NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Notre Dame pulled off a feat that the program had not accomplished in over 20 years in Tuesday’s win over Purdue Fort Wayne, defeating the Mastodons by a score of 8-0 at Alumni Stadium. The last time the Irish scored eight goals in a match came in the 1995 season opener against DePaul in an 8-0 decision on Sept. 3.
Jack Lynn and John Rea led the line for Notre Dame, as each bagged a brace in the win. Spencer Farina, Mohamed Omar, Ben Giacobello and Tyler Shea each scored a goal to complete the dominant performance.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish completely dominated from the opening whistle on Tuesday, scoring a goal in the second minute of play. Aschieris had a cross into the box deflected into the path of Lynn, who finished with composure with his left foot as he fell to ground to give Notre Dame the early advantage.
Lynn doubled the Irish lead in the 15th minute to complete his early brace. He collected a pass from McFadden on the edge of the box and placed a low, right-footed shot just inside the far post to put Notre Dame on top 2-0.
After a number of chances over the next 25 minutes of play Notre Dame scored two more goals just before the break to take a decisive 4-0 lead into the half. Giacobello scored in the 40th minute and less than a minute later Rea posted the first of his career off a perfect ball from deep from Philip Quinton.
The Irish kept their foot on the gas in the second half, as Omar slotted a shot through the Mastodon goalkeeper’s legs after a Purdue Fort Wayne miscue to make it 5-0 in the 51st minute.
Notre Dame then proceeded to tack on three more goals in the final 20 minutes of play to make the final score 8-0. Rea captured the first brace of his career off a rocket into the roof of the net in the 72nd minute before Farina scored a header from a corner in the 80th. Shea capped off the offensive onslaught with a right-footed rip into the top corner to put an exclamation mark on the win.
HEAD COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the team’s performance…
“I’m proud of the group. Jack Lynn did a great job of getting the early goals for us which really set the tone for the game. I am really proud of the way the team approached the game and kept good focus and kept competing for the 90 minutes. The subs that came on were tremendous, focused and hungry. We saw good hunger throughout the team which was nice.”
NOTRE DAME STAT OF THE MATCH
Three Irish players opened their accounts on Tuesday night, as Shea, Rea and Farina each scored the first goals of their career in the victory.
NOTES
- The eight goals are the most Notre Dame has scored in a match since Sept. 3, 1995, when the Irish defeated DePaul 8-0.
- The Irish improve to 5-1-0 in the all-time series against Purdue Fort Wayne.
- Notre Dame is now 6-0-1 in non-conference action this season.
- The Irish recorded their fourth clean sheet of the season in the shutout victory.
- A season-high six Notre Dame players scored against the Mastodons.
- Lynn and Rea each recorded career highs in goals (2).
- Lynn now has a team-high six goals on the season.
- Seven of the eight goals came off of assists, with Quinton, Rea, Giacobello and Bryan Silver picking up the first assists of their careers.
- Keagan McLaughlin notched the third clean sheet of his season and career on Tuesday.
- Simon Roennecke and Brian Finn made their Notre Dame debuts.
UP NEXT
The Irish are back in action at Alumni Stadium for an ACC match against No. 21 Duke at 6 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 11. The match will air live on ACCN and will be available to stream through the WatchESPN app.
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