When Notre Dame and Indiana meet on the pitch, the game is nothing short of entertaining. Thursday’s home opener proved just that, in front of a packed Bill Armstrong Stadium.
These two in-state rivals met twice last season, with the first game ending in a 1-1 draw before playing again in the Elite Eight. After playing to a draw in regulation, in overtime the Irish advanced to the College Cup in penalty kicks, ending Indiana’s season.
The physicality and intensity of the rivalry is what makes the game great, and coming into the 2024 season, the Hoosiers had this one, which ended in a 2-2 draw, circled.
After a 30-minute delay due to weather in the area, play was underway as Indiana came out looking for revenge. In the first 15-20 minutes of the match, Indiana maintained the majority of possession.
The first big chance came in the 16th minute when Sam Sarver played a beautiful ball to the back post finding the head of Tommy Mihalic, which was ultimately saved by Notre Dame keeper Blake Kelly.
It wasn’t until the 43rd minute when the Irish opened the scoring with a laser from Jack Flanagan that was just out of the reach of Indiana goalkeeper JT Harms. Notre Dame would lead at the half 1-0.
When the second half came around, the intensity picked up, as the Hoosiers knew they had to get one back and that is when chaos ensued.
It wasn’t until the 68th minute when Indiana would find the equalizer. Freshman Michael Nesci had the ball above the 18 yard-box before firing a shot into the bottom left out of the outstretched arms of Kelly. That goal wasn’t just Indiana’s first goal of the season but also Nesci’s first goal in the Cream and Crimson.
The forward from Chicago has played with a lot of confidence in his first two games for Indiana.
“Yeah he’s a confident kid, but that’s only going to build on it. You can see he doesn’t play like a typical freshman, with one, just his confident moments,” Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley said.
It only took 35 seconds for Indiana to find the back of the net again. Mihalic put his boot through one, giving Indiana a 2-1 lead which sent Bill Armstrong Stadium into a frenzy.
Last season, it took Mihalic 16 games to score his first goal. This year, he is off to a good start on the stat sheet but it is more than just scoring goals for the senior.
“It feels good, obviously the team’s most important, and results, which we found late last year, and I was a part of that, regardless of goals, but obviously, if I’m scoring, I’m confident that I can be a huge part of this team,” Mihalic said.
The craziness doesn’t end there as Notre Dame would tie the game off a set piece just outside the box. KK Baffour’s service found the head of Kyle Genenbacher who flicked one into the bottom right corner.
The three goals scored by both teams came in a span of two minutes and 13 seconds. If you’ve been following Indiana soccer games like these are nothing new. Just go back to the Michigan game from last season where there were seven combined goals, 28 shots and nine fouls.
During the final 20 minutes of play both teams had many great opportunities to take the lead but to no avail. Another all-time classic between the Irish and Hoosiers ended in a 2-2 draw. The Hoosiers extended their unbeaten streak against Notre Dame to eight years. The last time the Irish beat Indiana was back in 2016. The Hoosiers haven't had consecutive losses since 2013.
The fight from this team to come back from down 1-0 at halftime was something that Yeagley was impressed with and he said he sees this game as a confidence grower.
“Yeah, I really liked the way they came back. I thought our performance in the second half was excellent,” Yeagley said. “I thought that would’ve been an amazing win with the performance, but a tie will certainly be fine and most importantly the guys gained a lot of confidence, they know what they can do.”
Indiana out-shot Notre Dame 18-6 while also having five more corners on the night. Notre Dame fouled 15 times to Indiana’s six, but the teams were all even in the goals department.
These tough and early non-conference games are what Yeagley loves to put on the schedule as it provides a learning curve for later in the season.
The Hoosiers record after their second match is 0-1-1. Next up for Indiana is Yale, as they will travel to Bill Armstrong Stadium for an 8 p.m. kickoff on Sunday.
