Oct. 7, 2009
MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Second-half goals from senior forwards Tamba Samba and Bright Dike were the difference as the No. 24 Notre Dame men’s soccer team topped Marquette, 2-0, in BIG EAST Blue Division play on Wednesday night at Valley Fields.
Notre Dame (6-4-1, 4-2-0) snapped a scoreless tie less than three minutes into the second half as Samba (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) deposited his first goal of the season. The senior collected the ball on the right side of the six-yard box and finished at the far post.
The Fighting Irish grabbed a two-goal advantage in the 55th minute when Dike (Edmond, Okla./Edmond North) headed home a cross from sophomore Brendan King (Naperville, Ill./Edison Academic Center (Fla.)). That was Dike’s team-high seventh goal of the season.
The Irish held a decisive 11-3 advantage in shots in the second half. For the match, Notre Dame out shot Marquette 15-8 in addition to earning one more corner kick (5-4). Samba and junior forward Jeb Brovsky (Lakewood, Colo./Green Mountain) led the Irish with three shots apiece.
Notre Dame senior goalkeeper Andrew Quinn (Silver Spring, Md./DeMatha) made two saves to earn his first shutout of the season and even his record at 2-2-1. His counterpart, Matt Pyzdrowski, had five stops for Marquette (2-6-2, 1-3-2) in the loss.
“It was a good team performance tonight,” stated Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark. “They (Marquette) are a very direct team and I felt we handled them well in the first half and I thought we really controlled the game in the second half. I felt a lot of the guys played well tonight.”
Sophomore central defender Aaron Maund (Dorchester, Mass./The Roxbury Latin School) and freshman midfielder Dillon Powers (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) were back with the Irish tonight after missing the previous five matches while competing with the United States Under-20 National Team at the U-20 World Cup in Egypt. Maund started and played all 90 minutes, while Powers came off the bench and saw 20 minutes on the pitch.
Notre Dame now has won consecutive matches for the first time this season. The Irish downed Seton Hall, 2-1, last Friday. The Fighting Irish are 5-0-1 in night games this season.
“This was the first time we’ve won back-to-back games all season so hopefully we’ll start to string some together and make this a habit,” added Clark. “It was nice to get Aaron Maund back because he gives us some experience in the back. It was also good to get Dillon (Powers) onto the field for 20 minutes.”
The Irish will return to action with a BIG EAST Blue Division clash at Providence on Saturday, Oct. 10. Game time is slated for 1:00 p.m. (ET) at Glay Field.
Valley Fields • Milwaukee, Wis.
October 7, 2009
#24 Notre Dame (6-4-1, 4-2-0) 0 2 – 2
Marquette (2-6-2, 1-3-2) 0 0 – 0
ND: Tamba Samba (unassisted) 47:54; ND: Bright Dike (Brendan King) 54:37
Shots: ND 4-11 – 15, MU 5-3 – 8
Corner Kicks: ND 2-3 – 5, MU 3-1 – 4
Saves: ND 2 (Andrew Quinn – 90:00 – 0 ga – 2 svs – W); MU 5 (Matt Pyzdrowski – 90:00 – 2 ga – 5 svs – L)
Fouls: ND 13, MU 9
Offsides: ND 2, MU 0