INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The No. 20 Notre Dame women’s soccer team (3-1) was unable to pick-up its fourth-consecutive win to begin the season as they fell on the road to Butler 4-1 Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs (3-0) struck in the opening minutes and scored twice in a three minute span in the second half to defeat the Irish.
How it Happened
Butler jumped out to an early lead on its first possession of the afternoon. Anja Savich switched the field over to Paige Monaghan who had some space heading into the box. She sent a low shot towards the far post and past Interian for the goal.
The best chance in the first half for the Irish came shortly after Butler opened the scoring. Eva Hurm made a run up the left side and beat her defender down the end line. As she got into the box, she sent a shot towards the far post but a Butler defender was on the goal line and sent the scoring chance away.
Butler had another chance in the 14th minute. Monaghan received the ball in the attacking third and was in a footrace with a couple of Irish defenders. Monaghan fired a shot on goal but Mattie Interian made a great save and kept the Irish within one.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Olivia Wingate beat her defender into the box and drew a penalty after a failed slide tackle. Wingate’s penalty shot had great pace on it but Butler’s keeper was able to dive and make the save.
The Bulldogs responded with the next chance in the 58th minute and they took full advantage. Butler’s first shot of the possession was blocked but Morgan Kloosterman got to the rebound and slotted home a shot inside the left post for the goal.
Minutes later, the Bulldogs were pressing in the offensive third but Interian made another great save on Monaghan. The Bulldogs once again got to the rebound and Katie Soderstrom put home the goal between a couple of Irish defenders.
The Irish would not go away without a fight as moments later they got on the scoreboard. The play got started with a cross from Brooke VanDyck to Jennifer Westendorf, who was sitting at the top of the box. Westendorf had a great one-touch over to Wingate as she entered the box. Wingate made a move to her right and fired a shot to the left corner and beat the keeper for her first career goal.
Monaghan added her second goal of the game for the Bulldogs in the waning minutes to close out the win for Butler.
Coming Up Next
The Irish head back home and prepare to square off with Cincinnati Thursday at Alumni Stadium. Thursday’s match with the Bearcats will begin at 7 pm ET and be aired on the ACC Network Extra.
For behind-the-scenes coverage of the Irish women’s soccer program, follow @NDSoccer on Twitter and @NDWSoccer on Instagram. For tickets to a Notre Dame women’s soccer match, click here.
–ND–Matt Paras, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since January 2018. In his role, he coordinates all media efforts for Notre Dame women’s soccer, baseball and assists in ice hockey. A native of Warwick, Rhode Island, Paras is a graduate of the University of Louisville where he completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Sport Administration. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, he worked at Vanderbilt University as the sports information contact for the women’s soccer and lacrosse programs.