#1 Irish Defeat UIC in NCAA First Round, 4-0

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The No. 1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (15-1-3, 8-1-1) defeated the UIC Flames (8-8-6, 3-3-3) in the NCAA First Round on Saturday night in a 4-0 victory at home. 

Notre Dame remains undefeated at home this season at 10-0 and are now 53-4-1 at home in the NCAA Tournament. The Irish recorded their seventh shutout of the season in the First Round victory.

Charlie Codd led the offensive charge tonight with her first career brace, followed by Tessa Knapp and Ellie Hodsden who each scored a goal for the Irish tonight. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

While there were early opportunities, the freshman, Tessa Knapp, would be the one to put the Irish on the board first in the 7th minute to give Notre Dame the 1-0 lead. Charlie Codd sent it into the box and after bouncing off of a UIC defender, it fell to the feet of Knapp who was able to send it top shelf for her third goal of the year. 

The Irish led 1-0 at the half with four shots on goal on 19 shots and four corner kick opportunities, while holding UIC to just one shot on goal and zero corner kicks. Notre Dame had some looks in the early minutes of the second half, but the UIC continued to pack it in and make it difficult to get a clean look.

However, the Irish would double their lead in the 64th minute as junior Charlie Codd fired off a shot from just inside the box to make it a 2-0 match. 

It wasn’t over yet, though, as the Irish offense was sparked. After Codd scored her third goal of the season, she would go on to score the fourth goal of the season and second goal of the night to complete her first brace of her career in the 84th minute. 

In the final 30 seconds of play, Ellie Hodsden got in on the scoring action as Morgan Roy hit Hodsden on a cross at the near post to extend the Notre Dame lead to 4-0 to secure the First Round win at Alumni.

UP NEXT 

The Irish will take on the Ohio State Buckeyes (9-4-6, 4-2-5) in the NCAA Second Round on Thursday, Nov. 20, at Alumni Stadium in South Bend.