SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team hosts Boston College in an afternoon clash at Arlotta Stadium, Saturday April 8. The holiday weekend brings two top-ranked schools to a head as the eighth-ranked Irish welcome the No. 7 Eagles to campus for a noon draw on ESPNU.
Saturday’s game will serve as Notre Dame’s Hair Havoc game, a cause of the HEADstrong Foundation, close to the lacrosse community.
The team gets back on the road Monday with a day trip to in-state rival Butler. The Irish and Bulldogs will meet at 2 p.m. at Varsity Field in Indianapolis.
GAME 12 DETAILS
Location: South Bend, Ind. | Arlotta Stadium
Schedule: April 8 — 12 p.m. ET
TV: ESPNU
Live Stats: UND.com
Twitter Updates: @NDWomensLax
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
GAME 13 DETAILS
Location: Indianapolis, Ind. | Varsity Field
Schedule: April 10 — 2 p.m. ET
TV: FloSports
Live Stats: UND.com
Twitter Updates: @NDWomensLax
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
FOR STARTERS
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The Irish conclude their homestand Saturday, April 8, when they host the Boston College Eagles. The top-10 showdown is set for noon ET on ESPNU.
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Notre Dame moved up four spots in this week’s IWLCA/ILWomen’s poll, cracking the top-10 for the first time in 2023. The Irish head into the weekend with a No. 8 ranking and will face seventh-ranked Boston College.
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Saturday’s clash between the Irish and Eagles will be the team’s annual HEADstrong game. Since 2006, the HEADstrong Foundation has helped to develop student-athletes while working to improve those affected by cancer.
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The Irish look to round out their three-game home stand with an undefeated record as they most recently defeated Brown and UNC last week to improve to 7-0 at home.
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Notre Dame snapped UNC’s 27-game conference win streak with their 16-12 victory over the Tar Heels Saturday. Madison Ahern led the team with five goals while eight individuals highlighted the box score overall.
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Live stats will be available for the contest as well as a the game being aired on the ESPNU.
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The attacking trio of Choma, Ahern, and Wolak combine for 148 of the 248 Irish points.
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In her last ACC road contest, at Virginia, Wolak set a career best mark in goals (six) and points (eight), scoring nearly half of the team’s 13 goals in Charlottesville.
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Ahern recently tied her career high for points in a game with eight off six goals and two assists, matching the mark she recorded in a win over Jacksonville during the 2022 season.
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Choma now has a team-high eight hat tricks on the season.
DAUGHTERS FOR DADS/COMMUNITY SERVICE
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Notre Dame Women’s Lacrosse annually dedicates a portion of their season to raise awareness and funding for the Harper Cancer Research Institute (HCRI) through their Daughters for Dads (D4D) campaign.
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The program just finished its ninth annual D4D campaign in 2023. Previous fundraising intitiatives include a 2022 virtual 5K where they exceeded their fundraising goal.
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The UNC game April 1, 2023 served as the ninth installment of the fundraising efforts, started originally in 2015 by Coach Halfpenny and Irish alum Jordy Shoemaker.
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This weekend’s game will honor the HEADstrong Foundation, an organization founded on the development of student athletes while helping those in the community affected by cancer.
THE NOTRE DAME – BOSTON COLLEGE SERIES
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The Irish and Eagles have met 20 times previously. At home, the Irish own a 4-2 record against the visiting ACC foe while trailing the all-time series record by a slim 8-12 margin.
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The last time the Eagles came to town, the Irish rolled to an 11-7 victory as part of their undefeated 2020 season.
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Thus far in 2023, Boston College sits third in the ACC standings with a 5-1 conference record while the Irish women trail close behind with a 4-2 record in ACC play.
THE NOTRE DAME – BUTLER SERIES
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In one prior meeting with the Bulldogs, the Irish recorded a 20-1 victory at home (April 10, 2019).
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Hannah Dorney recorded three points in the game as the then-freshman posted two goals and an assist.
IN THE POLLS
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Notre Dame is ranked No. 8 in this week’s ILWomen/IWLCA poll.
