DALLAS (SMU) – The SMU women's soccer program heads to South Bend, Indiana on Sunday to take on unbeaten No.2 Notre Dame.

The match will kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT and will be aired on ACCNX. Fans can also follow along via live stats found here.

The Mustangs will look to bounce back after dropping their last match, a 3-2 back-and-forth game against Clemson. Both Kelly Gordon and Sammy Nieves scored in the match.
SMU is 6-2-1 at home this season and is outscoring its opponents 15-6 in Washburne.

SMU has recorded 209 shots and scored 24 goals this season, which ranks seventh and 10th in the ACC, respectively.  

The Mustangs rank 15th in the nation in corner kicks per game at 6.79 and have totaled 95, the second most in the ACC this season. The 95 corners are the most in a single season since 2019 (111).  
Nyah Rose leads SMU in goals scored with four after recording a brace against Pitt. Rose has now scored 20 goals in her career.
 
Thirteen different Mustangs have scored a goal this season, while Rose, Eddy and Nicole Stryker each have a brace this season.  

Sammy Nieves leads the team with five assists and is currently tied for 41st in the NCAA and 10th in the ACC in total assists. She has recorded two multi-assist games and is one of four players to record a multi-assist game.

Liz Eddy leads SMU in total shots with 39, eighth in the ACC, and in shots per game at 3.00, 10th in the ACC.  Nyah Rose has taken 29 shots with a team high of 15 on goal.
 
The Mustangs ended the non-conference portion of their schedule with a record of 6-2-0 and four shutout victories.

The Mustangs added nine newcomers to their 2025 roster, five freshmen and four transfers. Head coach Nicole Nelson also brought in two new assistant coaches, Daniel O'Hare and Callie McKinney.

A nation-best seven ACC teams are ranked in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll, including the top three spots: Virginia (No. 1), Notre Dame (No. 2), Stanford (No. 3), Florida State (No. 5), Wake Forest (No. 13), Duke (No. 14), North Carolina (No. 19). Louisville is currently receiving votes.

In the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll, the Mustangs were picked to finish 12th overall. The top-10 teams in the poll were all ranked or received votes in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll.
This season will mark the 40th year of women's soccer on the Hilltop and the fourth under head coach Nicole Nelson. The Mustangs are 10-11-5 on the road under Nelson.  

// THE MATCH UP

• Sunday's sixth meeting between SMU and Notre Dame. It will be the first time since 2008 that the two teams have played each other. Notre Dame has won the last two matchups.
• Last time the Mustangs went on the road, the team shut out Pitt 4-0. SMU has already surpassed last season's win total with eight this year and will look to reach double-digit wins for the third time in the last four seasons.
• SMU is 2-2-2 in ACC play this season and is currently 10th in the conference with eight points.
• Sunday's match will mark the fifth time in program history the team will face the No. 2 overall-ranked team. The Mustangs drew Florida State 1-1 and fell to Wake Forest 2-1 at when both held the No.2 overall ranking last season. SMU 0-3-1 against No.2 teams.
• A win over Notre Dame would be the highest-ranked win in program history. SMU's last top-five-ranked win occurred during the 1997 season as the team defeated No. 4 Texas A&M, 1-0, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. 
• The last time SMU defeated a team ranked inside the top 10 was in 2012 when the team defeated No. 8 UCF 2-1 on the road. A win over Stanford would mark the first victory over a top 10 team at home since 1999 when SMU beat No. 6 Notre Dame 1-0.

// SCOUTING THE OPPONENT

• Notre Dame is led by head coach Nate Norman, who is in his eighth season at the helm of the Irish and boasts a record of 93-42-16. Norman holds a career record of 151-77-30 in 13 seasons of coaching.
• Notre Dame enters the match ranked No.2 in the nation and remains unbeaten this season, 11-0-2 while holding a perfect 6-0-0 record in conference play.
• The Irish are coming off a 4-2 comeback win over No.5 Florida State last time out. Izzy Engle leads Notre Dame in goals scored with 13.

