NOTRE DAME, Ind. – After a close matchup with No. 3 North Carolina Thursday night, another top-10 team is set to come to Alumni Stadium on Sunday. The Notre Dame women’s soccer team (6-7, 2-3) is set for a Sunday matinee against No. 8 Virginia (10-2, 3-2) with first kick scheduled for 12 p.m. ET. The Irish picked up their first ranked win of the season last Sunday when they defeated No. 21 NC State 2-1 at Alumni Stadium.
WHAT: No. 8 Virginia vs. Notre Dame
WHEN: Oct. 7 at 12 p.m. (ET)
WHERE: Alumni Stadium (Notre Dame, Ind.)
BROADCAST: ACC Network Extra
LIVE STATS: UND.com
TWITTER: @NDSoccer
SERIES HISTORY: CAVALIERS
The Irish and Cavaliers will square off for the sixth time in school history Sunday afternoon at Alumni Stadium. The Cavaliers hold a 4-1-1 series history against the Irish and have won both games at Alumni Stadium. Last season, the two teams played to a 1-1 draw at Klockner Stadium. In the 39th minute, Rachel Heard began a string of beautiful passes that touched the feet of junior Sabrina Flores, sophomore Natalie Jacobs and senior Meghan Doyle. The Irish controlled the ball midway up the field, eventually getting the ball to Yu, who broke away from the defender and scored in the upper right corner of the net. The goal marked Yu’s seventh of the season and gave Notre Dame a 1-0 lead in the 41st minute. The Cavaliers leveled the score in the 60th minute and a late opportunity for the Irish was called offside so the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
MUYA TIES CAREER HIGH AGAINST TAR HEELS
After facing an early deficit Thursday night against No. 3 North Carolina, the Irish pushed forward to try and tie the score. In the 11th minute, the Irish got that opportunity. Alexis Martel-Lamothe headed forward a failed UNC clear attempt up to Sabrina Flores who took one touch and flicked the ball up to Karin Muya who was streaking behind the Tar Heel defense. The UNC keeper came off her line but Muya beat her to the ball and sent a low shot off her right foot into the far corner for the equalizer. Muya’s goal was her fourth of the season to lead the team and tied a career high. She scored four in her first season with Irish back in 2014. Muya has started the past two games for Notre Dame and has scored in each contest.
BALANCED ATTACKED
The Irish boast a balanced offensive attack. Notre Dame has scored 16 goals this season with eight different players recording a goal. Muya leads the way with four goals and two coming in her last two games. Jennifer Westendorf is second on the squad with three goals and three other players have a pair of goals. Westendorf leads the team in points with 10 and assists with four. She picked up her team leading fourth assist on the season in the 1-0 win over Wake Forest. Muya tallied her team-leading fourth goal of the season against the Tar Heels to equalize the game in the 11th minute.–ND–