During a beautiful week free of classes on campus, Notre Dame athletics pressed on with its late-fall and early-winter seasons. Outside of the football team, which blew past Georgia Tech at 31-13 and dismantled Navy at 51-14, here’s a look at how the Irish performed.
Cross Country
Two Saturdays ago, Notre Dame competed among a loaded field at the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals races. The fourth-ranked Irish women’s team claimed fifth place in the 6k behind top-15 finishes from senior Siona Chisholm and graduate student Emily Covert. The Notre Dame men took seventh as graduate student Carter Solomon placed 12th in the 8k.
With the regular season now over, the Irish will race at the ACC Championship in Cary, North Carolina, on the morning of Nov. 1.
Men’s and Women’s Golf
The Irish golf teams finished their fall slates in North Carolina last week, with the men’s squad competing at the Williams Cup from Oct. 20-22. As a team, Notre Dame tied with Louisville for sixth place by shooting 11 over par. Sophomore Jacob Modleski led the charge for the Irish with a three-round score of 214 (-2), good for ninth place individually.
Meanwhile, the women’s team tied for 13th at the Landfall Tradition, also held in Wilmington from Oct. 25-27. Notre Dame’s three-day score of 894 (+30) matched that of Illinois. Freshman Bridget Wilkie emerged as the top Irish scorer, tying for 13th place with an even-par total score of 216.
Hockey
The Irish played their second and third weekend series of the young season during fall break, splitting both with a Friday win and Saturday loss. Notre Dame opened with a 4-1 defeat of Alaska in the Oct. 18 home opener before taking a 1-0 loss to the Nanooks the next night. This past weekend, the Irish scored another 4-1 victory over Long Island on Friday and dropped a 5-2 result on Saturday.
Sophomore center Cole Knuble, who scored in both Friday night games, has continued his terrific start to the year. With a team-high 10 points, the former Philadelphia Flyers draft selection is already halfway to his freshman-year point total. Junior goaltender Owen Say also won both Friday decisions, improving to 3-0 with an outstanding save percentage of .969 to begin his Irish career.
Currently ranked 19th in the USCHO Poll, Notre Dame will enter Big Ten play against Wisconsin this weekend with a record of 4-2-0.
Men’s Soccer
Notre Dame took to the pitch three times, producing a record of 2-0-1. The Irish played to a 1-1 draw two Saturdays ago against Boston College, earning a share of the points on junior defender Mitch Ferguson’s first goal of the season. Three days later, the Irish played their home and non-conference finale against UIC, arriving at their first clean sheet of the season with a 5-0 victory. Graduate goalkeeper Colin Travasos achieved the shutout on two saves, while sophomore Wyatt Lewis and junior Sebastian Green each recorded a brace in the midfield.
Riding the hot hand of Travasos, Notre Dame found another shutout in a 2-0 win at Cal on Sunday. Travasos made three stops, while Notre Dame’s only two shots on target — which came from senior forward Matthew Roou and sophomore midfielder Nolan Spicer — both went in.
Now at 7-3-5 overall and positioned 10th in the ACC standings with a 3-2-2 overall record, the Irish will wrap up the regular season at Duke on Thursday.
Swimming and Diving
Notre Dame challenged three different ranked Big Ten opponents — No. 14 Michigan, No. 15 Wisconsin and No. 6 Indiana — and went 0-3 during the break. At last weekend’s tri-meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Irish fell 279-68 to the Wolverines and 223-118 to the Badgers. Freshmen Carli Cronk and Hollie Widdows swam well for Notre Dame, with Cronk winning the 400 IM in 4:15.53 and Widdows notching top-six finishes in the 100 free, 50 free and 100 fly.
Wednesday’s dual meet in Bloomington finished with a 167-134 Hoosier defeat of the Irish. Cronk stood out again, taking second in the 200 free for the second consecutive race. Another freshman, Emily Kitayama, also thrived with second-place finishes in the 200 IM and 200 breast. Sophomore Lainey Mullins also performed well with a season-best time of 2:02.09 in the 200 fly, good for third place. She also swam to second in the 500 free.
In November, the Irish will host Louisville at 6 p.m. on Nov. 8 before traveling to the Ohio State Fall Invite during the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Women’s Soccer
Playing a string of high-profile matches, Notre Dame went 1-1-1 with the regular season winding down. On the heels of a 5-2 thrashing of No. 25 Cal on Oct. 17, the Irish turned around and dominated No. 6 Stanford at home two Sundays ago. In the 3-0 victory, freshman forward Ellie Hodsden scored her fourth goal in two games to secure ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors, while junior defender Leah Klenke notched a penalty-kick goal and shared the ACC Defensive Player of the Week award.
On Thursday, the Irish traveled to No. 1 Duke and became the first team to hang multiple goals on the Blue Devils this season. The thrilling 3-3 draw saw freshman forward Izzy Engle tally a brace in less than two minutes’ time and Duke hang on to the tied score despite playing a woman down throughout the second half. This past Sunday, Notre Dame returned home and fell to No. 19 Virginia Tech by a 2-0 count.
At 10-2-4 overall and positioned sixth in the ACC standings, Notre Dame can clinch an ACC Tournament bid with a win against Pittsburgh in Thursday’s regular-season finale.
Volleyball
The Irish played four games during the past two weekends and could not find a win, falling below .500 at 9-10 overall. A week and a half ago, they took a pair of sweep losses to NC State and Wake Forest at home. Freshman outside hitter Morgan Gaerte’s continued emergence, amounting to 28 totals on the weekend, served as a bright spot.
This past weekend, Notre Dame faced a tough road trip to No. 12 SMU and No. 1 Pittsburgh. The Irish fell by 3-0 and 3-1 scores, respectively, showing signs of life by taking a set in the venue of the nation’s top-ranked team. Freshman middle blocker Anna Bjork enjoyed a big day at the net, recording eight blocks.
With a 2-8 record in ACC play, the Irish will look to snap a six-game skid with an away-home series against Louisville on Wednesday and Saturday.
