Game 8: Wake Forest

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The 2023 ACC season will kick off with some Friday Night Lights action at Alumni Stadium. The No. 13 ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer squad will begin its conference journey on Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. ET when the Irish host Wake Forest (6-0-1). The Demon Deacons have yet to suffer a loss this season.

In addition, Notre Dame athletics will be giving away a special edition Irish Soccer scarf for the first 100 students in attendance.

ANOTHER ACC SEASON UPON US

Since Notre Dame joined the ACC in 2013, the Irish are 58-34-9 in conference games. Their .619 winning percentage in conference games ranks 4th amongst ACC schools: UNC (.870), Virginia (.684) and Florida State (.626) hold the top three.

Last season, the Irish were one win shy of claiming its second ACC regular-season title, finishing 7-2-1. Notre Dame hosted Duke in its regular-season finale needing a win and settled for a 2-2 draw. As a result, they earned the No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament. Notre Dame co-shared a regular-season championship with Clemson in 2016.

The ACC will continue to be a battle of the nation’s elite soccer squads with six ACC teams currently ranked in the top-25.

When it comes to the preseason predicted order of standings in the ACC – ND was picked to finish fourth.

TRENDING

• Notre Dame ranks 12th in the country and 4th in the ACC in shots per game with 20.0. Maddie Mercado leads the Irish in this category with 3.7 shots per game, which ranks 33rd in the nation and second in the league.
• Mercado has scored twice over the last three games. She now co-leads the team in scoring with three goals.
• Speaking of co-leading the team in goals, freshman Meg Mrowicki now has three as well.
• Mercado, Mrowicki and Gaetino co-lead the team in points with seven apiece.
• Freshman goalkeeper Atlee Olofson made her first career start against Bowling Green and earned her first career shutout and win as well. Olofson made two saves in the contest.
• Freshman Morgan Roy was certainly the Irish highlight of the night against Michigan – she almost scored twice in the 2nd half. She had one shot from distance hit off the crossbar – then also had a free kick in which the goalie made a spectacular diving save.

CELEBRATING A ND LEGEND – KATE MARKGRAF

When the Irish jumpstart their ACC campaign on Friday, Sept. 15, they’ll also be hosting Alumni Weekend and one special alumna in particular. Notre Dame will be hosting the Kate Markgraf U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame Celebration. Markgraf will be at the Wake Forest game on Friday night, then the program will host a special Brunch Banquet on Saturday morning.

A three-time All-American, Markgraf was a member of the 1995 national champion squad – the program’s first national title. Markgraf was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year in 1997. She started in all 96 games of her career, tallying seven goals and 24 assists.

THE DEFENSIVE ANCHOR – GAETINO

What’s been incredible so far this season, has been her ability to be a force on set pieces. In fact, Gaetino is leading the team in scoring with three goals through seven games. She first scored off a corner kick against Ball State on Aug. 20, then got her second against Butler on Aug. 24 off a free kick from Mercado outside the box. The third came via a corner kick against Arkansas as she battled for the ball in the box.

The three goals are already a career best, for she entered the season with two career goals to her name. Two of her goals this season have been game-winners.

A GLANCE AT THE DEFENSE THIS YEAR

What’s been frustrating for the Notre Dame defensive unit this season is that they are only allowing 2.6 shots on goal per match thus far – a lower mark than last year (3.0); however, teams are making the most of their minimal opportunities. The Irish have allowed seven goals through seven matches aka 1.0 goal per match – a slightly higher rate than last year’s 0.7 per match.

The Irish have earned two shutouts this season.

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 3 goals to show for the 146 total corners taken.

This year has been quite a different story. Out of 47 corners taken, the Irish have scored four goals — 2 from Gaetino, 1 from Fisher and 1 from Ospeck.

Now add in a goal scored off of a free kick from Mercado and the Irish have scored five set-piece goals out of their 16 total goals on the year.

MULTIPLE FRESHMEN STEPPING UP

First, let’s look at 5-8 center midfielder Morgan Roy. The Michigan native started in the season opener and finished off a beautiful goal in the 2nd half. Roy has started all seven games in the midfield and ranks third on the team in shots with 16.

Next is Meg Mrowicki, who has been an absolute force off the bench this season. She co-leads the team in scoring with three goals.

Then there’s Clare Logan who has started all seven games in the backline.

Charlie Codd has started the last two games in the midfield and has seen playing time in all seven games.

Chayse Ying has also subbed into all seven games in the midfield.

GOAL SCORERS FROM ALL OVER

The Irish have tallied 16 goals on the year and it’s come from 8 different players: Last season, 47 of the team’s 56 goals came from Albert, Wingate, Mercado and Van Zanten, with 11 different goal scorers total.

This year, the scoring spread goes as follows: Gaetino (3), Mrowicki (3), Mercado (3), Ospeck (2), Lynch (2 ), Van Zanten, Fisher and Roy.

MORE FROM MERCADO

In a preseason interview with Fighting Irish Media, Mercado said she wants one part of her legacy to be setting the goal for yourself to get better each and every year. And to put that into perspective, last year was Mercado’s best in an Irish uniform. She scored a career best 10 goals up top, which ranked 8th in the ACC and third on the team. She also set a new career high in game-winners with four, which included the 1-0 victory over No. 2 Virginia. Lastly, she tied her career high in assists with four, to total a new career best of 24 points.

With that said, she got goal number one in game one, garnering the first ND goal of the 2023 campaign. And even she would admit, it could have easily been an opening day hat trick for the graduate against Milwaukee.

Mercado netted goal number two, the game-winner, in the 2-1 win at Michigan State. Goal number three was also a game-winner in the 3-0 win at Bowling Green.

BECOMING MORE OF AN OFFENSIVE THREAT

Speaking of expanded roles, look for the growth in sophomore Leah Klenke. Last season, she was named the 7th best freshman in the country by Top Drawer Soccer and made their Freshman Best XI First Team. She also earned ACC All-Freshman Team honors. She started all 23 games as a freshman at left-back and even added two goals and two assists to her name. This year, Klenke looks to get a little more offensive, starting in the midfield.

Klenke co-leads the team with three assists.

IRISH LYNCH-PIN

Irish fans will have to wait no more to see their hometown girl on the pitch this season. Florida State transfer, national champion, and Granger, Indiana, native, Kristina Lynch has started has played in all seven games, including four starts. Lynch missed all of last season rehabbing an ankle injury sustained in the preseason.

At FSU, she was a two-time NCAA champion (2018 & 2021). She played in 77 games as a Seminole, including 51 starts. She scored a total of 12 goals, with three assists, good for 27 points. Most notable goal at Florida State – scored the game-winning goal in the ACC Championship over North Carolina in 2018.

Against Butler on Aug. 24, Lynch netted her first goal in an Irish uniform. She most recently scored against Bowling Green on Sept. 10, her second goal of the season.

— ND —