SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Matthew Roou turned in one of the best performances of his Fighting Irish career, scoring a hat trick with three goals to pace the attack in the 6-1 win over Chicago State at Alumni Stadium on Friday evening.
Roou’s hat trick was the second of his career and he now leads the Irish in scoring with four goals on the season.
Jack Flanagan also had a career night, recording a brace off two goals in the second half. Kyle Genenbacher accounted for the other Fighting Irish goal, scoring the opener off a header.
The Irish attack was fluid over the 90 minutes, as the team racked up eight assists. Sebastian Green entered the evening with no career assists and finished the night with three on the stat sheet to lead the way. Ian Shaul and KK Baffour each added two while Bryce Boneau registered one.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish turned in their most dominant half of the season over the first 45 minutes of play against the Cougars, building a 3-0 lead by the halftime break.
After early pressure, Notre Dame scored the opener off a set piece. Baffour’s service from the corner was nodded in by Genenbacher for his second goal of the season to put the Irish up 1-0 in the 16th minute.
Just four minutes later Roou doubled the Irish lead. Green beat his man to the endline and centered a pass that Roou one-timed into the bottom right corner of the goal to make it 2-0.
In the final moments of the half, the Irish added another goal, also coming from Roou. Baffour played Green into space in the box and once again the left back connected with Roou, as the senior made no mistake with the finish to give Notre Dame a 3-0 lead at the intermission.
The visitors managed to pull one back in the opening stages of the second half, scoring in the 49th minute to cut the Irish advantage to 3-1.
However, Notre Dame responded immediately, as Roou completed his hat trick just 40 seconds later to restore the three-goal lead. Boneau forced a turnover in the final third and then Shaul found Roou on the edge of the area. The striker was clinical in his finish, tucking the ball inside the near post for his third of the match.
The final 20 minutes of play belonged to Flanagan. The redshirt sophomore struck twice in a span of eight minutes to bag his first career brace and put an exclamation mark on the Fighting Irish performance, as they went on to win by a score of 6-1.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the match…
“I’m pleased with the result. Winning games in college soccer is tough and scoring goals is tough. It’s nice to do both tonight against Chicago State.”
On Matthew Roou’s performance…
“He had a little bit more conviction in the final third and his movement in the box was a little sharper and more aggressive and obviously he found his finishing touch as well.”
On the crowd…
“It was excellent. It was a great crowd and our guys love playing at Alumni in front of a big crowd.”
ND NOTES
- With the win, the Irish improve to 2-0-0 against Chicago State in the all-time series
- The Irish are now unbeaten in their last 39 matches when scoring first, improving to 34-0-5 during the run
- The eight assists are a season high for the Irish
- Roou’s hat trick gives him 25 career goals, the most on the active roster
- The hat trick is the second in Roou’s career, as he previously accomplished the feat in a win over IUPUI on August 27, 2023
- Flanagan’s first career brace gives him three goals in his career, all coming this season
- Genenbacher scored his second goal of the season, both coming off set-piece headers with Baffour on the delivery
- Green’s three assists are tied for the most in the country at the men’s DI level and are the most in the ACC for assists in a match
- Baffour matched his career high for assists in a game with two and now has 13 in his Fighting Irish career
- Shaul picked up the first two points of his young career, notching two assists
- Boneau’s assist gives him 13 in his Notre Dame career, tied with Baffour for most on the active roster
UP NEXT
The Irish have a quick turnaround and welcome Detroit Mercy to town for a midweek matchup at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at Alumni Stadium. The match will air on ACCNX.
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