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Friday, March 29, 2024
The Observer

No. 3 Seminoles top No. 16 Irish

Notre Dame came down from its emotional high Sunday afternoon as No. 3 Florida State came into Alumni Stadium and beat the No. 16 Irish, 1-0.

Following an upset win over No. 1 Virginia on Thursday, Irish head coach Romagnolo said she was frustrated with her team’s mentality and effort Sunday.

“We need to be more professional in how we approach games,” Romagnolo said. “We can’t choose when we’re going to play hard. We have to play hard and have composure in every opportunity we have.”

The first half was a back-and-forth affair as both sides saw good scoring chances, but only the Seminoles (9-1-1, 2-0-1 ACC) managed to take advantage.



Irish senior defender Brittany Von Rueden looks to pass during a 1-0 loss against Florida State on Sunday at Alumni Stadium.  Von Rueden played all 90 minutes in Notre Dame’s loss, its second in ACC play.
Irish senior defender Brittany Von Rueden looks to pass during a 1-0 loss against Florida State on Sunday at Alumni Stadium. Von Rueden played all 90 minutes in Notre Dame’s loss, its second in ACC play.
Irish senior defender Brittany Von Rueden looks to pass during a 1-0 loss against Florida State on Sunday at Alumni Stadium. Von Rueden played all 90 minutes in Notre Dame’s loss, its second in ACC play.


Thirty-five minutes into the game, a trio of Florida State players broke away from the Irish defense to score an easy goal when redshirt junior forward Berglind Thorvaldsdottir fed freshman forward Elin Jensen to put the Seminoles ahead. Senior defender Katie Naughton said the goal was due to a defensive breakdown.

“I think they did a great job of finding the open player,” Naughton said. “It kind of sucked us out on the defense. They were able to find the open player and got a nice shot off. Little bit of a breakdown on our end. It’s going to happen every now and again.”

Though the Irish (8-2-1, 1-2-0) entered the second half trailing, they came out with momentum as freshman forward Natalie Jacobs created a scoring opportunity that was narrowly ruled offside.

Despite Notre Dame’s early pressure, however, the Seminoles nearly answered back after senior forward Cheyna Williams hit the post with a shot.

After Williams’ shot, the game opened up with Irish sophomore midfielder Taylor Klawunder putting a header on goal and junior goalkeeper Kaela Little making a save on Florida State freshman midfielder Kaycie Tillman.

Klawunder’s header proved to be the best chance the Irish got in the second half.

In the 73rd minute, senior forward Anna Maria Gilbertson left the game with an injury and Jacobs received a yellow card for an aggressive play challenging the Florida State goalkeeper.

Irish senior forward Brittany Von Rueden also earned a yellow card in the waning moments of the game for arguing with the referee as the Seminoles hung on for the victory.

Romagnolo said the team’s second half offensive performance was due to a lack of effort.

“I don’t think anything happened [offensively],” Romagnolo said. “There were very few good passes connected in the attacking half. I don’t think we found each other in good areas of the field, and I don’t think their runs were very good.”

With the loss to Florida State, Notre Dame completed the toughest part of its schedule on paper, and Naughton said the team will try to put the loss out of its mind moving forward.

“These games are done and over with,” Naughton said. “There’s really not much we can do about the result. So we’re not going to dwell on it. We’re going to focus on moving forward and getting prepared for the next game we have coming up.”

The Irish will play against Miami on Friday in Coral Gables, Florida.