NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Notre Dame battled Syracuse to a hard-fought 1-0 win in a cagey affair at Alumni Stadium on Sunday afternoon to even its season record at 2-2.
For the second straight match the Notre Dame goal was supplied by junior Jack Lynn, who scored off an exquisite set-piece from freshman Paddy Burns.
The Irish defense turned in a strong 90-minute shift, putting the clamps on the Orange attack en route to the second Irish clean sheet of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish wasted little time getting the scoring started, striking in the sixth minute to take the 1-0 lead. Notre Dame capitalized on its first corner of the game, perfectly executing a training ground set piece. Paddy Burns’ service was rolled to Lynn, who made no mistake with the finish, slotting into the bottom corner.
Just before the halftime break, Syracuse had their best scoring opportunity of the day. The Orange forward got behind the backline but goalkeeper Keagan McLaughlin alertly sprung off his line to make the save to give Notre Dame the 1-0 lead heading into the intermission.
The Irish put on a defensive masterclass over the final 45 minutes of play, stifling Syracuse and not allowing the visitors any great looks at goal. Notre Dame saw the match out and captured the 1-0 win to improve to 1-1 in ACC play.
STAT OF THE MATCH
The Irish recorded their second clean sheet of the season in just four outings. Notre Dame limited the Orange attack to just four shots on target.
HEAD COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the performance…
“I thought it was a good, gritty performance and a deserved victory. Credit to Syracuse, we knew they were going to make the game tough. They have some really quality attacking players and are very physical. They pushed us right to the end. We would have loved to have scored a second goal but we didn’t and I love how the team stuck together and really battled to see this one through.”
On the corner kick goal…
“It was something we thought might work in the game so we worked on it and the guys did an unbelievable good job executing it. Set pieces are always going to be important when teams are evenly matched. It was just something the guys did a great job executing.”
On the defensive effort…
“They did the basic things really well and I don’t mean basic as in being easy. Syracuse puts you under pressure with both deliveries into the box and also with one-on-one dribbling and the team did a really good job of doing the fundamentals well.”
NOTES OF THE MATCH
- The Irish improve to 15-3-2 against the Orange in the all-time series and is now 7-2-1 when playing at home.
- Notre Dame continues to capitalize on corners, as it has now scored three goals off corners in just four games.
- Lynn scored his second goal of the season and 15th of his career, which leads all active Notre Dame players.
- Burns earned the first point of his young collegiate career, recording the assist on the goal from Lynn.
- Burns made his first career start in the victory.
UP NEXT
The Irish head to Blacksburg for an ACC matchup against Virginia Tech at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 18. The match will be broadcast on ACCNX.
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