Late Comeback Falls Short as No. 3 Duke Falls, 3-2, at No. 6 Notre Dame

Thursday, September 18

South Bend, Ind.

7 p.m.

Duke University

6-2-1, 1-2-0

Notre Dame

7-0-1, 2-0-0

Duke

Notre Dame

Photo by: Peter Raider, Duke Athletics

Late Comeback Falls Short as No. 3 Duke Falls, 3-2, at No. 6 Notre Dame

9/18/2025 9:57:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

SOUTH BEND, Ind.– The third-ranked Duke women's soccer team battled back from a three-goal deficit Thursday evening on the road at Notre Dame, before dropping a 3-2 decision to the sixth-ranked Irish at Alumni Stadium in South Bend.

Kat Rader and Mia Minestrella registered second half goals for the Blue Devils, who dropped to 6-2-1 overall and 1-2-0 in the ACC. Notre Dame moved to 7-0-1, 2-0-0.

How It Happened

Notre Dame opened the match with a couple of shots which were saved by Blue Devil goalkeeper Caroline Dysart.
Duke had its first attempt come at the 13:43 mark as senior Carina Lageyre intercepted an Irish pass and her attempt went wide right.
At the 16:59 mark, Notre Dame nearly took the lead, but junior Mia Oliaro was there to save a shot off her body on the goal line.
After 11 shots by the Irish, Notre Dame got on the board, 1-0, at the 24:05 mark as Izzy Engle finished a ball from 10 yards away.
Notre Dame went ahead, 2-0, at the 26:36 mark as Laney Matriano finished a long-range shot that hit the left post and went in the goal.
At the end of the first half, the Irish held a 14-1 shot advantage.
Duke had a few chances in the 57th minute, but Lageyre, Farrah Walters and Avery Oder shots were blocked.
The Blue Devils featured their best scoring opportunity in the 62nd minute as Lageyre played a great ball into the box to junior Mia Minestrella, who headed a shot towards the back left corner, but Notre Dame keeper Sonoma Kasica made a diving stop.
Annabelle Chukwu made it 3-0 in favor of the Irish at the 63:46 mark as she buried a shot into the bottom left corner of the net.
Duke responded in less than a minute as Oder found a streaking Rader, who took one touch in the box and blasted a right-footed attempt that hit the upper 90.The Blue Devils trailed 3-1.
The Blue Devils cut into the Irish lead once again at the 74:17 mark as junior Cameron Roller sent a long pass from just past midfield to Minestrella.A product of Redondo Beach, Calif., Minestrella one-timed it inside the near post past Kasica and Duke trailed, 3-2.
Duke tried to get the equalizer over the final 15 minutes, but were only able to register one shot during that span.
In the second half, Notre Dame held a 10-8 advantage in shots and finished the contest with a 23-9 lead.

Notes

Duke's one shot in the first half was a season low.The previous low was six at Miami.
Kat Rader totaled her sixth goal of the season and 26th of her collegiate career.
Avery Oder notched her second assist of the season.
With her second half goal, Mia Minestrella has scored in three games in a row and now owns a team-best seven goals.She has 19 goals over her short career.Minestrella now owns 50 career points.
Rookie Lexi Coughlin notched her first collegiate assist.
Junior defender Cameron Roller totaled an assist for the second game in a row and seventh of her career.
In goal for Duke, Caroline Dysart finished the match with a career-high eight saves over 90 minutes.
The Blue Devils allowed a season-high 24 shots and were limited to a season-low nine attempts.