Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

ACC Tournament Quarterfinal: vs Pitt

Irish vs Panthers | Oct. 30 | 6 pm ET | Alumni Stadium

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 second season is upon us and the No. 4 ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team will kick off the ACC Tournament on Sunday, Oct. 30. The Fighting Irish earned the No. 3 seed after falling a win shy of sharing the regular-season title with Florida State and North Carolina. As a result, the Irish get a revenge match at home against No. 6 seed Pitt. First touch is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on ACC Network.

Since this is an ACC Tournament event, tickets will be $5 for adults and $3 for youth. To purchase ahead of time, click here.

ACC TOURNAMENT

It’s almost appropriate that Halloween is on Monday because the ACC Tournament has been spooky-season for the Irish. However, they have plenty of voodoo this season to change their ACC Tournament luck. 

Notre Dame is 1-7 all-time in the ACC Tournament. They’ve appeared in the semis twice (2014 & 2016) and will look to make their first ACC title game appearance. 

A WIN ON SUNDAY …

Would mark Coach Norman’s best year at the helm, already surpassing last year’s win total of 14. 

REVENGE MATCH

Notre Dame did not allow a goal in October until the regular season finale in its 2-2 tie with No. 11 Duke. Notre Dame’s last loss occurred back on Sept. 25 vs. Pitt. It also marked Notre Dame’s only loss at home this season, for they are 8-1-1 inside Alumni. 

RED-HOT ALBERT

Nothing like hitting your stride down the stretch. Albert has recorded braces in back-to-back games. She has scored eight goals over the last six games, which includes three game-winners. 

In addition, she scored free-kick goals in both the Virginia Tech and Wake Forest games and has three total on the season.  

TAKING THEIR PLACE

The Irish have made major statements all season long to boost their resume. Take this stat — 4-1-1 against the top-25. 

Notre Dame defeated then No. 2 Virginia 1-0, No. 3 Florida State 4-0 and tied No. 11 Duke, 2-2. 

Notre Dame earned two top-three wins during the regular season for the first time in program history. 

The victory over FSU was its largest win against a top-3 program since Sept. 8, 2000 (6-1 win over #2 Santa Clara).

COMMITTEE TOP-10 REVEAL

The NCAA women’s soccer committee revealed its midseason top-10 on Oct. 13 and Notre Dame checked in at No. 3. In fact six of the spots belong to ACC teams. 

In order: UCLA, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Alabama, Florida State, Virginia, Duke, Arkansas, Pitt, Northwestern

If it were to hold, the Irish could secure their first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since 2008. 

IRISH RESUME

In the RPI rankings on Oct. 24, the Irish remained at the No. 4 spot behind UCLA, North Carolina and Alabama. 

Notre Dame is 3-2 against the current RPI Top-25. Furthermore, the Irish are 7-2 against the Top-50 and 8-2 against the Top-100. 

The Irish boast four ranked wins on the season, including two against the top-three: No. 19 Saint Louis (road game), No. 22 Wisconsin, No. 2 Virginia and No. 3 Florida State.

Notre Dame’s strength of schedule ranks 17th in the country.

HOLD THE LINE

The Irish backline of Gaetino, Hudson and Klenke have only allowed 46 shots on goal over 17 games – which equates to a stout 2.7 SOG per game. 

6 games this season the Irish backline has only allowed 1 SOG or fewer: NC State (Oct. 6), Boston College (9/30), Virginia (9/22), Saint Louis (8/25), Western Michigan (8/21) and Marquette (8/18).

Notre Dame’s defensive/goalie crew boasts 11 shutouts on the year. Their shutout percentage of 0.647 ranks 9th in the country.

Notre Dame’s GAA of 0.588 ranks 18th in the country and 3rd in the ACC. 

Mackenzie Wood in particular has been stellar in net down the stretch, as her 0.417 GAA ranks 5th in the nation, 1st in the ACC. Wood has only allowed 5 goals in 12 games. Furthermore, she has collected 9 shutouts, which rank 14th in the nation and lead the ACC. 

BREAKAWAY NUMBERS

The importance of scoring first? Well, the Irish are 14-0 and undefeated when doing so. Irish are also 9-0 when leading at the half. 

Notre Dame is averaging 8.8 shots on goal per game, which ranks 11th nationally (1st in ACC). Overall, the Irish are averaging 18.9 shots per game, which ranks 11th nationally (1st in the ACC).

In comparison, shots on goal differential sit at 150-46. 

All those shots have led to 41 goals on the year and a scoring offense (2.4) that ranks 16th in the nation.   

Olivia Wingate  25th goals per game, 2nd in ACC (0.65) // 22nd in points per game, 2nd in ACC (1.59) // 3rd in SOG per game, 1st in ACC (2.5) // 21st in total goals, 2nd in ACC (11) // 18th in total points, 2nd in ACC (27).

Maddie Mercado — 19th in game-winning goals, 1st in ACC (4).

Korbin Albert — 19th in game-winning goals, 1st in ACC (4).

Mackenzie Wood5th in GAA (.417) // 14th in shutouts, 1st in ACC (9)

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 116-28-7.

This year the Irish are off to an 8-1-1 start inside Alumni. Last season, Notre Dame went 10-1-1 with its lone loss being a 3-2 decision to Clemson in the ACC Tournament. Therefore,  Notre Dame is 18-2-2 at home over its past two seasons. Since the start of the 2019 season, the Irish are 30-5-3 at home!

OFFENSIVE SPARKPLUGS 

Notre Dame has tallied a 41-10 goal aggregate over the 2022 season. Out of the 41 goals – it’s come from 9 different players: Wingate (11), Albert (10), Mercado (8), Van Zanten (5), Klenke (2), Ospeck (2), Coyle, Fisher and Gaetino. 

Mercado and Wingate are having career years up top, much like how Sammi Fisher did a year ago. Mercado boasts a career high in goals (8) and game-winners (4).

Meanwhile, Wingate has flown past her previous career high of seven with 11 goals this year. Quite frankly, she’s doing it all, leading the team in both goals and assists (5). 

Now add in Albert and Van Zanten to complete the four-headed monster that is the Irish attack. As a foursome, they have contributed 74.8 percent of the team’s points. 

— ND —