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Irish Held To Third Straight Draw Sunday At Syracuse

Sept. 18, 2016

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By Joanne Norell

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — For the third straight game, the University of Notre Dame women’s soccer team played into double overtime, and for the third straight game, the No. 20 Irish played to a draw, this time in a 1-1 affair at Syracuse to open Atlantic Coast Conference play.

The Irish (5-1-3, 0-0-1 ACC) faced a 1-0 deficit heading into halftime, but answered in the 52nd minute as Taylor Klawunder scored her second goal of the season for the equalizer.

The Irish held a 16-14 advantage in shots, a 7-6 edge in shots on goal and an 11-4 margin in corner kicks.

Player of the Game

Junior forward Taylor Klawunder gave their Irish their lone goal on her second score of the season, heading the equalizer into the opposite post on a corner kick in the 52nd minute. It was one of two shots for Klawunder on the afternoon.

Honorable mention:
Freshman forward Jennifer Westendorf tallied four shots on the day to bring her season total to 40.

Play of the Game

The Irish owned a significant advantage on corner kicks, but couldn’t convert until their second attempt of the second half. The Irish earned back-to-back corner kicks in the 52nd minute and, after Jennifer Westendorf’s service on the first try ended in a deflected shot by Monica Flores, Flores sent in the second attempt. The junior defender’s feed found junior midfielder Taylor Klawunder on the back post, and Klawunder headed it into the opposite corner to even the score for her second goal of the season.

Turning Point

The Irish headed into halftime facing a 1-0 lead for the second straight game after Syracuse’s Eva Gordon buried a rebound shot in the 33rd minute during a scrum in front of the Irish net on an Orange corner kick. The Irish returned from the intermission on the attack, picking up two straight corner kick attempts, finally converting on the second one. All told, Notre Dame owned an 11-4 advantage on corner kicks.

Coach Theresa Romagnolo Says

On playing in three straight overtime games…
“It’s always great to come back from being down a goal, so I think that’s a great response, but obviously we don’t want to go down 1-nil. I thought we did look a bit tired. We’ve traveled a lot in the last week and another game went into overtime.”

On the corner kick advantage…
“We had a couple of really good chances over the course of the game — some were on corners, some where not — and we jus didn’t convert on those opportunitites. I like that we were creating corners; I think it’s a reflection of us being aggressive in the wide areas of the field. Syracuse was tough and defended really well, so credit to them getting their feet on a lot of things.”

On improving the team’s offensive production…
“We want to see consistency of performance, specifically quality in our attack. I think we create half-chances for ourselves, and if we bring a bit more quality, we’ll create a real goal-scoring opportunity. I think we need to clean it up.”

Note of the Game

Notre Dame has gone to double overtime in each of its last three contests. Sunday marked the first time in program history that the Irish had played in three straight double overtime contest and the first time since 1998 that the Irish had played three consecutive overtime matches.

#20 Notre Dame 1, Syracuse 1
September 18, 2016
Syracuse, N.Y. (SU Soccer Stadium)

Notre Dame 0 1 0 0 — 1
Syracuse 1 0 0 0 — 1

SU1. Eva Gordon (Stephanie Skilton) 32:15. ND1. Taylor Klawunder (Monica Flores) 52:20.

Total Shots: ND 16 (5-3-4-4), SU 14 (6-5-2-1)
Shots on Goal: ND 7, SU 6
Saves: ND 5 (Kaela Little 5 in 110:00), SU 6 (Courtney Brosnan 6 in 110:00)
Corner Kicks: ND 11 (4-5-1-1), SU 4 (1-2-0-1)
Offsides: ND 1, SU 2
Fouls: ND 14 (5-5-2-2), SU 11 (4-4-2-1)
Yellow Cards: SU 2 (Natasha Tcheki, 38:52; Jessica Vigna, 71:41)

Records: ND 5-1-3, 0-0-1 ACC; SU 7-1-2, 0-0-1 ACC
Next for ND: vs. NC State (7-2-0, 1-0-0 ACC), 7:00 p.m. ET Thursday at Dail Soccer Field (Raleigh, N.C.)

— ND —

Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, and earned her master’s degree in sports industry management from Georgetown University in 2013.