The 2023 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's soccer team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. It was the 36th season of the university fielding a program. The Fighting Irish were led by sixth year head coach, Nate Norman, and played their games at Alumni Stadium.
The Fighting Irish started off the season as the 3rd ranked team in the United Soccer Coaches Poll but drew their opening match of the year 2–2 with . This dropped them to number 12 in the rankings. They won their next two games, but then lost to number 10 . They lost at home to as well and ended their non-conference schedule 4–1–2 and ranked at number 13. They started the ACC season well with two wins, including one at number 16 Duke. They followed that with a draw away to Pittsburgh. They won their next three games before losing to number 1 Florida State. This was followed with a draw to number 3 North Carolina. They finished the season with two wins, including a season finale victory against number 8 Clemson.
The Fighting Irish finished 12–4–4 overall and 7–1–2 in ACC play to finish in second place. As the second seed in the ACC Tournament, they lost to Clemson, who avenged their final regular season game defeat. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they were the third-seed in the Florida State Bracket. They defeated in the First Round, before falling to in the Second Round. Memphis was the sixth seed in the bracket, but was ranked number 8 at the time and Notre Dame was ranked number 9. Their ACC Tournament appearance extended their streak of qualification to five straight years, and this was the third straight NCAA Tournament for the Fighting Irish.
Previous season
The Fighting Irish finished 17–3–3 overall and 7–2–1 in ACC play to finish in third place. As the third seed in the ACC Tournament, they tied with Pittsburgh in the First around and advanced via penalty shoot-out 5–4. In the Semifinal, Notre Dame played Florida State to a draw, but lost the penalty shoot-out to the eventual champions. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they were the first-seed in the Notre Dame Bracket. They defeated in the First Round, eight-seed in the Second Round, and five-seed in the Round of 16. However, they fell 2–0 to ACC foe North Carolina in the Quarterfinals to end their season. Their Quarterfinal performance was their best finish since 2010, when they won the NCAA title.
Offseason
Departures
Departures Mackenzie Wood 1 GK 5'9" Graduate Student Granger, Indiana Graduated Korbin Albert 2 MF 5'7" Sophomore Grayslake, Illinois Signed Professional contractwith Paris Saint-Germain Anna Rico 6 FW 5'5" Graduate Student Bainbridge, Ohio Graduated Olivia Wingate 9 FW 5'7" Graduate Student Wilmington, Massachusetts Graduated; drafted 6th overall in 2023 NWSL Draft Aba Dunbar 14 DF 5'8" Sophomore Coronado, California Transferred to San Diego Kati Druzina 15 FW 5'6" Senior Kirtland, Ohio Graduated Brianna Martinez 16 MF 5'6" Graduate Student Albuquerque, New Mexico Graduated; drafted 17th overall in 2023 NWSL Draft Maddie Mooney 20 DF 5'8" Sophomore Seattle, Washington Transferred to TCU Ashley Zugay 21 DF 5'7" Graduate Student Ann Arbor, Michigan Graduated Katie Coyle 22 MF 5'7" Sophomore Middletown, New Jersey Transferred to Maryland Aly Akers 23 MF 5'8" Sophomore Bellevue, Washington Transferred to Georgia Julia Ware 26 DF 5'8" Graduate Student Frisco, Texas Graduated Sophia Prudholme 29 MF 5'6" Sophomore Malibu, California Transferred to Pepperdine
Recruiting class
Source:
Name Nationality Hometown Club TDS Rating Santee, California San Diego Surf Waco, Texas Solar Soccer Club Seattle, Washington OL Reign Academy Phoenix, Arizona Utah Royals FC (AZ) Vancouver, Canada Vancouver Whitecaps Arlington Heights, Illinois Eclipse Select (IL) Austin, Texas Austin Sting Commerce, Michigan Nationals (GA) Markham, Canada Women's EXCEL Program N/A Los Angeles, California Tudela FC
Squad
Roster
Team management Head coach Nate Norman Assistant Coach Dawn Siergiej Assistant Coach Martin Rennie Operations Specialist Emily Voltz
Source:
Schedule Source
!colspan=6 style=""| Exhibition
!colspan=6 style=""| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=6 style=""| ACC regular season
!colspan=6 style=""| ACC tournament
!colspan=6 style=""| NCAA tournament
Awards and honors Eva Gaetino Pre-season All-ACC Team August 11 Hermann Trophy Preseason Watchlist August 17 Kiki Van Zanten ACC Offensive Player of the Week October 3 Ellie Ospeck October 10 Eva Gaetino ACC Defensive Player of the Year November 1 Kiki Van Zanten All-ACC First Team Eva Gaetino Leah Klenke All-ACC Second Team Maddie Mercado Charlie Codd All-ACC Freshman Team Morgan Roy Maddie Mercado All-ACC Tournament Team November 5 Eva Gaetino United Soccer Coaches All-America First Team December 1
Rankings
2024 NWSL Draft
Kiki Van Zanten Houston Dash 2 21 FW Maddie Mercado Seattle Reign FC 2 27 FW
Source:
References