By Tyler Bright
The Louisville Cardinals Men’s Soccer Team played their first conference game at home at Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium, but fell against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
The matchup between the two sides was quite interesting, as the Cardinals were undefeated with a 3-0-0 record. Meanwhile, Notre Dame, coming off an NCAA championship appearance, held a 0-0-2 record, which knocked them out of the United Coaches top 25.
After a weather delay, Notre Dame’s Nolan Spicer had to change jerseys due to a minor injury. Shortly after returning to the field, he delivered a key assist that set up Bryce Boneau, who scored the opening goal for Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish have been 32-0 since 2021 when scoring first.
Louisville responded with JP Jordan setting up Ethan Subachan for a left-footed goal to tie the game at 1-1. However, Jacob Bartlett put the Irish back in front with a strike into the net, making it 1-2.
The second half was a defensive stalemate, with freshman goalkeeper Blake Kelly of Notre Dame notching his first win of his young collegiate career. He became the first true freshman in 30 years to start for the Fighting Irish.
The Cardinals made valiant efforts to equalize, including a Sander Roed header that bounced off the right post, but they were unable to capitalize.
Louisville lost 1-2.
Head coach John Michael Hayden shared his candid thoughts on his team’s performance following the full 90-minute match against the Irish: “We’ve got a good group here, a really good group, and I hate losing. I don’t want to gloss over the fact that we lost—we’ve got to clean up some things—but I can walk away from that match knowing we’ve got a really special group here.”
Hayden also spoke about the team’s motivation after the loss and how they can use it to grow: “To play the way we did and not get a result is tough. Hopefully, we can come out with a fire in our belly for the next match, and that will be important for us.”
After their first loss, Louisville is now 3-1-0 on the season.
The Cardinals will take on their in-state foe, the Kentucky Wildcats, in the Battle of the Bluegrass match in Lexington on Monday.
Photo Courtesy // Chris Carter, Louisville Athletics
