NOTRE DAME, Ind. — No. 20 and undefeated Notre Dame takes on fifth-ranked and 7-2 Virginia on Saturday, March 16th at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia. Opening draw is set for 12 p.m. ET, and the contest will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
NOTRE DAME at VIRGINIA
Date/Time: Saturday, March 16 – Noon ET
Location: Charlottesville, Va. — Klockner Stadium
Live Stream: ACC Network Extra
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDWomensLax
THE SERIES vs. VIRGINIA
- Saturday’s contest is the eighth all-time between the Irish and Cavaliers, with Notre Dame holding a 4-3 advantage in the series.
- The two sides last met in the ACC quarterfinals on April 26, 2018, when the Irish erased a five-goal halftime deficit to win 11-10.
- Savannah Buchanan scored three times for the Irish in that win, while Kathleen Roe caused a trio of turnovers.
DOMINANT START
- This is the first 7-0 start for Notre Dame since 2013. The Irish also started 7-0 or better in 2012, 2006 and 2004.
- The Irish have scored the first goal in each of their first seven contests and have only trailed for 3:14 out of the 420 minutes of play this season.
- The Irish have scored 131 goals and racked up 202 points in their first seven victories.
- Maddie Howe leads the Irish with 32 points (23G, 9A) while Samantha Lynch paces the team with 24 goals scored.
- Four players have 20+ points for the Irish so far this season, including Howe, Lynch, Jessi Masinko (13G, 15A) and Andie Aldave (17G, 10A).
- Notre Dame has caused 102 turnovers in seven games.
- Aldave leads the Irish with 60 draw controls this season and Savannah Buchanan ranks second on the team with 31.
NATIONAL LEADERS
- The hot start for the Irish sees them leading the country in a number of categories, including scoring offense (18.71), points per game (28.86), assists per game (10.14), draw control percentage (73.6%), scoring defense (5.14) and margin of victory (13.57).
- Goaltender Samantha Giacolone leads the nation with a goals-against average of 5.08 and tops the ACC with a save percentage of .540, which also ranks sixth in the NCAA.
- Andie Aldave ranks fourth in the nation and second in the ACC with an average of 8.57 draw controls per game.
OTHER TIDBITS
- Samantha Giacolone made seven stops at VCU to become the second goalkeeper in Irish history to reach the 500 career saves mark.
- Giacolone enters the contest ranked second in Irish history in saves (501), goals-against average (9.37), minutes played (3,568) and wins (40).
- Sophomore midfielder Andie Aldave (158) and junior midfielder Savannah Buchanan (143) enter the contest ranked fourth and sixth in program history in career draw controls.
- Aldave and junior midfielder Savannah Buchanan were both named to the initial watch list for the 2019 Tewaaraton Award, the foundation announced in New York on Thursday, February 28.
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