Notre Dame men’s soccer falls in NCAA championship game
A terrific season for Notre Dame ended tonight after a 2-1 loss in the College Cup National Championship game in Louisville, Ky.
The Irish fell behind 2-0 but pulled to within 2-1 with one minute left in the match when senior defender Paddy Burns scored on a penalty kick to make things interesting.
The Irish never had a chance at a scoring threat again and fell in a lively and entertaining game.
Clemson scored first on an acrobatic right-footed straight-on blast from about 40 feet from senior midfielder Brandon Parrish in the 27th minute.
The deficit seemed to awaken an Irish team that was outplayed through the early going.
But despite a more aggressive approach to its offensive approach the rest of the match, Notre Dame was unable to find the back of the net until late, and 14th-year Clemson head coach Mike Noonan ran his record to 145-11-2 when scoring first in a match, and claimed his second national title in the last three seasons.
Clemson extended its lead to 2-0 in the 70th minute, and Notre Dame had no legitimate answers, despite winning the shots battle 15-9 and the shots on goal battle 5-3 in the game.
“I can’t say enough good things about the team that I’ve had the pleasure to work with,” Irish head coach Chad Riley said immediately after the loss. “And tonight, with the exception of maybe hitting the back of the net, this is our best performance of the tournament. I couldn’t be more proud to be associated with these guys and the greatest university in the world.”
A great season
Even in defeat, this season was a magical one for the Irish 13-3-6, who won the ACC regular season title with a 6-0-2 record, its first league title since 2014.
Much of the credit for Notre Dame’s terrific season needs to go to senior goalkeeper Bryan Dowd, who ranked second in the country this season with 11 shutouts.
Dowd was one of seven Fighting Irish players who were selected for All-ACC teams. Dowd and junior forward Matthew Roou both received first-team accolades, while fellow junior forward Eno Nto earned second-team status after leading the Irish with 11 goals.
Three other Irish — junior midfielder Bryce Boneau, junior defender Kyle Genenbacher and senior forward/midfielder Daniel Russo — all took third-team honors.
Notre Dame head coach Chad Riley also garnered ACC Coach of the Year honors in 2023.
The terrific 2023 season capped a turnaround from 2022 when the Irish finished a disappointing 8-7-2 overall, lost in the first round of the ACC Tournament and failed to make the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in 11 seasons.
