# 2023 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's soccer team

The 2023 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's soccer team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. It was the 36th season of the university fielding a program. The Fighting Irish were led by sixth year head coach Nate Norman and played their games at Alumni Stadium.
The Fighting Irish started off the season as the 3rd ranked team in the United Soccer Coaches Poll but drew their opening match of the year 2–2 with Milwaukee. This dropped them to number 12 in the rankings. They won their next two games, but then lost to number 10 Arkansas. They lost at home to Michigan as well and ended their non-conference schedule 4–1–2 and ranked at number 13. They started the ACC season well with two wins, including one at number 16 Duke. They followed that with a draw away to Pittsburgh. They won their next three games before losing to number 1 Florida State. This was followed with a draw to number 3 North Carolina. They finished the season with two wins, including a season finale victory against number 8 Clemson.
The Fighting Irish finished 12–4–4 overall and 7–1–2 in ACC play to finish in second place. As the second seed in the ACC Tournament, they lost to Clemson, who avenged their final regular season game defeat. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they were the third-seed in the Florida State Bracket. They defeated Valparaiso in the First Round, before falling to Memphis in the Second Round. Memphis was the sixth seed in the bracket, but was ranked number 8 at the time and Notre Dame was ranked number 9. Their ACC Tournament appearance extended their streak of qualification to five straight years, and this was the third straight NCAA Tournament for the Fighting Irish.

## Previous season

The Fighting Irish finished 17–3–3 overall and 7–2–1 in ACC play to finish in third place. As the third seed in the ACC Tournament, they tied Pittsburgh in the First around and advanced via penalty shoot-out 5–4. In the Semifinal, Notre Dame played Florida State to a draw, but lost the penalty shoot-out to the eventual champions. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they were the first-seed in the Notre Dame Bracket. They defeated Omaha in the First Round, eight-seed Santa Clara in the Second Round, and five-seed TCU in the Round of 16. However, they fell 2–0 to ACC foe North Carolina in the Quarterfinals to end their season. Their Quarterfinal performance was their best finish since 2010, when they won the NCAA title.

## Offseason
### Departures

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Mackenzie Wood | 1 | GK | 5'9" | Graduate Student | Granger, Indiana | Graduated |
| Korbin Albert | 2 | MF | 5'7" | Sophomore | Grayslake, Illinois | Signed Professional contract with Paris Saint-Germain |
| Anna Rico | 6 | FW | 5'5" | Graduate Student | Bainbridge, Ohio | Graduated |
| Olivia Wingate | 9 | FW | 5'7" | Graduate Student | Wilmington, Massachusetts | Graduated; drafted 6th overall in 2023 NWSL Draft |
| Aba Dunbar | 14 | DF | 5'8" | Sophomore | Coronado, California | Transferred to San Diego |
| Kati Druzina | 15 | FW | 5'6" | Senior | Kirtland, Ohio | Graduated |
| Brianna Martinez | 16 | MF | 5'6" | Graduate Student | Albuquerque, New Mexico | Graduated; drafted 17th overall in 2023 NWSL Draft |
| Maddie Mooney | 20 | DF | 5'8" | Sophomore | Seattle, Washington | Transferred to TCU |
| Ashley Zugay | 21 | DF | 5'7" | Graduate Student | Ann Arbor, Michigan | Graduated |
| Katie Coyle | 22 | MF | 5'7" | Sophomore | Middletown, New Jersey | Transferred to Maryland |
| Aly Akers | 23 | MF | 5'8" | Sophomore | Bellevue, Washington | Transferred to Georgia |
| Julia Ware | 26 | DF | 5'8" | Graduate Student | Frisco, Texas | Graduated |
| Sophia Prudholme | 29 | MF | 5'6" | Sophomore | Malibu, California | Transferred to Pepperdine |

### Recruiting Class

Source:
| Name | Hometown | Club | TDS Rating |
| Paige Buchner FW | Santee, California | San Diego Surf | |
| Charlie Codd FW | Waco, Texas | Solar Soccer Club | |
| Jackie Hollomon GK | Seattle, Washington | OL Reign Academy | |
| Isabella Leonard MF | Phoenix, Arizona | Utah Royals FC (AZ) | |
| Clare Logan DF | Vancouver, Canada | Vancouver Whitecaps | |
| Meghan Mrowicki FW | Arlington Heights, Illinois | Eclipse Select (IL) | |
| Atlee Olofson GK | Austin, Texas | Austin Sting | |
| Morgan Roy MF | Commerce, Michigan | Nationals (GA) | |
| Tatiana Tagne DF | Markham, Canada | Women's EXCEL Program | N/A |
| Chayse Ying MF | Los Angeles, California | Tudela FC | |

## Squad
### Roster

    As of November 29, 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 0 | GK | USA | Jackie Hollomon |
| 1 | GK | USA | Atlee Olofson |
| 2 | DF | CAN | Clare Logan |
| 3 | MF | USA | Maddie Mercado |
| 4 | DF | USA | Leah Klenke |
| 5 | FW | USA | Ellie Ospeck |
| 6 | FW | USA | Paige Buchner |
| 7 | FW | JAM | Kiki Van Zanten |
| 8 | DF | USA | KJ Ronan |
| 9 | FW | USA | Charlie Codd |
| 10 | MF | USA | Erin Hohnstein |
| 11 | MF | USA | Sophia Fisher |
| 12 | MF | USA | Kiki Turner |
| 13 | MF | USA | Laney Matriano |
| 15 | MF | USA | Morgan Ray |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | FW | USA | Meg Mrowicki |
| 17 | FW | USA | Audrey Weiss |
| 18 | MF | USA | Berkley Mensik |
| 19 | MF | USA | Eva Gaetino |
| 21 | MF | USA | Chayse Ying |
| 22 | DF | CAN | Tatiana Tagne |
| 23 | MF | USA | Bella Leonard |
| 24 | FW | USA | Paige Peltier |
| 25 | DF | USA | Waniya Hudson |
| 27 | DF | USA | Caroline Gray |
| 28 | DF | USA | Eva Wirtz |
| 31 | GK | USA | Ashley Naylor |
| 33 | GK | USA | Kaylin Slattery |
| 34 | FW | USA | Kristina Lynch |

