PITTSBURGH — The Fighting Irish men’s soccer team closed out the regular season with a hard-fought 1-1 draw on the road at No. 23 Pitt on Friday evening.
The result gives Notre Dame the No. 9 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament and sends the Irish on the road to play No. 8 seed Clemson at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday in the opening round of the tourney.
Daniel Russo continued his form in front of goal, scoring the second-half equalizer to help the Irish get a result.
Bryan Dowd was superb in goal, making seven saves on the evening to keep the dangerous Panther attack in check.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Panthers controlled the majority of play in the opening 45 minutes of action. The Irish defense was up to the task in the opening stages but the hosts managed to score the opening goal in the 26th minute. Notre Dame was unfortunate on the goal, as a shot from Bertin Jacquesson was deflected and found the back of the net to give the hosts a 1-0 advantage heading into the halftime break.
Pitt had a defender sent off after picking up his second yellow card in the 48th minute and the Irish were able to take advantage.
Notre Dame leveled the match at 1-1 in the 58th minute after building from the back and a perfect cross whipped in from Eno Nto that connected with Russo, who calmly finished with his left foot.
The Irish kept pushing forward and had a golden chance to score the winner in the 80th minute, as Matthew Radivojsa played a perfect pass into the path of Matthew Roou, sending the forward in on goal. Roou dribbled in and fired a shot but the Pitt keeper was up to the task to keep the match level at 1-1.
The two sides battled for the remaining 10 minutes with neither team able to find the winner and the points were shared after 90 minutes of play.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the performance…
“I am proud of the team tonight. Pitt is a very good team and very well coached. The team kept pushing and did a great job to fight back to get the goal. The team showed great toughness playing two games this week. We will rest up and be ready for the post season next week.”
ND NOTES
- The Irish improved to 15-3-4 against Michigan in the all-time series.
- Russo’s goal gives him a team-high six on the season, four coming in the last two games.
- Russo now has 13 goals in his Notre Dame career.
- Nto picked up his third assist of the season.
- Dowd’s seven saves match his career high.
UP NEXT
The Irish will play at Clemson in the 8-9 matchup of the ACC Tournament at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at Riggs Field in Clemson, South Carolina. The match will air on ACCN.
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).