HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish held possession to start and were able to outshoot the Hurricanes 12-0 through the first 45 minutes of play. While the Irish had several scoring opportunities, it would be Izzy Engle with the first look of the night. Engle would record 5 of Notre Dame’s 12 first half shots, hungry to put the Irish on the board.
Shortly after, shifty footwork from Bristol Kersh and then Joseph led to a shot from Joseph just outside the six-yard box. While her shot was saved, the rebound led to an Engle header, but the Miami goalkeeper made yet another stop.
As the Irish remained aggressive, another great scoring chance came from Restovich in the 18th minute, but her shot would land just wide of the target.
Engle continued to find opportunities as she would have back-to-back looks in the 25th and 26th minutes. Her first header would land high, but her second shot that she fired from 20 yards out resulted in an impressive save from Miami to keep the Irish off the board.
With sublime footwork, Joseph took a shot from distance in the 38th minute, but it would result in another Miami save. The Hurricanes recorded five saves on Notre Dame’s 12 shots in the first half.
Despite Notre Dame’s persistent attacking efforts, it was a scoreless first half at Alumni Stadium.
In the 57th minute, the Irish’s relentless endeavors would finally pay off. As Engle attacked into the left side of the box, she found the feet of Joseph, whose light touch sent it ahead to Restovich. Restovich’s right-footed strike from just outside the six-yard box found the back of the net to put the Irish in front 1-0.
Looking to make it a two-goal lead in the 68th minute and 69th minutes, Engle and Joseph each recorded another shot, but resulted in back-to-back Miami saves.
In the 75th minute, Joseph delivered a beautiful ball into the box and while Hodsden’s header was on target, it would be Miami goalkeeper Atlee Olofson’s 10th save of the night.
Morgan Roy recorded her first shot of the night in the 84th minute as she fired it from the top of the box, but was saved yet again.
While the Hurricanes would take their only two shots of the night in the closing minute of the match, the Fighting Irish would hold on to take home their final regular season victory.
DOUG AND LISA JONES FAMILY HEAD WOMEN’S SOCCER COACH NATE NORMAN’S TAKE
On the match…
“I’m super proud of the team. Obviously, it's such an honor to win the ACC regular season title with so many amazing teams in the conference. It's been an interesting season with a lot of the adversity that we battled through and the resilience that we've shown. Early on, we had some players out, but a lot of players stepped up, and I think it only really made us stronger.
Going into the season, we always talked about how we respond to the tough moments and how that really decides how our season goes. Really looking at this, I'm just super, super proud, especially in the context of us getting close last year and not quite getting over the finish line. Being able to do that tonight in a really tough game, I’m so proud of our players and super happy to get the win over a really good Miami team tonight.”
UP NEXT
The Irish have secured the top seed in the 2026 Ally ACC Women’s Soccer Championship as they will take on the winner of 4-seed Florida State and 5-seed Virginia on Thursday, Nov. 12 in Cary, NC. For more information on the conference championship, click here.
