Sept. 29, 2002
Piscataway, N.J. – The 10th-ranked Notre Dame men’s soccer team battled 19th-ranked Rutgers to a 1-1 double overtime tie on Sunday afternoon at Yurcak Field as the Irish completed its two-game weekend road swing.
With the tie, Notre Dame is now 4-2-3 on the season and 2-1-1 in BIG EAST play, while Rutgers moves to 3-2-2 and 3-1-1 in conference action.
Justin Detter (White Lake, Mich.) scored the game-tying goal for Notre Dame at the 79:15 mark off an assist from teammate Chad Riley (Houston, Texas). It was Detter’s fourth goal of the season and Riley’s team-leading seventh assist on the year. Detter beat Scarlet Knight goalkeeper Ricky Zinter on Riley long, arching pass and headed it into the net.
Rutgers took a 1-0 lead at the 68:53 mark when Sam Castellanos’ header deflected off an Irish defender into the right corner of the goal.
Notre Dame outshot the Scarlet Knights 21-13 in the game, but Zinter came up with 10 saves in goal. Irish goalkeeper Chris Sawyer (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) finished with four stops. Notre Dame outshot Rutgers 10-5 in the second 45-minute stanza and then owned a 6-2 shot advantage in the two 10-minutes overtime periods. The Scarlet Knights had a 9-5 advantage in corner kicks.
The Irish headed into the contest having lost five straight to the Scarlet Knights and were 1-6 against Rutgers at Yurcak Field. Notre Dame’s last victory in the series was a 1-0 win at Alumni Field during the 1997 campaign. The Irish have been outscored 11-2 in the last six meetings between the two teams.
Head Coach Bobby Clark’s squad returns to action on Fri., Oct. 4 when the Irish play host to Pittsburgh in a BIG EAST conference matchup at 7:30 p.m. Following that game, Notre Dame is on the road again when it travels to Akron for a 2:30 p.m. contest on Sun., Oct. 6.
SCORING: RU: Sam Castellanos, 68:53; ND: Justin Detter (Chad Riley), 79:15
GAME STATISTICS: Shots: Notre Dame 21, Rutgers 13; Saves: ND 4 (Chris Sawyer – 4), RU 10 (Ricky Zinter – 10); Fouls: Notre Dame 10, Rutgers 19; Corner Kicks: Notre Dame 5, Rutgers 9