No. 2 McGlinn had one goal entering this season: return to Notre Dame Stadium and reclaim its interhall title. After months of long practices and hard-fought games, the Shamrocks are one step away from achieving that objective. An upstart No. 4 Walsh squad, however, stands in their way and looks to capture the crown itself when the two teams meet in Sunday's championship at Notre Dame Stadium.
McGlinn (7-1) understands the pressure that comes with a high seed and the title of defending champion, Shamrocks senior captain and quarterback Emily Golden said. She said she knows this year's squad is not the same as the one that won it all last season..
"There's definitely pressure as defending champs," Golden said. "That being said, we're definitely a new team with a lot of new faces on the team, and it's a completely different mentality than it was last year."
Golden and several other key players will make their Stadium debut for the Shamrocks on Sunday. McGlinn needs to count on strong performances from both these rookies and returning players in order to emerge with a victory, Golden said.
"We really need all of our players to have big games [to win]," Golden said. "Every single person contributes in their own way, and it's going to be huge for every person to come up big."
With a dynamic offense led by Golden and sophomore running back Emma Collis, the Shamrocks will look to put up many points Sunday. Despite McGlinn's offensive statistics, stopping the Shamrocks offense does not frighten Walsh (6-2), according to Wild Women senior captain and quarterback Kat Leach. Walsh's defense, anchored by senior co-captain and cornerback Lindy Navarre and a strong defensive line, will look to keep McGlinn off the scoreboard.
"We're going to come out and really control the game," Leach said. "We'll try to shut down their offense and come out with big points on our offense ... it's about finishing what we started."
Leach said she knew from the very beginning that this year's Walsh team was not the same squad that failed to reach the playoffs for the last two seasons. After a close 14-13 win against No.1Pasquerilla West in last week's semifinals, she said she knew the 2012 Wild Women were special.
"[That win] was a confirmation that we deserved to be in the stadium and that every single member of our team plays a huge part in our success," Leach said.
The quarterback believes her team's desire to win and resiliency has boosted them ahead of the competition thus far and will fuel them in their final game.
"I can tell you that no team wants it more than Walsh does," she said. "We've put in the time, we've worked our butts off and we really are just looking to prove it to everyone because we already know it ourselves."
On the McGlinn side, Golden spread a similar message.
"Just getting here was not enough," she said. "We want to take the victory."
The Shamrocks and Wild Women will face off in the championship game Sunday at 2 p.m. at Notre Dame Stadium.
