Games 10 & 11 Preview: Clemson & Mercer

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team continues its road stretch with a pair of games set for the South as they embark on their first ever trips to Clemson and Mercer. The Irish take on the ACC foe, Tigers, Friday night with a 7pm draw time before concluding their four-game road stand with a noon matchup against the Mercer Bears Sunday.

The Irish played both programs last season in the first ever meetings between the two squads with Notre Dame coming out on top in both contests. Notre Dame played host to the conference rival Clemson in their inaugural season before meeting the Bears for the first-ever time in a neutral site game in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

March is Daughters 4 Dads month for the Irish. All month long the women will be fundraising for the charity, founded in 2015 to raise awareness and funds to help researchers put an end to cancer. Now in it’s 10th edition, the Irish look to expand on their efforts here in 2024.

GAME DETAILS
Location: Clemson, S.C. | Macon, Ga.
Schedule: March 22 @ 7pm – Clemson | March 24 @ Noon – Mercer
TV:  ACCNX | ESPN+
Live Stats: UND.com
Twitter Updates: @NDWomensLax
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame

FOR STARTERS

• The Irish kicked off their 2024 campaign with a five-game homestand in which they went 4-1 and had their best start to a season (4-0) since 2020.

• Notre Dame continues its road stretch this weekend at Clemson and Mercer. In three road games thus far in 2024, the Irish boast an impressive 3-0 record, including a pair of wins over top-10 teams in enemy territory.

• Most recently, the Irish swept their spring break trip to the East Coast, defeating a pair of top-25 ranked teams in Brown and Boston College by a combined total of two goals.

• The two one-goal games were both determined in the final minute when MK Doherty buried the game-winners with 36 and 15 seconds to play, respectively.

• Doherty’s hat trick goal at Brown came with 36.5 seconds to play in regulation of a deadlocked 15-15 contest to snap the tie and give the Irish the win.

• She followed it up with a career night four goals at then No. 2 Boston College, including the final dagger with just 15 ticks left on the clock to hand the Irish their first win at BC since 2003. To ensure the victory, Doherty won the following draw control to give the Irish possession and run out the clock.

• Following the road trip, Doherty racked up numerous awards for her full field performance, including USA Lacrosse, IWLCA and ACC honors.

• Their other road trip this season featured the Irish defeating the Tar Heels at UNC for their first ever program win in Chapel Hill.

• Last season the Irish boasted four regular season road wins, including defeats of Duke, Butler, Pitt and Robert Morris.

• The Irish are coming off a five-game stretch against ranked opponents in which they went 3-2 against the opposition.

• Notre Dame opened their season with a 21-6 win over Eastern Michigan.

• The Blue and Gold have combined for 20+ goal games three times thus far, most recently tallying a season high 25 goals against in-state foe Butler in mid-February.

• Lilly Callahan, who has started every game this season, boasts all nine decisions for the Irish in a 7-2 start to their season.

• Callahan was announced as ACC Defensive Player of the Week Tuesday, March 5, following her performance at UNC.

• After an eight point weekend, including four goals and two assists against Northwestern, Jackie Wolak was named the USA Lacrosse Magazine, ILWomen and ACC Offensive Player of the Week after boasting four goals and two assists in the team’s win over then-top ranked Northwestern.

• Freshmen Angie Conley, Kathryn Morrissey, Kate Timarky and Meghan O’Hare all scored their first collegiate goals and were joined by veterans Ciara Mazzone and Maeve Dwyer in the accomplishment in the opening weekend of the season.

• Live stats will be available for the contest as well as the games being aired on the ACCNX (Clemson) and ESPN+ (Mercer).

IN THE POLLS

• Notre Dame was ranked No. 5 in the latest ILWomen/IWLCA poll of the season.

• The ACC coaches tabbed the Irish to finish fourth in the preseason rankings.

BALANCED ATTACK

• The Irish returned an NCAA best 91-percent of their scoring from a season ago including their six top scorers in Jackie Wolak (105 pts.), Kasey Choma (88 pts.), Madison Ahern (84 pts.), MK Doherty (38 pts.), Kristen Shanahan (29 pts.) and Kelly Denes (25 pts.).

• The trio of Ahern, Wolak and Choma combined for 26 points in the team’s opening weekend to kick off 2024, led by Wolak with a team-best 12 points and 7 goals.

• Arden Tierney, a draw specialist who joined the Irish ahead of the 2024 season, registered 10 draw controls in week 1, including eight in the team’s 22-3 win over Central Michigan. Kelly Denes, who led the team in the category a year ago boasts 57 draw controls thus far in 2024 and leads the team in the category again.

• Denes led the team with eight draw controls against Northwestern, tying that of the visitors’s total at the circle as the Irish dominated draws by a 20-8 margin. She now boasts 57 draw controls this season and averages 6.33 controls per game, good for second in the ACC and 20th in the country.

• In addition to being one of the team’s top contributors offensively, Denes led the team at the draw circle last season, boasting 135 draw controls while MK Doherty’s 111 controls gave the Irish their first season in program history with two individuals eclipsing triple digits.

• Through nine games played, sevem Irish individuals boast double digit points, led by Wolak with a team-best 41. The graduate also leads the team in goals (28) and assists (13).

• With 105 points in 2023, Wolak ranked fourth nationally and second in the ACC. With her performance against Florida to reach the 100+ point mark, she became just the third woman in program history to hit 100 points in a single season.

• With a scoring margin of 6.67, the Irish rank 11th in the nation while also ranking third in shots per game (36.00) and 16th in shots on goal (25.00).

• With an average scoring offense of 16.00 goals per game, the Irish attack ranks 11th in the nation and is second in the ACC.

LEADERSHIP GROUP

• The team named a trio of captains, as voted on by their peers, ahead of the 2024 season. This year’s captains will be Madison Ahern, Kasey Choma and Aine Maseker.