Notre Dame men’s soccer punches ticket to College Cup in thriller over IU

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WISH) — The University of Notre Dame men’s soccer team is moving on to the NCAA College Cup after winning a thriller over Indiana University on Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd at Notre Dame’s Alumni Stadium.

The No. 2 Fighting Irish beat the Hoosiers in a penalty kick shootout, outscoring IU 5-4 in PK’s.

Notre Dame got the scoring started just over 16 minutes into the match, when Daniel Russo found the back of the net to give the Irish an early 1-0 lead.

Indiana would answer in the 63rd minute, when Patrick McDonald scored, tying the match 1-1.

The match would remain tied at 1-1 after two overtime periods, so the winner would have to be determined during a penalty kick shootout.

Notre Dame’s Russo scored the game-clinching PK, helping the Irish win 5-4 in the shootout.

The Irish won the match, despite IU outshooting it 25-11 and having a 10-1 advance over Notre Dame in corner kicks.

With the victory, Notre Dame advances to the College Cup for the third time in program history. It’s also the program’s second trip to the national semifinals in the last three seasons.

Notre Dame will play Oregon State on Friday, Dec. 8 in its national semifinal match. Kickoff is set for 8 pm. EDT at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky.

The other national semifinal on Dec. 8 will be between No. 5 West Virginia and No. 9 Clemson.

The national championship will then be played the following Monday on Dec. 11 at 6 p.m. EDT.

Notre Dame is seeking its first men’s soccer national title since 2013.