Notre Dame and head coach Lauren Diaz are seeing a changing of the guard on the pitch this fall.
From first-year starters to new leadership at the helm, the Irish are still a force in the Colonial Valley Conference following the departures of Reagan O’Mara, Riley Cunningham and Isabella Lynch.
That was displayed on Thursday at Coach Mike Perone Field in Lawrenceville, where the Irish soared to a 2-0 victory over Lawrence.
Senior Avery Whittle was the leading force behind Notre Dame’s second win of the season.
The senior midfielder wreaked havoc from all areas of the field, while providing the offensive jolts needed for the Irish to break up a scoreless tie at the half with a goal and an assist.
“She is always running 18-to-18, but she also reads the game so well,” Diaz said of Whittle. “It allows her to know when is the right time to distribute the ball or one-on-one to the net.”
Whittle distributed a perfect corner kick into the box to help Notre Dame score the first goal of the contest in the 44th minute.
Junior Elizabeth O’Mara read Whittle’s corner kick to the box perfectly, flying through traffic to get her right foot on the ball and tap into the net to score her second goal of the season.
The goal was eerily similar to O’Mara’s first goal of the season against Colts Neck on Sept. 5, where she headed in a goal off corner kick to the box by Whittle.
“Me and (Avery Whittle) connect really well on the field,” O’Mara said. “We always know where each other are and try to get each other the ball.”
Whittle iced the game for the Irish with 3:01 to play.
Following a Lawrence corner kick, Whittle was able to possess the ball off a clearance by senior Cameron Haggerty.
She looked up and saw there was nothing but green in front of her and took off.
Outpacing the Lawrence defense to the net, Whittle slammed a line-drive shot that went under the arms of Lawrence goalkeeper Vlada Kachurak and into the back left-corner of the net for her first goal of the season.
“The energy from scoring that goal felt so good,” Whittle said.
It’s, in a way, a season of redemption for Whittle, who dealt with mono last season and missed time for the Irish.
The UMBC commit says she’s not letting her senior season go to waste in her efforts to keep the Irish as a top contender in the CVC.
“At the beginning of the season, we set our intentions and goals for the season, and I feel that they’re already coming through,” Whittle said. “I think we’re going to have a good season.”
Junior goalkeeper Kate Moog was strong in net throughout the course of the game in her start in net for the Irish, finishing with nine saves.
Notre Dame’s new-look defensive unit of senior Isabella Daley, sophomore Josephine Guido and juniors Amina Mitchell and Chayse Frymire have helped Notre Dame record back-to-back shutouts.
The early-season success by her team’s new faces and leaders has Diaz excited about what the Irish can accomplish in 2025.
“All the players really feed off each other and it just raises their level of play,” Diaz said. “They saw results from all their hard work today [against Lawrence].”
Kachurak had eight saves in net for Lawrence.
An NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 3 finalist last season, Lawrence hopes to regain the form of play they had to make it to the sectional final to get past its early-season struggles on the pitch here in 2025.
“The girls know from making it to a sectional final that it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” Lawrence head coach Emily Palombo said. “We just need to learn from the mistakes we’ve made and continue to push forward.”
Next Up: Notre Dame (2-1) hosts Conwell-Egan Catholic in an out-of-state contest this Saturday. Lawrence (1-2) will look to rebound on Sept. 16 in a road game against Steinert.
Steven Bassin can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @SBassin_Sports
Follow us on social: Facebook |Instagram | X (formerly Twitter)
The N.J. High School Sports newsletter is now appearing in mailboxes 5 days a week. Sign up now!
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
