This past weekend I had the privilege of attending the Notre Dame Women's Soccer Team's inaugural ACC conference matches on their swing through North Carolina's Research Triangle. A similar privilege is available to each of you no fewer than six more times in 2013 when the team competes at Alumni Stadium.
We, The Notre Dame Family, are blessed in many ways. In the time since I first arrived on campus I've come to recognize the women's soccer program as one of these blessings. Through the years the program continues to cycle through young women that work hard to compete at the highest level while consistently representing the University with class.
Last Sunday the team staged a wildly entertaining battle with defending National Champion and No. 1 ranked North Carolina (UNC). With an all-time record of 750-50-29 and 21 National Championships, the Tar Heels are the standard against which all other women's soccer programs are measured. Few other collegiate teams - in any sport - rival the consistent success UNC achieves on the soccer field.
On Sunday our Fighting Irish registered a 1-0 victory, their sixth win over the Tar Heels in program history while moving to 5-2 all-time at Fetzer Field. Those six wins are two more than any other program has over UNC and the 5-2 record at Fetzer field is almost unimaginable given UNC has lost only 16 home matches in its history.
More than 3,000 fans showed up in Chapel Hill Sunday to watch the match. As the holder of a graduate degree from UNC, I can confirm this level of support is typical. In 2011, Notre Dame averaged around 1,500 fans per home match. We can be better.
I encourage all of you to take advantage of the remaining home matches. If your studies are an obstacle, know that one of your 2014 valedictorian candidates has not missed a match in her four years. She attends as a player. Please attend as fans and honor the effort these young women put in to represent us all so well. Go Irish.
