Sports
Irish dominate Orange to record first ACC win of season
Observer Sports Staff | Monday, September 20, 2021
The Notre Dame women’s soccer team (7-1-1) shined on Saturday night in their ACC opener, beating the Syracuse Orange (4-3-1) by a demanding 4-0 score at Alumni Stadium.
The Irish dominated the game from start to finish and outshot the Orange 27-1 in the game. The Irish also did a great job of keeping possession throughout the game and putting pressure on the Orange in their defending (Irish attacking) third of the field.
The Irish drew first blood early in the one with graduate student midfielder Sammi Fisher scoring for the Irish in the seventh minute. Fisher was assisted on a cross by defender Katie Coyle, who sent the ball in near the penalty marker. Fisher scored off of a volley that went off the post and in. Fisher is the leading scorer for the Irish on the season.
The Irish would strike again in the 37th minute of the game to double their lead. This goal was created with junior defender Waniya Hudson sending a perfect ball into the box to junior forward Audrey Weiss. Weiss then headed the ball to junior forward Kiki Van Zanten who sent the ball past the keeper. That goal was good for Van Zanten’s second of the season. The Irish would take a 2-0 lead into halftime.
Katie Coyle added another goal for the Irish in the 60th minute to make the lead that much more comfortable for the Irish. Coyle’s goal came after winning a 50-50 ball against an Orange defender. She then sprinted past another defender and pushed it past Syracuse’s keeper to take a 3-0 lead.
The Irish would tack on another goal later in the game with freshman Sophia Fisher taking advantage of a failed Syracuse clearance. Fisher was on the edge of the box and struck the ball beautifully, sending the ball past a diving keeper.
The Irish will be in search of ACC win number two next Thursday with the team traveling down to South Beach to face off against Miami.
The Irish will face a gauntlet of an ACC schedule going forward with the conference having four teams currently ranked in the top 10. Those four are Florida State at No. 1, North Carolina at No. 2, Duke at No. 4 and Virginia at No. 7.
In their most immediate game, though, the Irish take on U Miami. The Canes take home-field advantage on Sept. 23 at 5 p.m.
