PITTSBURGH — The No. 20 Fighting Irish men’s soccer team scored twice in the span of 12 seconds to defeat top-seeded Pitt and head to the ACC Championship final on Sunday in Cary, North Carolina. The win snaps Pitt’s 19-match home winning streak, dating back to the 2019 season.
The Irish goals came from Jack Lynn and Daniel Russo, both coming in the 77th minute. Tyler Shea set up Lynn’s opener and then Lynn assisted on the goal from Russo to seal the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish soaked up pressure in the opening 45 minutes of play and then sprung counters when presented the opportunity. Notre Dame had two great scoring chances, the first coming in the 26th minute. Ethan O’Brien played a through ball into space that Jack Lynn ran onto. Lynn then beat his defender but the Pitt keeper came off his line and made a sliding save.
Twelve minutes later the Irish counter nearly found the opener. Dawson McCartney found Daniel Russo on the left flank and the sophomore cut inside and fired a shot on target but the keeper was up to the task and made the save.
The Irish came out of the halftime break and continued to defend at a high level, not allowing the Panthers clean looks at goal.
In the 77th minute the Irish caused a turnover at midfield and Tyler Shea played a perfect ball into Lynn, who fired into the net for the opening goal. Just 12 seconds later Notre Dame struck again. The Irish caused a turnover and then Lynn played a great pass to Russo, who slotted home to double the lead at 2-0.
The Irish then locked down on defense over the final 13 minutes to secure the spot in the ACC title match on Sunday.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the performance…
“Very impressed with the team’s performance. They did what we needed to do. They were tough, stuck together and did all of the intangibles that we pride ourselves on. Then we executed two executed two great goals and showed wonderful composure to close out the game and get another shutout against a top team. Not a bad result for the last place team in the ACC preseason poll.”
On the clean sheet…
“I think three straight clean sheets in the ACC Tournament says everything about the defending from the strikers all the way back to the goalkeeper. The backline is always keeping us organized and communicating well but I think it really says a lot about the team and the commitment to be really tough to score on.”
On the counterattack…
“We created turnovers in the midfield and when you do that it usually leads to good chances off of them. Then the guys showed great composure to finish the goals off.”
ND NOTES
- The Irish advance to their second ACC Championship final in nine seasons in the league with the win.
- ND is now 12-6-3 in ACC Championship history over its nine years in the league.
- The Irish snapped Pitt’s 19-game home win streak which dated back to the 2019 season.
- Notre Dame is now 20-7-3 against Pitt in the all-time matchup, winning both matches this season.
- The cleans sheet is Notre Dame’s 10th of the season.
- The Irish haven’t given up a goal in any of the three ACC Championship matches.
- Lynn scored his eighth goal of the season, leading the Irish on the season, and now has 29 in his career.
- Russo’s goal marks his third of the 2021 campaign and his fourth of his career.
UP NEXT
The Irish advance to the ACC Championship final to take on the winner of Clemson and Duke at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 14 in Cary, North Carolina. The title match will air on ESPNU.
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