SOUTH BEND, Ind – If Irish fans were scared on Halloween night about Notre Dame women’s soccer making the ACC Tournament, the team put that to rest against Pitt. The No. 13 Fighting Irish (11-2-4, 5-1-4) punched their ticket to the conference tournament by downing the Panthers (9-6-3, 3-5-2), 3-2.
It was freshman sensation Izzy Engle who recorded a brace tonight, answering the call when the Irish needed her most. The Minnesota native now has 15 goals on the season, which is the ninth most by a freshman in program history.
IRISH BACK ON TOP!
It's a brace for @IzzyEngle in the 49th minute. #GoIrish ☘️ | @ACCNetworkExtra pic.twitter.com/7Fqv1CEQWJ
— Notre Dame Women's Soccer (@NDSoccer) November 1, 2024
Grace Restovich assisted Engle’s first goal. Restovich, who ranked top-8 in the country in assists entering tonight, now has 10 assists on the season.
Graduate Ellie Ospeck notched the assist on the game-winner, which was her sixth on the season.
With that said, the Irish will be the No. 6 seed in the ACC Tournament, travelling to Tallahassee on Sunday to face No. 3 seed Florida State. That contest will kick off at 8 p.m. ET on ACC Network.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame is undefeated on the season when scoring first, and that stayed in tact tonight, improving to 11-0. That first goal occurred in the 18th minute via a corner kick courtesy of Leah Klenke. It was very close to being an olympico but a Pitt defender on the near post grazed it with her head for the own goal. Regardless, it was a 1-0 Irish lead.
Just three minutes later the Irish added to said lead. Notre Dame’s top assist playmaker connected with its top goalscorer in the 21st minute to make it 2-0. Grace Restovich slotted a perfect through ball for Izzy Engle for the easy goal.
Pitt did get one back in the 26th minute. Senior Sarah Schupansky hit from WAY outside the box, yet it found the upper-left 90 perfectly and left the Irish players and fans stunned.
Thus, Notre Dame took a 2-1 lead into halftime.
Adversity struck right away to start the second half. Pitt was awarded a penalty kick in the 46th minute and took no time to equalize the match.
With adversity and pressure now mounting, it was great to see Notre Dame’s immediate response. Just three minutes later, Ellie Ospeck hit a deep ball from ND’s half of the field. Engle outran two defenders and hit a shot so hard that it went through the keeper’s hands and into the goal. Engle’s brace turned into the game-winner as Notre Dame took it 3-2.
— ND –