On the strength of relentless pressure and clinical finishing, Notre Dame jumped out to a 3-1 halftime lead on its way to a critical 4-2 victory over non-conference foe Green Bay as it prepares for a daunting final stretch of the conference season. The victory improved the Irish’s record to 7-2-3, and the Phoenix of the Horizon League dropped to 4-5-1. Super-sub sophomore forward Stevie Dunphy capped the first-half offensive fireworks with a literal last-second strike after a perfect setup on the right wing by freshman forward Ren Sylvester. The goal was well-earned, as the Irish dominated the final 35 minutes of the half after the teams exchanged goals early in the contest.
The opening score came off a beautiful corner kick by junior midfielder Nolan Spicer to the far-left post, where freshman defender Alex Rosin netted his second career goal with a great one-touch shot past Green Bay junior goalie Drew Swancutt in the 8th-minute. It marked the 11th goal of the season off of set pieces, a team strength.
Green Bay quickly responded with an impressive equalizer, as junior midfielder Noah Lechelt perfectly split Notre Dame defenders with a through ball to senior forward Chris Album in the 15th-minute. Album took advantage of a good first touch and easily finished inside the left post past helpless Irish sophomore goalie Blake Kelly.
Notre Dame returned the favor in the 18th-minute as Spicer, once again, delivered a perfect cross from the right wing, and senior forward Wyatt Borso cashed in with a header after earlier striking one off the crossbar.
Spicer continually teamed with fellow junior midfielder Wyatt Lewis to apply pressure and create opportunities for the Irish, as Notre Dame outshot Green Bay 15-3 in the first half. Over the first 20 minutes, the two-man play of Lewis and Spicer consistently put the Phoenix on their heels. “Lewis is a great player,” Spicer said, “so it’s easy to play with him out there. We’ve been working on trying to get him higher in those areas, so it’s easy. We just play off each other; we have good chemistry and then the rest of the guys just try to join in to attack. We all just try to feed off each others’ energy.”
The midfield pressure of Spicer, Lewis, Sylvester and senior KK Baffour created consistent opportunities for an in-sync Irish offense, and its superior depth wore down Green Bay. The near-constant attack by the Irish paid dividends in the final second of the half when Sylvester set up fellow reserve Dunphy to cap the first half scoring and give the Irish an all-important two-goal cushion. “I don’t think we started slow, but we could’ve started with a little bit more intensity,” eighth-year coach Chad Riley said, “and I think their goal kind of woke us up a bit. And the response was great … The guys that came off the bench really gave us a lift and got that third goal, which was vital at the end of the half.”
The Irish continued to dominate possession in the second half, and Baffour closed out Notre Dame’s scoring with a rocket from 10 feet outside the box that bent inside the top-right post. Swancutt had no chance. He came into the game with a 3-0 record and only one goal allowed; he found things much more difficult at Alumni Stadium.
Besides the early goal, the only defensive missteps by the Irish were in the game’s final minutes, when Kelly uncharacteristically misplayed a shot from the far-right wing and allowed a goal by graduate forward Noah Madrigal in the 89th-minute. Then, in the 90th-minute, Kelly had to make a miraculous double save on Lechelt and junior forward Dennis Nyame.
The Irish look to continue their winning ways and reenter the national rankings in Charlottesville on Friday, Oct. 10, as they face No. 8 Virginia. The tilt begins a challenging close to the season that also includes No. 10 NC State at home, and fellow ACC foes Wake Forest and Boston College on the road. “Now in October, the games become really important,” said Spicer, “so we knew we had to come in here and get a win and continue that the rest of the year.”
