Aug. 31, 2008
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The third-ranked Fighting Irish men’s soccer team used four goals from three different players to capture a 4-1 win over Duke on Sunday afternoon during the second and final day of the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic at Bill Armstrong Stadium. Senior forward Bright Dike (Edmond, Okla./Edmond North) scored twice to notch the first multiple-goal game of his career.
Adding goals for the Irish were junior midfielder Justin Morrow (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Ignatius) and sophomore forward Steven Perry (Edmond, Okla./Bishop McGuinness). Junior midfielder Dave Donohue (Reading, Mass./Cushing Academy) registered a career-high two assists in the match.
“It was kind of a funny game,” commented Irish head coach Bobby Clark. “I felt the goals came easy and they didn’t come easy on Friday night (a 3-0 loss to Akron). After they (Duke) got down, they pushed up and kept three in the back and that really opened the gates for both (Steven) Perry and (Bright) Dike. When you take a man away and give Dike space he can just come thundering through. That was their downfall to a degree.”
Notre Dame (1-1) got on the board in the seventh minute as Morrow took a feed from sophomore forward Jeb Brovsky (Lakewood, Colo./Green Mountain) on the left side of the 18-yard box and blasted a shot into the upper right corner. That was the fourth career goal for Morrow.
The Fighting Irish nearly claimed a two-goal advantage with just over 25 minutes remaining in the first half as junior midfielder Michael Thomas (Olathe, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) headed a Brovsky free kick just over the crossbar. Brovsky kept the Irish pressure going with a far shot on goal that was saved at the 12-minute mark of the half.
Perry gave the Irish a 2-0 lead with his first collegiate goal, which came with 9:39 left on the clock in the first half. The forward received a Thomas pass, pressured from the right side and put the ball underneath the Duke goalkeeper, Brendan Fitzgerald, and into the left side of the netting.
Notre Dame led 2-0 at halftime.
The Irish took a three-goal lead less than three minutes into the second half when Dike fired a shot into the back of the net from the right side. Assists on the play went to Donohue and sophomore midfielder Matt Armstrong (Phoenix, Ariz./North Canyon). Dike struck again in the 51st minute as he took a pass from Donohue and made a run from the right side and scored to make it 4-0 with his sixth career tally.
Notre Dame continued to pressure and out shot the Blue Devils 11-9 in the second half. For the game, Duke held a 17-16 edge in shots and an 8-6 advantage in corner kicks.
Duke (0-2) was awarded a penalty kick in the 79th minute that was taken by Mike Grella. Senior goalkeeper Andrew Quinn (Silver Spring, Md./DeMatha) came up with the save for the Irish, yet Grella put home the rebound to make it a 4-1 contest. Quinn made five saves and earned the win to move his career record to 3-3-1.
Notre Dame concluded the 2008 adidas/IU Credit Union Classic with a 1-1 record. The Irish fell to Akron, 3-0, on Friday. Both Akron and Indiana finished with a 1-0-1 record, yet Akron won the tournament on goal differential. Notre Dame finished third, while Duke (0-2) was fourth. Dike and Irish freshman defender Aaron Maund (Dorchester, Mass./The Roxbury Latin School) were named to the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic all-tournament team. Maund played all 180 minutes in the central defense over the weekend.
“I feel there is still a lot of work to be done from our side of things,” added Clark. “As I said on Friday, I don’t think we were nearly as bad as the score suggested and I don’t think we’re as nearly as good as the score suggested today.”
Today marked the first time Notre Dame reached the four-goal plateau since a 4-1 win over Georgetown on Oct. 7, 2006.
The Irish will return to action when they play host to the seventh annual Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament on Sept. 5 and 7 at Alumni Field. Notre Dame will face Dartmouth on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7:30 p.m. (ET). Indiana and South Florida will play the first game that evening at 5:00 p.m. On Sunday, Sept. 7, Indiana faces Dartmouth at 11:30 a.m., while Notre Dame takes on South Florida at 2:00 p.m.
adidas/IU Credit Union Classic
Bloomington, Ind. – Bill Armstrong Stadium
Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008
Duke (0-2-0) 0 1 – 1
#3 Notre Dame (1-1-0) 2 2 – 4
ND: Justin Morrow (Jeb Brovsky) 6:24; ND: Steven Perry (Michael Thomas) 35:22; ND: Bright Dike (Matt Armstrong, Dave Donohue) 47:51; ND: Bright Dike (Dave Donohue) 50:33; DU: Mike Grella (unassisted) 78:30
Shots: DU 8-9 – 17, ND 5-11 – 16
Corner Kicks: DU 4-4 – 8, ND 3-3 – 6
Saves: DU 4 (Brendan Fitzgerald 2, Jan Trnka-Amrhein 2); ND 5 (Andrew Quinn 5)
Fouls: DU 8, ND 16
Offsides: DU 0, ND 3
-ND–