Syracuse goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan leaned over, squatted and pounded both of her hands into the ground in front of her in frustration.

Kaleigh Olmsted had just threaded a ball across through the box on the ground and Brosnan managed to get a hand on it. But Notre Dame’s Cari Roccaro ultimately found the ball, and quickly got a shot off that hit the top of the crossbar and landed in the goal before Brosnan could react.

That gave the visiting Fighting Irish a lead in the 69th minute, one it wouldn’t relinquish.

“The girl spun around a defender on the outside and played a cross I thought I had to come to,” said Brosnan when asked about the goal. “I couldn’t really catch it because it was a little farther out and I just tried to block it and carry it away as far as possible.

“I guess we weren’t marked on the second round and then the girl just came in and finished.”

It was only a matter of time before No. 13 Notre Dame (10-4-1, 5-2-0 Atlantic Coast) took the lead over Syracuse (5-8-3, 2-5-0), as the Fighting Irish totaled 21 shots before Roccaro found the back of the net on a wet, cold and windy Saturday night. Syracuse allowed 30 total shots in what ended in a 2-0 loss in front of 261 at SU Soccer Stadium, while only shooting twice itself.

The disparity in shots was consistent throughout the game, as Notre Dame was able to shoot 11 times in the first period and 19 in the second frame. Both of the Notre Dame goals came in the second half.

“Sometimes stats can be a little misleading, but they were dominant,” SU head coach Phil Wheddon said. “They were dominant in attack, and I give them credit for that. Like I said, their forwards are good and their midfielders exceptional.”

The game’s second goal came on a shot from Olmstead. The ball broke free from a scrum of both Orange and Notre Dame players, and Olmstead found herself with the ball in space before firing a shot from the top-left side of the box that was out of Brosnan’s diving reach.

“She couldn’t have done anything for the shots that were taken and the goals that were scored. Those ones are on us,” said junior midfielder Jackie Firenze. “We should’ve stepped in front and we should’ve blocked those shots.”

The Orange defense once again found itself being peppered by the opponents’ attack and received zero goals from the offense for the fourth time in five games.

Notre Dame has now shut out opponents in five of its last six games and Syracuse’s best chance was a shot by freshman defender-midfielder Jessica Vigna 41 minutes into the first half.

Vigna was forced into a slide from a Fighting Irish defender and sent a shot toward the bottom-right side of the goal, which Notre Dame goalkeeper Kaela Little dove to save.

Syracuse’s only other shot came from defender Maddie Iozzi from about 30 yards out. All Little had to do to make her second and final save of the night was lift her arms up to catch the ball.

“Definitely when there’s (30) shots to under five, it’s going to be hard to win the game. The defense can only hold on for so long,” Brosnan said. “We need to get something going on the offensive side and connect up in the final third. I think that’s our problem right now.”

Published on October 18, 2014 at 10:40 pm

Contact Liam: lpsull01@syr.edu