STARKVILLE, Miss. – The No. 4 seeded Notre Dame women’s soccer squad is feeling elite! The Fighting Irish (14-3-4) will now make their 17th all-time Elite Eight appearance after knocking off No. 1 seed Mississippi State, 2-0. Doug & Lisa Jones Family head coach Nate Norman has now reached the Elite Eight twice in the past three years.
The Irish became the first team to score on the Bulldogs’ (19-3-0) home pitch all season and the first to earn a win there as well.
This also marked the first time Notre Dame toppled a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since the 2010 season, which coincidentally was the last time the Irish won a national championship.
Who else but Izzy Engle got the first Irish goal of the game. She now owns 19 on the season, which puts her in a tie for most in the country. Lily Joseph earned her sixth assist on the year which brings her points total to 22.
Grace Restovich also supplied a goal in the first half. It marked her fifth on the season to bring her points total to 21.That means that Engle, Joseph and Restovich all now boast 20+ points on the season and they are just freshmen.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame was all over Mississippi State in the first half. Case in point, the shot differential at halftime was 14-1.
The Irish scored two goals five minutes apart, with the first coming in the 25th minute. Lily Joseph played a ball over the top as Engle timed her run perfectly. With just the Mississippi State keeper to beat, she tapped it past her into the corner for the goal.
Fast forward to the 30th minute and Restovich’s goal was simply something to marvel at. Ellie Ospeck dished to Restovich about 25 yards out. The St. Louis native took a few dribbles to her left and then unleashed a rocket to the upper-right 90.
The Fighting Irish continued to lock it down in the second half. In fact, the Bulldogs didn’t register their first shot on goal until the 81st minute.
Ultimately, the Irish ran out the clock and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the second time in three years. Notre Dame outshot Mississippi State 24-8, with a 7-1 shots on goal advantage, plus an 8-0 edge on corners.
UP NEXT
The Irish will travel to three-seed Stanford, whom they played earlier in the ACC regular season. That match will take place this upcoming weekend at a TBD time.
— ND –