SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-2-2, 2-1-0) suffered their first loss at home this season as they fell 0-1 to the Syracuse Orange (7-3-0, 1-2-0) at Alumni Stadium on Friday night.
The Irish struggled to get things going as the Orange controlled possession, outshooting the Irish 13-4 on the night. Junior goalkeeper Blake Kelly, this week’s ACC Co-Defensive Player of the Week, finished the night with four saves for the Irish.
Freshman Tristan Tropeano had the first look of the night for the Irish in the 16th minute as Tropeano passed it to an attacking Diego Green into the right side of the box. Green passed it towards the near post and off the chest of Tropeano, but the shot was saved.
After a scoreless first half, the Orange would put themselves on the board in the 71st minute as they found the back of the net on a corner kick to make it 1-0.
Tropeano led the attack for the Irish, taking three of their four shot attempts, and had a great look in the closing minutes. In an effort to level the score, Tropreano fired it from the top of the box in the 88th minute, but the shot would land just wide of the goal.
Unable to find an equalizer down the stretch, Notre Dame fell 0-1 to the Orange.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the match…
“Obviously disappointed with the result and the performance, but was pleased with the attitude and effort. I just don't think we could really get things going enough tonight, even though the last 20 minutes I thought we started to look a bit better. Part of that credit goes to Syracuse – they were excellent tonight. They made life very difficult for us. They really tested us and we just couldn't find our rhythm, but like I said, proud of the group for keeping going. We pushed to the very end and made some good chances there at the end to try and salvage a draw, but we just have to learn from it, move on, and get ready for the next game."
NEXT UP
The Irish will head to UIC (2-4-1, 0-0) on Tuesday, Sept. 29 to take on the Flames at 8:00 PM ET (7:00 PM CT) at Flames Field.