Sept. 9, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 14 Notre Dame men’s soccer team jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the 31st minute, yet Denver netted two second-half goals en route to a 2-2 tie during the first day of the 10th annual Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament at a soggy Alumni Stadium.
Senior midfielder Chris Sutton put Notre Dame (1-1-2) on the board in the 21st minute as he took a pass from sophomore forward Harrison Shipp and blasted the ball into the lower right corner of the netting from 25 yards away. It was Sutton’s first career goal.
Denver (0-1-2) nearly scored the equalizer in the 23rd minute as a close-range shot from Drew Beckie hit the left post.
The Fighting Irish went up by two goals with just over 14 minutes left in the first half as junior forward Danny O’Leary headed in a Brendan King corner kick for the first goal of his career.
Senior midfielder Adam Mena almost gave Notre Dame a three-goal cushion in the 39th minute, but his shot from inside the 18-yard box was punched over the crossbar by Pioneer goalkeeper Oliver Brown.
A heavy rain arrived at Alumni Stadium toward the end of the first half and the precipitation was on and off for the remainder of the contest. Notre Dame led 2-0 at halftime. The Irish out shot the Pioneers 6-5 in the first half in addition to gaining six corner kicks compared to none for Denver.
“We were playing really well before the rain came,” said Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark. “I thought we were cruising when we were up 2-0. We were playing well and got a couple of good goals. Then the downpour came and it kind of made it a battle because the field became tough to play on. I think at that time of the game Denver battled better than we did. The nice thing for me is that even though we gave up the two goals, we battled and got back into it.”
Denver cracked the scoring column in the 52nd minute when Brian Hoyt scored from 17 yards away off a pass from Kellan Christensen. The Pioneers nearly leveled the match in the 60th minute as a Christensen shot was heading for the upper right corner of the goal, but a diving deflection from Notre Dame senior goalkeeper Will Walsh negated the chance.
The Pioneers eventually did secure the equalizer in the 78th minute as Beckie headed in a Matt Kirby pass.
The best chance for either team in overtime was when a shot from Notre Dame junior midfielder Kyle Richard hit the crossbar with three minutes remaining in the second 10-minute overtime period.
Both teams had 19 shots in the match and the Fighting Irish gained two more corner kicks (11-9) than the Pioneers. Walsh played all 110 minutes and made four saves for Notre Dame. Brown played the first half for Denver and made two saves, while Mate Aquirre played the rest of the match, had one save, and did not allow a goal.
Indiana defeated Bucknell, 3-2, in the first match of the tournament on Friday.
The Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament will conclude on Sunday at Alumni Stadium. Indiana and Denver will get things underway at 11:30 a.m. (ET), while the Notre Dame-Bucknell match will follow at 2:00 p.m.
Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament
Alumni Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
September 9, 2011
Denver 0 2 0 0 – 2
#14 Notre Dame 2 0 0 0 – 2
Scoring: ND: Chris Sutton (Harrison Shipp) 20:07; ND: Danny O’Leary (Brendan King) 30:55; DU: Brian Hoyt (Kellan Christensen) 51:00; DU: Drew Beckie (Matt Kirby) 77:19
Shots: DU 5-10-3-1 – 19, ND 6-9-1-3 – 19
Corner Kicks: DU 0-7-2-0 – 9, ND 6-5-0-0 – 11
Goalkeepers: DU: Oliver Brown – 2 SV, 2 GA, 45:00; Mate Aquirre – 1 SV, 0 GA, 65:00, T
ND: Will Walsh – 4 SV, 2 GA, 110:00, T
Fouls: DU 18, ND 18
Offsides: DU 3, ND 2
–ND–