NOTRE DAME, Indiana — The University of Notre Dame women’s soccer team heads into the ACC regular season finale with postseason aspirations as they take on Wake Forest Thursday night at Alumni Stadium. Heading into the match, the Irish hold the eighth and final spot in the ACC Championship as the entire league plays Thursday night to decide the seeding for the Quarterfinals, which begins on Sunday. Thursday night also represents Senior Night for the Irish seniors, as they will honor Alexis Martel-Lamothe, Brooke Littman, Megan McLaughlin and graduate student Autumn Smithers prior to the game.
Know the Opponent: Wake Forest Demon Deacons
- The Irish will close the regular season out with the 10th meeting all-time against the Demon Deacons.
- Notre Dame holds a 7-1-1 advantage over Wake Forest and are 2-1-1 in games in South Bend.
- Last season when the two teams faced off in Winston Salem, Notre Dame came out on top, 1-0, to pick up their first ACC win of the season on Sept. 23.
- A defensive battle from the start, both teams were deadlocked at 0-0 until the Irish broke through in the 68th minute.
- Jen Westendorf made a run up the right side and send a cross towards the middle of the box. Brooke VanDyck came streaking in and volleyed the ball into the back of the net for the eventual game-winning goal.
- Wake Forest enters Thursday’s game with a 6-7-4 record on the year and are 1-5-3 in ACC play.
- Last week, the Demon Deacons defeated Pitt 3-2 in double overtime and dropped a tight contest, 2-1, to No. 5 Florida State.
Irish Facts and Figures
- Heading into the ACC regular season finale, the Irish currently sit tied for eighth in the conference at 11 points and hold the final spot in the ACC Tournament. Depending on results across the league, the Irish can rise as high as sixth for the tournament.
- Quarterfinals begin on Sunday at campus sites and if the Irish remain at eighth, they will travel to Chapel Hill to face the ACC Champion and third-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels.
- The Irish are seventh in the ACC in goals allowed per game (1.00) and are one of seven ACC teams that are averaging one goal or less allowed per game.
- Sammi Fisher leads the team with 15 points and is tied with Eva Hurm for the team lead in goals with five.
- Brooke Littman leads the squad with six shutouts in 11 games this season. She has allowed 11 goals in 1030:00 minutes of game time, good for a 0.96 goals against average.
- Littman currently ranks second in the ACC in shutouts (6) and eighth in the conference in goals against average (0.96).
- 10 different players have scored so far this season after only eight different players scored during the entire 2018 campaign.
- Sammi Fisher notched her first career hat trick in the 3-0 win over Miami. It was Notre Dame’s first hat trick since 2013 when Cari Roccaro scored three against No. 21 Maryland.
- Fisher tied a Notre Dame record for most goals in a half when she scored all three in the second half. Fisher’s goals all came in a span of 11:58 minutes of game time.
- The Irish have four players that have tallied a brace so far this season. Eva Hurm and Luisa Delgado scored twice against Northwestern and Autumn Smithers scored both goals against Western Michigan. Kiki Van Zanten was the latest Irish to tally a brace in the win over Pitt.
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