Results wise, Notre Dame men’s soccer has dealt with a tough start to their six-game homestand. The Irish opened it last Tuesday with a 1-1 draw against Duquesne in which they outshot the Dukes 21-3 and led until the 86th minute. On Saturday, the Irish fell 1-0 to Stanford, now the top-ranked team in the land, despite outshooting the shorthanded Cardinal 15-4.
Notre Dame could easily own a record of 3-1-1 or perhaps 4-0-1 four weeks into the season, but instead, it’s 1-1-3. The Irish have a chance to improve that mark this weekend against Chicago State (1-5-0).
Evaluating the Irish attack
The difficult schedule to start with has played a sizable role, but Notre Dame’s offense hasn’t quite broken out in 2024. For just the second time in the last two decades, the Irish have scored six goals or less in their five games of a season. All six goals have come off the foot of different players, indicating balance but no predominant scoring threat among the Irish ranks.
That scoring threat may just be on the verge of waking up, however. Senior forward Matthew Roou, an All-ACC First Team selection and scorer of 10 goals last year, has done everything but finish over the past two weeks. He scored on a penalty kick in the season opener against Akron but does not have a point since. Still, Roou has put at least one shot on goal in every match while combining to attempt 11 shots in the last two games. Knowing Roou’s ability to score in bunches, seeing the ball hit the back of the net might set off a breakout that lifts up Notre Dame’s offense.
Notre Dame could also have something developing with its freshmen in the midfield. Jacob Bartlett and Ian Shaul have earned increasing minutes with the season’s progression and are making their presence felt offensively. Bartlett, who scored the game-winning goal two weeks ago in the ACC opener at Louisville, has played the full 90 minutes in each of Notre Dame’s first two conference matches. Shaul, after not appearing in the season opener, has started each of the first two ACC games and has generated four shots in his last two contests overall.
In Notre Dame’s only previous meeting with Chicago State in September 2022, the Irish hung four goals on the Cougars. Any output level significantly below that mark this Friday would come as a surprise for a hungry Irish offense.
Chicago State’s college soccer journey
Chicago State is still very much getting off the ground in the NCAA Division I ranks. The school’s men’s soccer program opened D-I play in 2020 and has bounced around since then. In 2021, the Cougars participated in the Western Athletic Conference. A year later, they moved to the Mid-American Conference, which promptly disbanded its men’s soccer league after the 2022 season. Last year, the Cougars played in the Ohio Valley Conference and are now a full member of the Northeast Conference.
Two years ago, Norris Howze took over Chicago State’s program and has overseen respectable improvement thus far. In his first season, the Cougars went 1-13-3 before jumping to 5-10-4 and winning three conference games in 2023. Chicago State is off to a 1-5-0 start this season having defeated Detroit Mercy on the road back on Sept. 2.
Unsurprisingly, senior Danail Sergiev has led the Cougar offense, tallying three goals and one assist. The Hungarian-born forward now has 11 goals for his Chicago State career. Beyond him, only one additional Cougar, Hilary Odhiambo, has found the back of the net. Odhiambo, who scored twice last season, already has two goals this year. In goal, former junior college standout Lucas Fontana is in his second season as Chicago State’s primary keeper after pitching four clean sheets last year.
First touch for the Chicago State-Notre Dame match at Alumni Stadium is set for Friday at 7 p.m.
