SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No 1 seed Notre Dame (15-2-3) battled both Omaha (7-8-6) and snow flurries in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, and kicked off the Big Dance with a big 5-0 victory. The win is Notre Dame’s 15th on the year, which marks the most in a season for Doug & Lisa Jones Family head coach Nate Norman.
Olivia Wingate led the line for the Irish, recording a brace to pace the Irish attack. Korbin Albert, Maddie Mercado and Paige Peltier each added a goal in the dominant 5-0 win.
The Irish defense was rarely troubled on the afternoon, holding Omaha to just three shots en route to its 12th clean sheet of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish were on the front foot from the opening whistle, living in the final third. Albert continued her incredible form in front of goal, creating space just outside the box before tucking a sublime left-footed strike inside the left post to put Notre Dame on top 1-0 in the sixth minute.
Less than two minutes later the Irish doubled their lead, as Brianna Martinez whipped in a cross from the right wing, which was turned in at the far post by Wingate to make it a 2-0 contest.
Wingate struck again just minutes later, burying a shot from inside the six, one-timing a right-footed effort into the back of the net for her second of the day. The goal gave the Irish three goals within the opening 10 minutes of play.
The Omaha defense then managed to settle into the match, preventing another Notre Dame goal, despite the constant pressure from the Irish.
After the opening 45 minutes of play, the Irish took a 3-0 lead into the halftime break. Notre Dame outshot the Mavericks 16-1 in the first half.
The Irish attack kept coming in waves in the second half and all the chances paid off in the 81st minute, as Maddie Mercado unleashed a left-footed rocket into the top right corner from just outside the area to push the lead to 4-0.
Notre Dame put an exclamation mark on the performance in the 85th minute, as Paige Peltier rose highest and nodded in a corner from Ashley Zugay to score the first goal of her career and give the Irish the 5-0 victory.
ND NOTES
- The Irish are now 71-23-4 in NCAA Tournament history
- Notre Dame pushes its unbeaten streak to 10 matches, outscoring the opposition 27-6 over the stretch
- Irish improve to 48-3-1 at home in the NCAA Tournament and are now 20-2-1 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament
- Notre Dame posted its 12th clean sheet of the season, the most since recording 15 in 2016
- The clean sheet gives the Irish 47 in NCAA Tournament history
- Albert now has a team-high 14 goals on the season and 26 in her career
- Wingate recorded her fourth multi-goal performance of the season and now has 13 goals on the season and 25 in her career
- Wingate surpassed the 30-point mark for the first time in her career, as she now has 31 points off a career-high 13 goals and five assists
- Mercado scored her ninth goal of the season, giving her 16 for her career
- Mackenzie Wood recorded her 10th clean sheet of the season, tying her for 11th in the country at the DI level
UP NEXT
Notre Dame will host a four-team regional for the Round of 32 and Sweet 16 next weekend. For Friday’s round, the Irish will host the winner of Santa Clara/California. The second game will feature No. 4 Michigan State vs No. 5 TCU. The two winners from Friday will meet Sunday at Alumni for a chance to get to the Elite Eight.