SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Notre Dame women’s soccer team (7-8, 3-4) hit the road for the first time in almost three weeks on Saturday when they took on the Syracuse Orange (3-12, 0-7). The Irish jumped out to an early lead after a goal from Eva Hurm in the fourth minute and never looked back. Notre Dame tallied its most goals in a game this season and defeated Syracuse 5-1.
How it Happened
The Irish put the pressure on early and got on the scoreboard in the fourth minute. Shannon Hendricks made a run up the left side and played the ball towards the far post. Eva Hurm maneuvered around her defender and was able to volley the cross into the back of the net for the opening goal. It was Hurm’s third goal of the season and her first since she scored twice in the season opener against Central Michigan.
Following the opening goal, both teams settled in and not much action occurred outside of the midfield. Syracuse only mustered three shots in the first half; the first was blocked by Hendricks and the other two were saved by Brooke Littman.
As the half was coming to a close, Karin Muya received the ball and made a run towards the box. She got past a couple of defenders before firing a shot from outside the box. The ball deflected off an Orange defender and past Harris for the goal. It was Muya’s team-leading fifth goal of the season, setting a career high for goals in a single season.
Syracuse broke through in the second half, taking advantage of a crazed possession in front of the Irish goal. Kate Hostage got the ball right in front of Littman and immediately took a shot on goal. Littman dove to save the shot but the ball deflected back out and Georgia Allen was first to it and she scored on the open net to cut into the Irish lead.
Moments after the Orange got on the scoreboard, Notre Dame answered and regained its two-score lead.
Hurm got over midfield and sent a ball up to Sammi Fisher who was making a run towards the top of the box. Fisher got to the ball first as Harris was coming out from the net. Fisher took one touch to get by Harris and scored on the open net for the third goal of the evening for the Irish.
Notre Dame added two more goals in the final 10 minutes of play. Jennifer Westendorf scored her fourth of the year off a header from a Sabrina Flores corner kick. Then in the final minute, Muya made another run through the Syracuse defense and curled a shot around Harris for her second goal of the night to secure the 5-1 win.
The Irish recorded a season high five goals and it was the most since last November when they defeated IUPUI 5-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Muya tallied her first career multi-goal game and four different players scored for the Irish tonight which allowed for a lot of space in the attacking third.
“Yes I think it’s a great that we have so much depth in our attack,” said Muya. “It allows the team to try different combinations of players and vary the way in which attack our different opponents.”
Coach Norman Says…
On the team’s performance…
“I was very happy with how we played tonight. We started the game strong and when they got their goal our response was tremendous.”
Notching a season-high five goals…
“We have a lot of very good attacking players and we are very difficult to defend when they are all playing their best. It was great to see a variety of goals tonight.”
Stats of the Match
- Notre Dame improves to 14-0-1 all-time against Syracuse after the 5-1 win. The Orange are the third opponent the Irish are undefeated against with a minimum of 10 games played.
- The Irish are now 5-0 this season when they scored first after Hurm scored in the fourth minute Saturday against Syracuse.
Coming Up Next
Notre Dame will return to campus for a few days before they go back on the road for their final road trip of the season. The Irish will start with a matchup Thursday against Virginia Tech before taking on Pittsburgh to end the trip. Thursday’s match with the Hokies will kick off at 7 p.m. ET and will be broadcast 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.
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