STANFORD, CA. – The quest for Notre Dame women’s soccer’s 13th College Cup appearance and first since 2010 will have to wait for at least one more year. The fourth-seeded Fighting Irish (14-4-4) fell 2-0 to the Stanford Cardinal (16-4-2) in the NCAA Quarterfinal round on Friday afternoon, ending their 2024 season.
The scoreboard certainly didn’t reflect how the game went. The Irish outshot the Cardinal 17-13 and owned 52 percent of the possession. Notre Dame might have owned better chances overall on the day but Stanford made the few they had count. The Cardinal scored in both the 25th and 50th minute.
Despite the disappointing outcome on Friday, there’s a lot to look forward to if you are an Irish fan. Five of the top six point-getters on the team were freshmen, plus another two who started at center back and in goal. 44 of the 55 goals Notre Dame scored were by freshmen. 19 of said goals were from ACC Rookie of the Year Izzy Engle. The Minnesota native scored the sixth most goals all-time by a Notre Dame freshman.
The Irish will only lose a total of five seniors/grads, returning their core nucleus. A nucleus that also includes First Team All-ACC selection Leah Klenke and fellow junior and team captain Laney Matriano. A nucleus that includes three more starters we haven’t even mentioned yet in Charlie Codd, Clare Logan and Morgan Roy. The future is certainly bright in South Bend.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame came out strong and nearly scored within the first 15 minutes, Lily Joseph had two good cracks from just outside the box that went a few feet wide. The best chance then came in the 16th minute courtesy of Izzy Engle.
A brilliant first touch set her up for a left-footed strike in the left side of Stanford’s box. Her shot beat the keeper heading to the far post, but a Cardinal defender was in the right place at the right time and cleared it away.
All in all, the Irish outshot the Cardinal 12-4 in the first half but trailed at the break. Stanford got on the board in the 25th minute when Shae Harvey flicked backward from about 8-10 yards out, pushing the ball into the right corner of the net.
Stanford quickly added to their lead in the second half, scoring directly off of a corner kick in the 50th minute.
Both Joseph (who had one of the best individual dribbling plays to set up a shot) and Engle nearly scored around the time of Stanford’s second goal.
From there on out, the Irish pushed numbers forward and created several good looks but just had no luck finding the back of the net. Passing wasn’t as crisp today but Stanford never scored in transition, only on two crosses (one a set piece).
— ND –