NOTRE DAME, Ind. – No. 20 Notre Dame (5-3-1, 2-1-0 ACC) won its second match of the week at Alumni Stadium on Friday evening, shutting out Boston College (2-3-3, 1-3-0 ACC) in a 1-0 victory.
Sophomore Aiden McFadden scored the match winner in the 49th minute that held up to give the Irish the win. The Irish defense was impenetrable, not allowing the Boston College attack to muster a single shot on target for the entire 90 minutes.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame and Boston College played to a scoreless standstill over the first 45 minutes of action, as the score line was 0-0 at the half. The Irish created a couple of scoring chances off corners in the first frame but were unable to find the breakthrough goal.
The Irish started the second half on the front foot, immediately putting pressure on the Boston College backline.
In the 49th minute the Irish grabbed the lead off McFadden’s goal. Junior Jack Casey sent a perfectly weighted through ball to McFadden, playing him in on goal. The forward finished past the oncoming Boston College keeper with a sliding toe poke to give him his second goal in as many matches.
Notre Dame nearly doubled its lead on two occasions in the 65th and 72nd minutes. First, senior Sean MacLeod fired a shot off the Eagles’ keeper, who managed to turn the shot onto the post before securing the rebound. Then, seven minutes later, senior Thomas Ueland ran through the Boston College defense and was in on goal but curled his effort just wide of the post.
In the 76th minute a Boston College player went late to ground into a challenge and was shown a straight red card, leaving the Eagles with just 10 men the rest of the way.
The Irish saw out the rest of the match en route to the 1-0 victory, their third clean sheet of the season.
STAT OF THE MATCH
Not only did the Irish defense record a shutout but it also did not allow a single shot on target over the 90 minutes of play. Boston College managed just four total shots over the course of the match.
HEAD COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the defense putting the team in position to win matches…
“We have started a lot of games with a lot of veterans, which puts us in position to start games with the right intensity. Team defense is part of any team that wants to win important matches late in the season so that is a testament to their preparation but also having the experience that they have what it takes to be ready for an opponent.”
On the play of Aiden McFadden…
“I thought Aiden was great. He always brings a lot of energy and quality. He is relentless in his runs without the ball and it was nice that Jack [Casey] found him and he had a great one-time finish.”
NOTES OF THE MATCH
- The Irish improve to 9-4-1 against the Eagles in the all-time series.
- Notre Dame is now 2-1-0 in ACC matches in 2018.
- The Irish have not allowed a goal in the first half of play in any match this season, spanning 405 minutes.
- McFadden has now scored in each of the last two matches and has three goals in 2018.
- With the assist, Casey has three on the season and 11 in his career.
- Senior goalkeeper Ryan Krutz recorded the third clean sheet of his career in the winning effort.
UP NEXT
The Irish are on the road at Northwestern for a midweek, non-conference clash with Northwestern. The contest is slated to begin at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Oct. 2. The match will be streamed live on BTN Plus via the BTN2GO app.
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