CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The No. 10 Fighting Irish men’s soccer team clawed back in the second half to earn a 1-1 draw on the road at North Carolina at Dorrance Field on Friday evening.
Senior Daniel Russo scored the equalizer in the 84th minute to help Notre Dame grab the point on the road.
In goal Bryan Dowd was fantastic, making four big saves in the first half to keep the match in reach for the Irish.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame was forced to defend for the majority of the opening 45 minutes of action, as the Tar Heels dictated the run of play. Irish goalie Bryan Dowd was up to the task early, making four saves to keep the match scoreless.
The hosts found the breakthrough goal in the 34th minute, as Martin Vician scored the opener to put UNC on top 1-0.
Notre Dame was inches away from leveling the score at the end of the half in the 43rd minute, as an Irish corner was cleared to Kyle Genenbacher at the edge of the box. The junior put his laces through the ball and nearly barely missed finding the top corner far post but the ball went just wide.
Possession was much more even in the second half but the UNC backline proved tough to unlock for the Irish attack.
After getting a number of looks Notre Dame finally broke through in the 84th minute. Paddy Burns clipped in a cross from the left flank. After bouncing off two Tar Heel defenders the ball fell to Russo, who’s right-footed one-time effort beat the UNC keeper near post to level the match at 1-1.
Both sides had looks in the final six minutes at finding the winner but the points were shared as the match ended 1-1.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the performance…
“Overall we are pleased with the response in the second half. Credit to Bryan Dowd, he played a tremendous first half to give us a chance to make a comeback. The guys were disappointed at halftime and responded really well and pushed to get the equalizer and maybe could have gotten the winner.
“I’m really proud of the resiliency and the fight back in the second half. We would like to start the match better but the second half was a tremendous response.
“I’m really proud of Daniel Russo for staying with it. His second half was really good and he scored an awesome equalizer.”
On getting a point in an ACC road match…
You always want to pick up points on the road so it’s an important point for us. We will learn from it and be better on Tuesday.”
UP NEXT
The Irish remain on the road for a huge non-conference matchup with No. 3 Akron at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Sept. 19 at FirstEnergy Stadium. The match will air on FloSports.
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