SOUTH BEND, Ind. – It was the fifth straight victory and fifth straight shutout for the No. 9 Notre Dame women’s soccer team (5-1-0), as the Fighting Irish continue to roll through their non-conference slate. On Thursday, they pounced on the NIU, 4-0, handing the Huskies (3-1-1) their first lost of the season. The Irish have now outscored their opposition 17-0 in their five consecutive victories.
All four goals tonight came from the feet of three freshmen. Let’s first start with freshman sensation Izzy Engle. She recorded her third multi-goal performance of the season with a brace against NIU. She is now tied for the nation’s lead in goals scored with eight.
Freshman Grace Restovich earned her third goal of the season with a penalty kick conversion in the first half. The St. Louis native has recorded a point in all but one game this year.
Then there’s freshman Lily Joseph who notched her second goal of the season to improve to five points on the year.
Speaking of freshmen, goalkeeper Sonoma Kasica got the starting nod tonight and preserved the shutout streak with seven saves.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Doug & Lisa Jones Family Head Coach Nate Norman played with his starting lineup tonight, as Paige Buchner received her first career start and Berkley Mensik received her third.
The Irish scored two goals in the first half and they were two minutes apart from each other. The first came in the 10th minute thanks to the aforementioned Buchner. The sophomore headed the ball in the NIU box and was taken out by their goalkeeper who ultimately received a yellow card on the play. Grace Restovich got the nod to take the penalty kick and buried it.
In the 12th minute, Izzy Engle pressured NIU’s center back and caused a turnover. She then slid and got a toe poke on the ball which snuck past NIU’s charging keeper for the 2-0 lead.
The Irish certainly tried to push and attack the Huskie backline for they were called for 11 offsides in the first half. Notre Dame only owned a 3-2 shots-on-goal advantage but owned the scoreboard up 2-0 at the half.
Notre Dame came out firing to start the second half and recorded two near chances in the opening minutes. Restovich ripped a shot from deep outside the box and it ricocheted off the left post and away. Less than a minute later, Engle almost got her brace then. Roy played a ball from the right side and a beautiful first touch in the box allowed Engle to get a shot off but…