SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Fighting Irish are on the road for the first time this season as they travel to Evanston, Illinois to take on the No. 5 Northwestern Wildcats. First draw is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Ryan Fieldhouse and will be streamed on BIG+. Live stats will also be available.
#14 NOTRE DAME vs. #5 NORTHWESTERN
Date/Time: Thursday, February 16 — 7:00 p.m.
Location: Ryan Fieldhouse, Evanston, Illinois.
Live Stream: BIG+
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDWomensLax
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
FOR STARTERS
- The No. 14 Irish travel to Evanston, Illinois to take on the No. 5 Northwestern Wildcats for an early top twenty matchup.
- Live stats will be available for the contest as well as a live stream through Big Ten+.
- After the first game of the season Madison Ahern, Jackie Wolak, Kasey Choma and Alexandra McHugh lead the Irish in goals. Ahern led with four goals in the game.
- Kelly Denes had an outstanding performance in the season opener only two draws short of her career high tallying 11 draw controls..
- Lilly Callahan entered the national stage with a pivotal performance tallying nine saves. She earned her first career win in her first career start in the season opener.
THE Notre Dame – NORTHWESTERN Series
- The Irish and Wildcats are meeting on Thursday for yet another top two matchup between the two..
- In their last meeting, the Irish fell 17-16 in an intense midweek matchup.
- Kasey Choma led the team with four goals, while Jackie Wolak tallied three.
- In the last meeting, Hannah Dorney was a force on defense where she caused five turnovers.
IN THE POLLS
- Notre Dame now sits at No. 14 in the ILWomen/IWLCA weekly poll after week one.
- The Irish are also ranked No. 14 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine Preseason rankings.
- Five other ACC programs are currently ranked in the top-25 according to the IL Women/IWLCA Preseason Poll, including #1 North Carolina, #3 Boston College, #4 Syracuse, and #11 Duke, and #13 Virginia.
CALLAHAN IN THE CREASE
- Lilly Callahan earned her first career win in her first career start while holding the San Diego State attack to just two goals .
- She made a career-high nine saves in the contest.
- The two goals Callahan allowed marked the lowest scoring output in SDSU program history, which dates back to the 2012 season.
- The junior allowed the fewest goals of any ACC goalie that played an entire game over the last week and posted the best save percentage (.818) of any goalie that played at least a half of a game over the past week.
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.
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.
- After week one of the season, Ahern (4), Choma (3), Wolak (2) and McHugh (2) lead the Irish in goal scoring.