Playing against the country's top team, the No. 8 Irish played clutch defense and opportunistic offense on their way to taking down No. 1 North Carolina 1-0 in Chapel Hill on Sunday.
But Notre Dame also benefitted from a lucky break.
In the 52nd minute, North Carolina senior midfielder Crystal Dunn cut past two Irish defenders to the top of the 18-yard box and lofted a shot over the outstretched arms of Notre Dame freshman goaltender Kaela Little. The ball caught the underside of the crossbar and ricocheted downwards, landing about a foot inside the goal line. Little quickly recovered and caught the bounce, and the linesman gave no signal.
While replay showed that the ball clearly crossed the goal line, Irish coach Randy Waldrum said it was fortuitous break that teams need to win games from time to time.
"From where we were sitting, there was no way to tell whether the ball crossed the line," Waldrum said. "We might have caught a break on that one, and it's about time that we did. You need these things to win sometimes."
The win gives Notre Dame (6-1, 2-0 ACC) its second conference victory. Waldrum, however, said the win was important for reasons other than keeping the Irish atop the conference standings and near the top of the national rankings.
"As young as our team is, I'm really proud to see them get better. They've really made strides since the UCLA loss," Waldrum said. "The win is important for the standings and for the ACC, but I'm more proud of how our team played and competed."
The win came courtesy of the game's lone goal, scored by freshman midfielder Morgan Andrews, who headed in a cross by sophomore defender Brittany Von Reuden midway through the first half.
"We got down the flank and served it in, and it sort of came back out to Von Reuden, who put it back into the mix," Waldrum said. "Then it was really a world-class finish from Morgan, who really got
