The No. 9 Notre Dame women’s soccer team continued its impressive shutout streak this week, collecting wins over Northern Illinois on Thursday and Marquette on Sunday.
Sunday’s 5-0 win over the Golden Eagles wrapped up the seven-game non-conference slate for the Irish, who will head into ACC play at 6-1. The lone defeat came on opening night at the hands of Michigan State, who ranked fifth in the Sept. 1 edition of the United Soccer Coaches national poll.
Freshmen shine in rout of NIU
Notre Dame began the week by welcoming Northern Illinois to Alumni Stadium on Thursday evening for the first meeting all-time between the two programs. Despite being picked to finish seventh in the Mid-American Conference, the Huskies entered this tilt unbeaten.
It didn’t take long for the Irish to open the scoring, however, as sophomore forward Paige Buchner was taken down inside the box in the 10th minute, leading to freshman midfielder Grace Restovich calmly converting a penalty to give Notre Dame an early 1-0 edge.
Fellow freshman phenom Izzy Engle doubled the advantage just two minutes later, as her pressure caused a turnover in the NIU backline, allowing her to beat Husky keeper Ary Purifoy for her seventh goal of the season.
Engle, the forward and Edina, Minnesota native, continued her furious start to the campaign by collecting a brace on the other side of halftime. A counterattack ignited by freshman goalkeeper Sonoma Kasica positioned Engle with an easy tap-in to hand the Irish the three-goal advantage in the 65th minute.
Midfielder Lily Joseph, yet another of the highly touted freshmen, put the finishing touches on Thursday’s blowout as she connected on junior midfielder Berkley Mensik’s cross for the fourth and final goal of the evening.
Despite the 4-0 scoreline, NIU tested the Irish backline, but the aforementioned Kasica saved all seven shots she faced, preserving the shutout streak in her third career start.
Irish defense stymies Marquette in shutout
A quick turnaround had Notre Dame hosting 1-4-1 Marquette for the final non-conference affair of 2024. After an even start to Sunday’s match against the Golden Eagles, the Irish struck first in the 17th minute when Engle netted her ninth goal of the season, beating Marquette keeper Chloe Olson with a right-footed shot from the edge of the 18-yard-box. The goal was the work of three freshmen, as Joseph controlled a Marquette goal kick down to Restovich in the attacking third, who played Engle into a 1-on-1 opportunity, which she slotted into the bottom left corner to open the scoring.
Joseph then doubled the lead eight minutes later with a well-paced shot from the same area as Engle’s opener. Joseph’s third career goal was assisted again by Restovich, who will enter ACC play with six assists to her tally.
After numerous Irish chances were turned away by Olson, the Irish found a third goal in the waning minutes of the first half, as freshman forward Ellie Hodsden notched the first of her career off a nice feed from Mensik. Hodsden was mobbed by her teammates as the teams headed to the dressing rooms for halftime, just before Notre Dame athletics honored the 20th anniversary of the 2004 National Champion women’s soccer team.
The high-powered Irish offense scored yet another right out of the intermission, as Restovich once again found Engle, who scored her second of the match from eight yards out.
Mensik then provided a feel-good moment for the Irish faithful to conclude the match, as she scored her first career goal in the 88th minute. Following a double-knee surgery which caused her to medically redshirt all of 2023, Mensik has recovered strongly to record four points in her five appearances thus far. After a corner kick in which Marquette placed all 10 outfield players in the Notre Dame box, Mensik received a through ball from Buchner to ignite the counterattack, and all that was left to do was beat the keeper, which she did with a cross-body shot into the side netting.
The Irish dominated the match from start to finish, and the shutout streak was never truly in jeopardy. The Golden Eagles’ only real threat was when a 61st-minute corner kick found the head of Ella McAleenan before ricocheting off the crossbar. The Golden Eagles managed only eight shots, just four of which required a save by sophomore netminder Atlee Olofson. The victory marked Olofson’s fourth shutout in as many appearances.
All totaled throughout the non-conference slate, Notre Dame outscored its opponents 23-2. The Irish backline, led by the goalkeeping pairing of Kasica and Olofson, has not conceded in over 584 minutes of game action. Engle’s 10 goals are tied for the national lead, while Restovich leads the club with six assists. Notre Dame’s success has also come mostly without preseason all-ACC selection Leah Klenke, as the junior midfielder from Houston has been away from the team since August 19, as she represents the United States along with two Irish teammates at the U20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia.
What’s next
Notre Dame will now travel to Chestnut Hill on Thursday to battle Boston College to open the 2024 ACC campaign. Led by first-year head coach Chris Watkins, the Eagles went 7-1 in the non-conference, already doubling their win total from a year ago, when they also failed to record a conference win. The match will be nationally televised on ACC Network starting at 7 p.m.
