Irish Set For ACC Tournament

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Fighting Irish women’s lacrosse team is set for ACC tournament play, opening postseason action against No. 11 Virginia in the conference quarterfinals.

First draw is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Charlotte, North Carolina and will air on ACC Network.

GAME 16 DETAILS
Location: Charlotte, N.C.| American Legion Memorial Stadium
Schedule: April 26 — 1:30 p.m. ET
TV: ACCN
Live Stats: UND.com
Twitter Updates: @NDWomensLax
Game Day Landing Page
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
Tournament Central: Bracket | Info

FOR STARTERS

• Over the course of their last four games, the Irish have outscored their opponents 79-26, including a program best road performance of 26 goals at Butler April 10 where they defeated the Bulldogs 26-3.

• In their regular season finale, the Irish defeated the Louisville Cardinals, 15-9, inside Arlotta Stadium. Eight women highlighted the box score Thursday night, including Jackie Wolak with a team-best seven points off three goals and four assists.

• Kelly Denes surpassed 200 career draw controls Thursday before setting a new single-season best of 103 draws, eclipsing her previous best of 100 in 2022. Her 10 draw controls against the Cardinals led the team while her role in the circle led the team to a 24-4 advantage Thursday.

• With her second goal of the day against RMU last week, Kasey Choma recorded her 200th career point. She went on to post four goals in the contest.

• With an assist on Choma’s 200th point mark, Jackie Wolak tied her classmate with her 200th point for the Irish as well.

• Notre Dame’s 37 points in the win at Butler matched a program record, previously set earlier this season against Central Michigan.

• Their 26 goals against Butler was a season-high for the Irish, topping that previously set of 24 in February.

• The 23-goal victory was also the largest margin of victory for the Irish this year and their three goals against was second fewest in 2023.

• The Irish head into the postseason at No. 7 nationally, their highest ranking of the season.

• Live stats will be available for the contest as well as a the game being aired on the ACCN.

• The attacking trio of  Choma, Ahern, and Wolak have combined for 216 of the 371  Irish points.

• Choma now has a team-high 12 hat tricks on the season. Ahern is close behind with 10 while also registering her second sock trick of the year with six goals at Pitt.

THE NOTRE DAME – VIRGINIA SERIES

• Wednesday’s matchup will mark the 13th time the two programs meet. All-time the Irish own an 8-4 record against the Cavaliers.

• Previously this season, the Irish fell to the Cavaliers, 16-13, with Jackie Wolak recording a career-best eight points, including her first career sock trick.

• Kelly Denes and MK Doherty combined for 10 draw control wins against Virginia earlier this season, with both juniors recording five a piece.

• Lilly Callahan made nine stops in the contest.

IN THE POLLS

• Notre Dame is ranked No. 7 in this week’s ILWomen/IWLCA poll.

• Five other ACC programs are currently ranked in the top-25 according to the  IL Women/IWLCA Preseason Poll, including #2 Syracuse, #4 Boston College, #6 North Carolina, #11 Virginia,  and #17 Clemson.

NEARING THE MARK

• With her first save against BC, Lilly Callahan eclipsed the 100 career save mark. She now boasts 138 stops in 30 games played, with a .507 save percentage.

• Hannah Dorney, a recent ACC co-Defensive Player of the Week, hit 100 career ground balls when the Irish hosted BC last weekend. She now has 111 career pick ups.

• Ahern’s five goals against UNC brought her career tally to 140. She followed it up with four points against the Eagles, including a hat trick which gave her 202 career points. After consecutive sock and hat tricks on the road to Pennsylvania late in the season, Ahern now has 157 goals, 67 assists and 224 career points in her four years at ND.

BALANCED ATTACK

• The Irish returned 3 of the 4 top scorers from the 2022 season in Kasey Choma, Madison Ahern, Jackie Wolak.

• The top scorers were assisted by Kelly Denes who won 100 draw controls and tallied 14 goals of her own. This season Denes boasts 103 draw controls and currently sits at 207 career draws.

• Choma, Ahern, and Wolak lead the Irish in points combining for 216 points.

• Ahern and Choma currently tie for fifth in the ACC for goals per game (3.25) and 20th nationally.

• Wolak is ranked in the top five in the ACC for points per game (5.06) and assists per game (2.50). Her assists per game is also eighth-best nationally while her points per game average ranks ninth.

• Denes is ranked third in the ACC for draw controls per game tallying 6.44 and is 17th in the country.

• Seventeen different players have scored at least one goal this season with 16 having found the back of the net multiple times.

THREE-HEADED MONSTER

• The attacking trio of Choma, Ahern, and Wolak are combining for 216 points.

• Ahern and Choma lead the Irish with 52  goals apiece, while Wolak has 41 goals and 40 assists for a team-best 81 points.

