The No. 9-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer is in an early-season groove. The 4-1 Irish, paced by a freshman class achieving ahead of schedule, are on a four-game win streak and have not conceded a goal since Aug. 15. Their streak’s length doubled over the weekend with shutout victories at Michigan and Butler.
Kasica collects first win as Irish handle business in Ann Arbor
Coming off the high of a 4-0 home win over top-15-ranked TCU last Sunday, Notre Dame hit the road and faced Michigan on Thursday. A year prior, the Wolverines had handed the Irish their only home loss of the entire season. This time around, Notre Dame had its way in a 2-0 victory on the road.
Freshman goalkeeper Sonoma Kasica, on the way to her first collegiate win and shutout, set the tone for the Irish. She made five saves, including a diving stop in the 35th minute, during a scoreless first half. Meanwhile, the Irish attempted seven shots but couldn’t put one on goal. Their fortunes, however, would change drastically after halftime.
Before that happened, Michigan nearly broke through less than 10 minutes into the second half. A blocked Wolverine shot in tight nearly bounced home off a Notre Dame defender, but the Irish cleared away from danger. Moments later, they created and cashed in on some danger of their own. A left-to-right cross from graduate midfielder Ellie Ospeck ramped up and landed at the top of the 18-yard box for Charlie Codd. There, the sophomore forward stepped into a left-footed strike, which rose inside the left post for the night’s opening goal.
Within six minutes of Codd’s first tally of the season, Notre Dame struck again. This time, in the 63rd minute, sophomore midfielder Morgan Roy sidestepped a Wolverine defender and opened up a service lane from the right side. Her cross bounced off the head of freshman forward Izzy Engle, settling for freshman midfielder Grace Restovich, who stood just 12 yards from goal. Sensing oncoming defenders, Restovich tried a half-volley with her left foot, sending the ball into the top left corner for her second goal of the campaign.
From there, the Irish sailed smoothly into the win column, picking up their first road win against a power-conference opponent this year.
Engle-Restovich duo shines again as Irish best Butler
While Notre Dame’s freshman class has exceeded expectations in totality, no two individuals have turned more heads than Engle and Restovich. The two have combined for 20 points in just five games. As a team, Notre Dame has 41 points this season.
On Sunday in Indianapolis, Engle and Restovich took responsibility for all three of Notre Dame’s points. In the 18th minute, Restovich made a left-angled run with the ball through the midfield. Ahead of her, Engle veered toward the right, forcing a switch from the Butler back line. That change freed Engle inside the 18, where her low shot brushed past the sliding Bulldog keeper. Engle now sits among the nation’s leaders with six goals and leads the Irish by a mile with 13 points.
Notre Dame kept the pressure on Butler for the rest of the evening, outshooting them by a 16-8 margin. Though they ultimately didn’t need one, the Irish nearly snatched a second goal when junior midfielder Laney Matriano stepped up for a 36th-minute penalty kick. Matriano had scored on a PK just a week ago, but this one fell victim to a correct goalkeeping guess by Anna Pierce.
Speaking of goalkeeping, Notre Dame sophomore Atlee Olofson held Butler at bay with two saves in each half. Her biggest stop came in the 60th minute, as the Bulldogs threatened her with a direct free kick on goal. When the match went final, Olofson had her third clean sheet in as many games started to open the season.
Beyond the work of their freshmen, another developing Irish storyline centers around the team’s performance with three key players away at the U20 World Cup. Notre Dame is a perfect 3-0 without freshman forward Annabelle Chukwu, junior midfielder Leah Klenke and sophomore defender Clare Logan. Even more impressively, the Irish have outscored their opponents 7-0 with the stellar trio out of the picture. The games will get tougher in late September, but Notre Dame certainly has done no wrong in the face of significant personnel changes.
For now, the Irish enter a homestand that has 2-0 written all over it. They will face mid-major program Northern Illinois at 7 p.m. on Thursday before hosting 1-4-1 Marquette on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. If all goes well, Notre Dame has strong odds to enter ACC play with a record of 6-1.
