After a 4-2 win against Green Bay Tuesday night, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s soccer team will hit the road and travel to Charlottesville, Virginia to take on the No. 8 team in the country in the Virginia Cavaliers. The Irish come into this one with an overall record of 7-2-3 and a record in conference play of 2-1-1. The Cavaliers are 7-1-2 overall and they are undefeated in conference play with a record of 3-0-2.
Notre Dame has been in a bit of a slump starting with a loss to SMU on Sept. 27. They were ranked No. 22 in the country last week, but they slipped out of the rankings after they were only able to beat Hope College, a Division III school, 3-2, and tie a relatively weak Virginia Tech team 1-1. However, returning from a high scoring win, 4-2 against Green Bay, the Irish are looking to build some momentum into this tough ranked battle.
The Notre Dame defense started the year with shutouts in three of their first five games. However, they have allowed nine goals in their last five matchups. The defense will need to get back on track if the Irish want to come out on top in this one. On the goalkeeping side of things, sophomore Blake Kelly improved his save percentage to 77.8% after the game against Green Bay where he picked up seven saves while allowing two goals. Kelly has an ACC-leading 42 saves on the year, so it’s clear that he has shouldered most of the defensive workload so far this year. Overall, the Notre Dame defense has cooled off in recent matches and they will need to return to the form they started the year take down this incredibly talented Virginia team.
The Notre Dame offense has been solid, but they only have one goal in their last two ACC contests. Senior Wyatt Borso has taken over the lead in goals scored for the team as he now has five goals on the year, helped by goals in back to back games now. Junior Nolan Spicer has also been essential to the offensive effort with nine goals on the year, though not in the way one would expect. After picking up two assists against Green Bay, Spicer leads not only the team but is also tied with the entire ACC for the lead in total assists with seven on the year. He has done a great job creating plays this year, and the Irish are going to need him to do more of the same tonight. Freshman Luke Burton will also need to continue his dominant offensive form as he has three goals and two assists on the year. The Notre Dame offense has performed well in their non-conference matches, but they will need the energy level to translate into their ACC contests as well.
The Cavaliers come into this match following an incredibly impressive 1-0 win against NC State, who was ranked No. 2 in the country at the time of their match. They come into this match against the Irish with a solid defense that has remained relatively inconsistent this year. The Cavaliers have shutouts in six of their ten matches. In those other four matchups though, they have allowed goal totals of 4, 2, 3 and 2. Virginia has the tendency to be hit or miss, but when they are on top of their game, it is incredibly hard to score against them. The Cavaliers have started multiple goalkeepers on the year, but their most reliable has been graduate student Casper Mols. He holds a 71% save percentage and has 22 saves on the year. The Irish will have their work cut out for them against a talented defense and goalkeeper.
As you would expect from the No. 8 team in the country, the Cavaliers are strong offensively as well, averaging 1.8 goals per game. Nicholas Simonds leads the team with five goals on the year, but the goals are relatively spread out as 10 players have been able to get on the scoresheet for the Cavaliers this year, which means that the Irish can’t just focus on one player. They have to treat everyone as a threat. The Irish can also assume that if there is a goal, junior Marco Dos Santos will somehow be involved as he, like Spicer, has seven assists on the year. Santos has been an excellent creator this year from midfield, and the Irish can expect he will be at the center of any goal scoring opportunity.
Men’s soccer kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10, at Klöckner Stadium in Virginia.
