By Connor Link, UK AthleticsAs the lingering seconds began to vanish one by one from the clock overhead on Monday, Callum Irving had no idea he was about to take the biggest goal kick of his collegiate career.”I looked at the clock as I was running over to grab the ball, and the ref had stopped it because he thought I was wasting time,” Irving said. “So basically, I was like, ‘I’m going to take my time, put the ball down, and make sure I use as much power that I have left in my leg to try to get the ball as far away from our net as possible.’ ” Letting the clock strike zero with no goals on the board for either team was the last thing on the junior’s mind. Like the rest of his Wildcat teammates, Kentucky’s First-Team All-Conference USA goalkeeper was hungry for a marquee win.Irving booted the goal kick well into opponent territory, finding freshman forward Stefan Stojkovic along the way. Stojkovic immediately passed the ball to freshman midfielder Hampus Agerstrom, who again found Stojkovic for a quick one-two at the edge of the box. Stojkovic fired away from 15 yards, scoring the game’s first goal with only 25 ticks remaining. Kentucky would hold on to win the game 1-0, knocking off defending national champion and top-ranked Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. The result marked UK’s first victory over a No. 1 team since 2007, and the Fighting Irish’s first loss since October 26, 2013.Needless to say, Kentucky’s man in the net was pleased with how the evening ended. “This is one of the more memorable games (of my career),” Irving said. “For me, this is what I came to college to do: go to places like Notre Dame and play against the No. 1 team in the nation and defending national champs, and beat them on their home turf. To have that goal coming into college, and then to be put in a scenario where we have the opportunity to do that, it’s fantastic. It’s definitely something I’m going to look back on with a lot of happiness.” Kentucky head coach Johan Cedergren echoed Irving’s sentiments, though he was quick to point out that the Wildcats’ latest milestone was merely another step forward in achieving the team’s ultimate objective. “It’s a regular-season game, and you still have fourteen games to go,” Cedergren said. “But, as young of a team as we have — 21 of the 26 guys being underclassmen — I think it’s really important to talk a lot about confidence and belief. To be able to beat Notre Dame at Notre Dame should give both the staff and the players a lot of confidence.”The Cats will carry that confidence throughout the season.”I think for the young guys, it’s all about feeling like you belong, or feeling that you’re good enough,” Cedergren said. “We talk about making a run deep into the postseason. If you’re going to do that, you’re going have to believe that you belong. I think a win against Notre Dame would give you some belief and sense of belonging.” While Kentucky’s 1-0 defeat of Notre Dame may qualify as an upset, the result came as no accident. Careful consideration and detailed planning before the season even began were factors that eventually led to the match even taking place.”The way I schedule every year is to try to find a balance between not scheduling too tough, and scheduling hard enough so that if we do not win the (Conference USA Tournament), we can get an (NCAA Tournament) at-large bid,” Cedergren said. However, the third-year head coach refused to take all of the credit for the current direction of Kentucky’s soccer season.”I have a really good leadership council,” Cedergren said. ” … The team basically got to vote for who they thought the leaders were on the team. So, we have five guys in that council: Callum Irving, (forward) Justin Laird — who’s our only senior – (sophomore defender) Charlie Reymann, (junior midfielder) Kristoffer Tollefsen, and (sophomore defender) Jordan Wilson. The six of us meet at least on a weekly basis, and I give them challenges they can carry on with the team.”Irving, who had a career-high seven saves in the upset at Notre Dame, offered further insight into the Cats’ leadership council. “Basically, it’s just five guys selected by the team to look over the team and act as captains, being a buffer zone in between the coaches and the players,” Irving said. “A lot of times, it’s difficult for the players to come with their problems to the coaches; it’s a bit intimidating. So, we act as someone who can talk to the coaches on behalf of the players and listen to the players’ problems without them having to go to the coaches.”The next task for UK’s leadership council is to make sure the Cats don’t squander the opportunity created by their big win. That starts on Saturday at 7 p.m. with a home match against East Tennessee State.”For us — where we’re the young team — we’re on top of the world right now,” Cedergren said. “But we’re playing again on Saturday. Every single game, play like you’re going to play at Notre Dame. I think it’s a step in the right direction with the win, but at the same time, it’s game No. 4 out of 18 regular season games. So, we’ve just got to keep going.”