Hoping to avoid the Halloween scaries following Sunday’s home defeat to Virginia Tech, the No. 13-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team welcomed the Pittsburgh Panthers to Alumni Stadium for the 2024 regular-season finale.
With the postseason on the horizon, Thursday night’s contest held high stakes for both parties involved. The 10-2-4 Irish entered the match clinging to the sixth and final spot in next week’s ACC Tournament, tied with Stanford at 16 points apiece. The Cardinal would play host to Cal later on in the evening, but thanks to the Irish's 3-0 head-to-head victory over Stanford on Oct. 20, it was a win-and-in situation for Notre Dame.
On the opposing bench, the Pitt Panthers came to Alumni Stadium looking to collect their 10th win of the season and improve their resume for the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. With just 11 points, the Panthers were mathematically eliminated from conference tournament contention, but a strong RPI and unusually deep ACC meant Pittsburgh still had all to play for on the eve of November. A top-15 road win would all but guarantee a third consecutive tournament trip and a chance to improve on last year’s miraculous Elite Eight run.
Irish apply pressure early
Prior to first touch, Notre Dame athletics and head coach Nate Norman celebrated Senior Night by recognizing midfielder Sophia Fisher and defender KJ Ronan, who have combined to record 122 appearances and eight goals over their four-year careers in South Bend.
As was the story most of the campaign, it was first-year Irish who ignited the offense early on in the evening. A familiar face got things started though, as the Irish opened the scoring in the 17th minute on the second of consecutive corner kicks taken by junior midfielder Leah Klenke. Her inswinging service deflected off a Pitt defender near the front post, allowing Notre Dame to take the lead prior to recording a shot on goal.
The freshmen then got involved, as forward Izzy Engle doubled the advantage four minutes later with her team-leading 14th goal of the season, making no mistake on a composed through ball from fellow freshman Grace Restovich. It was the St. Louis native’s team-high 10th assist this season in the midfield.
Despite the Irish dominating possession throughout the opening half hour, the offensive-filled first half continued with Pitt cutting the deficit in half through Sarah Schupansky. The senior forward leads the nation with 15 assists, but she tallied her seventh goal this season with an unstoppable strike from 40 yards out.
Pitt levels early, Engle responds
Pittsburgh equalized just 56 seconds after the intermission as graduate midfielder Ellie Ospeck fouled a Panther retreating out of the 18-yard-box. Despite an Irish argument the penalty stood, and senior midfielder Ellie Coffield calmly slotted home the spot kick.
Engle recorded the brace and goal number 15 quickly thereafter, as Ospeck amended her earlier mistake with a tactical service that the Minnesota native powered past Pitt junior goalkeeper Ellie Breech in the 49th minute.
The Irish had numerous chances to extend the lead throughout the remainder of what would become a chippy second half, but the match would finish 3-2, and Notre Dame headed to the ACC Tournament for the sixth straight season.
Irish into the postseason
The 3-2 victory locked up the sixth seed for Notre Dame, and it will now travel to Tallahassee to do battle with third-seeded Florida State on Sunday, Nov. 3. Despite back-to-back conference losses to begin October, No. 6 Florida State finished the season strong with four consecutive wins, including a pivotal 4-2 win over No. 8 North Carolina last week.
Elsewhere in the ACC, No. 1 Duke clinched the outright regular season championship last Thursday with its 3-3 home draw against Notre Dame. The Blue Devils were able to play spoiler in the finale as their second win over archrival North Carolina knocked the Tar Heels out of a first-round bye and into the fourth seed. North Carolina will now host No. 12 Virginia Tech in the other quarterfinal. The Tar Heels' loss allowed No. 13 Wake Forest to move up into the second seed, securing the final bye.
If Notre Dame can advance past FSU, it would travel to Cary, North Carolina, to play the Demon Deacons for the first time this year. Sunday’s quarterfinal between Notre Dame and Florida State is set to kick off at either 6 p.m. or 8 p.m., nationally broadcast on ACC Network.
