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Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Observer

Notre Dame travel to Louisville for final regular season match

The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team will travel to Louisville for its final regular season matchup. The Irish have an overall 7-8 record on the season with a 2-5 record in the ACC. They are currently ranked No. 18, and if all goes well, hope to maintain their position.

The Irish are coming off two major wins against Pittsburgh (19-7) and Marquette (19-10). As they go into the final game, they hope to bring their luck and momentum with them. The Irish have a tendency to win big, but can struggle to finish off a close bout that goes down to the last minute. These past two games proved that Notre Dame has the skill and endurance to continue scoring and giving their all for the entire 60 minutes.

Louisville has an overall 7-9 record with a 5-3 home mark. However, within the ACC, Louisville has only won one game, losing the other six. The Cardinals have similar big wins, such as a 18-9 win against Marquette and an 18-7 win against Central Michigan. They also have wins against teams that the Irish could not beat such as a 14-11 win against Virginia Tech and a 15-6 win against Vanderbilt. The Irish have not had a disappointing season though. They were able to clutch wins against Pittsburgh (19-7) and Virginia (12-10).

Irish junior attacker Madison Ahern runs onto the field before Notre Dame's 24-5 win over Central Michigan on Feb. 11.
Irish senior attacker Madison Ahern runs onto the field before Notre Dame’s 24-5 win over Central Michigan on Feb. 11, 2022.
Irish junior attacker Madison Ahern runs onto the field before Notre Dame's 24-5 win over Central Michigan on Feb. 11.


The home advantage for the Cardinals is a big one in this matchup as the Irish have only won one road game. However, the Irish are determined to win their final regular season game as they move into the postseason. Maintaining this winning streak could be the push the Irish need to go far in the ACC tournament.

However, if the Irish want to succeed, they must win draw controls. The Irish attack is stacked with players who can find the back of the net. However, the ball needs to be in possession to accomplish this. In the most recent game against Marquette, graduate student midfielder Diana Kelly claimed 9 out of the 20 draw controls won by the Irish. Currently, freshman midfielder Kelly Denes leads the team 68 draw controls. Diana Kelly is second on the Irish, winning 50 draw controls.

Junior attacker Madison Ahern leads the team with 49 goals on the season, good enough for a tie for No. 7 in the ACC for goals per game. But Ahern is not the only star on the offensive side of the field. Junior midfielder Kasey Choma, senior midfielder Madison Mote, graduate student attack Maddie Howe and junior attacker Jackie Wolak all are fierce competitors. Choma closely follows Ahern with 46 goals on the season. On the playmaking side, Wolak has the teams top assists at 20, and Howe closely follows with 19.

On the defensive end, junior midfielder Hannah Dorney leads the team in caused turnovers with 22, an average of 1.33 per game. The latter mark is the fifth best in the ACC. Graduate student goalie Bridget Deehan had a career high of 19 saves against No. 1 ranked UNC. In addition, Deehan ranks second in the ACC with 8.27 saves per game and third in save percentage (.441).

In their past 14 encounters, the Irish are 12-2 against Louisville, including notching two wins last season.

The Irish face off against the Cardinals in Louisville, Kentucky, on April 23 at 12 p.m. on Saturday. Live streaming will be available on the ACC Network.