Notre Dame women’s soccer recorded their biggest win of the season Thursday as they pounded the Detroit Mercy Titans 8-0 under the lights at Alumni Stadium.
The goal fest started early in front of the home crowd of 250, as senior midfielder and South Bend native Brooke VanDyck fired the Irish in front after just two minutes of play. Graduate student midfielder Sammi Fisher would then made the scoreline 3-0 with a quickfire brace before junior midfielder Maddie Mercado and junior forward Kiki Van Zaten each added a goal of their own (each’s first on the season) to give Notre Dame a comfortable 5-0 lead heading into halftime.
Things didn’t improve for Detroit Mercy after the break. It took just five minutes for freshman Korbin Albert to add her name to the scorers column, and just a minute and twenty six seconds later she doubled up to make it 7-0. Maddie Mercado would then grab a brace of her own to cap off a high flying night for the Irish offense. A last second buzzer-beater attempt on net nearly made it nine goals for the home side, but the referees ruled that the shot crossed the line just after the final whistle.
Ashley Naylor, who made her first ever start for the blue and gold in net on the night, didn’t have much action to handle in a game where the Irish defense kept Detroit comfortably at arms length, but the sophomore goalie did chip in a couple solid saves to ensure the clean sheet was maintained.
The win comes as a key momentum boost for Notre Dame, who saw their unbeaten start to the season snapped on the road Sunday against Missouri, in a shock 3-2 upset that saw the Irish concede more than a single goal for the first time all season. Coach Nate Norman didn’t hesitate to make changes after an uncharacteristically rough match in Columbia, bringing in VanDyck and goalkeeper Ashley Naylor to rejuvenate his starting eleven for the Detroit match.
Norman will hope the overflow of goals will get his side in hot form for their final out of conference test, a visit from Brown to Alumni Stadium on Sunday. After Brown, the Irish will kick off a difficult ACC schedule that will see them face off against some of the nations top teams, like North Carolina, Duke, and Virginia.
The Irish will look to keep the momentum going this Sunday in a 1pm contest against the Brown Bears at Alumni Stadium. The game can also be found on the ACC Network.
