FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1-0-1) earned a hardfought draw on the road against No. 6 Arkansas Razorbacks (0-1-1) on Sunday evening in a heated top-10 battle.
The Irish offense was led by Charlie Codd and Ellie Hodsden, who each recorded their first goals of the season in the 2-2 draw.
Sonoma Kasica recorded four saves in the stalemate, totaling eight saves in the opening week of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The battle was on from the beginning. The top-10 Arkansas offense struck first in the 6th minute for an early 1-0 lead, however, it didn’t take long for the Irish offense to heat up.
Izzy Engle found Charlie Codd in the box and the junior managed to turn with a defender on her and fire a low shot past the diving Razorback keeper to tie the match in the 9th minute.
Just over 35 minutes later, Ellie Hodsden had the play of the game. The sophomore received a pass in her own half and took it coast-to-coast before firing in a great shot from just inside the box. Her full-pitch effort put Notre Dame in front in the 44th minute to give the Irish a 2-1 advantage at the half.
While there were some decent looks early in the second half, Kasica had one of the biggest saves of the game to keep the Irish in front as the sophomore goalkeeper deflected the shot with her left foot.
In the 81st minute, the Razorbacks were awarded a penalty kick after a Notre Dame hand ball in the box. The Arkansas penalty taker converted into the left side of the goal as Kasica dove right, tying the match at 2-2.
The Irish had one last look to potentially find the winner in the closing minutes as Chukwu sent a dangerous cross in the box and found the feet of Codd in the 86th minute, but the shot was blocked to finish out with the 2-2 draw.
UP NEXT
The Irish will host Cincinnati at Alumni on Thursday, August 21 at 7:00 pm.