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Six other ACC programs are currently ranked in the top-25 according to the IL Women/IWLCA Preseason Poll, including #1 Syracuse, #5 North Carolina, #7 Boston College, #12 Virginia, #19 Clemson, and #24 Duke.
NEARING THE MARK
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With her next save, Lilly Callahan will eclipse the 100 career save mark, following a seven stops in the team’s 16-12 victory over UNC last weekend.
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Hannah Dorney, this week’s ACC co-Defensive Player of the Week, is one ground ball shy of 100 career pick ups and has recorded 20 this season.
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Ahern’s five goals against UNC brought her career tally to 140. Adding 58 career assists, the senior boasts 198 career points.
BALANCED ATTACK
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The Irish returned 3 of the 4 top scorers from the 2022 season in Kasey Choma, Madison Ahern, Jackie Wolak.
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The top scorers were assisted by Kelly Denes who won 100 draw controls and tallied 14 goals of her own. This season Denes boasts 72 draw controls and currently sits at 176 career draws.
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Choma, Ahern, and Wolak lead the Irish in points combining for 148 points.
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Choma is currently ranked fourth in the ACC for goals per game (3.27) and 18th nationally.
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Wolak is ranked in the top five in the ACC for points per game (5.27) and assists per game (2.64). Her assists per game is also seventh-best nationally while her points per game average ranks sixth.
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Denes is ranked third in the ACC for draw controls per game tallying 6.55.
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Fourteen different players have scored at least one goal this season with 12 having found the back of the net multiple times.
THREE-HEADED MONSTER
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The attacking trio of Choma, Ahern, and Wolak are combining for 148 points.
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Choma leads the Irish with 36 goals and nine assists, Wolak has 29 goals and 29 assists, and Ahern has 35 goals and 10 assists.
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Wolak leads the team in points with 58, while Choma and Ahern each have 45.
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Choma now has tallied a team-high eight hat tricks in the 2023 season and Wolak has tallied five.
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Wolak’s game against Virginia saw her set career-high performances in goals (six) and points (eight).
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Choma, Ahern, and Wolak have all been named to the 2023 Tewaaraton Watchlist.
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Choma, Ahern and Wolak combined for 17 points in the win over Brown (03/27/23).
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They combined for 11 of the team’s 21 goals against the Bears.
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The trio combined for 12 of the team’s 17 total points at Virginia to close out March’s conference slate.
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Wolak ranks in the top ten in the ACC and nationally for assists per game (2.67).
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Choma tallied a new career high in goals (8) and tied her career high in points (8) in the Virginia Tech game.
SMOTHERING DEFENSE
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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.
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Notre Dame is the first team this season to hold the Tiger attack under a double-digit goal total in a game.
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Mary Kelly Doherty, Hannah Dorney, and Keelin Schlageter are all ranked in the top ten in the conference in caused turnovers per game.
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The Irish have held seven of their 11 opponents to single digits.
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Most recently, Hannah Dorney was named ACC co-Defensive Player of the Week for her transition play against UNC and Brown.
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Emma Schettig won ACC Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Notre Dame defense hold Duke to just six goals.
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Notre Dame has caused havoc on defense, averaging 10.18 caused turnovers per game, a mark that ranks 14th in the nation and second in the ACC.
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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
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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.
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She ranks in the top 10 in the country in goals-against average (8.44) and top-30 in save percentage (.470). Her GAA is sixth nationally and second among all ACC goaltenders.
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Lilly Callahan earned her first career win in her first career start while holding the San Diego State attack to just two goals .
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The two goals Callahan allowed marked the lowest scoring output in SDSU program history, which dates back to the 2012 season.
DOMINATING THE DRAW
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The Irish have won the draw control battle in eight of their 11 games this season.
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Notre Dame currently ranks No. 2 in the country in draw control percentage (.625) and in the top 10 for draw controls per game 17.45.
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Kelly Denes leads the Irish in draws per game (6.55) 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.
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The Irish draw control unit held the nations leader on the draw circle to only four draw controls in their matchup against Duke.
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The Irish currently have won the draw control battle on the season by a margin of 192-115.
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 WATCHLIST
- Kasey Choma and Madison Ahern 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.