SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The overall No. 2 seed Fighting Irish men’s soccer team advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals with a gritty performance in penalties by a mark of 4-2 to get past Western Michigan in front of a packed Alumni Stadium.
Notre Dame played with 10-men for the final 83 minutes of play after KK Baffour was sent off with a red card in the 27th minute of play. The Irish defense held the nation’s sixth-ranked scoring attack scoreless despite being down a man.
The Irish jumped out in front of the penalty shootout, as Bryan Dowd made a huge diving save followed by a make from Matthew Roou. The next Western Michigan taker put his effort off the post and then Paddy Burns sent the keeper the wrong way to put Notre Dame up 2-0 after two rounds.
Both Western Michigan and Eno Nto of Notre Dame converted during the third round to move the score to 3-1. The next Bronco penalty taker scored, giving Daniel Russo the chance to send the Irish to the quarterfinals. The senior clinically dispatched his shot inside the right post to keep the Irish alive in the tourney.
Dowd was sensational on the evening, making seven saves and posting a clean sheet.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Western Michigan nearly scored in the opening minutes of play but Dowd came up with a big save to keep the match scoreless 30 seconds into the contest.
After the first five minutes of play the Irish found their footing and started producing shots and chances.
Disaster struck for Notre Dame in the 27th minute, as Baffour was sent off with a straight red card, forcing the Irish to play down a man for the remainder of the evening.
Notre Dame responded well, as Kyle Genenbacher had a shot on target in the 30th minute but the Broncos’ keeper made the save. Notre Dame and Western Michigan went into the break deadlocked at 0-0.
The Irish performed admirably in the final 45 minutes of regulation, creating chances on the counter and on set pieces. The best opportunity for Notre Dame in the second half came in the 77th minute as Russo slid a pass to Wyatt Lewis, who nearly squeezed his shot near post but the Western Michigan keeper barely got his foot to it to make the save.
Notre Dame’s backline stood tall to force the 20 minutes of overtime.
Neither side registered a shot in the first 10 minutes of extra time. The visitors managed five attempts in the final 10 minutes of action but only one was on target and Dowd once again came up with a save to send the match to the dramatic penalty shootout.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the performance…
“What a heroic performance by the guys. To unfortunately go down a man early in the first half and then to respond and really play pretty well. In the second half I thought we were the more proactive team for most of the second half and then we obviously got a little fatigued.
“But the guys were warriors tonight and then they got us to penalties. I thought we could have maybe got a goal before penalties but they fought all the way to penalties and were composed and finished the PKs off and we are advancing.”
On the defense playing a man-down and shutting out a top-10 attack…
“Obviously they were great tactically and in their one-on-one moments but then the part you see is their character, their heart, they combine all of those things together and put an unbelievable performance out there tonight.”
On Dowd saving the first penalty…
“It’s huge. It gives you that confidence and that belief that you don’t have to be perfect to finish the job. Dowd was great in the PKs and he was close to saving another one as well.”
On the Notre Dame penalty takers…
“They were great. They trusted their preparation and were out there and cool and finished their penalties really well.”
On the crowd…
“The crowd was tremendous. We have to get a lot of Notre Dame students and everyone in the Notre Dame family out to Alumni to fill the stands this next Saturday in the quarterfinals.”
ND STAT OF THE MATCH
Through 200 minutes of NCAA Tournament play, the Irish have yet to concede a goal.
ND NOTES
- The Irish improve to 23-20-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 17-8-4 when playing at home in the NCAA Tournament
- Notre Dame is now 9-3-2 against Western Michigan in the all-time series
- The Irish reach the NCAA Championship Quarterfinals for the sixth time in program history and second time in the last three seasons
- Three of the six quarterfinal appearances have come in the last six seasons under head coach Chad Riley, matching his mentor Bobby Clark’s total with the Irish
- Notre Dame is now 4-2 in penalty shootouts in NCAA Championship history and have advanced to the next round in each of the last four shootouts at Alumni Stadium
- The Irish have now held opponents to one or no goals in 17 of 19 matches this year
- Notre Dame has 11 clean sheets on the season, with Dowd in goal for 10 of them
UP NEXT
Notre Dame will play Indiana at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 2 at Alumni Stadium. The winner will advance to the NCAA College Cup to play the semifinal round on Dec. 8 at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. Buy tickets for Saturday’s match here.
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