Fall break isn’t restful for everyone, as the No. 13 Irish will face three ACC opponents over the next week — Syracuse on Saturday, No. 21 Clemson on Oct. 23 and Louisville on Oct. 26.
Notre Dame (9-4-1, 4-2-0 ACC) is coming off a dominant 5-0 win against Miami last Sunday. Irish coach Theresa Romagnolo said she is hopeful the offensive progress would continue.
“We were starting to do some really great things up front [against Miami],” Romagnolo said. “We did it against Pitt [in a 2-0 Oct. 9 win] too, but we hadn’t been able to finish as much. We put things together against Miami, and we had a lot of success up front. We’re just continuing to work on speed of play, movement up the field and playing well on the front line.”
“I think we can’t overlook anybody in this league — they’re all good teams,” Romagnolo said. “So I’m going to say Syracuse right now [is the biggest challenge] because they’re our next opponent, and we have to focus on what’s first.”
That game brought the total number of Irish players who have scored at least one goal this season to 10. Romagnolo said the team’s depth on attack will be crucial to getting wins this week and beyond.
“I think it’s huge [to have so many players contributing],” Romagnolo said. “Anytime you want to have a good season or a good postseason, you’re going to need a lot of depth and players off the bench that can come in and have an impact right away. I think we definitely have that this season.”
Romagnolo said all the opponents in the upcoming week deserve attention and concentration.
Though Notre Dame has enjoyed success in recent weeks, Romagnolo emphasized that the team has to take the season one game at a time and not lose the tough mentality they aim for.
“It’s important for us to remember that we need to show up every day,” Romagnolo said. “We have pretty high confidence right now, but getting wins is about continuing to bring that edge when we step on the field and asserting our will on our opponent.”
The Irish will travel to Syracuse to take on the Orange (5-7-3, 2-4-0 ACC) on Saturday at 5 p.m., then will return home to Alumni Stadium to face Clemson (10-2-2, 3-2-1 ACC) on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. and Louisville (5-6-2, 2-2-2 ACC) on Oct. 26 at 1 p.m.
