ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The No. 6 Fighting Irish men’s soccer team turned in a complete performance in a 3-0 victory against Michigan in Ann Arbor to close out the non-conference portion of the regular season schedule.
The Irish have now won six straight matches, their longest streak since also winning six in a row during the 2021 season.
The three goals came from three different players on the evening, as Eno Nto, KK Baffour and Matthew Roou each scored in the win.
The Irish defense put on another stifling performance, recording their fourth straight shutout. In goal, Bryan Dowd recorded his seventh clean sheet of the season.
Notre Dame has won each of the last three meetings against Michigan and has scored multiple goals in each victory. The three-goal win over the Wolverines is the largest margin of victory for the Irish since also winning 3-0 during the 2013 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame created a couple of scoring chances in the opening stages of play but were unable to convert. Daniel Russo fired a shot over the bar while cutting into the box off a short corner in the sixth minute.
Twenty minutes later Russo got loose down the right flank and ran in on goal but his shot was right at the Wolverine keeper, who parried it out for a corner.
The Irish found the breakthrough goal right before the halftime break, scoring with 14 seconds left in the first frame. Mitch Ferguson played a long ball over the top to Matthew Roou, who laid it off while being fouled to Nto. The junior produced a clinical left-footed finish, slotting it just inside the far post to give Notre Dame a 1-0 lead hedging into intermission.
Notre Dame wasted no time doubling their lead in the second half, scoring in the 52nd minute to make it 2-0. Nolan Spicer beat his man to the end line on the right flank and sent in a dangerous cross into the box. Baffour managed to get his right foot onto the ball while falling down, poking it in for his second goal of the season.
The Irish did not let up, as they kept pressing to extend their lead. In the 83rd minute the Notre Dame press created a turnover in Michigan’s final third, as Baffour fed Roou, who calmly placed the ball inside the far post to make it 3-0 in favor of the Irish.
Notre Dame comfortably saw the match out on its way to the 3-0 win.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the performance…
“Really pleased with the performance and the mentality we played with. We knew Michigan was going to pose challenges and problems for us and I am really proud of the way the team performed and stayed focus throughout the 90 minutes.”
On the play of the attack…
“We started to click a little bit and then obviously we found the finishing touch which was key and something we talked about coming into the game. We talked about having quality attacks and I think the team did a great job of that.”
On four straight clean sheets…
“We knew Michigan was a good team that has been unlucky for some of their attacking moments so we knew we would have to be good defensively. The moments when they were on top of us I thought we looked really solid at the back and took care of the details pretty well.”
ND STAT OF THE MATCH
Notre Dame is the first team to shutout Virginia Tech during the 2023 season.
ND NOTES
- With the win, Notre Dame is now 16-3-4 against Michigan in the all-time series
- Notre Dame has recorded four straight clean sheets
- The Irish allowed one or no goals in 13 of 14 matches this season
- Notre Dame is now unbeaten over the last 30 matches when it scores first, posting a record of 29-0-1
- The Irish six-match winning streak is the longest since also winnings six straight during the 2021 season
- Nto’s goal gives him a career-high six on the season, surpassing his freshman total of five
- Nto now has 13 goals in his Fighting Irish career
- Roou scored his career-best ninth goal of the season to go along with an assist and he now has 20 career goals and 10 career assists for 50 points in his three years in South Bend
- Baffour scored his second goal of the season and fourth of his career
- Ferguson recorded his second assist of the season and fourth of his career
- Spicer’s assist was his second of the 2023 campaign
- Dowd’s clean sheet is his seventh of the season and 20th of his career
UP NEXT
The Irish wrap up the road portion of the regular-season schedule with a top-10 showdown against Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 20. An Irish victory would clinch the ACC regular-season title. The match will air on ACCN.
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