This past weekend, the Notre Dame Women's Ultimate A team, led by captains Kelsey Fink and Kristen Collins, traveled to the University of Michigan for their annual preseason indoor tournament. The tournament gives Midwest teams a chance to see the competition prior to late February, showing a brief glimpse of the season's possibilities.
Notre Dame A began by facing Michigan B, winning their first game and sending them into a bye. The bye would be followed by a loss to Eastern Michigan and wins over Ohio State and Michigan State. In the closing game against long-time rivals and National contenders Michigan A, both teams came out with fire. Even though Michigan scored the first point of the game, Notre Dame clenched the next four, and continued to stay ahead of Michigan throughout the rest of the half. Michigan A gave it all they had in the second half, but Notre Dame A did not back down and closed the game with a winning score of 10-8.
Along with giving the teams a look at the rest of the region, the Michigan Indoor tournament also allowed ND to bring new players to a high-intensity tournament. Freshman Courtney Shreve and sophomore Dina Vu both played great offense throughout the day, while freshman Sarah Lipscomb had some crucial defensive plays. Sophomore Marissa Ray showed great improvement as an A team handler. The aggression from rookies and sophomores and leadership from seniors and returning juniors gave Notre Dame the results they had hoped for going into the weekend.
Notre Dame A, with their performances at Missouri Loves Company in the fall and the Michigan Indoor, looks forward to a great season. While they know preseason results can change quickly, they plan to work harder than ever this season to come out on top.