13. Miami Preview – Senior Day

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Doug and Lisa Jones Notre Dame Head Coach Nate Norman has talked about mini-seasons within the season. On Sunday, the No. 11 Notre Dame women’s soccer squad wraps up one of those mini-seasons and looks to complete a perfect three-match homestand. The Fighting Irish (8-1-3, 4-0-1) will host the Miami Hurricanes (3-6-3, 2-3-0) on Sunday, Oct. 8, at 1 p.m. ET inside Alumni Stadium.

It will also mark Senior Day, in which the program will honor eight seniors during a short pregame ceremony: Eva Gaetino, Caroline Gray, Kristina Lynch, Ashley Naylor, Ellie Ospeck, Paige Peltier, Kaylin Slattery and Eva Wirtz.

GOAL SCORERS FROM ALL OVER

Last season, 47 of the team’s 56 goals came from Korbin Albert, Olivia Wingate, Maddie Mercado and Kiki Van Zanten.

This season has been quite the nice contrast. Maddie Mercado leads all Irish with five goals, but then it’s a four-way tie for second. Ellie Ospeck, Kiki Van Zanten, Meg Mrowicki and Kristina Lynch all boast four goals. Then there’s All-American defender Eva Gaetino right behind them with three goals.

All-in-all there have been 10 different goal scorers for the Irish. The most recent one – freshman Charlie Codd recorded her first collegiate goal against BC on Oct. 5.

CUE THE CRAZY FROG

If you see the frog emoji in the comments section of any Ellie Ospeck goal, it’s because her goal song is Crazy Frog. Ospeck had a career-high night against Boston College on Oct. 5, recording four points behind one goal and two assists. She co-leads the team in total points with 12 – also a career best.

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 seven assists, which ranks 15th nationally and tied for first in the ACC.

Klenke has been a beast, registering points in six of the last eight matches. In ACC play thus far – she recorded her first multi-assist performance of her career in the win over Wake, then scored the game-winner against No. 16 Duke, then notched assists against Louisville and BC. Klenke now has nine points on the season.

She has four assists in conference play.

VAN ZANTEN BREAKOUT NIGHT AGAINST LOUISVILLE

Against Louisville on Sept. 30, Van Zanten recorded a five-point night behind two goals and one assist. It marked the second most points of her career, only behind a hat trick she achieved back in 2020 against Miami. As a result, she was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week.

Van Zanten now has 7 points in the last 4 games. Her 11 points rank 2nd on the team.

TRENDING

On top of the above-mentioned – Meg Mrowicki has been a beast up top and a great freshman breakout story for the 2023 season. Mrowicki got the game-winner against Louisville on Sept. 30, which marked her fourth goal of the season.

Notre Dame ranks 9th in the country and 3rd in the ACC in shots per game with 19.2. Maddie Mercado leads the Irish in this category with 3.6 shots per game, which ranks 30th in the nation and 3rd in the league.

Heading into this week’s game, seven players now boast eight points or more with four in double-digits — Mercado, Ospeck, Mrowicki, Van Zanten.

The key to victory – the Irish have scored multiple goals in every game they’ve won this season. Notre Dame has outscored its ACC opponents 12-4 thus far.

RECENT MOVES PAYING DIVIDENDS

Coach Norman has experimented with his lineup as of late and recent moves are paying dividends.

First off, Maddie Mercado was moved to attacking center mid instead of forward. She now leads the team in scoring and has scored four times over the last eight games.

Second one was moving Kristina Lynch from right-wing midfield to forward. Lynch has scored three times over the past six games.

The next was starting Meg Mrowicki up top and bringing the speed of Ospeck off the bench.

Another has been the switch to Atlee Olofson in goal for four straight ACC contests. Olofson made six saves to preserve the draw at Pitt, including one point-blank diving save late in the second half. She earned her second shutout in the 3-0 win over Louisville, then made a career high eight saves in the 3-1 win over BC.

— ND —