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We are just a few weeks away from the start of the 2025 season, and one team that will be looking to put their 2024 season behind them is Notre Dame.
Notre Dame are recognized as one of the main soccer powerhouse in the collegiate world, having won their first-ever NCAA Division I men’s soccer tournament in 2013. However, they haven’t been able to reclaim the national championship in the following decade, with other teams passing them by. The Fighting Irish have nevertheless come close to returning to the apex, winning the ACC Championship in 2021.
In 2023, they finished 13–3–6 overall and 6–0–2 in ACC play. They brushed past Kentucky, Western Kentucky and Indiana to reach the College Cup, where they defeated Oregon State to reach the final, only to lose 2-1 to Clemson in Louisville. Notre Dame’s 2024 season would see them regress, however. Despite arriving as the second-ranked team in the nation, Notre Dame got off to a slow start and fell out of the rankings after losing to Akron and Indiana.
Whilst they managed to avenge their defeat to Clemson, they nevertheless were unable to make the most of their star-studded arsenal. Despite boasting superb talents like Jacob Bartlett, Portland Timbers academy talent Mitch Ferguson, and striker Matthew Roou, who, similarly to Joao Pedro, blends superb hold-up play with ice-cold finishing, Notre Dame would end up finishing the regular season 7–4–5 and 3–3–2 in ACC play.
Ranked as the tenth seed in the ACC Tournament, Notre Dame would lose 3-2 in the first round to seventh seed Stanford. As a result, they missed out on a trip to the NCAA Division I men’s soccer tournament, the culmination of a dismal season for the Fighting Irish.
Can Notre Dame turn around their woes in Chad Riley’s eighth season in charge?