Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PRESEASON 2021 61 ND SPORTS NCAA Best-Case Scenario: Qualify for the NCAA Championships. Coach's Expectations: Entering her 16th season as Irish head coach, Susan Holt believes this is the deepest team she has ever fielded. Graduated and gone is veteran standout and team captain Abby Heck, but the rest of the roster returns, along with a group of solid newcomers. "It's exciting — the lineup is wide open. The spots are there to be earned," Holt said. "If you play well, you'll travel. I think internally we are go- ing to have some really good healthy competition." Top Player: Junior Lauren Beaudreau turned in a record-setting 1-under-par 206 at the 2020 West- brook Spring Invitational as a true freshman, mark- ing the best 54-hole score in Irish program history. Athlete To Watch: Incoming freshman Montgom- ery Ferreira, younger sister of former Irish golfer Jordan Ferreira, comes to Notre Dame after shoot- ing a 62 in one round of her final AJGA junior golf event, tying the all-time lowest single-round score on the 40-year-old circuit. Don't Miss: Setting the season tone with a quick start will be critical for the youthful Irish, making the Wolverine Invitational Sept. 13-14 in Ann Ar- bor, Mich., an important event. MEN'S SOCCER Season Opener: Indiana Aug. 27 at South Bend. ACC Predicted Finish: Between third and sixth. NCAA Best-Case Scenario: Return to and ad- vance in the NCAA Championships. Coach's Expectations: Irish head coach Chad Riley was able to take some positives away from a disappointing and disjointed 8-9 season in 2020- 21. While many soccer programs played only half of last season, Notre Dame had nine matches last fall, took a "break" between mid-November 2020 after the ACC Championship until late February 2021, and then played eight more matches in the spring. Notre Dame reached the semifinals of the ACC Championship before losing 3-1 to Pittsburgh. Riley expects those lessons — and hopefully a return to some normalcy in 2021 — to help his group this season in a loaded ACC that features four schools in the preseason top seven. "This is a team that can compete with anyone," Riley said. "And if we stay healthy, we're a team that I think can beat anybody. If this team finds the consistency and stays healthy, we are in a very good position to be a very strong NCAA team this year." Top Player: Senior forward Jack Lynn earned first-team All-ACC honors last season after leading the Irish, ranking fifth in the ACC and finishing 14th nationally with eight goals. Athlete To Watch: Expect a breakout year from senior midfielder Ben Giacobello, who enjoyed a career night against Louisville early last season, tallying four points with one goal and two assists. Don't Miss: With many to choose from, the season-opening rivalry match at home against preseason No. 2 Indiana Aug. 27 is a must-see. WOMEN'S SOCCER Season Opener: Bowling Green Aug. 19 at South Bend. ACC Predicted Finish: Sixth. NCAA Best-Case Scenario: NCAA Tournament qualifier. Coach's Expectations: Fourth-year Irish head coach Nate Norman took some lumps during a rhythm-less 6-7 season last year that began in the fall, shut down for four months and finished in the spring. If there is any positive to take away from a sub-.500 season, Norman said it was that his team was in nearly every game and outplayed its oppo- nents in several of the losses. Norman said his Irish need to improve their re- cord against teams in the middle of the ACC pack, and he believes this 2021 group is equipped to do it. "Historically, we've been able to take care of the bottom-half teams," he said, "but I think we can be much more successful against the middle-tier group." Top Player: Graduate student, two-time team captain and gifted midfielder Sammy Fisher re- turns after finishing second on the Irish last season with three goals and seven points to earn second- team All-ACC honors. Athlete To Watch: A third-team All-ACC selection last season, junior forward Kiki Van Zanten led the Irish with seven goals and 14 points in just 443 minutes played. Don't Miss: A good measuring-stick game, Notre Dame plays at No. 4 North Carolina Oct. 24. VOLLEYBALL Season Opener: Western Kentucky (first game of the Golden Dome Invitational) Aug. 27 in South Bend. ACC Predicted Finish: Top three. NCAA Best-Case Scenario: Qualify for the NCAA Tournament and advance to at least the Sweet 16. Coach's Expectations: Returning nearly his entire roster off a 15-4 team last season that finished runner-up in the highly competitive ACC, head coach Mike Johnson was excited to get his team back on campus and return to work. He became even more excited when almost all of his 16 women returned to campus in better shape than when they left for home in late spring. But even with a best-ever ACC finish and a run to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, Johnson said nobody in his program was satisfied and everyone expects more this fall. "This is a team that is skilled in every facet of the game. I don't see one glaring weakness," he said. "I can see us winning matches in a lot of different ways on different nights." Top Player: Already a two-time All-ACC selec- tion, senior outside hitter Charley Niego returns after leading the Irish with 244 kills and was third with 179 digs. Athlete To Watch: A multiple-time team captain and also a two-time first-team All-ACC selection, senior setter Zoe Nunez led the Irish and finished second in the ACC last season with 753 assists. Don't Miss: A home match Oct. 22 with Pitts- burgh — a Final Eight team from last season and ranked No. 5 this preseason — could be for the ACC regular-season title. ✦ Senior forward Jack Lynn earned first-team All- ACC honors after ranking fifth in the league and 14th nationally with eight goals in 2020. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Senior outside hitter Charley Niego, a two-time All-ACC selection, led the Irish with 244 kills and was third with 179 digs last year. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS