It's Tourney Time in South Bend

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – It’s Tourney Time once again on campus and the Notre Dame women’s soccer team is dancing as the No. 3 seed in the upper left quadrant. The Fighting Irish (11-3-4) will kick things off on Saturday, Nov. 11, at 6 p.m. ET inside Alumni Stadium. And their opponent? None other than next-door neighbor and now Missouri Valley Conference Champion Valpo (11-5-6).

NCAA TOURNEY HISTORY

For the 29th time over the last 31 years, Notre Dame women’s soccer qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

Notre Dame’s overall postseason record sits at 73-24-4, which ranks as the 4th most wins behind UNC (144-18-4), Florida State (76-19-4) and 2022 NCAA Champion UCLA (74-21-6).

Irish are an impressive 50-4-1 at home in the NCAA Tournament.

Irish boast 49 clean sheets in their NCAA Tournament history.

Notre Dame earned a third seed or higher for the third consecutive year.

THE ROAD AHEAD

With a three-seed, Notre Dame will only get to host its first-round matchup inside Alumni Stadium, which is none other than Missouri Valley Champion and next-door neighbor Valparaiso.

The top-eight seeds in said quadrant are as follows: No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Arkansas, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 4 Wisconsin, No. 5 Texas, No. 6 Memphis, No. 7 Pittsburgh and No. 8 Texas A&M.

The Irish would only get to host the following weekend (second and third rounds) if two-seeded Arkansas would get upset in the opening round – they host Grambling.

The last time the Irish were a three-seed – you don’t have to look far. Two years ago, Notre Dame fought its way to the Round of 16 to square off against two-seed Arkansas in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks took that one 3-2 to advance.

Last year, the Irish earned a No. 1 seed and made it to the quarterfinal round where they lost to North Carolina. With two years on the cusp, the senior/graduate class are looking for that first College Cup appearance since 2010 and some revenge along the way.

EYES ON IRISH

Ranked in the top-12, with an RPI in the top-12, for the latter half of the season, the Irish enter the NCAA Tournament with an 11-3-4 record. Notre Dame finished in second place in the always-tough ACC, producing a record of 7-1-2.

The Irish recorded a 2-2-1 record against ranked opposition, which included wins against No. 8 Clemson and No. 16 Duke, with ties against No. 3 North Carolina and No. 10 Arkansas.

Four players were named All-ACC selections: Eva Gaetino (First Team), Kiki Van Zanten (First Team), Leah Klenke (Second Team) and Maddie Mercado (Second Team).

Gaetino was also named the ACC Defender of the Year for the second year in a row. She became the third ACC player to win multiple ‘Of the Year’ awards.

In addition, both Charlie Codd and Morgan Roy were named to the ACC All-Freshman Team.

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 42 goals.

It is three grad players who lead the way –> Mercado (8), 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 15th nationally and second in the ACC. Her 0.6 assists per game rank 14th in the country and second in the league.

• Get this, Klenke has registered points in 10 of the last 14 matches.
• She had 7 assists in conference play.
• Klenke now has a career best 14 points on the season.
• Klenke is also coming off a summer where she helped the USA U20 squad win the U20 CONCACAF championship.

TRENDING

• Maddie Mercado has scored in back-to-back games and has found the back of the net four times over the last seven matches.
• As previously stated, Leah Klenke has notched at least one point in 10 of the last 14 matches.
• Kristina Lynch has recorded a point in three of the last seven matches.
• Charlie Codd has scored all three of her goals in the month of October.
• The key to victory – Irish are 10-1-2 when scoring two goals or more.The lone loss – just happened in a 3-2 decision to Clemson in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.

A RARE MOMENT

It’s not too often the team you pick to play in a preseason exhibition ends up being your first round opponent in the NCAA Tournament. However, for Notre Dame, that is just the case. Way back on Aug. 12, the Irish hosted the Beacons and defeated them 5-0.

Valpo enters the match on a four-game winning streak in which they have not surrendered a goal.

SHINING A LIGHT ON THE BEACONS

After a dramatic run to claim the 2023 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship last weekend, the Valpo soccer team heads to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history.

Previously — Sixth-seeded Valpo concluded its run through the MVC Tournament with two more wins last weekend, taking down second-seeded Missouri State in extra time, 1-0, before topping regular season champion Drake in the tournament final by an identical 1-0 final.

Head Coach John Marovich: In his 16th season at the helm of the Valpo program, holds a 132-117-48 (.525) record both overall and at Valpo as a head coach. The 2014 Horizon League Coach of the Year and the head of the 2022 MVC Coaching Staff of the Year, Marovich holds Valpo’s all-time records for both victories and winning percentage.

MULTIPLE FRESHMEN STEPPING UP

First let’s look at Meg Mrowicki, who has been a great breakout story for the 2023 season. She’s played in all 18 games with seven starts. She’s tied for third in the team in goals with four.

Next, there’s 5-8 center midfielder Morgan Roy. The Michigan native has started every game in the midfield minus Senior Day and ranks third on the team in shots with 35. She has 2 goals including one in the ACC Tournament semifinals against Clemson.

Charlie Codd has made two starts and seen significant time in the midfield in all 18 games as well. She boasts three goals on the year – all in October.

Both Roy and Codd were ACC All-Freshman Team selections.

Freshman Atlee Olofson battled Naylor for the GK role in preseason. Olofson, who was ranked 35th in her class, is a 5-8 goalkeeper out of Austin, Texas. She was First Team All-State as a senior and set a school record with no goals against in a season. Olofson, now 6-2-2 record with four shutouts, a .788 save percentage and a 1.10 GAA.

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. This season, she’s been one of Notre Dame’s best players, earning Second Team All-ACC recognition. She currently leads the team with eight goals, two shy of her career high set last season. Furthermore, five of her last six goals have been from distance – all scored from outside the box.

HOME SWEET HOME

Alumni Stadium is becoming one of the most difficult venues for opposing programs to earn a result in. Since its creation in 2009, Notre Dame has gone 126-30-10.

Over the last 2.5 seasons – an impressive 28-4-5 record inside Alumni. Last 4.5 seasons – 39-7-6.

At home in the NCAA Tournament, and why it’s so important to earn a No. 1 seed – Irish are 15-1-1 in NCAA Tournament games at Alumni. Overall, they are 50-4-1 at home in NCAA Tourney games.