• Choma  now has tallied a team-high 12 hat tricks in the 2023 season and Wolak has tallied nine.

• Wolak’s game against Virginia saw her set career-high performances in goals (six) and points (eight).

• Choma and Ahern were recently named Tewaaraton nominees for their regular season performance.

• Choma, Ahern and Wolak combined for 17 points in the win over Brown (03/27/23).

• They combined for 11 of the team’s 21 goals against the Bears.

• The trio combined for 12 of the team’s 17 total points at Virginia to close out March’s conference slate.

• Wolak ranks in the top five in the ACC and top-10 nationally for assists per game (2.50).

• Choma tallied a new career high in goals (8) and tied her career high in points (8) in the Virginia Tech game.

SMOTHERING DEFENSE

• The Irish held the nation’s top scoring offense to just nine goals, which is more than 12 below Clemson’s season average when they played the Tigers in February. 

• Notre Dame is the first team this season to hold the Tiger attack under a double-digit goal total in a game.

• Mary Kelly Doherty ranks in the top-10 among ACC foes in caused turnovers per game. 

• The Irish have held 11 of their 16 opponents to single digits.

• In early April, Hannah Dorney was named ACC co-Defensive Player of the Week for her transition play against UNC and Brown.

• Emma Schettig won ACC Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Notre Dame defense hold Duke to just six goals.

• Notre Dame has caused havoc on defense, averaging 9.38 caused turnovers per game, a mark that ranks 23rd in the nation and second in the ACC.

• The Irish defense held Virginia Tech to its lowest goal total of the season and tied for its lowest in program history.

CALLAHAN IN THE CREASE

• Callahan made her first double-digit save performance of her career, finishing with 15 saves against Northwestern. This also established a new career high in saves for her.

• She ranks in the top five in the country in goals-against average (8.03) and top-15 in save percentage (.492). Her GAA is fifth nationally and leads all ACC goalkeepers.

• Callahan earned her first career win in her first career start while holding the San Diego State attack to just two goals .

• The two goals Callahan allowed marked the lowest scoring output in SDSU program history, which dates back to the 2012 season. 

• In 45 minutes played Monday against Butler, Callahan held the opposition scoreless, stopping all seven shots faced.
  

DOMINATING THE DRAW

• The Irish have won the draw control battle in 13 of their 16 games this season.

• Notre Dame currently ranks No. 2 in the country in draw control percentage (.644) and  in the top three for draw controls per game 18.00 while leading the ACC in both categories.

• Kelly Denes leads the Irish in draws per game (6.44) and is the primary player used at the draw for the Irish. She ranks in the top-20 nationally for draw controls per game and third in the conference.

• The Irish draw control unit held the nations leader on the draw circle to only four draw controls in their matchup against Duke.

• The Irish currently have won the draw control battle on the season by a margin of 288-159.

LEADERSHIP GROUP

• On Dec. 20, the Irish named three team captains for the 2023 campaign: Hannah Dorney, Kasey Choma, and Madison Ahern. Dorney is serving as a team captain for the second consecutive season.

ALL-AMERICAN GIRLS

• Two Irish were named Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-Americans including Kasey Choma (First Team), Madison Ahern (HM).
• Ahern and Choma were also named Preseason All-Americans on February 3. Choma was named to the second team and Ahern to the third team.
• Kasey Choma was named to the USA Lacrosse Magazine Preseason All-American squad, and was also ranked among the top 20 lacrosse players recognized as the game’s biggest difference makers checking in at #19.
• Choma and Ahern claimed silver for the USA Super Sixes team at the 2022 World Games.

TEWAARATON NOMINEES

• Kasey Choma and Madison Ahern were named two of 25 Tewaaraton nominees, Thursday, April 20, ahead of the final regular season finale.
• The duo were each named to the initial watch list for the 2023 Tewaaraton Award, the Tewaaraton Foundation announced on February 10.
• Choma has been named to the watch list for the third consecutive season and this is Ahern’s second consecutive watchlist.

ALL STAR STAFF

• Head Coach Christine Halfpenny announced the addition of Associate Head Coaches Adam Sear and Lauren Benner.
• Sear comes to Notre Dame from the University of Michigan. He spent five seasons with the Wolverines.  He will assist in coordinating the offensive effort for the Irish.
• Benner joins the Irish after spending a season with Loyola. She will serve as the defensive coordinator and work extensively with the goalie unit.
• The Irish also welcome back Bridget Deehan as a volunteer assistant. Deehan graduated from Notre Dame as a two-time All-American goalkeeper.

NEWCOMERS

• The Irish welcome a 7-member freshman class as part of the 35-player roster, which includes two attackers, three midfielders, two goaltenders .
• Emma Murphy was named No. 5 in the IL Women Top 100 Freshman Power Rankings and Jaclyn Marszal was tabbed No. 42 in the IL Women Top 100 Freshman Power Rankings.