Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 16, 2024 49 BY TODD D. BURLAGE M aybe the best anecdote to illustrate the strong bond the Notre Dame women's soccer players share comes from Senior Night Oct. 31, when a large contingent of Irish freshmen made sure to provide seniors KJ Ronan and Sophia Fisher with a proper sendoff. Already busy balancing academics and athletics, the 13 Notre Dame rookies still found the time and the resources to decorate the locker room, organize mul- tiple surprises and make it a memorable night for their two senior teammates. In a college athletics landscape that often breeds a roster "generation gap" be- tween under and upperclassmen, the bond these Fighting Irish share tran- scends any difference in age or grade. "We all wanted to make them feel spe- cial on their special day," said freshman midfielder/forward Izzy Engle, quick to shower all of her elder teammates with praise and appreciation. "Seeing their smiles and seeing their faces light up, it was just as special for us freshmen as it was for them. All of the upperclassmen, there's not enough words to describe how good they have been to us." Irish head coach Nate Norman said in the preseason that with 12 players graduated and gone from last season, and with 13 incoming rookies, he wasn't exactly sure what to expect this season. That said, with a recruiting class that ranked among the top five nationally, preseason hopes remained high for this proud program. And these Irish fresh- men have delivered — big time. Notre Dame (11-3-4) is expected to earn a bid to the 64-team NCAA Cham- pionship and will enter postseason play with five freshmen scoring leaders. Through Notre Dame's 18 games, Engle led the Irish with 16 goals, which was tied for the ACC lead and tied for fourth nationally. Freshman midfielder Grace Restovich paced Notre Dame with 10 assists, which ranked third in the ACC and was tied for eighth in the country. In addition, freshman midfielder/forward Lily Joseph was second on the Irish with 17 points (6 goals, 5 assists), freshman forward Ellie Hodsden was second on the team with 8 goals, and freshman forward Annabelle Chukwu was tied for fifth on the team with 8 points (3 goals, 2 assists). When asked about the quick success these first-year players have enjoyed, Norman explained that they really had no choice. "We graduated so many players from the year before, we had open spots and we were able to kind of throw [the fresh- men] into the mix immediately," Nor- man said. "And just the fact that you get them immediate playing time — kind of allowing them to make some mistakes, but play through those mistakes, and learn and grow — then, they didn't have to play with any fear of being taken out." As usual, Norman said his staff looked to build team chemistry and culture in the preseason. And this summer, the plan worked perfectly. "All of us in the same dorm, staying together through the preseason, we were able to really get to know each other off the field," Engle said. "Obviously, when you develop those relationships … it makes a huge difference on the field." Norman said he is pleasantly surprised and thankful for the results and relation- ships his girls have built this season. "They've actually been a really easy team to manage in terms of their abil- ity to connect," he said. "Sometimes I think maybe it was just pure luck that their personalities, and as players, they so easily connected with each other." ✦ Irish Roundup CROSS COUNTRY The women captured their first league title, led by Siona Chisholm (sixth), and the men placed sixth at the ACC Championships Nov. 1 in Raleigh, N.C. WOMEN'S GOLF Tied for 13th with a 30-over-par 894 team score in the Landfall Tradition Oct. 25-27 in Wilmington, N.C. HOCKEY (5-3 OVERALL, 1-1 BIG TEN) Defeated Long Island 4-1 Oct. 25 but was unable to complete the two- game sweep, falling 5-2 Oct. 26 … Opened Big Ten play with a split against Wisconsin Nov. 1-2 in South Bend, winning 3-2 in overtime before falling 2-1 the next day. MEN'S SOCCER (7-5-5 OVERALL, 3-3-2 ACC) Closed out the regular season with a 2-0 victory at California Oct. 27 and a 4-0 loss at No. 5-ranked Duke Nov. 1 … Earned the No. 10 seed in the ACC Championship and traveled to Palo Alto, Calif., where it dropped a 3-2 heart- breaker to No. 7 seed Stanford in the first round Nov. 6. WOMEN'S SOCCER (11-3-4 OVERALL, 5-1-4 ACC) Lost its first ACC match of the season 2-0 to Virginia Tech Oct. 27 in South Bend, but rebounded to finish the regular season with a 3-2 home victory over Pitt Oct. 31 … Earned the No. 6 seed in the ACC Championship but suf- fered a 2-1 setback at No. 3 seed Florida State in a first-round matchup Nov. 3. WOMEN'S SWIMMING (1-3 OVERALL, 0-0 ACC) Suffered a 167-134 setback at Indiana Oct. 23. VOLLEYBALL (9-12 OVERALL, 2-10 ACC) Dropped a pair of matches on the road against ranked foes, falling 3-0 at No. 12 SMU Oct. 25 and 3-1 at No. 1 Pitt Oct. 27 … Was swept in a home- and-home with Louisville, losing 3-0 at Louisville Oct. 30 and 3-0 in South Bend Nov. 2. Youth Movement Lifting Irish Women's Soccer N O T R E D A M E S P O R T S Notre Dame's 13-member freshman class — which was ranked No. 4 nationally by Top Drawer Soccer — played a big role in the Irish posting an 11-3-4 record, including Grace Restovich (left) and Izzy Engle (right). The Irish will likely receive an NCAA Championship bid Nov. 11. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS