FORT WORTH, Texas — The University of Notre Dame women’s soccer team battled one of the top teams in the country Saturday night in Fort Worth and ultimately fell to No. 7 TCU 2-1.
TCU (11-1-1) scored the first two goals of the match to take a 2-0 lead in the 79th minute but the Irish fought back to get within one. Kiki Van Zanten scored her team-leading seventh goal in the 81st minute to bring the Irish (6-7) back within one at 2-1. The Irish mounted a couple of chances to level the game over the final minutes but were unable to find the equalizer and fell in their final game of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish and Horned Frogs exchanged possession over the first 20 minutes of the match. Jaina Eckert made some key saves early on and had three saves to keep the score level. Maddie Mercado and Kati Druzina got the early shots for the Irish but TCU’s keeper was there to make the save.
The Horned Frogs broke through in the 22nd minute when Messiah Bright scored the first goal of the match to put TCU up 1-0. That score held through the first 45 minutes and the Horned Frogs took the 1-0 advantage to the half.
In the second half, neither team got a shot on goal for almost 20 minutes until Mercado had a chance in the 64th minute but it was saved by Emily Alvarado.
The Horned Frogs fired off three shots in a few minute span by Eckert was up to the challenge and kept it a one goal game in the 70th minute. Eckert made the next two saves to bring her total on the night to eight in the 75th minute for a career high.
The Horned Frogs relentless attack broke through again in the 79th minute on the goal from Yazmeen Ryan to put TCU up 2-0.
The Irish responded quickly to the second Horned Frogs goal as they netted their first goal of the game less than two minutes later.
Van Zanten scored her first goal of the spring and seventh of the season in the 81st minute off the assist from Camryn Dyke. Dyke chipped it up to Van Zanten past the TCU backline and Kiki beat the keeper one-on-one to the near side for the goal.
The best chance for the Irish in the final minutes came in the 84th minute after a shot from Brianna Martinez was saved by Alvarado.
—ND—