EAST LANSING, Mich. – The No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-0-1) earned their first road win of the season as they defeated the Michigan State Spartans (3-2-2) in a 3-0 victory on Thursday evening.
Sophomore Annabelle Chukwu put on a clinic, recording her first career hat trick with one goal coming in the first half and two goals in the second. This is also Chukwu’s first multi-goal game in her Irish career as she’s now recorded a total of eight career goals.
🚨 CHUKWU WITH THE HAT TRICK!! 🚨
Oh my, she did it again – another Chukwu header on the corner from Roy 😤#GoIrish☘️ | 📺 BTN pic.twitter.com/ekqe1fiwtE
— Notre Dame Women's Soccer (@NDSoccer) September 5, 2025
The last Irish hat trick was from Ellie Hodsden in her freshman season on October 17, 2024 as Notre Dame defeated California, 5-2.
Senior Leah Klenke, junior Morgan Roy, and sophomore Grace Restovich each assisted on Chukwu’s three goals.
Goalkeeper Sonoma Kasica finished with three saves in the win and recorded her tenth career clean sheet.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Klenke worked deep in the left corner, getting past her defender with shifty footwork to deliver a beautiful ball to the back post as a Chukwu header put the Irish up 1-0 in the 26th minute.
After leading 1-0 in the first half, Chukwu delivered just minutes into the second.
A blocked Izzy Engle shot fell at the feet of Restovich, who quickly found Chukwu to her left. Chukwu made a quick move to her right to create just enough space to shoot and bury it into the upper 90 to make it 2-0 in the 48th minute.
Two minutes later, the sophomore forward would go on to score the third and final Irish goal of the night.
In the 50th minute, Roy fired the perfect corner kick to the near post as another Chukwu header found the back of the net to cap off the hat trick.
UP NEXT
The Irish are back on the road on Sunday as they take on Marquette at 2:00 p.m. ET (1:00 p.m. CT).