Notre Dame women's soccer headed to Elite Eight for second time in three years

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The No. 4 seeded Notre Dame women’s soccer team has put themselves among elite company after their 2-0 win over the No. 1 seeded Mississippi State Bulldogs on Sunday in Starkville. 

The Fighting Irish (14-3-4) will now make their 17th all-time Elite Eight appearance and head coach Nate Norman has now guided his squad to this stage of the NCAA Tournament twice in the past three years.

According to Notre Dame, the Irish became the first team to score on the Bulldogs’ (19-3-0) home pitch all season and the first to earn a win there as well.

"This also marked the first time Notre Dame toppled a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since the 2010 season, which coincidentally was the last time the Irish won a national championship, the Notre Dame Athletic Department said. "Who else but Izzy Engle got the first Irish goal of the game. She now owns 19 on the season, which puts her in a tie for most in the country. Lily Joseph earned her sixth assist on the year which brings her points total to 22."

Grace Restovich scored the second and final goal in the first half. School officials say It marked her fifth on the season to bring her points total to 21.

With Restovich's goal, she Engle, and Joseph have now all eclipsed the 20-point mark this season as freshman.

In the Elite Eight, Notre Dame will travel to face the No. 3 seeded Stanford at 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 29.

Remaining games: 

• No 2. seeded Wake Forest @ No. 1 seeded University of Southern California
• No. 4 seeded Penn State @ No. 2 seeded North Carolina
• No. 7 seeded Virginia Tech @ No. 1 seeded Duke 

Game breakdown from Notre Dame Athletic Department:

Notre Dame was all over Mississippi State in the first half. Case in point, the shot differential at halftime was 14-1.

The Irish scored two goals five minutes apart, with the first coming in the 25th minute. Lily Joseph played a ball over the top as Engle timed her run perfectly. With just the Mississippi State keeper to beat, she tapped it past her into the corner for the goal.

Fast forward to the 30th minute and Restovich’s goal was simply something to marvel at. Ellie Ospeck dished to Restovich about 25 yards out. The St. Louis native took a few dribbles to her left and then unleashed a rocket to the upper-right 90.

The Fighting Irish continued to lock it down in the second half. In fact, the Bulldogs didn’t register their first shot on goal until the 81st minute.

Ultimately, the Irish ran out the clock and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the second time in three years. Notre Dame outshot Mississippi State 24-8, with a 7-1 shots on goal advantage, plus an 8-0 edge on corners.