Messier GREEN

Irish Host Vanderbilt in Midweek Contest

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — No. 12/8 and undefeated Notre Dame hosts Vanderbilt on Wednesday, March 20th inside Loftus Sports Center. Opening draw is set for 5 p.m. ET, and the contest will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra. 

NOTRE DAME vs. VANDRBILT
Date/Time: Wednesday, March 20 – 5 p.m. ET
Location: Notre Dame, Ind. — Loftus Sports Center
Tickets: FREE admission
Live Stream: ACC Network Extra
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDWomensLax

THE SERIES vs. VANDERBILT

  • Wednesday’s contest is the 19th all-time between the Irish and Commodores.
  • Vanderbilt holds an 11-7 advantage in the series, but the Irish are 5-4 vs. the Commodores at home.
  • The two sides last met on March 13, 2013, when the Irish earned a 12-11 victory at Vanderbilt.

DOMINANT START

  • This is the first 8-0 start for Notre Dame since 2013. The Irish also started 8-0 or better in 2012 and 2004.
  • The Irish have scored the first goal in each of their first eight contests.
  • The Irish have scored 141 goals and racked up 219 points in their first eight victories.
  • Maddie Howe leads the Irish with 36 points (26G, 10A) with Andie Aldave right behind her with 32 points (20G, 12A).
  • Five players have 20+ points for the Irish so far this season, including Howe, Aldave, Samantha Lynch (25G, 4A), Jessi Masinko (13G, 15A) and Nikki Ortega (11G, 9A).
  • Aldave leads the Irish with 64 draw controls this season and Savannah Buchanan ranks second on the team with 31.
  • Five players have caused 10+ turnovers for the Irish defense, including Makenna Pearsall (16), Hannah Proctor (13), Kathleen Roe (12), Andie Aldave (11) and Maddie Howe (10). As a team, the Irish have caused 110 turnovers in eight games.

NATIONAL LEADERS

  • The hot start for the Irish sees them leading the country in a number of categories entering play this week, including assists per game (9.75), draw control percentage (69.7%) and margin of victory (12).
  • The Irish also rank second in the nation in points per game (27.38) and scoring defense (5.63).
  • Goaltender Samantha Giacolone leads the nation with a goals-against average of 5.67 and tops the ACC with a save percentage of .537, which also ranks fifth in the NCAA.
  • Andie Aldave ranks fifth in the nation and second in the ACC with an average of 8.00 draw controls per game.
  • Maddie Howe ranks fifth in the nation and tops the ACC with a shooting percentage of .650.

OTHER TIDBITS

  • Sophomore midfielder Andie Aldave and senior goaltender Samantha Giacolone earned ACC Offensive & Defensive Player of the Week honors on Tuesday, March 19th for their performances over Spring Break at VCU and Virginia.
  • Senior goalkeeper Samantha Giacolone enters the contest ranked second in Irish history in saves (511), goals-against average (9.36), minutes played (3,629) and wins (41).
  • Sophomore midfielder Andie Aldave (162) and junior midfielder Savannah Buchanan (143) enter the contest ranked fourth and sixth in program history in career draw controls.

–ND–