With 20 minutes remaining, it seemed as if the No. 2 Hoosiers were destined for another road loss against a top-10 opponent.
Luckily for IU, sophomore defender A.J. Palazzolo came in clutch to tie the game with about 12 minutes remaining in regulation. Then, sophomore midfielder Justin Rennicks scored the golden goal after a little over two minutes into the first overtime period to give IU the 2-1 victory over No. 8 Notre Dame.
Here are three takeaways from the Hoosiers’ fifth straight win of the season.
Notre Dame dominated the second 45 minutes
After IU controlled possession for the most part in the first half and had a 4-3 shot advantage, it was a different story in the second 45 minutes. The Fighting Irish had eight shots and five of them were on goal in the second period alone.
Notre Dame came out aggressive on offense and defense, limiting the IU opportunities. Before the Palazzolo goal, the Fighting Irish had yet to surrender a single shot on goal to the Hoosiers.
Through the first 25 minutes in the second half, Notre Dame had five shots in the second half. Muse came up big, saving four of those shots but the IU defense looked tired in the single goal allowed.
Despite being down by the single goal, things eventually turned around in the Hoosiers' favor.
AJ Palazzolo continues to impress
For the second time this season, Palazzolo saved the Hoosiers against a top-10 opponent.
With the way that the Fighting Irish were playing in the second half, it would’ve been hard to have imagined IU tying the game later on if Palazzolo’s header didn’t find the back of the net. Notre Dame was firing on all cylinders, but it all changed thanks to Palazzolo.
In the 79th minute, senior midfielder Trevor Swartz laid out a perfect cross after a Notre Dame miscue to pick up his Big Ten leading fifth assist of the season. Palazzolo headed in the ball from the left side of the box from three yards out to score his third goal of the season and the equalizer for the Hoosiers.
That goal gave IU the extra boost it needed to put Notre Dame away in overtime.
Trey Muse was impressive once again
Despite giving up the one goal, Muse pulled off four major saves.
In the 52nd minute Notre Dame had a free kick opportunity. Fighting Irish defender Felicien Dumas is known for his ball placement on his free kicks, but Muse dived to the left side of the goal to save the shot attempt.
Then, Muse saved three more shots in less than 10 minutes to keep the game scoreless.
If it wasn’t for Muse, this game could’ve easily gotten out of hand for the Hoosiers.
This wasn’t the prettiest win for IU and the shutout streak ended at 430 minutes, but at the end of the day, the Hoosiers picked up a win over another top-10 team.
IU will open up Big Ten play on the road at Wisconsin Sunday at 4 p.m.
