Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ND Sports 26 of the team's 52 goals last year. Clark described Finley, a MAC Hermann Award finalist who had 21 goals as a senior, as a "solo scorer," a player who could create his own opportunities. He was a big reason why the Irish finished fourth nationally a year ago with an average of 2.36 goals per game. This year's team will have to work a little harder to generate its chances. Seniors Harrison Shipp and Alex Priede will lead more of a group effort on offense this season. "We've got an entirely different team," Priede said. "We're not trying to replace players. We're going to have different tactics and we're going to have to learn how to play with each other because it's a different group out there." That might mean grinding out a few more one-goal games than Notre Dame had to win a year ago, especially while playing in the more technically sound and talented ACC. According to the Bennett Rankings, a bigger-picture rating system for college soccer, five of the top six programs in the nation now play in Notre Dame's league. The other team, UCLA, plays the Irish in their season opener Aug. 30. Notre Dame is No. 6. Irish senior defender Grant Van De Casteele is looking forward to better weather during away games and better competition. He said he's optimistic the stiff competition will help the team prepare for a deeper push into the postseason this year. "It's slowly become a distant memory," Van De Casteele said about last year's loss to Indiana. "It's tough not to look back and think about what could have been. Hopefully we'll get over the hump this year. The only thing I've learned from the tournament is it's going to be a battle. It doesn't matter who you're playing or where you're playing." Women's Soccer If the first scrimmage of the year is any indication of things to come, the 10th-ranked Irish should have no problems scoring this season. Notre Dame fell behind visiting Xavier 1‑0 before reeling off five straight goals and controlling play for most of the game Aug. 14. The exhibition gave head coach Randy Waldrum a chance to test his team's depth this year while five of his top players remained on the sideline as spectators. Those five had returned to campus only a day earlier from the U.S. Under-20 national team training camp where they spent a good part of their summer. That list includes sophomore Cari Roccaro, Soccer America's National Freshman of the Year in 2012; sophomore Katie Naughton, an All-Big East mainstay in the middle of the Irish defense last year; and freshman Morgan Andrews, a twotime Gatorade National Player of the Year in high school. Waldrum's job in the coming weeks is to mesh those considerable résumés with his veteran leaders to create a starting lineup. "I think some coaches are a little bit more reluctant to play their young players," he said. "Young players make mistakes no matter how good