| 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 |
NOTRE DAME, Ind – Postseason soccer comes to Alumni Stadium this Sunday in the form of the First Round of the ACC Tournament. After a 7-3-0 campaign during league play, the Notre Dame women’s soccer team earned the No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 Clemson.
Only six teams made the 2021 ACC Tournament. Thus, if victorious on Sunday, the Irish would advance to the semifinals in Cary, North Carolina, against No. 1 seeded Virginia.
LAST TIME VS CLEMSON
Just a few weeks back on Oct. 10, the Tigers battled the Irish to a double-OT. Then in the 107th minute, a Sammi Fisher free kick found a diving Eva Gaetino in the box , who then headed it in for the golden goal.
BEST SEASON IN A DECADE?
The Irish have won 13 games this season so no matter how the year ends, it will mark Coach Norman’s best year at the helm. In fact, the Irish could also achieve its best season in terms of winning percentage since the 2010 season – when that squad simply went 21-2-2 and won a national championship.
The Irish also made program history with its 6-0-0 start in ACC play, before finishing 7-3-0.
IN THE RANKINGS
The Irish climbed as high as No. 13 in the Top Drawer rankings. This week they checked in at No. 17. In the United Soccer Coaches poll, the Irish climbed as high as No. 15 before dropping to No. 22 this week.
EYE ON THE RPI
For the Oct. 24 week, the Irish RPI dropped from No. 10 to 18. The ACC checks in with the No. 1 conference RPI. In fact, Notre Dame is 1-of-4 ACC schools in the top-20 RPI.
Irish are 2-3 against the RPI top-25 and are 6-3-1 against the RPI top-50.
POSITIVES FROM THE ROAD GAUNTLET
There’s hitting the road for three straight conference games and then there’s hitting the road for three consecutive games against top-7 ranked teams. The Irish battled in all three, and one could argue could have earned a victory in all three. In fact, all three were late one-goal decisions.
No. 2 Virginia did not get on the board until the 82nd minute. The Cavaliers unfortunately tacked on an insurance goal just 37 seconds later, otherwise Korbin Albert’s golazo in the 85th minute would have sent the match to overtime.
The matchup at No. 6 Duke went scoreless into overtime. In fact, the Irish outshot the Blue Devils 8-6.
At No. 7 North Carolina, the Irish struck first, as Olivia Wingate scored in the 58th minute. Prior to the match, the Irish were 11-0-0 when scoring first this season. Yet, the Tar Heels rallied with goals in the 78th minute and then in double-overtime (101st minute).
FISHER’S ALL-ACC RESUME
Sammi Fisher has made the most of her graduate season, for it only took her one month of play to achieve her best year in an Irish uniform. She has now placed her name onto the list of top scorers in the country this season.
Her 11 goals rank 26th in the country and 2nd in the ACC. In addition, her 0.61 goals per game rank 47th in the nation and 4th in the league.
Fisher also leads the team in game-winners with four, which ranks 22nd in the nation. Fisher scored game-winners against Syracuse, Brown, Wisconsin and Bowling Green.
Her 27 total points rank 32nd nationally and 4th in the ACC.
ON THE FRONT FOOT
Notre Dame has had a tendency to strike early, scoring a total of 11 goals in the first 20 minutes of games this season. In fact, they have done so in seven of the past 11 games.
Wake Forest 19:58 | Clemson 11:51 | Louisville 0:37, 9:28 | NCST 0:58 | BC 4:49 | Syracuse 6:38 | Detroit 1:43, 11:59 | Wisconsin 7:52 | Bowling Green 7:14
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Seven of the last 13 goals have been delivered from the foot of a freshman: Korbin Albert, Katie Coyle, Sophia Fisher and Kaylie Ronan.
Albert is the No. 8 ranked freshmen in Division I (according to Top Drawer Soccer) and she’s living up to the ranking. She owns the second most goals on the team with eight. In fact, she has four goals in the last seven games, including an absolute rocket at No. 2 Virginia.
Sophia Fisher also has a game-winner, scoring in the 1-0 victory at Marquette. The freshman most recently scored in the win over Louisville, bringing her season total to three.
Last but not least, there’s Kaylie Ronan, who scored her first career goal in the win over Boston College on Sept. 26.
FLEXING THE OFFENSIVE MUSCLE
Notre Dame has scored 43 goals which rankS 4th in the ACC and 19th in the nation. The 43 goals are already more than six of the past seven seasons.
Notre Dame’s scoring offense of 2.39 ranks 24th in the nation and 4th in the ACC. In addition, ND’s 117 total points rank 26th in the country.
FOUR-HEADED MONSTER
Sammi Fisher (27 points), Olivia Wingate (14 points), Korbin Albert (19 points) and Maddie Mercado (13 points) are the four-headed attacking monster for the Irish and currently the four with double-digit points.
First, there’s Fisher, who is a two-time All-ACC selection. She is having the best season of her career, ranking 2nd in the ACC with 11 goals (led for a majority of the season), which also ranks 26th in nation. Fisher has scored in 9-of-18 games. Fisher has turned up the assist production as of late, registering four assists over the last six games as well.
Then there’s Wingate, who boasts five goals and five assists. She scored the game-winner against Purdue, earned her first brace of the season at Miami and most recently scored at No. 7 UNC on Oct. 24.
Wingate notched assist No. 5 in the regular-season finale vs Wake Forest. Her five assists have now tied Kati Druzina for the team lead.
Albert cracked the Irish starting XI on day one and has made the most of it. She boasts the second most goals with eight, along with her three assists.
Four of Albert’s goals have come on the road: at Wisconsin, Mizzou, NC State and Virginia. Her goal at Missouri tied the goal with three minutes left and forced overtime, before the Irish unfortunately suffered their first defeat. Then Albert tallied back-to-back goals in the Detroit Mercy route in a span of just one minute and 26 seconds.
Albert also secured her spot in the ND record book in the win over Louisville. The Illinois native scored in the first 37 seconds, which marked the third fastest goal in program history.
THREAT OFF THE BENCH
If there were a 12th woman award similar to sixth woman in basketball, it would go to junior midfielder Maddie Mercado. The San Diego native boasts the fourth most points on the squad with 13 – comprised of five goals and three assists. Mercado tallied three points at Miami (one goal, one assist all within a five-minute span), then added a penalty-kick goal against Boston College. Prior, Mercado notched the first brace of her career against Detroit Mercy.
Her most impressive and most recent goal was the game-winner against Wake Forest in the regular-season finale when Mercado scored directly off a corner kick.
Mercado now has the second most game-winners on the squad with three.
— ND —