SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Fighting Irish are back at home on Saturday, February 25 at Loftus Arena to take on the Clemson Tigers for the first time in program history. There will be live stats available as well as a live stream on ACCNX.
#14 NOTRE DAME vs. CLEMSON
Date/Time: Saturday, February 25 — 1:00 p.m.
Location: Loftus Sports Center
Live Stream: ACCNX
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 will play host to the Clemson Tigers for the first time in program history.
- Live stats will be available for the contest as well as a live stream through ACCNX.
- The attacking trio of Choma, Ahern, and Wolak combine for 42 of the 82 Irish points.
- Jackie Wolak tallied her ninth hat trick of her career, and matched her career high for goals in a game with four.
- Anna Kenney claimed her first career goal in the first quarter of the matchup. She went on to tally three goals for her first hat trick of the season.
- Franny O’Brien tallied her first career goal in the fourth quarter of the game.
THE NOTRE DAME – CLEMSON SERIES
- The Irish and Tigers are meeting on Saturday for the first time in program history.
- The Tigers are in their first year and have established a 4-0 record so far this season.
- The weekend matchup will be the first conference contest for both teams.
IN THE POLLS
- Notre Dame now sits at No. 14 in the ILWomen/IWLCA weekly poll after week two.
- The Irish are also ranked No. 14 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine Preseason rankings.
- Six other ACC programs are currently ranked in the top-25 according to the IL Women/IWLCA Preseason Poll, including #1 North Carolina, #2 Syracuse, #4 Boston College, #10 Duke, #12 Virginia, and #23 Louisville.
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 42 points.
- Wolak and Choma are both ranked in the top ten in the ACC for points per game.
- Denes is ranked fourth in the ACC for draw controls per game tallying 7.33.
- 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 42 points.
- Choma leads the Irish with 12 goals, Wolak has nine goals and seven assists, and Ahern has seven goals and five assists.
- Wolak leads the team in points with 16, while Choma has 14 and Ahern has 12.
- Choma now has tallied a hat trick in every game of the 2023 season.
- 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.
- Choma ranks second in the ACC for goals per game (4.00), and Wolak ranks third for assists per game (2.33) and fourth in points per game (5.33).
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.
- Ranks in the top 20 in the country in both goals-against average (8.0) and save percentage (.532)
- 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
- The Irish have won the draw control battle in all three games this season
- Notre Dame currently ranks No. 8 in the country in draw control percentage (.681) and No. 4 in draw controls per game 20.67
- Kelley Denes leads the Irish in draws per game (7.33) and is the primary player used at the draw for the Irish
- The Irish currently have won the draw control battle on the season by a margin of 62-29.