Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com APRIL 2018 57 ND SPORTS "Our goal is to continue to build on the growth our program has had over the course of the last seven years and take that next step one day at a time." Top Player: Junior goalie Samantha Giacolone is a captain for Notre Dame after starting all 19 games in 2017. She compiled 11 wins, 180 saves and a .475 save percentage. Athlete To Watch: "It's the entire freshman class," Halfpenny said. "Every single one of them has been a massive contributor. A couple of them are sidelined with injuries right now, but they were huge in the fall. "We're not seeing it on the stat sheet just yet, but they're clearly the No. 1 freshman class in the nation." Don't Miss: No. 17 Notre Dame will travel to No. 6 North Carolina March 31. SOFTBALL Record Through March 12: 13-8 overall, 1-1 ACC ACC Predicted Finish: Third NCAA Best Case Scenario: Super Regionals Coach's Expectations: "We're embarking on our ACC schedule right now," head coach Deanna Gumpf said. "Those first 21 games we tried to learn as much as possible every weekend and tried to become the best team we can. "We really feel collectively that we're prepared for conference play." Top Player: Junior Ali Wester led Notre Dame in several major categories as a sophomore en route to first-team All-ACC honors, including batting av- erage (.398), hits (74), on base percentage (.429) and runs scored (46). "She is a person who gets on base and gets people on," Gumpf said of Wester. "She's the rally center." Athlete To Watch: Sophomore outfielder Alexis Bazos only logged 17 at-bats in 2017, but was batting .378 with 10 runs scored and seven RBI through 21 games this season. "She's someone who didn't get a lot of time last year, but isn't letting me keep her out of the lineup," Gumpf said. "She's making things happen out there quickly." Don't Miss: Notre Dame will host No. 15 Florida State for a three-game series April 27-29. MEN'S TENNIS Record Through March 12: 10-6 overall, 2-0 ACC ACC Predicted Finish: Fifth NCAA Best-Case Scenario: Second round Coach's Expectations: " We've got some younger guys on our team that are going to play key roles for us. We're trying to set their mindset and achieve the right perspective in terms of how they're going to approach these next five months," head coach Ryan Sachire said. "There are going to be plenty of good days and positives, and we need to take as much confi- dence as we can from those situations. However, there are probably going to be some down times too, and we're going to learn from them and be better because of those experiences." Top Player: Junior co-captain Alex Lebedev had a strong fall, reaching the round of 16 at both the ITA All-American Championships and the ITA Na- tional Fall Championships. He entered the spring with an 8-4 record (including 3-2 against ranked opponents) and a No. 45 national ranking. "He worked really hard over the summer, and things really clicked for him," Sachire said. "It's a great testament to giving yourself as many op- portunities as you can, and if you keep working hard, great things can happen. "Since that stage, he really hasn't looked back. He had a great fall for us, and he just continues to climb." Athlete To Watch: Sachire said instead of sin- gling out one player, he would point to the youth of the roster as one entity. "They're going to be going through it for the first time, and there's going to be some appre- hension and some nerves, as anybody who is experiencing something for the first time is going through," the coach said. "But at the same time, I really trust in those kids as people, and as players they are really, really good. We're certainly going to have our fair share of high moments and great matches." Don't Miss: Notre Dame will host No. 8 North Carolina March 23. WOMEN'S TENNIS Record Through March 12: 7-3 overall, 1-1 ACC ACC Predicted Finish: 10th-12th NCAA Best-Case Scenario: First round Coach's Expectations: "We really have a great mix of youth and experience," head coach Jay Louderback said. "[Seniors] Brooke Broda and Allie Miller have been really stable for us and give us a lot of really good experience, and I think they've been energized by the freshmen. "I feel like they all just really enjoy playing, and through the long season I think that's something that's really going to help us." Top Player: Broda returns to Notre Dame in 2017 as a third-team All-ACC performer last season and a two-time member of the All-ACC Academic team. She finished last season with an overall record of 18-11 and was at one time ranked as the No. 92 singles player nationally. Athlete To Watch: Freshman Ally Bojczuk came into Notre Dame as the No. 1 player in the state of Tennessee and has already amassed a 7-1 record in her young Irish career. Don't Miss: Notre Dame will host No. 1 North Carolina April 6. ✦ Irish Roundup HOCKEY (24-9-2, 17-6-1 BIG TEN) The No. 5 Fighting Irish stumbled down the stretch, losing four of their final five regular-season contests with the lone exception being a 6-3 triumph over Michigan State Feb. 23. Nevertheless, Notre Dame finished first in their first season in the Big Ten and secured the top seed in the league tournament. The Irish advanced to the championship game thanks to a game- winning goal from junior forward Jack Jenkins with 31 seconds remaining in the semifinals against No. 4 seed Penn State March 10. Notre Dame was slated to host the title tilt against Ohio State March 17. The NCAA Tournament was set to begin with regional play March 23. TRACK AND FIELD Senior middle distance runner Jessica Harris finished eighth over- all in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships March 10 in College Station, Texas. With her finish, Harris earned All-America honors. On the men's side, Notre Dame took second in the men's distance medley relay. — David McKinney Sophomore goaltender Cale Morris made 43 saves to help top-seeded Notre Dame knock off No. 4-seeded Penn State 3-2 in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament March 10. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND