SOUTH BEND, Ind – The Notre Dame attack put on a show in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night at Alumni Stadium, defeating Milwaukee by a score of 5-1 advance to the second round of play next weekend. The Irish improve to 12-3-4 on the season with the victory.
The Irish had five different players score the five goals on the evening, including three scoring their first goals of the season.
Izzy Engle found the back of the net for her team-high 17th goal of the campaign and Grace Restovich scored her fourth, while Reagan Pauwels, Kaylie Ronan and Paige Buchner each scored the first of the year. Pauwel and Buchner’s goals were extra special, as each of theirs was the first in a Notre Dame uniform.
Notre Dame notched seven assists in the winning effort, including a game-high two from Ellie Hodsen.
With the win, Notre Dame is now 75-25-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and are now an impressive 52-4-1 when playing at home in the tourney.
The Irish advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament to take on No. 5-seed Kentucky on Friday, Nov. 22.
If top-seeded Mississippi State wins their first round matchup against Southern on Saturday, the Irish will head to Starkville, Mississippi for the second round match but if they get upset then Notre Dame will host next weekend’s contests at Alumni Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish were on the front foot from the opening touch, putting the Panthers’ backline under pressure for the majority of the opening 45 minutes.
Notre Dame created chance after chance before finding the opener in the 38th minute to take a 1-0 lead. Ellie Hodsen made a great run into the area before firing a shot that seemed destined for the bottom left of the goal but the Milwaukee keeper made a sprawling save. The ball was pushed into the path of Pauwels who fired a shot into the roof of the net for her first of the season.
The Irish took the 1-0 lead into the break, while holding a 17-4 advantage in shots, including 9-1 for shots on target.
Restovich wasted little time doubling the Notre Dame lead, scoring off a feed from Morgan Roy, sliding her shot inside the far post to go on top 2-0 in the 54th minute.
The Panthers managed to pull one back just five minutes later, scoring off a corner kick as Jenni Andjelic scored to make the score 2-1.
However, the Irish immediately responded as Engle scored the goal of the night to restore the two-goal advantage for the hosts. Ellie Ospeck centered a ball from the endline and the ACC Freshman of the Year scored on a beautiful back-heel finish to extend the advantage to 3-1 in the 63rd minute.
It was all Notre Dame the rest of the way, as Kaylie Ronan and Paige Buchner each scored their first goals of the season in the final 21 minutes of play to put an exclamation mark on the performance and send the Irish into the NCAA Championships second round with a 5-1 victory.