SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The No. 20 Fighting Irish men’s soccer team won a thrilling 3-2 matchup against Clemson in the ACC opener on Saturday night in front of a packed crowd at Alumni Stadium to remain unbeaten on the season at 4-0-1.
The three goals were scored by the Irish trio of Eno Nto, Bryce Boneau and Daniel Russo to deliver the Notre Dame victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame has made a habit of scoring first and Saturday was no different, as the hosts struck in the 16th minute to jump out in front 1-0. The Irish goal came off a corner, as Kyle Genenbacher’s shot was saved off the line by a Clemson defender which led to Nto being the first to react and poke it into the net for his second of the season.
The Irish doubled their lead in the 33rd minute, this time with Nto setting it up. The junior played a ball to Boneau in the box, whose first touch took him past a defender and created space for him to beat the oncoming Clemson keeper with his shot inside the near post to make the score 2-0.
Unfortunately for the Irish, the two-goal lead evaporated in less than a minute right before the end of the first half, as the Tigers scored two goals in a span of 41 seconds to draw level heading into the halftime break at 2-2.
Notre Dame came out of the intermission locked in and wasted no time in regaining the lead. After Matthew Roou was brought down just outside the top of the box Daniel Russo stepped up to take the free kick. The senior curled an effort just inside the far post to put the Irish back in front at 3-2 with his first goal of the season.
The Irish kept creating chances and nearly went back up by two goals on numerous occasions but the Clemson defense managed to keep it a 3-2 advantage for the hosts.
In the waning minutes of action Clemson poured forward but the Irish backline refused to break, putting out fires in the final third. With less than 90 seconds left Clemson fired off a shot that appeared to be destined for the top corner but Bryan Dowd made a huge diving save to keep the ball out of the net and seal the 3-2 conference victory.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the performance…
“I’m really proud of the group, it was a really good team performance. From the guys on the field to the guys on the bench they really helped keep us going and I’m really proud of how the group responded to giving up a couple of late goals in the first half. They came out with a resolve in the second half to get the victory.”
On the team’s resiliency…
“I think resiliency is a great word to describe it. We have a very resilient and mature group and they showed a lot of it to respond the way they did and to play well and to then defend really well for the last eight minutes or so.”
On the crowd…
“Amazing crowd. So happy for so many of the young soccer players that came out tonight. We also had so many students, it was one of the best crowds we have had in my time here.”
ND STAT OF THE MATCH
Notre Dame’s three goals are the most the Irish have ever scored in a match against Clemson, spanning 14 contests.
ND NOTES
- The Irish improve to 7-5-2 against Clemson in the all-time series and are now 3-1-0 when playing the Tigers in South Bend
- With a record of 4-0-1, Notre Dame is off to its best start since beginning the 2017 season with a mark of 6-0-0
- Nto now has two goals on the season and nine in his Fighting Irish career
- Boneau’s goal was the first of his career
- Russo got off the mark with his first goal of the season and he now has 11 goals over his four seasons in South Bend
- With goals from Russo and Boneau, the Irish have now had six different players score goals through five matches during the 2023 campaign
UP NEXT
The Irish cap off their six-match homestand to open the year with a non-conference clash against Big Ten foe Michigan State at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Sept. 12. The match will air on ACCN.
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