The Notre Dame women’s soccer team improved to 8-1-2 overall and 2-0-2 in ACC play on Saturday afternoon, defeating Syracuse by a 3-0 score on the road. The 17th-ranked Irish are now unbeaten in 10 consecutive matches dating back to their season opener on Aug. 15. Only No. 18 Cal has a longer active, undefeated streak among ACC teams than Notre Dame.
Notre Dame, which historically has dominated Syracuse on the women’s soccer pitch, completely owned Saturday’s match. The Irish attempted a season-high 38 shots, ringing four off the crossbar while limiting the Orange to just nine shot attempts. Freshman midfielder Grace Restovich offered up the first dangerous look less than two minutes in, pounding a left-footed strike that caught both goalkeeper Shea Vanderbosch’s hand and the crossbar. Four minutes later, junior midfielder Leah Klenke tagged another distant shot that sent Vanderbosch airborne for another spectacular save.
As the first half reached its midway point, Notre Dame remained within an eyelash of the opening goal. Freshman forward Annabelle Chukwu made a magnificent, stepover-filled run into the 18-yard box before hammering a shot that nailed the bar. Soon after, sophomore forward Charlie Codd took aim from distance and struck the top of the crossbar. Another rocket from sophomore midfielder Morgan Roy appeared that it would drop in below the bar until Vanderbosch reached high to deflect it away from goal.
Finally, in the 29th minute, Notre Dame’s relentless efforts paid off. Klenke carved into the left edge of the 6-yard area, sending a short cross back to the top of the 6. Freshman midfielder Lily Joseph, who had just substituted into the game moments earlier, positioned herself there and redirected the ball into the back of the net.
Only 91 more seconds passed before Joseph delivered again. The second scoring play began with another quality move from Klenke who picked out Restovich on a diagonal run near the left corner of the 6-yard box. With her back to goal, Restovich moved the ball back to Joseph, who paralleled the top of the 18-yard box from left to right. On one mighty swing of her right foot, Joseph sent a screaming drive beyond the reach of Vanderbosch and into the goal’s upper right corner for a marvelous finish. The freshman’s first career brace, which brought her up to five goals on the season, had Notre Dame in full control with a 2-0 lead just 30 minutes in.
Another prolific Irish freshman nearly made it 3-0 in the 33rd minute, but forward and leading scorer Izzy Engle rolled a sitter wide right from the top of the 6-yard box on senior forward and midfielder Ellie Ospeck’s setup. Notre Dame’s attack slowed down a bit from there, as freshman goalkeeper Sonoma Kasica made an excellent save on Gabby Wisbeck less than a minute before halftime.
Coming out of the break, Notre Dame returned to the hunt for goal number three and quickly found it. Codd smashed a left-footed shot from 20 yards out that met the underside of the bar and dove straight down. As the ball danced precariously on the goal line and toward the left post, Vanderbosch went into scramble mode but couldn’t beat freshman forward Ellie Hodsden, who tapped in the third Irish goal. Since returning from an injury on Sept. 8 against Marquette, Hodsden leads Notre Dame with four goals in five matches played.
With the Irish still looking for more, Chukwu rang the crossbar again in the 50th minute on the redirection of Vanderbosch’s save. Codd later intercepted a heavy Syracuse touch and shot from the same place as she did on Hosdsen’s goal, forcing a diving denial from Vanderbosch near the right post. Chukwu, who finished tied for a game-high with three shots on goal, barely missed wide with a header off of a 59th-minute free kick.
Notre Dame would apply several more chances down the stretch, finishing the second half with 22 shot attempts. As the final whistle sounded, the Irish had earned three points on the road with a three-goal performance. With two saves on the day, Kasica clinched her fourth clean sheet of the season, matching sophomore keeper Atlee Olofson.
Up next, the Irish will head to Louisville for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Oct. 12. That match precedes a crucial stretch during which the Irish will face No. 18 Cal, No. 9 Stanford and No. 2 Duke in three consecutive mid-October matchups.
