SOUTH BEND, Ind. – It was a rollercoaster of a game for the No. 12 Notre Dame women’s soccer team (2-0-2) against No. 10 Arkansas (2-0-1) on Sunday afternoon inside Alumni Stadium. The Irish struck first, via Eva Gaetino on yet another corner kick. However, Arkansas scored off a corner five minutes later.
Arkansas then went ahead off of a costly goal-kick turnover in the 50th minute. Yet, Ellie Ospeck answered with a late equalizer in the 85th minute. The Irish even had a few more chances at the death, as they continued to pass and truly dominated the last five minutes. The result nonetheless – a 2-2 draw between two talented top-12 ranked teams.
Doug and Lisa Jones Family Head Coach Nate Norman on the game …
“I thought we really fought. There was a spell in the second half I wish we could have calmed down and made some passes. We had moments, especially late in the game, where we connected and looked really good. Credit to them for speeding us up for large portions of the game. I wanted a game like that early so we could learn and grow from it”
HOW IT HAPPENED
Introducing your leading goal scorer for the Irish, center back Eva Gaetino. The All-American entered this season with two goals to her name, and she now has three through four games.
All three of Gaetino’s goals have come via set pieces. Today, it was a corner kick once again. Morgan Roy delivered a ball deep into the box. Meg Mrowicki battled for it and got a foot on it that sent it back to the middle. Gaetino then put it away for the score.
Five minutes later, Arkansas found its rebuttal and on a corner kick no less. Sophia Aragon was in the right spot, right time, and delivered a perfect header directly off the corner into the corner of the net.
The last 10 minutes of the first half looked like the Irish would push ahead again. Maddie Mercado had an opportunity with the goalie off her line but her shot from distance was pushed right. Then, Paige Peltier had a good look late but her low shot just dribbled past the left post.
After the Razorback goal in the 50th minute off the Notre Dame miscue, the Irish were forced into rally mode, and to not lose their composure at that. The Irish bent, but they did not break, and in the final 10 minutes of the match, it was all Notre Dame.
In the 85th minute, the Irish got it done off another corner kick. Kik Van Zanten kept the ball alive by heading it towards the middle of the goal. Ellie Ospeck eventually got the rebound and tucked it away for the equalizer. It marked her first goal of the season and fourth of her career. It also marked the eighth different Irish scorer for this young season.
Notre Dame wasn’t content though as they continued to push. Kiki Van Zanten looked brilliant out there in the closing minutes, dashing through multiple Razorback players. In fact, there were two more good looks around the goal the Irish had in those final five minutes, but just couldn’t pull the trigger.
UP NEXT
The Irish will have no mid-week game this coming week, but it’ll be another tough top-25 battle next Sunday on Sept. 3. Notre Dame will travel to East Lansing to take on No. 14 Michigan State. That match will start at 1 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.
– ND –