SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jack Flanagan’s first goal of the season could not have come at a better time, as the junior scored in the 86th minute to give the Fighting Irish a draw in a hardfought match at No. 8 Virginia at Klockner Stadium.
The draw moves Notre Dame’s record to 7-2-4 on the season and 2-1-2 in ACC play.
Sophomore goalkeeper Blake Kelly made three saves on the evening while allowing just one goal.
KK Baffour provided the assist on Flanagan’s goal, his third of the season and 18th of his Fighting Irish career.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a fairly even opening stages of action, Virginia managed to strike first and take a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute of play. The goal came off the foot of AJ Smith at the back post.
Notre Dame earned a number of free kicks and corners over the remainder of the half but none produced quality scoring opportunities.
The best chance of the first half for Notre Dame came in the 41st minute. Sebastian Green played a dangerous ball to the middle of the box to the feet of Ren Sylvester, who put his effort just wide of the left post.
Notre Dame came out of the break and controlled much more of the possession in the second half. Despite having more of the ball, the Irish had a difficult time breaking down the Virginia backline.
In the final 10 minutes of play the Irish started attacking in waves and all the pressure paid off in the 86th minute. Baffour did a great job to get to the end line and cut back a pass to Flanagan, who rifled his one-time effort past the Virginia keeper at the near post to level the match at 1-1 and send the Irish home with a point.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the match…
“I am proud of the team’s fight tonight. Virginia is clearly a good team and they were better in the first half. I thought our team came out well in the second half and did a great job pushing to get the equalizer. I love that we never stopped and kept going. We have to keep being a team that goes until the final whistle.”
UP NEXT
Notre Dame returns to South Bend for its regular-season home finale in another matchup against a ranked ACC team, welcoming No. 10 NC State to Alumni Stadium for a 7 p.m. ET match on Friday, Oct. 17. Admission to the contest is free.
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