On Thursday night, the Notre Dame men’s soccer team renewed its in-state rivalry with Indiana at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana. And for the third consecutive matchup, the Irish and Hoosiers finished in a draw. The 2-2 contest, in which Indiana outshot Notre Dame by an 18-6 margin, moved the Irish to 0-0-2 on the young season. They previously wrapped up their home opener against Akron in a 1-1 deadlock on Aug. 22.
After dueling in the Elite Eight nine months ago, the Irish and Hoosiers felt each other out before opening up their attacks 15 minutes in. To start, Indiana dealt freshman goalkeeper Blake Kelly with his first true challenge of the night. A perfect cross from Samuel Sarver found the head of Tommy Mihalic eight yards off the back post, where Kelly lunged to his right for an acrobatic first save. Moments later, Notre Dame pushed back with a dangerous opportunity. Running onto a slick feed up the middle, senior forward Matthew Roou sent a lasering shot from the corner of the 18-yard box toward the right post, forcing a diving denial from returning Indiana keeper JT Harms.
Once the first half’s midway point passed, the Hoosiers turned the heat up and seized the run of the play. Indiana delivered a flurry of four shots in 10 minutes, but none found the back of the net. One from Notre Dame, however, did. In the 43rd minute, a long ball forward sent sophomore forward Jack Flanagan into a 1-on-1 matchup against Jansen Miller on the back line. Flanagan crept up to the right corner of the 18, squared up with his right foot and rifled a bending shot toward the left post. It cleared the reach of Harms, crashing into the goal’s side netting for a steal of an Irish goal. The tally marked Flanagan’s first in the collegiate ranks and put Notre Dame in position to lead 1-0 at halftime.
Indiana, having hit the post late in the first half, upped its pressure to start the final 45 minutes. The Hoosiers sent three shots on goal by the 55th minute before Justin Weiss tested Kelly with back-to-back 66th-minute shots in tight. Two minutes later, Indiana finally broke the door down. Jansen Miller threaded a pass from the back line through the midfield, finding the feet of Michael Nesci, whose low, 20-yard strike beat Kelly inside the left post. Merely 37 seconds later, the Hoosiers swooped into the lead. An Indiana goal kick befuddled the Notre Dame back line, leaving Tommy Mihalic with a shooting angle similar to Nesci’s. Mihalic also went low and left, capitalizing for a 2-1 Hoosier lead.
Despite the sudden change, Notre Dame remained unshaken. Less than two minutes after falling behind, the Irish found an equalizer off a set piece – a free kick from junior midfielder KK Baffour. His outswinging ball from the right side landed for a header goal from senior defender Kyle Genenbacher, his first of the year.
With the match still squared up at 2-2, Kelly made his eighth and final save of the night on a rising Sarver shot in the 84th minute. Notre Dame head coach Chad Riley described the performance of his true freshman goalkeeper as veteran-like. Kelly’s effort looms especially large given he did not make a save in the season opener against Akron.
Up next, one of the mere three teams that defeated the Irish in 2023 awaits Notre Dame. Louisville will host the Irish on Friday at 7 p.m. in both sides’ first Atlantic Coast Conference match of the 2024 season.
