SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Wednesday evening will be a night Paddy Burns and his family will never forget, as the junior left back scored his first career brace in a 4-0 win over Chicago State at Alumni Stadium.
The performance was extra special because it marked the first time his parents were able to watch him play at Notre Dame in person, traveling all the way from Crumlin, Northern Ireland to attend the match.
The other two Irish goals were scored by Ben Giacobello and Daniel Russo, as Notre Dame won in dominating fashion.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard, as Burns scored in the fourth minute off a centered pass from Matthew Roou to put the hosts on top 1-0 early.
Notre Dame doubled its advantage in the 31st minute, as Giacobello put his laces through a half volley from outside the box and hit a sublime strike past the diving Chicago State keeper to make the score 2-0 heading into the halftime break.
The Irish continued to control the run of play in the second half, as they were on the front foot throughout the evening.
In the 74th minute Russo opened his 2022 account with his first goal of the season. Eno Nto managed to get to the endline and centered a ball through the box to Matthew Radivojsa, who laid off a pass to Russo for a tap-in to increase the lead to 3-0.
Burns put the match on ice just one minute later with his second of the evening. The junior received a pass from Russo on the left edge of the box and curled in a beautiful right-footed finish off the far post and in to make the final score 4-0.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the performance…
“Overall really happy, obviously to get a result and a shutout was the goal and we did those things. We knew Chicago State is a good team, maybe better than their record right now. They have some really dynamic attacking players that I thought we did a good job of keeping quiet all night. Really pleased with the growth and the result.”
On both fullbacks scoring goals…
“I didn’t necessarily think they would be on the scoresheet but we have been challenging them to grow into the attack a little bit more and I think we are smarter with the ball giving them time to get forward. Paddy’s timing and finishing was unbelievable and Ben’s second-phase set-piece finish was tremendous with his off foot. They both had excellent games on both sides of the ball.”
On the importance of getting a clean sheet…
“Huge for us. It’s always the goal as the base of our identity is being elite defensively so to get our shutout was a really big deal.”
ND STAT OF THE MATCH
The Irish recorded their first clean sheet of the season while holding the Cougars to just two shots, none of which were on target.
ND NOTES & NUMBERS
- Wednesday’s match was the first meeting between Notre Dame and Chicago State and the Irish now lead the series at 1-0-0.
- The two shots from Chicago State are the fewest the Irish have allowed in a match all season.
- Notre Dame’s four goals are the most the team has scored this season and the most since it defeated Purdue Fort Wayne by a score of 4-0 on Oct. 5, 2021.
- Burns recorded the first brace of his career and now leads the team with three goals on the season.
- Giacobello’s goal was his first of the year and the fourth of his career.
- Russo’s goal was his first of the season and fifth of his career.
- Bryan Dowd now has 12 clean sheets in his career.
UP NEXT
The Irish are back in action over the weekend, as they welcome North Carolina for an ACC matchup at Alumni Stadium at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 24. The match will be streamed on ACCNX via WatchESPN.
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