After playing to an oddball of a 1-1 draw against NC State two weeks ago at home, Notre Dame women’s soccer returned to form Saturday at Syracuse. The Irish put 38 shots on the Orange, improving to 8-2-1 overall and 2-0-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play with their 3-0 victory. As a result, Notre Dame slid back up from No. 17 to No. 13 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll and carries a ranking of 21st in the RPI.
This week, the Irish will go on the road to face another fledgling squad in Louisville. The Cardinals are 6-5-2 overall but possess a 1-4 record in conference play and have struggled mightily against teams above .500, leaving Notre Dame a prime chance to take three points at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium.
Freshman forward and midfielder Lily Joseph played a key role in Notre Dame’s resurgence at Syracuse, tallying her first career brace. Prior to Saturday’s match, she had gone without a point in her first three ACC contests after opening the year with nine points in six games. Joseph deposited her two goals and fired off six shots in a season-low 38 minutes of play off the bench, a good sign for Notre Dame that she generated so much in so little time.
The Irish hope that fellow freshman forward Izzy Engle is the next in line for a return to previous form. Engle began the season scoring at a ridiculous pace, tallying 10 goals in a six-match span to close out non-conference play. However, although she still leads the Irish and ranks second in the ACC for goals scored, Engle has gone without a single point through four games of conference play. At one point in the first half at Syracuse, Engle faced an open net for perhaps her easiest goal of the season but rolled her 6-yard shot wide right. She hasn’t been short on opportunities, but you get the sense that she just needs to see the ball hit the back of the net to get back to her offensive ways.
Engle and her Irish teammates should have plenty of room to play quality soccer against a Louisville program that hasn’t scored on Notre Dame in six years. Yes, the Irish have gone five consecutive matches without permitting the Cardinals a goal.
For a Louisville squad projected to finish 13th out of 17 teams in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll, the season has gone a bit better than expected. The Cardinals got off to a respectable non-conference start, going 5-1-2 to follow up a 4-9-5 season in 2023. ACC play has hit Louisville hard, however, as the Cardinals have given up five goals to both Virginia Tech and North Carolina while taking 3-1 losses to Pittsburgh and new national No. 1 Duke. Louisville’s lone conference win, interestingly enough, came by a 1-0 score against the same NC State team that just three days earlier had tied Notre Dame.
Louisville has obviously struggled to keep the ball out of its own net, splitting time between junior goalkeepers Erynn Floyd and Kailey Kimball. The Cardinals do, however, possess a few potent threats on the offensive end. Karsyn Cherry leads the team with six goals, although she hasn’t scored in nearly a month. Her 13 points tie for the team lead with fellow junior Mackenzie Geigle, who has taken a large step forward after registering only two points in her first two seasons at Louisville. Geigle has been more reliable in conference play for the Cardinals with a goal and two assists in her last four matches. Brooke Dardano, who missed all of 2023 with an injury, is another danger with two goals in ACC play and six assists on the season.
Notre Dame and Louisville will begin play at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
