LOUISVILLE — The Fighting Irish men’s soccer team handed Louisville its first loss of the season on Friday evening, defeating the Cardinals by a score of 2-1 to open ACC play on the road at Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium.
The Irish goals came from Bryce Boneau and Jacob Bartlett, the first of the season for both players.
Freshman goalkeeper Blake Kelly registered the first win of his career, making two saves in the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish struck first, scoring in just the seventh minute to grab an early 1-0 lead. Nolan Spicer beat his man and got to the endline and then rolled a cross through the box. Jack Flanagan played a perfect dummy, allowing Boneau to connect with a perfectly placed finish into the bottom left corner to put Notre Dame on top.
The lead was short lived for the Irish, as Louisville’s Ethan Subachan leveled the match in the 14th minute to make it a 1-1 score.
Notre Dame fought back and once again took the lead off a strike from Bartlett. KK Baffour had his cross into the box headed into the path of the freshman who put his left foot through the ball to rifle it into the top of the goal to give the Irish a 2-1 advantage in the 29th minute.
The score held up through the opening 45 minutes of play, as the Irish led 2-1 heading into the halftime intermission.
The Irish nearly doubled their lead in the 62nd minute as Ian Shaul played a perfect pass to Matthew Roou, who slid his effort just wide of the far post.
The defense locked down the final third of the field over the final 20 minutes of play, getting stuck in to deliver the 2-1 road win.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the match…
“Overall I’m pleased to get the win. I’m really happy for the guys. They fought hard and certainly earned the result. We had some unbelievably good moments in the game against a very good Louisville team. We know every ACC game, and in particular against this Louisville team, is a very good road win.”
On winning on the road to open ACC play…
“It’s huge. These points are hard to pick up especially playing against a top team like Louisville. Going on the road and starting in the ACC with a win is huge.”
On the attack…
“We made some really good chances and on another night we may have put a couple of more in. But I think against a good Louisville team to make that many quality chances is really promising.”
On the defense’s ability to close out the win…
“We did a good job of making a tactical adjustment as a group and we handled that pretty well. Blake [Kelly] looks like a veteran. There were a lot of balls that he had to deal with in the box that are tricky that he made look easy.”
ND STAT OF THE NIGHT
All five goals from the Irish have come from five different players this season, as Roou, Flanagan, Genenbacher, Boneau and Bartlett have each found the back of the net.
ND NOTES
- The Irish improve to 14-10-2 in the all-time series with the Cardinals
- With the win, Notre Dame is 7-3-2 in ACC openers
- Boneau’s goal is his first of the season and fifth of his career
- Three of Boneau’s five goals have come in his last two matches against Louisville
- Bartlett’s goal was the first of his career in only his third collegiate match
- Spicer’s assist is the fifth of his career and first of the season
- The start of the match was delayed 55 minutes due to weather conditions
UP NEXT
The Irish return home to Alumni Stadium for a non-conference matchup against Duquesne at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Sept. 10. The match will be streamed on ACCNX.
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