Aug. 25, 2014
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – With the season opener still four days away, the top-ranked Notre Dame men’s soccer team looked in midseason form with a 5-1 exhibition win over No. 21 Wisconsin on Monday evening at Alumni Stadium.
The Fighting Irish used goals from Leon Brown, Patrick Hodan, Evan Panken, Brandon Aubrey and Jon Gallagher to capture the victory. Brown and Hodan also notched assists.
Brown put the Irish up 1-0 in the sixth minute after he received the ball from fellow forward Vince Cicciarelli, maneuvered past a Badger defender and sent his shot off another Wisconsin player and into the back of the net from eight yards away.
The Fighting Irish had a three-shot flurry in the 23rd minute that included a Brown shot that hit the far post. Notre Dame went up 2-0 in the 29th minute when left back Max Lachowecki played the ball to Hodan, who chipped a shot in from 10 yards out.
Notre Dame controlled much of the possession in the opening half and outshot Wisconsin 8-4 in the stanza. The Badgers didn’t register their first shot until the 36th minute and their first attempt on frame came seven minutes later.
The Fighting Irish led 2-0 at halftime and they doubled that advantage in the opening minutes of the second half. The first tally came from Panken in the 48th minute off an assist from Brown. Aubrey headed home a Hodan corner kick less than a minute later.
“I thought we opened the game well and then we played pretty well up until we scored the second goal,” Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark said. “I thought we then stopped for a little bit in the first half. We discussed that at halftime and that group knew they were going out for 15 minutes in the second half and then I was putting on the reserves. They (the starters) went out and put on a show in the opening part of the second half. They got a couple goals very quickly.
“They knew they had stopped playing for the last 15 minutes of the first half. They got comfortable with being two goals up and they went to sleep. I woke them up at halftime a little bit and they responded and did very well.”
Aubrey, a sophomore central defender, nearly headed in another goal in the 58th minute yet Wisconsin goalkeeper Adrian Remeniuk saved the attempt, which came off a Hodan free kick.
Notre Dame replaced all 11 players on the pitch with just over 30 minutes left in the match.
Gallagher, a freshman forward, upped the Irish advantage to five in the 85th minute when he blasted a shot from 20 yards out that sailed to the back of the goal. Wisconsin cracked the scoring column 23 seconds later when Christopher Mueller worked his way to the right edge of the six-yard box and sent his shot into the far netting.
The Fighting Irish ended the match with a 19-10 shot advantage, which included a 9-4 edge in shots on goal. Notre Dame attempted six corner kicks compared to three for Wisconsin. Irish goalkeeper Patrick Wall made one save in 58:45 in frame, while Chris Hubbard had two stops and surrendered the Badger goal. Remeniuk had three saves and allowed four goals in 69:31 and was replaced by Connor Revsbeck, who made one save and allowed one goal.
Notre Dame concluded its preseason slate with a 1-0-2 mark. The Irish drew with Saint Louis (0-0) and Bradley (2-2).
The Fighting Irish open the regular season Friday against No. 12 Marquette at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington, Ind. Notre Dame will take on No. 9 Georgetown on Sunday during the second and final day of the tournament.
August 25, 2014 (exhibition)
Alumni Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
#21 Wisconsin 0 1 – 1
#1 Notre Dame 2 3 – 5
Scoring: ND: Leon Brown (Vince Cicciarelli) 5:20; ND: Patrick Hodan (Max Lachowecki) 28:08; ND: Evan Panken (Leon Brown) 47:48; ND: Brandon Aubrey (Patrick Hodan) 48:37; ND: Jon Gallagher (unassisted) 84:17; UW: Christopher Mueller (unassisted) 84:40
— Sean Carroll, Assistant Athletic Media Relations Director
–ND–