| 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 |
ST. LOUIS – The Notre Dame women’s soccer team (2-0) will have an opportunity to pick up its first-ranked victory of the 2022 season when they travel to St. Louis to take on the 19th-ranked Billikens (2-0). The Fighting Irish looked impressive with wins over Marquette and Western Michigan, posting a 5-0 goal aggregate. Meanwhile, St. Louis knocked off N0. 8 Arkansas at home, 1-0, then followed that up with a 3-0 victory over Drake.
Fans can watch the action online on ESPN+. First kick at Hermann Stadium is slated for 8 pm ET / 7 pm local time.
OPENING WEEKEND NOTABLES
What a 2-0 start it was for the Irish this past week in wins over Marquette and Western Michigan. Shots-wise, it was all Notre Dame, 52-1 in fact. The Irish rank 7th nationally in shots per game (26.0) and 4th in shots on goal per game (12.5).
Defensively, the Irish have not allowed a single shot on net yet, boasting a 25-0 advantage there. Yet, despite the two victories, the Irish somehow went from being ranked 16th in the preseason poll to unranked this week.
MAC HERMANN WATCH LIST
As a defender, sometimes your hard work can go unnoticed. However, Eva Gaetino got some well-deserved love when 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.
BRACE YOURSELF
Both Olivia Wingate and Maddie Mercado recorded their second career braces in the opening weekend. Wingate notched two goals against Marquette, while Mercado delivered both in the air and on the ground with two against Western Michigan.
Wingate ranked third on the team last year in goals with seven, while Mercado ranked fourth with five. Both those goal totals were respective career bests for Wingate and Mercado.
FRESH BLOOD
A talented freshmen foursome join the Irish for the 2022 season: Leah Klenke, Berkley Mensik, Laney Matriano and Kiki Turner. Both Klenke and Matriano received starts in the midfield in the first two games.
Klenke in particular shone bright, registering three points over the weekend. She scored in the 3-0 win over Marquette, then delivered a beautiful cross and assist to Mercado in the game-winner over Western Michigan.
Coach Norman described Klenke as one of the best incoming freshmen he’s had here in terms of being ready to go for game one. He also said he can play her in any position and she’s done so in both games, starting at center mid then rotating to left back.
Speaking of the Ball State exhibition, Mensik proved she has speed that might rival Wingate. In a counter attack, Mensik dribbled past 3 defenders before setting up a Mercado goal.
LOCAL PENN STANDOUTS RETURN
Two grad student transfers into the program return home to their roots for their final season. Mackenzie Wood and Kristina Lynch, both from Granger, attended Penn High and won a state title together.
Wood, a 5-9 goalkeeper from Northwestern, will be battling Ashley Naylor for the starting spot. Expect to see both starting games early on in the season.
Lynch, a 5-7 forward from Florida State, won NCAA titles with the Seminoles in both 2018 and 2021. She is currently recovering from an ankle injury and will miss the first few weeks.
RETURNING BACKLINE
The Irish return all but two starters from last year’s starting eleven, losing just its two central midfielders in Camryn Dyke and Brook VanDyck. Thus, its entire backline defense of Wirtz, Gaetino and Hudson is back and looking to dominate even more so than last season.
The three defenders helped post a 0.963 goals against average. All-in-all, the Irish defense allowed 22 goals with 97 shots on net. Total shots wise, they only allowed 9.6 shots per game. The 22 goals were the fewest allowed in Coach Norman’s tenure (not counting the shortened 2020 season due to Covid-19), and the fewest since 2016.
ON THE FRONT FOOT
A trend for Notre Dame in 2021 was striking early and pouncing on its opponent. All-in-all, ND scored a total of 12 goals in the first 20 minutes of games – spanning 10 different games. The Irish just may be back on that trend in 2022, scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes of the Marquette game.
— ND —