Oct. 25, 2003
BLACKSBURG, Va. – Senior forward Justin Detter scored twice and junior Chris Sawyer made eight saves after allowing an early goal as the 13th-ranked Notre Dame men’s soccer team clinched a BIG EAST Tournament spot with Saturday night’s 2-1 overtime win at No. 9 Virginia Tech.
Notre Dame (10-3-3, 5-3-1 BIG EAST) moved up to third place in the conference standings and remains locked in a six-team battle for the final three home-field spots in the BIG EAST quarterfinals (St. John’s has clinched the top spot). The Irish still can finish anywhere from second to seventh and would secure a home-field spot by winning their final BIG EAST regular-season game next Friday versus Villanova (at Alumni Field), with six other games still left to be played that involve the other home-field contenders.
The Irish dominated the run of play in the final 25 minutes of regulation and overtime, racking up a 16-11 overall shot edge that included all four of the overtime shots (the visitors also held a 9-6 corner-kick edge).
Detter scored his second overtime goal of the season in the seventh minute of extra play, cashing in a breakaway chance with a chip over charging goalkeeper Chase Harrison for the 22nd goal of his Notre Dame career and seventh game-winner.
Detter had notched his seventh goal of the season in the early moments, taking a pass from junior defender Kevin Goldthwaite and beating Harrison for the 1-0 lead (6:40).
Virginia Tech (11-4-1, 5-3-0) quickly tied the game when Scott Spangler received a feed from Ben Nason and flicked his shot by Sawyer for his fifth goal of the season (10:49).
Notre Dame remained unbeaten in overtime this season (4-0-3) and improved to 6-3-3 in OT games during the three-year Bobby Clark era.
Sawyer now has held the opposition to 0-1 goals in 13 of 16 games this season, including 2-1 overtime wins over California (winning goal by Devon Prescod) and Fresno State (GWG by Detter) and a 1-0 win OT win over Indiana (GWG by Goldthwaite).
BIG EAST Home-Field Race: The six teams in the running for the final three home-field spots include Rutgers (18 points, done at 5-2-3), ND (16; 5-3-1), VT (15; 5-3-0), Seton Hall (15; 4-2-3), UConn (14; 4-2-2) and Providence (13; 4-3-1) … ND and SHU have one game remaining while VT, UConn and PC have two left to play … the games remaining for the above teams: PC at 10th-place Villanova (10/26) UConn at last-place Syracuse (10/26, 11th-place Pittsburgh at VT (10/29), VU at ND (10/31), UConn at 9th-place Georgetown (11/1), BC at SHU (11/1) and VT at PC (11/2).
#13 Notre Dame (10-3-3, 5-3-1) 1 0 1 – 2
#18 Virginia Tech (11-4-1, 5-3-0) 1 0 0 – 1
ND 1. Justin Detter (Kevin Goldthwaite) 6:40; VT 1. Scott Spangler (Ben Nason) 10:49; ND 2. Detter (-) 96:10.
Shots: ND 6-6-4 – 10, VT 4-7-0 – 11.
Corner Kicks: ND 2-7-0 – 9, VT 4-1-1 – 6.
Saves: ND 8 (Chris Sawyer), VT 9 (Chris Harrison).
Fouls: ND 8, VT 11.
Offsides: ND 2, VT 2.