// BEARS DOWN

• Behind Liz Eddy's brace, the SMU women's soccer program ended (RV) California's nine-game unbeaten streak by defeating the Golden Bears 2-1 on Sunday.
• Liz Eddy recorded her second career brace, scoring both goals in the second half. The McKinney, Texas native has now scored three goals this season.
• Lindsay Nicholson earned her first career multi-assist game, finding Eddy on both goals.
• Sammy Nieves also recorded her team-high sixth assist of the season on Eddy's first goal.

// LOCK DOWN DEFENSE

• The Mustangs have allowed one or fewer goals in 48 of 67 games played under Head Coach Nicole Nelson. SMU achieved the feat in 10 of its 14 games this season.
• SMU has recorded six shutouts this season, the most since 2023. SMU has shut out 23 opponents under Nelson.
• SMU has turned defense into offense, outshooting teams 209 to 143 and outscoring them 24-14

// WINNING AT WASHBURNE

• SMU holds an impressive 30-11-5 record at home since the 2021 season and is 22-10-4 under Nelson.
• SMU is 6-2-1 at home this year and is outscoring opponents 15-6 inside Washburne. Four of the team's home victories have been shutouts.  SMU started the season 5-0-0 at home, the first time since 2018 that the team achieved the feat.
• Seventeen of SMU's home wins in that stretch have been shutouts.
• In the team's first three home games, SMU rattled off 27 shots in each.
• SMU is outshooting opponents 164-66 in nine home games this season.  

// RECORD BOOK ROSE

• Nyah Rose has been SMU's top goal scorer over the last couple of seasons and was ranked 48^th in TopDrawerSoccer's top-100 players list at the start of the season.
• This season, she leads the team in goals scored with four. She ranks 21st in the nation and second in the ACC in game-winning goals with three.
• Rose recorded her first brace of the season against Pitt, leading the team to a 4-0 victory. She has now recorded four multi-goal games and has totaled 20 goals in her SMU career.
• Rose scored her first goal of the season and the game-winning goal against UNT.
• Rose found the back of the net once again in the team's 3-0 victory over HCU.
• Rose is coming off another standout season for the Mustangs. Rose was a 2024 Hermann Trophy Watch List honoree and was named Third Team All-ACC for her play last season.
• Rose was second on the team with five goals in only 11 games played last season. Rose scored the team's only goal in a 1-1 draw versus the 2024 ACC tournament champions, Florida State.  Three of her five goals occurred during ACC play.
• As a freshman, she was named First-Team All-South Region, All-AAC First Team, Co-Rookie of the Year and was named to the AAC All-Rookie Team and AAC Championship All-Tournament Team. She led AAC in goals scored with 11. 

// A PREMIERE PLAYMAKER

• Sammy Nieves has been SMU's player maker this season, leading the team with six assists. She currently ranks 39th in the NCAA in total assists. Nieves also leads the team in 12 points after scoring her second goal of the season against Clemson.
• Nieves had three assists against North Texas and is the first Mustang to record three assists in a game since Hannah Fleet had three against Abilene Christian on Sept. 11, 2016.
• She recorded her second multi-assist game of the season with two against HCU.
• The senior has recorded 16 assists in her career.  

// LEADING BY EXAMPLE

• Captain Lydia Ungashick has been leading by example all season long, as she is second on the team in goals scored with three. She also has one assist and is fourth on the team in total points (7)
• She scored SMU's first ACC goal of the year against Syracuse.

// FRESHMAN STANDOUT

• Freshman Lindsay Nicholson is fourth on the team in goals scored with two and third in total shots with 21.
• Against Cal, she recorded her first two assists of her career, her first multi-assist game, and followed that performance up with another assist against Clemson
• She scored in back-to-back games against NSU and UNT, becoming the first freshman to achieve this feat since Nyah Rose did so multiple times in 2023. 

//HORSEPOWER

• Sydney Japic, Claire Jones, Hali Hartman and Maura Yumul have started in all 13 matches this season, while nine total Mustangs have appeared in every game.
• Hartman and Japic lead SMU in minutes played, with over 1,200 apiece.
• Hartman, who led SMU in minutes last season with 1,438, played the full 90 in 26 of the last 27 games dating back to last season and leads the team with 1,258 minutes played.
• Japic, who transferred to SMU this season, is second on the team in minutes played with 1236, and has played the full 90 in all but two games.
• Twenty-four different Mustangs have made an appearance in the game this season.