SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team is set for their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth, and ninth in 10 years, as they face Mercer Friday night in Gainesville, Florida. The winner of Friday’s game will take on the winner of No. 6 Florida/Jacksonville Sunday at noon with a spot in the NCAA Quarterfinals on the line.
GAME 19 DETAILS
Location: Gainesville, Fla.| Donald R. Dizney Stadium
Schedule: May 12 — 7 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN+
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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With a 13-5 record, including a recent trip to the ACC Semifinals, the Irish have earned their ninth NCAA Tournament bid in the last 10 years.
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The Irish advanced to the ACC Championship semifinals for the third consecutive year, defeating fourth-seeded Virginia in the quarterfinal round, 15-13, to move on. In the semifinals, the Irish faced longtime rival Boston College where their tournament run ultimately came up just short of the championship game.
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Over the two-game stretch in Charlotte, six individuals found the back of the net, including Kasey Choma who led the team with six goals and seven points. The team’s leading goal-scorer now boasts 58 on the year and ranks 15th nationally in the category.
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Lilly Callahan made eight saves in goal for the Irish in the win, including three in the final 60 seconds to maintain the team’s two-goal lead against the Cavaliers. The junior goalkeeper followed it up with 10 saves against the Eagles as she held them to one of their lowest goal totals of the season.
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The team’s leading-scorer, Wolak now boasts 89 points on the season while classmate Choma sits alone for a team-best 58 goals this season.
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For their strong defensive efforts last week in the ACC Tournament, Keelin Schalgeter and Lilly Callahan were named to the ACC All-Tournament team.
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A program-best seven individuals were named to All-ACC teams ahead of the first round of conference tournament play. The offensive trio of Madison Ahern, Kasey Choma and Jackie Wolak were all named First Team All-ACC while the defensive corp of Lilly Callahan, Kelly Denes and Hannah Dorney were awarded Second Team honors. Abigail Lyons was recognized as a part of the All-Freshman team.
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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.
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Kelly Denes surpassed 200 career draw controls against the Cardinals 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. The junior now owns 111 season draw wins and leads the nation’s second-rated draw control team in the circle.
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With her second goal of the day against RMU, Kasey Choma recorded her 200th career point. She went on to post four goals in the contest. Earning the assist on Choma’s 200th point mark, Jackie Wolak tied her classmate with her 200th point for the Irish as well.
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Notre Dame’s 37 points in the win at Butler matched a program record, previously set earlier this season against Central Michigan.
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Their 26 goals against Butler was a season-high for the Irish, topping that previously set of 24 in February.
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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.
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Live stats will be available for the contest as well as a the game being aired on the ACC Network.
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The attacking trio of Choma, Ahern, and Wolak have combined for 236 of the 396 Irish points after registering 16 of the program’s 20 points in their win over Virginia to advance to the ACC semifinals.
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Choma now has a team-high 13 hat tricks on the season. Ahern is close behind with 11 while also registering her second sock trick of the year with six goals at Pitt.
THE NOTRE DAME – MERCER SERIES
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Friday’s game will mark the first ever meeting between the Irish and Bears.
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Mercer went 17-2 overall this season, most notably winning the Big South Conference to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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The tournament championship came on the heels of the Bears clinching the Big South regular season title as well, posting an undefeated 9-0 record in conference play.
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Like opponents in 2023 include Virginia Tech who the Bears opened their season with in an 11-8 win. The Irish also played the Hokies this season as the two squared off inside Loftus with Notre Dame defeating their ACC foe while holding them to their lowest goal total in program history in the 14-1 decision.
IN THE POLLS
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Notre Dame is ranked No. 8 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 Boston College, #3 Syracuse, #4 North Carolina, #12 Virginia, and #23 Clemson.
HITTING THE MARK
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With her first save against BC in their regular season matchup, Lilly Callahan eclipsed the 100 career save mark. She now boasts 156 stops in 32 games played, with a .500 save percentage.
Hannah Dorney, a recent ACC co-Defensive Player of the Week, hit 100 career ground balls when the Irish hosted BC. She now has 114 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 161 goals, 68 assists and 229 career points in her four years at ND.
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 111 draw controls and currently sits at 215 career draws.
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Choma, Ahern, and Wolak lead the Irish in points combining for 236 points following a 16 point performance from the trio against Virginia in the ACC Quarterfinals, including 11 goals.
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Choma’s 3.22 goals per game ranks fourth in the ACC and 20th nationally while Ahern’s 3.11 average is fifth-best in the conference.
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Wolak is ranked in the top five in the ACC for points per game (4.94) and assists per game (2.44). Her assists per game is also ninth-best nationally while her points per game average also ranks ninth.
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Denes is ranked third in the ACC for draw controls per game tallying 6.17 and is 23rd in the country.
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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
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The attacking trio of Choma, Ahern, and Wolak are combining for 236 points.
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With four goals against the Cavaliers in the team’s 15-13 win Wednesday, Choma now sits alone atop the Irish leaderboard with 58 goals on the season.
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Wolak has 45 goals and 44 assists for a team-best 89 points.
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Choma now has tallied a team-high 13 hat tricks in the 2023 season and Wolak has tallied 10.
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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 and Ahern were recently named Tewaaraton nominees for their regular season performance.
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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 five in the ACC and top-10 nationally for assists per game (2.50).
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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 was the first team this season to hold the Tiger attack under a double-digit goal total in a game.
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The Irish have held 12 of their 18 opponents to single digits.
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Notre Dame has caused havoc on defense, averaging 8.89 caused turnovers per game, a mark that ranks 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 (8.38) and top-15 in save percentage (.486). Her GAA is eighth nationally and leads all ACC goalkeepers.
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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.
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In 45 minutes played against Butler, Callahan held the opposition scoreless, stopping all seven shots faced.
DOMINATING THE DRAW
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The Irish have won the draw control battle in 13 of their 18 games this season.
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Notre Dame currently leads the nation in draw control percentage (.644) and in the top three for draw controls per game 18.00 while leading the ACC in both categories.
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Kelly Denes leads the Irish in draws per game (6.28) and is the primary player used at the draw for the Irish. She ranks among the nation’s best 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 311-184.
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.