| 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 |
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s soccer team (12-4-1, 6-3-0) will certainly have a lot to play for on Thursday night for its regular-season finale against the visiting Wake Forest Demon Deacons (14-3-0, 6-3-0). First, a spot in the ACC Tournament is at stake, including a top-4 seed and hosting opportunity. Next, Thursday also marks Senior Night for five Irish student-athletes.
First touch is slated for 7 p.m. ET inside Alumni Stadium. The matchup will be streamed on ACCNX.
SENIOR NIGHT
Irish fans, be sure to get to Alumni a little early on Thursday night to help honor five of our seniors in their final regular-season match at home. Nikki Colantuono, Mattie Interian, Bri Martinez, Brooke VanDyck and Olivia Wingate will all be honored pregame for their contributions to the program over their respective careers.
ACC TOURNAMENT
The easiest scenario – win and you’re in, locking up at least the No. 4 seed and hosting a quarterfinal matchup. If Notre Dame wins and Duke loses, they would jump to the No. 3 seed.
If Notre Dame and Wake Forest tie they would remain in a tie with 19 points. The irony here is that they would play again on Sunday in South Bend as the No. 4 and 5 seeds. In fact, the Irish would still be the four-seed if Clemson would win and a three-way tie for fourth resulted.
If Notre Dame were to lose on Thursday, that would open the door for both Clemson and UNC to steal the final two spots, leaving the Irish out.
OVERTIME GIVETH AND OVERTIME TAKETH
On Oct. 10, the Irish experienced the joy of an overtime win with a beautiful golden-goal diving header from Eva Gaetino off a free kick from Sammi Fisher. The goal delivered a crucial 2-1 win over the visiting Clemson Tigers.
However, overtime reeled its ugly head during the weekend swing in the state of North Carolina. The Irish had chances against two top-10 ranked teams but lost 1-0 to No. 6 Duke in OT on Thursday then lost 2-1 in double OT to No. 7 UNC.
POSITIVES FROM THE ROAD GAUNTLET
There’s hitting the road for three straight conference games and then there’s hitting the road for three consecutive games against top-7 ranked teams. The Irish battled in all three, and one could argue could have earned a victory in all three. In fact, all three were late one-goal decisions.
No. 2 Virginia did not get on the board until the 82nd minute. The Cavaliers, unfortunately, tacked on an insurance goal just 37 seconds later, otherwise, Korbin Albert’s golazo in the 85th minute would have sent the match to overtime.
The matchup at No. 6 Duke went scoreless into overtime. In fact, the Irish outshot the Blue Devils 8-6.
At No. 7 North Carolina, the Irish struck first, as Olivia Wingate scored in the 58th minute. Prior to the match, the Irish were 11-0-0 when scoring first this season. Yet, the Tar Heels rallied with goals in the 78th minute and then in double-overtime (101st minute).
IN THE RANKINGS
The Irish climbed as high as No. 13 in the Top Drawer rankings. This week they checked in at No. 17.
In the United Soccer Coaches poll, the Irish climbed as high as No. 15 before dropping to No. 22 this week.
EYE ON THE RPI
For the Oct. 24 week, the Irish RPI dropped from No. 10 to 18. The ACC checks in with the No. 1 conference RPI. In fact, Notre Dame is 1-of-4 ACC schools in the top-20 RPI. All-in-all, the Irish are 5-3-1 against the RPI top-50.
ON THE FRONT FOOT
Notre Dame has had a tendency to strike early, scoring a total of nine goals in the first 12 minutes of games this season – spanning seven games. In fact, they have done so in six of the past 10 games:
Clemson 11:51 | Louisville 0:37, 9:28 | NCST 0:58 | BC 4:49 | Syracuse 6:38 | Detroit 1:43, 11:59 | Wisconsin 7:52
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Seven of the last 11 goals have been delivered from the foot of a freshman: Korbin Albert, Katie Coyle, Sophia Fisher and Kaylie Ronan.
Albert is the No. 8 ranked freshmen in Division I (according to Top Drawer Soccer) and she’s living up to the ranking. She owns the second most goals on the team with eight. In fact, she has four goals in the last six games, including an absolute rocket at No. 2 Virginia.
Katie Coyle recorded her first career game-winner, scoring in the second half of the 2-1 victory at NC State. Coyle owns two goals and one assist.
Sophia Fisher also has a game-winner, scoring in the 1-0 victory at Marquette. The freshman most recently scored in the win over Louisville, bringing her season total to three.
Last but not least, there’s Kaylie Ronan, who scored her first career goal in the win over Boston College on Sept. 26.
FLEXING THE OFFENSIVE MUSCLE
Notre Dame has scored 41 goals which rank 4th in the ACC and 20th in the nation. The 41 goals are already more than six of the past seven seasons.
Notre Dame’s scoring offense of 2.41 ranks 26th in the nation and 4th in the ACC. In addition, ND’s 112 total points rank 25th in the country.
— ND —