SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The overall No. 2 seed Fighting Irish men’s soccer team turned in a complete performance, posting a 2-0 win over Kentucky to advance to the NCAA Championship Round of 16.
Notre Dame will play Western Michigan at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 26. The winner will advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals to face the winner of No. 7 Virginia and Indiana.
Both Irish goals came in the second half, as Bryce Boneau continued his fine form with the opener before Nolan Spicer scored the first goal of his career to help put the match away.
Bryan Dowd finished the evening with three saves to earn his ninth clean sheet of the season, Notre Dame’s 10th.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame allowed a few chances to Kentucky in the early stages and then grew into the match as the first half progressed. Dowd made a huge save in the 14th minute, as a Kentucky forward was in on goal to keep the contest scoreless.
The Irish produced the best scoring opportunity of the first half in the 27th minute. Russo fired a shot from the top of the box that was destined for the back of the net but the Kentucky keeper dove and pushed the ball onto the bar to keep Notre Dame off the scoreboard.
Russo had another chance in the 39th minute, but sent the ball wide of the near post into the side netting which kept the score at 0-0 heading into the halftime intermission.
Notre Dame came out of the break and instantly put Kentucky’s backline under pressure, earning multiple corners and free kicks in the first few minutes.
The continuous siege paid off, as the Irish found the opener in the 49th minute thanks to Boneau. KK Baffour slipped Boneau into the box and the junior made no mistake with the finish, sliding his effort past the keeper to put Notre Dame up 1-0.
The Irish continued to keep their foot on the gas, pushing for the second goal to extend the lead. In the 79th minute Notre Dame did just that, as Michael Rossi played Spicer in on goal. The freshman rounded the keeper who came running off his line and comfortably finished into the open net to double the lead at 2-0.
Notre Dame’s defense did a good job of seeing the rest of the match out, keeping the shutout intact for the 2-0 victory.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the performance…
“I am very proud and pleased with the performance. Give credit to Kentucky, they are an excellent team and played well on the night. There’s no question why they were here playing. Overall though really pleased with the performance and how we grew from the first minute through the last. Just really pleased to be playing again.”
On the clean sheet…
“I thought the backline was great. Kentucky is dangerous in a lot of different ways so to keep them off the board is a big testament to the backline, Bryand Dowd and the collective defending as a team which was good tonight.”
On Bryce Boneau’s and Nolan Spicer’s performances…
“They were both excellent. On another night their performance would still be excellent without the goals but it is a little extra special when they each score a goal.”
On the crowd…
“It was awesome to see so many Notre Dame fans here tonight along with so many students which gave us such a lift and leads to the type of performance that we put in tonight.”
ND STAT OF THE MATCH
With Spicer’s goal, the Irish have now had 16 different players score a goal during the 2023 season.
ND NOTES
- The Irish improve to 22-20-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, 13-8-2 in opening NCAA Tournament matches and 16-8-4 when playing at home in the NCAA Tournament
- Notre Dame is now 6-2-0 against Kentucky in the all-time series
- The Irish have now held opponents to one or no goals in 16 of 18 matches this year
- Notre Dame extends its unbeaten streak to 31 matches when scoring the opening goal of the game
- Boneau has four goals on the season, with three coming in the last two matches
- Baffour’s assist gives him a team-high seven on the season, marking his career high as well
- Spicer’s first career goal gives him six points on the season to go along with his four assists
- With the assist Rossi now has a goal and two assists during the 2023 campaign
UP NEXT
Notre Dame will play Western Michigan at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 26. The winner will advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals to face the winner of No. 7 Virginia and Indiana.
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