The Week in Notre Dame Athletics: Men’s & Women’s Soccer Keep Winning

Without further ado, we bring you the results of the last week's Irish match-ups.

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No. 9 men's soccer (8-3-2, 5-1-1) claimed 2 wins over the past week, first over #19 Northwestern, 1-0, then at Duke, 4-1, in a 2^nd-half offensive explosion. The golden goal vs. Northwestern came on a Patrick Hodan penalty kick in the 66^th minute after Jon Gallagher was taken down in the box by a defender. The Irish led the Wildcats in shots (15-5), shots on goal (4-2), and corners (9-2).

Friday night, the Irish bested Duke on the road, 4-1. Happily, our own JoeSchu was on the scene for the game. Here's his in-person match report:

The defending national champions traveled to Durham, NC, to take on the Duke Blue Devils. Despite the homecoming weekend activities on Duke's campus and gorgeous weather, the game seemed to draw less than a thousand spectators and featured a decent sized Irish contingent. We sat near the Irish player families and their boys gave them plenty to cheer for.

The first half started very slowly with neither team able to build a consistent attack. Duke saw most of the possession, with ND content to throw the occasional long ball ahead to one of the strikers in their 4-4-2 configuration. Duke played a high line with a sprinkling of high pressure, and generated the better of the chances until Notre Dame broke through with about 10 minutes before the half with a well-earned goal. Striker Leon Brown, who was a bright spot for the Irish all night, pressed high after a long ball, won it along the goal line and cut it back on the ground in front of goal. Evan Panken knocked it home to open the scoring.

The second half was a very different story. The Irish dominated possession with Nick Besler sitting just above the back 4 and controlling much of the game. The Irish were able to push Duke wide and cut inside in the final third. The goal explosion came about 15 minutes into the half with the Irish scoring twice in quick succession, both from Patrick Hodan (first assisted by Jeffrey Farina, then unassisted). The second goal of the second half put ND up 3-0, and visibly took the wind out of the Duke side. Duke scored shortly after bringing a fresh legs in at the striker position, but Gallagher (assisted by Farina) and the Irish answered almost instantly on the next possession and left no doubt.

Next up for the Irish is a road game vs. Indiana on Wednesday night (7:00 p.m. ET). Saturday, they host Virginia Tech (7:00 p.m. ET, WatchND).

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No. 13/11 women's soccer (10-4-1, 5-2) earned another road victory over the weekend, this time 2-0 over Syracuse. Both goals came in the 2^nd half for the Irish, first from midfielder Cari Roccaro (assisted by Kaleigh Olmsted off a cross), then from forward Kaleigh Olmsted (assisted by Lauren Bohaboy). The Irish dominated possession, earning a 30-2 shot advantage, taking 9 shots on goal to the Orange's 2, and earning 4 corner kicks to their 1.

This Thursday, the Irish host Clemson (7:00 p.m. ET, Watch ESPN). Sunday, they host Louisville (1:00 p.m. ET, WatchND).

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No. 13 hockey (2-2-0) took a turn for the better after an opening weekend shutout, claiming 2 of 2 series victories over Lake Superior State this past weekend. Friday night, the Irish notched a 5-3 win over their opponent with goals from Thomas DiPauli, Mario Lucia, Steven Fogarty, Robbie Russo, and Fogarty again as the clock wound down; Fogarty and DiPauli also had multiple assists and Russo had a single assist. Katunar stopped 27 shots in goal for the Irish and Notre Dame led in shots, 41-30. They were once again scoreless on the power play, going 0-for-4.

Another 5-goal game Saturday night gave the home team the 5-1 win over the Lakers. Goals came from Jake Evans, Austin Wuthrich, and Mario Lucia, who earned a hat trick; among others, Russo and Fogarty notched additional assists. The Irish led again in shots, 32-28, and Cal Peterson stopped 27 in goal for ND. The Irish were 0-for-1 on the power play.

For full and awesome coverage of the series, check out ndistops's review right here.

The Irish next host Niagara this Friday evening (7:35 p.m. ET, NBC Sports) and Saturday evening (7:05 p.m. ET, WatchND).

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Volleyball (5-14) happily split the weekend matches they hosted, first falling to Clemson, 3-0, on Friday night. Sunday afternoon, the Irish rallied from a 2-0 deficit to claim a 3-2 victory over the Boston College Eagles (23-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-18, 15-7).

The Irish travel to Virginia Tech this Friday (7:00 p.m. ET), then play at Virginia on Saturday (7:00 p.m. ET).

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Irish women's golf competed in the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Knoxville this past weekend, coming in 10^th of 16 overall and earning a team-leading T-26^th finish from Jordan Ferreira (225, +12).

Next up for the Irish is the Landfall Tradition tournament in Wilmington, NC.

Irish men's squad was idle this past week. Up next for them is the Bridgestone Invitational this weekend.

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This past weekend, women's swimming and diving hit the road for several meets in the southern states. First, the Irish fell to Georgia Tech and South Carolina on Friday, but won 7 of 16 events. Saturday, they fell to the powerful Auburn, but bested Vanderbilt, 152-142, and earned 2 more event victories and 4 runner-up finishes.

The Irish next host Purdue at the beginning of November.

The diving faction of men's swimming and diving has been on the road competing this past week. First, against Georgia Tech, the Irish earned 1^st, 2^nd, and 4^th place finishes off the 1-meter board, as well as 2^nd and 3^rd place finishes off the 3-meter board. In a dual meet with Auburn, ND's Joe Coumos earned a 2^nd place finish with dives from both the 1- and 3-meter boards. The Irish also earned 3^rd and 4^th place in the 1-meter event, as well as 4^th through 8^th place in the 3-meter.

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This past week, men's tennis began competing in the Midwest Regional Championships in Ann Arbor. Competition continued through Monday. While a number of Irish players advanced impressively through various levels of the tournament, none had more outstanding success than sophomores Eddy Covalschi and Josh Hagar, who won the Midwest Regional Doubles Championship. The win over the top seed from Ohio State earned the doubles team a bid to the ITA Indoor National Championships in early November. For full results, see the listing at UND.com here.

Women's tennis participated in the Midwest Regional in Champaign, IL, beginning last Thursday. Like the men's squad, the women's had a number of wins throughout the progress of the tournament. Their own doubles team, Quinn Gleason and Monica Robinson, advanced to the championship round, but were beaten closely by a team from Michigan (8-7, 7-6). For full results, see the listing at UND.com here.

Next up for the Irish is the Western Michigan Invitational in early November.

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Notre Dame cross country competed in the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational in Madison this past weekend to finish up their regular season. The competition was fierce, and both Irish squads came in 30^th overall in a field that included 41 ranked teams. Notre Dame's top performances came from Timothy Bell (44^th) in the men's 8k and Molly Seidel (28^th) in the women's 6k, both in fields of nearly 250 runners. To get a sense of how crowded the field was, consider that Bell's time (24:18) was 35 seconds behind the winner's (23:43); Seidel (20:28) was 53 seconds behind the winner of her race (21:24).

The Irish now set to preparing for the ACC Championships at the end of the month in Charlottesville, VA.

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Irish rowing competed in the Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge, MA, this past weekend. The top Irish boat earned a 9^th place finish in the competitive 34-boat field, coming in less than 4 seconds behind the 8^th and 7^th place boats.

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We'll bring you updates next week on Notre Dame's Olympic sports. For now, go Irish. Beat everybody.