SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Fighting Irish men’s soccer team pushed its win streak to six matches, defeating UIC by a final score of 3-0 on Tuesday evening inside Alumni Stadium. Notre Dame now has a record of 9-4-1 on the season.
All three of the Irish goals came in the second half, as Reese Mayer, Matthew Roou and Jack Lynn each registered a goal. Dawson McCartney led the way in assists with two.
The clean sheet is Notre Dame’s seventh of the season, including its fourth straight.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Neither team created many chances over the first 45 minutes of action, as the contest was scoreless going into the halftime break. The best chance in the first half came from a back post run off a free kick but Lynn’s effort was turned away by the Flames keeper.
The Irish came out of the intermission on the front foot and found the opener in the 62nd minute. McCartney whipped in a perfect free kick to the back post where Mayer nodded in a header for his first goal of the season to put the Irish on top 1-0.
Twelve minutes later Notre Dame doubled its lead to 2-0. McCartney found Roou in space in the box and the freshman’s sliding right-footed finish tucked inside the post to give the Irish some breathing room.
Lynn put the exclamation mark on the performance in the match’s final stages from the spot. Daniel Russo was brought down in the area to set up the spot kick. Lynn made no mistake with the finish, sending the keeper the wrong way and firing a low drive into the bottom corner to give the match a final score of 3-0.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the performance…
“I am very proud of the team tonight. That is a good result against a very good team in UIC. I thought they did a great job and I am truly proud of how our team responded to the challenge on the night. Another great team win for us.
ND STAT OF THE MATCH
The Irish have now gone 376 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal, recording four clean sheets in that span.
ND NOTES
- Notre Dame has won six straight matches and eight of its last nine
- The six match winning streak is the longest of Riley’s tenure and the longest since the Irish opened the 2017 season with six straight victories
- The Irish have recorded four straight clean sheets and seven on the season
- Notre Dame has scored three or more goals in a contest five times this season
- Lynn’s conversion from the spot gives him the team lead for goals with three on the season
- Roou’s goal was his sixth of the year, ranking him second on the team
- McCartney’s two assists give him the team lead on the season with five
- Thomas Deslongchamps now has three clean sheets on the year
UP NEXT
The Irish close out the regular season home slate with a pivotal matchup against No. 18 Duke at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 22 at Alumni Stadium. The Senior Night ceremony will take place before the game. The match will air on ACCNX.
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