Irish and No. 9 Duke Play to 1-1 Draw

Box Score (PDF)

DURHAM, North Carolina — The Notre Dame women’s soccer team earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw over No. 9 Duke Thursday night in Durham. 

“We keyed in on our focus and making sure we got our steps right coming out of halftime,” said head coach Nate Norman. “Once we got that figured out, we turned them over a lot which gave us a lot of confidence and play more in the attacking half. We created a number of chances and eventually it led to the equalizer.”

After falling behind in the first half, the Irish (9-5-2, 3-3-2) stepped up the offensive attack in the second half and it led to the late equalizer. Olivia Wingate sprinted past the Duke (7-1-7, 2-0-6) defense after a flick pass was played up by Erin Hohnstein. Wingate was 1-on-1 with the keeper and she blasted the shot into the upper left corner for the goal.

It was Wingate’s second goal of the year and brought the game into extra time. Neither team found the back of the net in the extra 20 minutes and the game ended in a 1-1 draw and both teams got a point in ACC play.

How It Happened

The opening 30 minutes was quiet for both teams as the majority of possession was held in the midfield.

As the first half wound down, it looked like neither team would get on the scoreboard before halftime. 

The Blue Devils took advantage of a deflection in the 39th minute and capitalized for the game’s first goal. Duke’s initial cross into the box was deflected away but right to the foot of Ella Stevens. She wasted no time and fired a shot between a number of players and after a deflection, it found the back of the net for the opening goal.

In the second half, the Irish were on the front foot in hopes of finding the equalizer. 

In the 86th minute, the sustained possession paid off thanks to a play started by Jade Gosar. Gosar took the ball into the attacking half and played it up to Hohnstein. She flicked the ball into the box as Wingate was running past the last defender. Wingate took one touch and fired a shot past the keeper into the back of the net to tie the game.

In extra time, the fouls picked up which led to free kicks in dangerous areas for both squads. Neither team was able to take advantage of the free kicks and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Up Next

The Irish will close out the fall break trip with their final road game of the regular season on Sunday. Notre Dame will square off with NC State Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra.

For behind-the-scenes coverage of the Irish women’s soccer program, follow @NDSoccer on Twitter and @NDWSoccer on Instagram. For tickets to a Notre Dame women’s soccer match, click here.

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