SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Notre Dame men’s soccer team turned in an attacking masterclass in the second half of Tuesday’s matchup against UIC, scoring five goals, including four in six minutes, to come away with the 5-0 victory over the Flames.
The win improves Notre Dame’s season record to 6-3-5.
Sebastian Green and Wyatt Lewis each recorded the first brace of their careers, finishing with two goals apiece on the evening. Jack Flanagan found the back of the net for the fourth time this season while Matthew Roou picked up two assists.
On the defensive end, Collin Travasos recorded his first clean sheet in an Irish uniform, making two saves in a winning effort.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish controlled the majority of the first half but were unable to find the breakthrough goal, as the match was a scoreless deadlock after the first 45 minutes of action.
Notre Dame’s best chance came in the 20th minute. A Matthew Roou shot was spilled by the UIC keeper into the path of KK Baffour but his follow up shot was saved, keeping the match scoreless.
The Irish created another look in the 41st minute, as Baffour centered a pass to Nolan Spicer but the Flames’ goalie made a kick save, sending the match to the half with a 0-0 score.
The second half began with Notre Dame continuing to apply pressure to the Flames’ backline and it paid off in the 53rd minute, on Flanagan’s goal to put the Irish up 1-0. Ian Shaul was key in the buildup, making a driving run from midfield to the edge of the area. He then played a pass to Stevie Dunphy, who was taken down in the area but the ball fell to Flanagan, who poked it over the UIC keeper to break the deadlock.
Fourteen minutes later UIC earned a free kick on the edge of the area and fired a shot that appeared to be heading just inside the far post but Travasos made a diving save to keep the Irish in front and the lead intact.
After the save the floodgates broke open for the Notre Dame attack. Lewis scored in the 70th minute off a feed from Roou to double the lead by making the score 2-0.
Then Green scored two goals in the span of less than two minutes to break the match wide open at 4-0.
The first came off a great pass from Roou, which played Green in on goal. The junior took a deft touch to round the UIC keeper and somehow kept his balance before sliding the ball into the empty net. Then in the 73rd minute a shot from Lewis was saved and Green slotted the rebound in for his second of the evening.
Less than three minutes after the fourth goal the Irish struck for a fifth and final time, Lewis secured his brace. A beautiful passage of passing between Bryce Boneau and Nolan Spicer ended with a final ball to Lewis, who made no mistake with the finish, putting an exclamation mark on a dominant performance.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the match…
“I’m proud of the group tonight. We were decent in the first half but weren’t able to put one in. We lost a lot of the second ball battles and balls in general that UIC were winning. Then in the second half we came out really strong and started winning those second balls and started playing forward a little bit quicker. The goal came off a moment of magic from Ian Shaul to start the play and then a great finish from Jack Flanagan to get us going.”
On scoring four goals in six minutes…
“It was amazing. Once we started connecting in the final third and in transition we had unbelievable composure in the box to play another pass and finish the plays off really well.”
On the clean sheet…
“For the most part we did well. It took us a little while to get used to their direct play in the first half but then in the second half we handled it much better. I thought Collin [Travasos] was excellent in goal tonight.”
UP NEXT
Notre Dame will end the regular season on the road, as it has two ACC tests remaining on the schedule. The Irish travel out west for their first ever conference clash with Cal at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 27. The match will be streamed on ACCNX.
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