CHARLOTTE – It was an Irish sweep. Notre Dame fans knew an individual award had to be coming on the heels of the program’s most impressive week of the season. This past week, the Fighting Irish returned home and knocked off both No. 25 Cal and No. 6 Stanford. They won both contests by a combined margin of 8-2. The ACC office recognized two players on Tuesday who played major roles in both victories.
Ellie Hodsden picked up her first career ACC award, earning Offensive Player of the Week. Hodsden recorded a hat trick against Cal, then added a fourth goal of the week by scoring in the second half against Stanford. Hodsden is now the second Irish player to record a hat trick this season, joining fellow freshman Izzy Engle.
Hodsden now has eight goals in 227 minutes of action, which means she’s finding the back of the net every 28.4 minutes.
Not a bad week for Hodsden huh?!
4 goals in 2 ranked wins. #GoIrish ☘️ pic.twitter.com/KEAhAErAMQ
— Notre Dame Women's Soccer (@NDSoccer) October 21, 2024
Next up, Leah Klenke earned the ACC Defensive Player of the Week award. This marks her first ACC weekly honor but not her first conference recognition. The junior was a Second Team All-ACC honoree a year ago.
This past week, Klenke controlled the defensive midfield. After the Golden Bears equalized at 2-2 in the 52nd minute, the Houston, Texas, native led a backline that allowed just two shots for the remainder of the match, none in the final 30 minutes, and fueled a Notre Dame comeback that saw three Irish goals to close out the match. On Sunday, the Notre Dame defense allowed just three shots on goal in its 3-0 shutout win over the Cardinal, as Klenke scored from the penalty spot in the 66th minute.
The game-winner on one end and helping with the team’s 10th shutout on the other. @LeahKlenke was superb today. #GoIrish ☘️ pic.twitter.com/FFoQsHpJS0
— Notre Dame Women's Soccer (@NDSoccer) October 20, 2024