Game 10 Preview: Brown

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 11 Irish return home to face Brown in the inaugural game between the two programs.

GAME DETAILS
Location: South Bend, Ind. | Arlotta Stadium
Schedule: March 27 — 4 p.m. ET
TV: ACCNX
Live Stats: UND.com
Twitter Updates: @NDWomensLax
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame

FOR STARTERS

• The Irish return home to kick off a three-game home stand with nonconference foe Brown Monday, before hosting ACC rivals UNC and Boston College April 1 and April 8.

• Live stats will be available for the contest as well as a the game being aired on the ACCNX.

• The attacking trio of  Choma, Ahern, and Wolak combine for 119 of the 197  Irish points.

• At Virginia Saturday, Wolak set a career best mark in goals (six) and points (eight), scoring nearly half of the team’s 13 goals in Charlottesville.

• Ahern recently tied her career high for points in a game with eight off six goals and two assists, matching the mark she recorded in a win over Jacksonville during the 2022 season.

• Choma now has a team-high six hat tricks on the season.

THE NOTRE DAME – BROWN SERIES

• This will be the first meeting between Brown and Notre Dame.

• The Bears are 5-3 this season while holding an undfeated record in the Ivy Conference. Most recently Brown beat Columbia 19-8 in a Friday matchup in Rhode Island. 

IN THE POLLS

• Notre Dame is ranked No. 11 in this week’s ILWomen/IWLCA poll.
• Six other ACC programs are currently ranked in the top-25 according to the  IL Women/IWLCA Preseason Poll, including #1 Syracuse, #3 North Carolina, #7 Boston College, #12 Virginia,  #18 Duke, and #22 Clemson.

BALANCED ATTACK

• The Irish return 3 of the 4 top scorers from the 2022 season in Kasey Choma, Madison Ahern, Jackie Wolak.

• The top scorers were assisted by Kelly Denes who won 100 draw controls and tallied 14 goals of her own.

• Choma, Ahern, and Wolak lead the Irish in points combining for 119 points.

• Choma is currently  ranked fourth in the ACC for goals per game (3.63) and 12th nationally.

• Wolak is ranked in the top ten in the ACC for points per game (5.13) and assists per game (2.75). Her assists per game is also sixth-best nationally.

• Denes is ranked fourth in the ACC for draw controls per game tallying 6.00.

• Fourteen different players have scored at least one goal this season with 12 having found the back of the net multiple times.

THREE-HEADED MONSTER

• The attacking trio of Choma, Ahern, and Wolak are combining for 107 points.

• Choma leads the Irish with 30  goals and six assists, Wolak has 25 goals and 24 assists, and Ahern has 25 goals and nine assists.

• Wolak leads the team in points with 49, while Choma has 36 and Ahern has 34.

• Choma  now has tallied a team-high six hat tricks in the 2023 season and Wolak has tallied four.

• Wolak’s last game against Virginia saw her set career-high performances in goals (six) and points (eight).

• Choma, Ahern, and Wolak have all been named to the 2023 Tewaaraton Watchlist.

• Choma, Ahern and Wolak combined for 15 points in the win over Central Michigan (02/18/23).

• They also combined for 14 assists leading to eleven different goal scorers over Central Michigan.

• The trio combined for 12 of the team’s 17 total points at Virginia to close out March’s conference slate.

• Wolak ranks in the top ten in the ACC and nationally for assists per game (2.75).

• Choma tallied a new career high in goals (8) and tied her career high in points (8) in the Virginia Tech game.

SMOTHERING DEFENSE

• The Irish held the nation’s top scoring offense to just nine goals, which is more than 12 below Clemson’s season average. 

• Notre Dame is the first team this season to hold the Tiger attack under a double-digit goal total in a game.

• Mary Kelly Doherty and Keelin Schlageter are both ranked in the top ten  in the conference in caused turnovers per game.

• The Irish have held six of their nine opponents to single digits.

• Emma Schettig won ACC Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Notre Dame defense hold Duke to just six goals.

• Notre Dame has caused havoc on defense, averaging 11.12 caused turnovers per game, a mark that ranks ninth in the nation and second in the ACC.

• 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

• 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.

• She ranks in the top 10 in the country in both goals-against average (7.34) and save percentage (.509). Her GAA is second nationally and leads all ACC goaltenders.

• Lilly Callahan earned her first career win in her first career start while holding the San Diego State attack to just two goals .

• The two goals Callahan allowed marked the lowest scoring output in SDSU program history, which dates back to the 2012 season. 

DOMINATING THE DRAW

• Notre Dame currently ranks No. 3 in the country in draw control percentage (.645) and  in the top 10 for draw controls per game 17.25.
• Kelley Denes leads the Irish in draws per game (6.00) and is the primary player used at the draw for the Irish. She ranks in the top 25 nationally for draw controls per game.
• The Irish have won the draw control battle in six of their eight games this season.
• The Irish draw control unit held the nations leader on the draw circle to only four draw controls in their matchup against Duke.
• The Irish currently have won the draw control battle on the season by a margin of 138-76.

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 WATCHLIST

• Kasey Choma and Madison Ahern 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.

DAUGHTERS FOR DADS/COMMUNITY SERVICE

• Notre Dame Women’s Lacrosse annually dedicates a portion of their season to raise awareness and funding for the Harper Cancer Research Institute (HCRI) through their Daughters for Dads (D4D) campaign.
• The program just finished its eighth annual D4D campaign and its fundraising efforts including a virtual 5K where they exceeded their fundraising goal.
• They are now heading into their ninth annual D4D campaign looking to raise $10,000 for reasearch at HCRI.

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 and Jaclyn Marszal was tabbed No. 42 in the IL Women Top 100 Freshman Power Rankings.