SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Fighting Irish turned in their most impressive performance of the season in front of a packed Alumni Stadium crowd on Friday evening, defeating No. 12 Louisville by a final score of 3-0 to remain unbeaten in ACC play.
Notre Dame improves to 4-1-2 on the season and 2-0-0 in the conference and are winners of three straight.
The Irish matched their best offensive output of the season, scoring three goals which all came in the second half. Wyatt Borso found his name on the scoresheet for the third straight match while Nolan Spicer and Ren Sylvester each scored their first of the season.
Blake Kelly and the Irish backline were phenomenal, recording their fourth clean sheet of the season. Kelly finished with six saves, including four big stops in the second half to secure the shutout victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish and Cardinals played an even, scoreless opening 45 minutes of action.
Notre Dame’s best look at goal came in the opening minutes. The Irish won a corner in the third minute and Mitch Ferguson’s delivery found an open Ian Shaul at the back post. The sophomore put his header on frame but it was right at the Louisville keeper, who made the save.
After a cagey first half that didn’t produce many clear-cut, goal-scoring chances, the Irish attack erupted for three in the final 45 minutes, putting on an offensive clinic.
The opening goal came from relentless attacking from the Irish. Wyatt Lewis had a shot from the right wing saved and Luke Burton fired the loose ball toward the goal but the keeper made a second stop. The rebound fell to the feet of Borso, who fired in his effort into the roof of the net to put Notre Dame on top 1-0 in the 64th minute.
Just one minute later the Irish doubled their lead off a moment of brilliance from Spicer. The junior collected a pass on the right edge of the box, got the ball onto his left foot and hit a sublime strike just inside the far post to put Notre Dame in control at 2-0.
After a few big saves from Kelly on the defensive end, the Irish hit a perfectly executed counter attack, sprung by Jack Flanagan’s tackle in the midfield. The junior then dribbled into the box and had his shot blocked right into the path of Sylvester, who calmly slotted into the back of the net to put an exclamation mark on the dominant performance.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the match…
“I’m really pleased with the performance. It was a little cagey in the first half. We know Louisville is a good team so it was a little back-and-forth.
“Then I was really proud of the way the group came out in the second half. We talked about being mature in our performance and I thought they did a great job of obviously executing and getting some goals. The guys did a good job of limiting Louisville’s transition, they are one of the best teams in transition that we have seen.
“To get the shutout is a huge credit to the guys and Blake [Kelly] made some big saves to keep it that way. I’m proud of how many guys got on the field. It was a real team performance and that’s what we want to be about at Notre Dame.”
On scoring three goals against Louisville’s defense…
“I thought it was good. Once you’re generating quality chances, an area we want to grow in, I think the offense was good. Nolan’s [Spicer] was a moment of brilliance but I did like the first goal with two forwards hunting in the box and then to get the third on the counter when they are pushing numbers forward doesn’t surprise you but at the same time you have to finish the play and it was good to see Ren [Sylvester] get his first goal.”
On the crowd…
“The crowd was excellent. It’s always fun to play in front of a packed Alumni Stadium with a lot of local soccer players from the community. We are really thankful to compete in front of these fans.”
ND STAT OF THE MATCH
Louisville came into the match having allowed just one goal through six games and the Irish scored three, all in the second half to pick up a big ACC ranked win.
ND NOTES
- The three goals tie a season high for the Fighting Irish during the 2025 campaign and the team has now scored six over its last two outings
- Notre Dame improves to 2-1-0 on the season against ranked teams with all three matches coming against top-15 opponents
- The Irish have allowed just three goals all season and have not allowed more than one in any match during the 2025 campaign
- Borso now has three goals on the season and six in his Fighting Irish career
- Spicer’s goal marks his first of the season and fifth of his career
- Shaul dished out his second assist of the season while Flanagan and Burton each picked up their first year
- Kelly now has four clean sheets this season and has recorded 26 saves while allowing just three goals
UP NEXT
The Irish are back in action at Alumni Stadium with a 7 p.m. ET matchup against Wright State on Tuesday, Sept. 23. Admission to the match is free and it will be streamed on ACCNX. Also, Tuesday’s contest will be the Pups at the Pitch promotion, allowing fans to bring their dogs to the match.
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