16 games – which equates to a stout 2.5 SOG per game. 

Six games this season the Irish backline has only allowed 1 SOG or fewer: NC State (Oct. 6), Boston College (9/30), Virginia (9/22), Saint Louis (8/25), Western Michigan (8/21) and Marquette (8/18).

Notre Dame’s defensive/goalie crew boasts 11 shutouts on the year.Their shutout percentage of 0.688 ranks 2nd in the country.

Notre Dame’s GAA of 0.500 ranks 9th in the country and 1st in the ACC. 

Mackenzie Wood in particular has been stellar in net down the stretch, as her 0.273 GAA leads the entire country. Wood has only allowed 3 goals in 11 games. Furthermore, she has collected 9 shutouts, including 7 straight. Her 9 shutouts rank 11th in the nation and lead the ACC. 

DON’T LET THEM GET HOT 

During the current six-game win streak, Notre Dame has outscored its opposition 16-0. 

The goals have come from the four-headed monster that is the Irish attack: Albert (6), Wingate (5), Van Zanten (3) and Mercado (2).

Albert has scored six goals over the last five games, which includes three game-winners. In addition, she scored free-kick goals in both the Virginia Tech and Wake Forest games and has three total on the season.  

BREAKAWAY NUMBERS

The importance of scoring first? Well, the Irish are 14-0 and undefeated when doing so. Irish are also 9-0 when leading at the half. 

Notre Dame is averaging 8.7 shots on goal per game, which ranks 12th nationally (1st in ACC). Overall, the Irish are averaging 19.0 shots per game, which ranks 11th nationally (1st in the ACC).

In comparison, shots on goal differential sit at 139-40. 

All those shots have led to 39 goals on the year and a scoring offense (2.4) that ranks 17th in the nation.   

Olivia Wingate —   14th goals per game, 2nd in ACC (0.69) // 13th in points per game, 2nd in ACC (1.69) // 3rd in SOG per game, 1st in ACC (2.6) // 15th in total goals, 1st in ACC (11) // 13th in total points, 2nd in ACC (27).

Maddie Mercado — 16th in game-winning goals, 1st in ACC (4).

Korbin Albert — 16th in game-winning goals, 1st in ACC (4).

Mackenzie Wood — 1st in GAA (.273) // 11th in shutouts, 1st in ACC (9) // 9th in save percentage, 1st in ACC (0.885).

STATEMENT VICTORIES

With a 1-0 victory over No. 2 Virginia and a dominant 4-0 win over No. 3 Florida State, Notre Dame has now earned two top-three wins during the regular season for the first time in program history. 

In addition, it marks the first time Notre Dame has beaten both Virginia and Florida State in the same season since joining the ACC in 2013. 

For Notre Dame, it was its largest win against a top-3 program since Sept. 8, 2000 (6-1 win over #2 Santa Clara).

Not to mention, defensively, both games were shutouts, with Virginia and FSU combining for just 6 shots on goal. 

The Irish will also get one more opportunity at a top-10 ranked ACC team in No. 10 Duke in the home finale on Oct. 27. Notre Dame last beat three top-10s in 2010, and the last time in the regular season was 1997. 

HOME SWEET HOME

The Irish have made Alumni Stadium a difficult venue for opposing programs to succeed in. Since its creation in 2009, Notre Dame has gone 116-28-6, good for a .793 winning percentage. 

This year the Irish are off to an 8-1-0 start inside Alumni. Last season, Notre Dame went 10-1-1 with its lone loss being a 3-2 decision to Clemson in the ACC Tournament. Therefore,  Notre Dame is 18-2-1 at home over its past two seasons. Since the start of the 2019 season, the Irish are 30-5-2 at home!

OFFENSIVE SPARKPLUGS 

Notre Dame has tallied a 39-8 goal aggregate over the 2022 season. Out of the 39 goals – it’s come from 9 different players: Wingate (11), Mercado (8), Albert (8), Van Zanten (5), Klenke (2), Ospeck (2), Coyle, Fisher and Gaetino. 

Mercado and Wingate are having career years up top, much like how Sammi Fisher did a year ago. Mercado boasts a career high in goals (8) and game-winners (4).

Meanwhile, Wingate has flown past her previous career high of seven with 11 goals this year. Quite frankly, she’s doing it all, leading the team in both goals and assists (5). 

Now add in Albert and Van Zanten to complete the four-headed monster that is the Irish attack. As a foursome, they have contributed 73.6 percent of the team’s points. 

— ND —