The No. 2 Notre Dame women’s soccer team fell in heartbreaking fashion to No. 1 Stanford in Sunday's ACC Championship, falling short on penalties after a hard-fought 110 minutes of action.
Notre Dame and Stanford shared possession early. An early header for Stanford soared over the bar, and the Cardinal lifted several more aerial threats into the box to no avail. Meanwhile, for the Irish, their early chances in and around the 18 were snuffed out largely in part to overhit balls or stellar defending from the Cardinal.
After a captivating, open-ended initial 30 minutes of play, Stanford finally struck the back of the net through a wonderfully taken shot from senior forward Allie Montoya.
Montoya, who has a trademark for being one of Stanford’s most consistent players over the past four years, was fed a delicious ball from classmate Jasmine Aikey towards the right edge of the box. From there, Montoya made no mistake about it and fired a shot in the bottom corner. The ball rattled off the inside of the far post before crossing the line.
Despite the let-up, the Irish remained strong defensively. Senior defender Ally Pinto produced several nice blocks, and the defensive unit made sophomore goalkeeper Sonoma Kasica’s job relatively easy for the rest of the first half.
However, on the flip side of the break, a left-footed wonder goal courtesy of Aikey skipped by the head of Kasica and into the net. Aikey was defended by 2024 First Team All-ACC senior defender Leah Klenke. Although she did a nice job of containing Aikey, the ace left Klenke with nothing to do but hope the shot was missed.
Despite the early second-half goal, the feeling of being 2-0 down was not an unfamiliar one for the Irish. In its regular-season 4-2 win over No. 6 Florida State in early October, Notre Dame found itself down by two goals early. The question within the team was whether it could find that same magic again.
After an onslaught of chances from the likes of sophomore forward Anabelle Chukwu, freshman forward Tessa Knapp and a woodwork shot from sophomore forward Izzy Engle, the Irish finally broke through with 22 minutes remaining thanks to a quintessential goal from Engle.
The Irish won the ball back in their defensive third before quickly transitioning to the middle of the park by finding the feet of sophomore forward Ellie Hodsden. With the ball bouncing en route to her, Hodsden wisely chipped the ball over the top of Stanford’s high-line defense and into the path of Engle. Two touches and one stumble later, Engle somehow managed to dink the ball over the head of Stanford's freshman goalkeeper Caroline Birkel.
Two minutes later, Irish fans held their breath after a Cardinal cross nearly found its way into the back of the net. Apart from that scare, the Irish dominated play. Engle showed off her clever footwork in the attacking third, nearly scoring a second. Junior midfielder Charlie Codd eventually knotted the score upon receiving the ball off a corner and firing in a beautiful half-volley.
Notre Dame nearly took a 3-2 lead just moments after through a long-range attempt from Codd that did enough to challenge Birkel. In the dying embers of the game, Stanford produced its final legitimate attempt on net on a long strike from Aikey. The ball was on track to zip right into the upper corner of the net, but unfortunately for the Cardinal, Kasica had other plans. The acrobatic goalie made a diving punch save to keep the Irish alive.
In total, the Irish outshot the Cardinal 15-3 in the second half. However, soccer can be a cruel game, and two 10-minute extra-time periods ensued instead.
While Notre Dame did find some good opportunities in overtime by feeding in Engle over the top and a strong near-post shot from junior midfielder Morgan Roy, none were as definitive as Chukwu’s chance in the final three minutes of the second extra-time period. The Canadian dazzled between two Cardinal defenders at the top of the box, but her final touch was too heavy and rolled in the direction of Birkel.
As a result, the game was sent to penalties. Following a successful first three penalties for both sides, Roy’s right-sided strike was saved. The Irish were kept alive thanks to Kasica’s diving save on Stanford’s fifth attempt.
In sudden-death penalties, Codd’s attempt rattled the left post. Sophomore Charlotte Kohler sealed the deal by slotting in the game-winning penalty for the Cardinal.
Notre Dame ultimately outshot Stanford 25-13, but it was the Cardinal who ended up raising the ACC Championship trophy. The match certainly lived up to the expectations that the college soccer world had placed upon it. With both teams now awaiting their seed in the 2025 NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament Championship bracket, there is a good chance they will meet again later in the season. The Irish are seeking their first College Cup appearance and national championship since 2010.
