STARKVILLE, Miss. – Moving on! The No. 4 seeded Fighting Irish (13-3-4) jumped on the fifth-seeded Kentucky Wildcats (11-5-5) early, scoring two goals in the opening 13 minutes courtesy of Izzy Engle and Lily Joseph. Then Notre Dame tacked on an insurance goal in the 60th minute to ultimately take it 3-1.
Freshman Lily Joseph recorded her second brace of the season and pushed her 2024 goal total to eight. It was also her second career game-winner.
Engle, the 2024 ACC Freshman of the Year, scored her 18th goal of the season. That moved Engle into a tie for sixth-most by a Notre Dame freshman all-time and the most goals by a rookie since 2006.
With the win today, Doug & Lisa Jones Family Head Coach Nate Norman has led the Irish to their third Sweet 16 in the past four years.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame jumped on Kentucky early by scoring in the opening four minutes of the match as their top assist player connected with their top goalscorer for the opening strike.
Freshman midfielder Grace Restovich dribbled through open space and passed to fellow freshman Izzy Engle. Engle then broke down her defender, touched the ball to her right foot and struck a bender to the upper-90.
Engle was also a major contributor for Notre Dame’s second goal which occurred in the 13th minute. Engle was taken down in the box and after the ref went to VAR, the Irish were awarded a penalty kick. Lily Joseph stepped up and converted.
The Irish almost gone one more in the 35th minute when a low cross from the right side skidded across the six-yard box and Ellie Hodsden’s feet got a little jumbled on the shot and pushed it wide. Thus, Notre Dame rolled into halftime with a 2-0 lead.
A common soccer cliche is that 2-0 is the most dangerous lead to have. Unfortunately, Kentucky proved that mantra right. They were all over the Irish early in the second half and took advantage of a failed clearance to net a goal from outside the box in the 60th minute.
Yet, the Irish showed composure in the moment and settled in and just 7.5 minutes later, the Irish clapped back. It started with a heads up play by Ellie Ospeck in the 60th minute.
As Kentucky thought the ball was going out of bounds, Ospeck sprinted to save it and then took off down the left side. Ospeck then found Joseph who dribbled into the box, touched it to her right and buried the goal.
The last 10 minutes featured a lot of Irish possession as they cruised into the third round of the NCAA Tournament after the 3-1 victory.
Notre Dame finished with 18 shots to Kentucky’s 13. Sonoma Kasica started in net once more and collected two saves.
UP NEXT
The Irish will await the winner of No. 1 seed Mississippi State and Washington. The Round of 16 matchup will take place on Sunday, Nov. 24, with a time to be determined after the conclusion of the second round.
— ND –