No. 12 Notre Dame’s unbeaten start to the season came to a screeching halt Tuesday night, as the Irish (3-1-1) lost to No. 4 Indiana 2-1, after a questionable goal in overtime.
With patience and consistent pressure in the second half, Irish freshman forward Jack Lynn capitalized on a chance with about 20 minutes left in regulation for his first career goal. But Hoosier defender A.J. Palazzolo responded, tying the score eight minutes later. Coming down to overtime, Indiana’s Justin Rennicks scored roughly three minutes in to end the match, despite an offsides call being waved away.
During the scoreless first half, Indiana put Notre Dame on its defensive heels. Even though the Hoosiers had six corner kicks and the Irish had four, Indiana held a majority of the possession in the opponents’ half. The best shot the Irish had at a goal was senior defender Felicien Dumas heading a corner wide off of a delivery from junior midfielder Tommy McCabe.
Neither side had a shot on target within the first 45 minutes, which was marked by physical play. Irish sophomore midfielder Aiden McFadden and senior forward Ian Aschieris received yellow cards.
“Indiana did a good job putting balls behind and on our back four in the first half,” Irish head coach Chad Riley said. "It was hard to break out.”
Stepping back onto the turf after halftime, Notre Dame took over the ball and tested the Indiana defense. Dumas had a free kick on-frame to mark the first shot on goal for either side, but Hoosier freshman keeper Trey Muse punched the ball out of range.
Shortly after, in the 56th minute, Irish junior midfielder Jack Casey slipped a ball through to McFadden, who fired a shot into the keeper's arms. 10 minutes later, Aschieris unleashed a shot outside of the box, forcing Muse to make a diving save.
After building up offensive pressure up until 20 minutes left in the second half, Lynn cut in from the right side into the box and buried a shot far post to give the Notre Dame a 1-0 lead.
“[Lynn] started preseason really well,” Riley said. “He’s been battling and he just scores goals. He did a great job and he doesn’t care who he is playing against. Beating a guy in box and he had a great finish.”
But the Hoosiers responded, as an slip from the Irish gave midfielder Trevor Swartz a free cross, which found the head of Palazzolo and buried in the net to tie the score 1-1.
In the 92nd minute, Rennicks scored off a corner that bobbled off of Indiana defender Jordan Kleyn and Swartz. The lineman called the play offsides, but the referee waved off the call and Indiana walked away with a 2-1 victory.
“Losing games in overtime in kind of a questionable fashion is a tough pill to swallow, but I think we walk off that field with our heads high,” Riley said. “We performed well — cagey first half, lot of midfield battle, corners only threatening moments. But [we] came out tremendous in the second half and responded well. We were maybe unlucky not to get another one.”
