Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Game 9 Preview: #12 Virginia

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 11 Irish are back on the road to take on Virginia in an ACC ranked showdown. Live stats will be available for the contest as well as a the game being aired on the ACC Network.

GAME DETAILS
Location: Charlottesville, Virginia | Klockner Stadium
Schedule: March 25 — Noon ET
TV: ACC Network
Live Stats: UND.com
Twitter Updates: @NDWomensLax
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame

FOR STARTERS

  • The No. 11 Irish are back on the road to take on Virginia in an ACC ranked showdown.
  • Live stats will be available for the contest as well as a the game being aired on the ACC Network.
  • The attacking trio of  Choma, Ahern, and Wolak combine for 107 of the 180  Irish points.
  • Ahern 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- VIRGINIA SERIES

  • The Irish and Cavaliers will be meeting for the 12th time on Saturday. The Irish hold the advantage in the series 8-3.
  • In the last matchup, the Irish took the win at home, 12-10.
  • Kelly Denes dominated on the draw with six draw controls for the Irish in the victory over the Cavaliers.
  • Ahern also tallied a hat trick in the match up, while Choma registered two goals herself.

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 107 points.
  • Choma is currently  ranked fourth in the ACC for goals per game (3.63)
  • Wolak is ranked in the top ten in the ACC for points per game (5.13) and assists per game (2.75).
  • Denes is ranked fifth 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 26  goals and four assists, Wolak has 18 goals and 17 assists, and Ahern has 17 goals and seven assists.
  • Wolak leads the team in points with 41, while Choma has 34 and Ahern has 32.
  • Choma  now has tallied a team-high six hat tricks in the 2023 season and Wolak has tallied three.
  • Choma, Ahern, and Wolak have all been named to the 2023 Tewaaraton Watchlist.
  • Choma, Ahern and Wolak combined for 16 points in the win Virginia Tech (3/16).
  • Wolak ranks in the top ten in the ACC and nationally for assists per game (2.75).
  • Choma tallied a career high in goals (8) and tied her career high in points (8) in the Virginia Tech game, which tied the program record for goals in a home game.

SMOTHERING DEFENSE

  • The Irish have held six of their eight opponents to single digits.
  • Notre Dame has caused havoc on defense, averaging 11.12 caused turnovers per game, a mark that ranks seventh in the nation and first in the ACC.
  • The Irish are holding opponents to just eight goals per game, the fifth best mark in the country.
  • Notre Dame has held San Diego State (2), Duke (6) and Virginia Tech (1) to their season lows for goals 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 defense held Virginia Tech to its lowest goal total of the season and tied for its lowest in program history.
  • The Irish held the ACC’s top scoring offense to just nine goals.
  • Notre Dame was the first team this season to hold the Tiger attack under a double-digit goal total in a game.
  • Emma Schettig won ACC Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Notre Dame defense hold Duke to just six goals.

CALLAHAN IN THE CREASE

  • Lilly Callahan ranks in the top 10 in the country in both goals-against average (3rd – 7.34) and save percentage (9th – .509)
  • Callahan made her first double-digit save performance of her career, finishing with 15 saves against Northwestern. This also established a career high in saves for her.
  • 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.
  • The senior held Virginia Tech to one goal while making six stops. The one-goal performance tied the Hokies lowest scoring output in program history.

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.