LOUISVILLE — The No. 23 Fighting Irish men’s soccer team advanced to the ACC Championship semifinals on Sunday evening at Louisville, winning a 3-0 penalty shootout. The Irish will face Pitt in Pittsburgh on Wednesday for a chance to play for the title.
Bryan Dowd produced the heroics in the shootout, not allowing a single goal in the three Louisville attempts. The sophomore made two saves and the other effort went wide of the post. Notre Dame converted all three of its penalties, as Jack Lynn, Paddy Burns and Dawson McCartney all put the ball in the net.
The result technically goes down as a draw at 0-0, moving Notre Dame’s record to 10-5-3.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Despite creating the better chances in the first half, the Irish and Cardinals played to a scoreless standstill over the opening 45 minutes of play.
Notre Dame created the best scoring chance of the half. In the 27th minute Jack Lynn unleashed a shot from inside the box and beat the Louisville keeper but the attempt rattled the woodwork and stayed out. Minutes later Lynn had another chance but his effort went just wide of the post.
The Irish controlled the run of play in the second half, keeping the ball in the Louisville half for the majority of possession. However, Notre Dame was unable to find the breakthrough goal and a late save from Dowd in the 88th minute sent the match into overtime.
Notre Dame nearly came up with a winner in the last minute of the second overtime session, as McCartney’s shot was kept out by a diving save from the Cardinal keeper, making the result officially a draw and sending it to the penalty shootout.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the performance…
“Really proud of the group, we knew Louisville is one of the most dangerous attacking teams we have faced this year. Defensively we did a great job for the most part dealing with their special attacking players. And then I like the other side of it, we controlled the game with possession decently well and created some decent chances but weren’t able to put one away before penalties.”
On the message to the team when dominating possession but not scoring…
“You just have to keep pushing without losing your discipline. In games of soccer you can be on top of them but with players like that they could score at any moment so you just have to keep doing what you’re doing and keep pushing the attack.”
On Bryan Dowd during the shootout…
“Unbelievable, he really made a name for himself today. He had a great game and made a big save on their No. 10 which was really important but he did an amazing job on the PKs. We work on them alot and the guys executed them very well.”
ND NOTES
- The Irish are now 13-8-2 against Louisville in the all-time series.
- Notre Dame is now 11-6-3 all-time in the ACC Championship and has reached at least the semifinal round in six of nine seasons in the league.
- The Irish outshot Louisville 13-8, including a 5-1 advantage for shots on target.
- The clean sheet was the ninth of the season for the Irish and sixth by Dowd.
- Dowd has faced four penalty attempts this season and none have been converted. He has saved three and one went wide.
UP NEXT
The Irish advance to the ACC Championship semifinals and remain on the road to take on Pitt at 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 10. The game will air on ACCN.
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