SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s soccer team turned in an emphatic performance at Alumni Stadium on Sunday evening, defeating IUPUI by a final score of 5-0 to improve to 1-0-1 on the young season.
The impressive attacking display was highlighted by Matthew Roou’s first career hat trick, with all three goals coming in the second half.
Eno Nto and KK Baffour also got off the mark for the 2023 season, each scoring first half goals.
Goalkeeper Bryan Dowd was credited with a clean sheet, finishing with two saves on the evening.
HOW IT HAPPENED
For the second straight game the Irish struck first, wasting no time with a goal in the eighth minute courtesy of Nto. Baffour played a beautiful no-look pass to break the line, finding Nto, who calmly finished inside the far post for the opening goal.
The Irish kept the intensity up, pressing to double their lead. In the 21st minute Notre Dame went up 2-0 thanks to Baffour’s first goal of the year. A great pass from center back Josh Ramsey down the flank led to a centering ball from Roou, which got deflected to Baffour, who fired it in off a deflection.
Notre Dame took the 2-0 lead into break after controlling the opening 45 minutes of play. The Irish outshot the Jaguars 7-1 in the half.
The hosts extended their lead to 3-0 in the 64th minute on a long ball from Bryce Boneau was flicked on by Wyatt Borso to Roou, who slotted home his first goal of the night and season.
Roou scored his second of the evening in the 85th minute. Paddy Burns sent a dangerous ball into the box off the left flank, which was cleared by IUPUI out to Roou, who one-timed a right-footed finish past the Jaguars’ keeper to make the score 4-0.
Less than two minutes later Roou completed his hat trick from the spot. The Irish were awarded a penalty after the IUPUI goalkeeper brought down Nolan Spicer in the box off a great pass from Roou. The junior made no mistake with the finish, sending the goalkeeper the wrong direction to put the exclamation mark on the Irish performance with the 5-0 victory.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the performance…
“Overall we are really pleased. We knew IUPUI was going to be a tough opponent, they have been picked to finish second in the Horizon League and we watched their first game and knew they were a good team and have good players. We are happy with the result.”
On the clean sheet…
“That was huge. That was our objective. Once you get your head out a little bit and you’ve got 45 minutes to keep a clean sheet, I was proud of the effort in the second half to ensure we kept the clean sheet.”
On Roou’s hat trick…
“He’s an important player and obviously a really good player so anytime your attacking players score goals its a good thing. He has worked very hard to earn those goals from January until now.”
ND STAT OF THE MATCH
Notre Dame’s five goals are the most it has scored against a DI opponent since defeating IPFW by a score of 8-0 on Oct. 8, 2019.
ND NOTES
- The Irish improve to 5-0-1 against IUPUI in the all-time series
- Notre Dame outshot the Jaguars 14-5 and took 11 corners to their six
- Roou’s hat trick is the first for Notre Dame since Daniel Russo scored three times in the win over Michigan on Oct. 25, 2022
- With an assist and a goal in the win, Baffour now has four points on the year off a goal and two assists
- Nto’s goal is his first of the season and eighth of his Notre Dame career
- Dowd’s clean sheet is his first of the season and 14th of his career
UP NEXT
The Irish continue their homestand to open the season as NIU comes to Alumni Stadium for a 7 p.m. ET match on Friday, Sept. 1. The game will be streamed on ACCNX and admission to the match is free.
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