Oct. 9, 2012
EVANSTON, Ill. – The No. 7 Notre Dame men’s soccer team fell at Northwestern, 2-1, on Tuesday evening at a windy Lakeside Field. The Fighting Irish record now stands at 10-3 this season.
Northwestern (8-2-2) had the first chance of the match when Kyle Schickel missed just wide of the near post from seven yards away in the fourth minute. Notre Dame’s first shot on goal was an attempt from distance by Dillon Powers in the 13th minute and Wildcat goalkeeper Tyler Miller made the save.
The Wildcats went ahead 1-0 in the 14th minute as Joey Calistri attacked from the left side of the pitch and deposited his shot into the far netting from 10 yards out. Chris Ritter assisted on the score.
Lepe Seetane gave the Wildcats a 2-0 advantage in the 20th minute when he took a pass from Calistri and blasted a shot into the upper netting from 15 yards away.
Northwestern threatened again in the 27th minute, but Irish goalkeeper Patrick Wall punched away a Nick Gendron shot that was headed towards the near post. A free kick from Powers was placed on goal in the 34th minute, yet Miller was there for the save.
Wall saved another Gendron shot in the final minute of the first half to keep the score 2-0 at the intermission. Wall had two stops on the night, while Miller made six saves for Northwestern.
Notre Dame forward Harrison Shipp had the first shot on goal in the second half, but his attempt from 20 yards out was saved by Miller in the 50th minute. The first Wildcat opportunity of the second period occurred in the 56th minute when Calistri sent a header just over the crossbar from the top of the six-yard box.
Powers placed a free kick on goal from 30 yards away in the 68th minute and Miller was there for the stop. Irish freshman Patrick Hodan put a shot on frame minutes later, but Miller was there again for the save.
In the 74th minute, Notre Dame forward Ryan Finley had a scoring chance as the ball was loose near the goalmouth, but his shot was blocked. Finley had another good look in the 80th minute, yet his blast from inside the 18-yard box was blocked by a Wildcat defender.
The Fighting Irish entered the scoring column in the 86th as Hodan collected the rebound off his own shot that was saved by Miller and deposited the ball into the back of the netting. It was the third goal of the season for the freshman midfielder.
Notre Dame held a 21-9 advantage in shots for the match, including a 15-2 margin in the second half. The Wildcats had two more corner kicks (5-3) than the Irish.
“I was really proud of the way the team fought in the second half,” said Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark. “We outshot them 15-2 in the second half, but we had dug a hole for ourselves. It was a tough night to play because it was very windy and blustery and we got down by two goals in the first 20 minutes. We fought hard and maybe if we would have gotten the goal a bit sooner the outcome could have been different.”
Tonight was the first non-conference loss of the season for the Fighting Irish, who had been 8-0 in non-BIG EAST play.
Notre Dame returns to BIG EAST action on Saturday at Seton Hall. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. (ET) at Owen T. Carroll Field in South Orange, N.J.
Lakeside Field – Evanston, Ill.
October 9, 2012
#7 Notre Dame (10-3-0) 0 1 – 1
Northwestern (8-2-2) 2 0 – 2
Scoring: NU: Joey Calistri (Chris Ritter) 14:36; NU: Lepe Seetane (Joey Calistri) 19:32; ND: Patrick Hodan (unassisted) 85:09
Shots: ND 6-15 – 21, NU 7-2- 9
Corner Kicks: ND 1-2 – 3, NU 3-2 – 5
Goalkeepers: ND: Patrick Wall – 2 SV, 2 GA, 90:00, L
NU: Tyler Miller – 6 SV, 1 GA, 90:00, W
Offsides: ND 1, NU 2
–ND–