## Team management

| Position | Staff |
| Head Coach | Nate Norman |
| Assistant Coach | Dawn Siergiej |
| Assistant Coach | Martin Rennie |
| Operations Specialist | Emily Voltz |
Source:

## Schedule

Source
| Date Time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site City, State |
| Exhibition ||||||
| August 8* 12:00 p.m. | No. 3 | vs. No. 5 Virginia | W 3–1 | – | Grand Traverse Bay YMCA Traverse City, MI |
| August 12* | No. 3 | Valparaiso | W 5–0 | – | Alumni Stadium Notre Dame, IN |
| Non-Conference Regular Season ||||||
| August 17* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 3 | Milwaukee | T 2–2 | 0–0–1 | Alumni Stadium (543) Notre Dame, IN |
| August 20* 12:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 3 | Ball State | W 3–0 | 1–0–1 | Alumni Stadium (858) Notre Dame, IN |
| August 24* 5:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 12 | Butler | W 4–1 | 2–0–1 | Alumni Stadium (221) Notre Dame, IN |
| August 27* 2:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 12 | No. 10 Arkansas | T 2–2 | 2–0–2 | Alumni Stadium (650) Notre Dame, IN |
| September 3* 1:00 p.m., BTN+ | No. 15 | at Michigan State | W 2–1 | 3–0–2 | DeMartin Soccer Complex (2,084) East Lansing, MI |
| September 7* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 11 | Michigan | L 0–1 | 3–1–2 | Alumni Stadium (744) Notre Dame, IN |
| September 10* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 11 | at Bowling Green | W 3–0 | 4–1–2 | Mickey Cochrane Stadium (1,516) Bowling Green, OH |
| ACC Regular Season ||||||
| September 15 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 13 | Wake Forest | W 3–1 | 5–1–2 (1–0–0) | Alumni Stadium (1,372) Notre Dame, IN |
| September 21 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 10 | at No. 16 Duke | W 2–1 | 6–1–2 (2–0–0) | Koskinen Stadium (803) Durham, NC |
| September 24 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 10 | at Pittsburgh | T 1–1 | 6–1–3 (2–0–1) | Ambrose Urbanic Field (973) Pittsburgh, PA |
| September 30 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 10 | Louisville | W 3–0 | 7–1–3 (3–0–1) | Alumni Stadium (450) Notre Dame, IN |
| October 5 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 11 | Boston College | W 3–1 | 8–1–3 (4–0–1) | Alumni Stadium (307) Notre Dame, IN |
| October 8 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 11 | Miami (FL) | W 7–2 | 9–1–3 (5–0–1) | Alumni Stadium (407) Notre Dame, IN |
| October 12 7:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 11 | at No. 1 Florida State | L 1–4 | 9–2–3 (5–1–1) | Seminole Soccer Complex (1,693) Tallahassee, FL |
| October 19 8:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 12 | at No. 3 North Carolina | T 1–1 | 9–2–4 (5–1–2) | Dorrance Field (2,378) Chapel Hill, NC |
| October 22 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 12 | at NC State | W 1–0 | 10–2–4 (6–1–2) | Dail Soccer Field (464) Raleigh, NC |
| October 26 8:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 11 | No. 8 Clemson | W 2–0 | 11–2–4 (7–1–2) | Alumni Stadium (496) Notre Dame, IN |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| November 2 5:30 p.m., ACCN | (2) No. 9 | (3) No. 7 Clemson Semifinals | L 2–3 | 11–3–4 | WakeMed Soccer Park (678) Cary, North Carolina |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| November 11 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (3) No. 9 | Valparaiso First Round | W 2–0 | 12–3–4 | Alumni Stadium (840) Notre Dame, IN |
| November 17 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (3) No. 9 | (6) No. 8 Memphis Second Round | L 2–3 | 12–4–4 | Razorback Field (2,215) Fayetteville, AR |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date |
| Eva Gaetino | Pre-season All-ACC Team | August 11 |
| Eva Gaetino | Hermann Trophy Preseason Watchlist | August 17 |
| Kiki Van Zanten | ACC Offensive Player of the Week | October 3 |
| Ellie Ospeck | ACC Offensive Player of the Week | October 10 |
| Eva Gaetino | ACC Defensive Player of the Year | November 1 |
| Kiki Van Zanten | All-ACC First Team | November 1 |
| Eva Gaetino | All-ACC First Team | November 1 |
| Leah Klenke | All-ACC Second Team | November 1 |
| Maddie Mercado | All-ACC Second Team | November 1 |
| Charlie Codd | All-ACC Freshman Team | November 1 |
| Morgan Roy | All-ACC Freshman Team | November 1 |
| Maddie Mercado | All-ACC Tournament Team | November 5 |
| Eva Gaetino | United Soccer Coaches All-America First Team | December 1 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| United Soccer | 3 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 9 | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 16 |
| TopDrawer Soccer | 7 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 16 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 17 | 17 |

## 2024 NWSL Draft

| Player | Team | Round | Pick # | Position |
| Kiki Van Zanten | Houston Dash | 2 | 21 | FW |
| Maddie Mercado | Seattle Reign FC | 2 | 27 | FW |
Source: