| 3-seed Notre Dame (12-3-4) | NCAA Tournament 2nd & 3rd Rounds |
|---|---|
| Where: | Fayetteville, AR | Razorback Stadium |
| Watch: | ESPN+ |
| 2nd Rd Opponent: | 6-seed Memphis (19-1) |
| When: | Friday, Nov. 16 | 4 p.m. ET |
| 3rd Rd Opponent: | Pitt or Arkansas |
| When: | Sunday, Nov. 18 | 7 p.m. ET |
| Social: | NDWSOC Twitter NDWSOC Instagram |
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 12 Notre Dame women’s soccer (6-0-0) looks to cap off a perfect non-conference slate on Sunday, Sept. 11, when the Irish host Ohio (3-1-1) inside Alumni Stadium. First touch is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET with the game streaming live on ACCNX.
In addition, the game will serve as a welcome home to alumna Shannon Boxx (1995-98) who is being honored all weekend long. Boxx will be honored both during the football game on Saturday and at halftime of Sunday’s contest. In addition, Boxx will be signing autographs for 30 minutes postgame.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
The Irish continue to climb the United Soccer Coaches weekly polls, going from No. 16 to No. 12 on Sept. 6. Now the last time ND was as high as No. 12 (and the last time they climbed as high as a single-digit ranking) was the 2016 season.
A 6-0 START
It’s been a great start to the 2022 season for the Irish, firing off an unbeaten 6-0-0 record. The Irish are 1-of-5 remaining undefeated teams alongside Harvard, Rutgers, UCLA and Virginia. Furthermore, Notre Dame’s strength of schedule ranks 10th in the country.
More impressive is the 18-2 goal aggregate. Out of the 18 goals – it’s come from 8 different players: Wingate (5), Mercado (5), Klenke (2), Albert (2), Fisher, Van Zanten, Ospeck and Coyle. In addition, the 18 goals are the most through six games since the 2013 season.
The Irish already have two ranked wins on the season, knocking off No. 19 Saint Louis 2-0 on the road then No. 22 Wisconsin 4-1 at home.
A CLEAN SLATE NON-CON?
If the Irish win on Sunday and run the table during non-conference play, it would mark the first since 2008 in which the program achieved all wins during said stretch.
DOMINANT DEFENSIVE START
Notre Dame’s four shutout victories to start the year tied its second best shutout victory streak to start a season. The other instances and the streaks included: 1995 (8), 2008 (4), 2010 (4).
The Irish defense surrendered its first goal of the season after 439 minutes of play in game five vs. Wisconsin. All-in-all, they’ve only allowed two goals through six games, which is tied for 8th best in the country.
The ND backline has been stout, only allowing 10 total shots on net in 6 games. On the season, ND owns a 72-10 SOG advantage. Total shots-wise, they’re up 147-23 over the opposition.
NOTABLE NOTES
Notre Dame is averaging 12.0 shots on goal, which ranks 3rd nationally. Overall, the Irish are averaging 24.5 shots per game, which ranks 3rd nationally as well.
Also how about tops in the country – 1st nationally in corner kicks per game – 9.83.
Other notable rankings — 15th in GAA – 0.333 // 20th in Points Per Game — 8.33 // 13th in Scoring Offense — 3.0 // 18th in Total Goals — 18.
Olivia Wingate — 15th in game winning goals (3) // 18th in goals per game (0.83) // 10th in shot accuracy (0.75) // 2nd in shots on goal per game (3.0) // 13th in total goals (5)
Maddie Mercado — 15th in game-winning goals (3) // 18th in goals per game (0.83) // 9th in shots per game (4.5) // 4th in shots on goal per game (2.83) // 13th in total goals (5)
JUST A FRESHMAN
In her second week into collegiate soccer, Leah Klenke was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week on Aug. 30 in her efforts in the wins over No. 19 Saint Louis and Illinois. Klenke started at left back in both shutout victories. She also led to Sophia Fisher’s second half goal against Saint Louis, then recorded a beautiful goal against Illinois in which she floated a ball from outside the box on the left side, over the keeper and into the far post of the net.
Klenke now ranks third on the team in points with five, boasting two goals and one assist.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Irish have made Alumni Stadium a difficult venue for opposing programs to succeed in. Since its creation in 2009, Notre Dame has gone 112-27-6, good for a .793 winning percentage. In fact, they have only surrendered one loss or better on six separate seasons.
Looking at just the past four years (counting this season as a year), the Irish are 26-4-2 at home.
Notre Dame went 10-1-1 during the 2021 campaign – its lone loss a 3-2 decision to Clemson in the ACC Tournament.
MAC HERMANN WATCH LIST
A big reason for the backline’s success is center back Eva Gaetino. Now her success hasn’t gone unnoticed for she was named to the Mac Hermann Trophy Watch List. On August 18, the United Soccer Coaches announced its 61 players up for soccer’s most prestigious award. The list gets narrowed down to 15 players on Nov. 30.