ACC Champions! Orange Defeats Notre Dame 1-0

Sunday, November 15

South Bend, Ind.

1 p.m.

Syracuse University

13-5-3

Notre Dame

11-4-5

Syracuse

Notre Dame

Photo by: Marcus Snowden

11/15/2015 5:08:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Syracuse earns the program's first ACC title.

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Junior Ben Polk scored the only goal No. 13 Syracuse would need in a 1-0 victory at No. 9 Notre Dame in the championship game of the ACC Men's Soccer Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 15. The Orange claims its first ACC crown and its first conference title since 1985.

"I couldn't be more proud of the guys," said Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre. "We knew the opportunity to play in a game such as this and knew what a privilege it was. This is a very tough tournament to win. For our guys, we've been on the road for a while now. We had some tired bodies today so the character and commitment they showed – our guys stood up individually and collectively and I thought they were magnificent today."

Polk's goal was his third in the last two games. He was named the Tournament MVP and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by sophomore Julian Buescher and freshmen Miles Robinson and Hendrik Hilpert.

Syracuse (13-5-3) applied pressure from the opening whistle, recording three shots and three corner kicks in the first 12 minutes. But it was Notre Dame (11-4-5) which had the best scoring chance of the first half. Patrick Hodan got around two defenders on the right side and slid his shot toward the left corner of the goal, but it went off the post and junior defender Louis Cross was there to knock the ball away to end the threat.

The Orange continued to be the more dangerous team throughout the first half. Junior Chris Nanco had a shot go just wide, and the Fighting Irish knocked away a chance by Oyvind Alseth. Overall, Notre Dame successfully defended against nine Syracuse corner kicks.

Polk netted the only goal of the match just more than a minute into the second half. A failed clear attempt gave the Orange the ball in its offensive end. Buescher gained possession and slid the ball to Polk, who put his shot in the left corner of the goal to give Syracuse a 1-0 advantage.

Notre Dame became more aggressive and started testing the Syracuse defense in the 59th minute. Hilpert made a save on Connor Klekota's shot before Max Lachowecki's shot went wide. Hilpert kept the Orange in front with another save in the 70th minute and Syracuse successfully defended against back-to-back corners. The Fighting Irish's final attempt went wide in the 88th minute as the Orange became the lowest seeded team (No. 7) to win the championship.

Syracuse outshot Notre Dame, 12-9, and held a 9-3 advantage in corner kicks. Hilpert finished with two saves for his second consecutive shutout and his fourth of the season.

The Orange earns the ACC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will find out its seeding during the selection show on Monday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. on NCAA.com.