SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s soccer team battled Boston College to a 1-1 draw at Alumni Stadium on Saturday evening. Notre Dame is now 5-3-5 on the season and 2-2-2 in ACC play.
The Irish goal came from Mitch Ferguson, as he scored his first goal of the season and second of his career off a free kick in the 24th minute.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish controlled the tempo from the first touch, as they had the lion’s share of possession over the first 45 minutes of play.
The first opportunity of the evening came in the fourth minute, as Roou drove into the box from the left but his low shot was parried away by the Boston College keeper.
Notre Dame found the breakthrough in the 24th minute. Jack Flanagan drew a foul in a dangerous position to the right of the top of the box. Ferguson stepped up and delivered a low driving shot that tucked just inside the far post to put the Irish on top 1-0.
Shots were 7-3 in favor of the Irish at the halftime break.
The Irish nearly doubled their lead in the 51st minute, as Matthew Roou chested down a pass and fired a shot just over the bar from 10 yards out.
Less than a minute later the Eagles equalized off a goal from Ask Ekeland to level the score at 1-1 in the 52nd minute.
Notre Dame nearly immediately responded, as a beautiful buildup ended with a great look from Bryce Boneau that forced a diving stop by the Eagles’ keeper to keep the match on even terms. On the ensuing corner Ferguson almost secured a brace, as his headed effort went over the bar for a goal kick.
The Irish kept pouring forward, searching for the winner as they continued to put the BC backline under pressure but were unable to complete the final ball.
In the 79th minute Boston College earned a corner and looked like they were about to take the lead off a header but Notre Dame freshman Will Schroeder made a huge clearance off the line to keep the score at 1-1.
Notre Dame made one last push in the 90th minute as a shot from Schroeder bounced to Baffour but his headed effort went over the bar and the points were shared.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the match…
“I’m pleased with huge parts of the game. We were excellent for the majority of the game. We know BC has some talented players, we will have to look back at their goal and see if there is anything we could have done better but I think we were in good spots and they just scored a good goal.
“Then I think we just have to keep our composure in front of net and I know this team is close to opening the floodgates if we just keep pushing.”
UP NEXT
The Irish wrap up the home portion of the regular season schedule with their next match, as they welcome UIC for a non-conference midweek match at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Oct. 22. Admission to the match is free and it will be streamed on ACCNX.
FOLLOW THE IRISH ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For a behind the scenes look at the Notre Dame men’s soccer program follow the Irish on Twitter (@NDMenSoccer), Instagram (@ndmensoccer), Facebook (/NDMenSoccer) and TikTok (@ndmensoccer).