Oct. 10, 2014
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Patrick Hodan’s golden goal in the 98th minute lifted the sixth-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s soccer team to a 3-2 overtime victory over No. 16 Louisville on Friday evening in Atlantic Coast Conference play at Alumni Stadium.
Notre Dame (6-3-2, 3-1-1) held leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but the Cardinals tallied their second equalizer of the night in the 88th minute to send the match to overtime. Hodan, a junior midfielder, scored off an assist from freshman forward Jon Gallagher to snap Notre Dame’s brief two-game losing streak. Vince Cicciarelli and Andrew O’Malley also scored for Notre Dame.
“We showed a lot of character today,” Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark said. “When you’re winning 2-1 and you lose a goal at the end of the game it would have been very easy to crumble. We took it into overtime with the right spirit. I thought we played well throughout the game and so did Louisville. To think that Louisville team has now lost four games in a row, it just shows you how stiff the competition is.”
Leon Brown had Notre Dame’s first scoring opportunity of the match when he blasted a shot on frame from 15 yards out in the sixth minute and Louisville goalkeeper Nick Jeffs dove to punch the ball away.
The Irish cracked the scoring column in the 13th minute on Cicciarelli’s second goal of the season. The sequence began with a Connor Klekota pass to Luke Mishu down the right side of the pitch and the fullback sent a cross to Cicciarelli, who headed the ball into the back of the net from seven yards out.
Louisville (5-5-1, 3-2-0) registered its first shot on goal in the 20th minute and Irish goalkeeper Patrick Wall easily negated the Ricardo Velazco attempt. A more threatening chance occurred minutes later when the ball was played ahead to Will Vitalis and the Cardinal midfielder was one-on-one with Wall, but the fifth-year senior saved the close-range shot. Wall finished the contest with four saves, while Jeffs was credited with three stops for the Cardinals.
Tim Kubel leveled the match in the 67th minute for Louisville. The opportunity began with a Ben Strong corner kick that was played out to Kubel, who rocketed a 20-yard attempt inside the far post. That was Louisville’s first shot on goal in the second half.
The Cardinals nearly grabbed a lead in the 73rd minute when Sawyer Edwards received a pass from the endline and chipped a shot on frame that a leaping Wall snagged out of the air.
In the 80th minute, Hodan sent a curving shot to the far post from 17 yards out, but Jeffs dove and punched the ball away. That attempt was quite similar to the one Hodan would burry in overtime.
It didn’t appear the Fighting Irish would need overtime when they went back on top, 2-1, in the 81st minute thanks to Andrew O’Malley’s first goal of the season. The central defender put home a loose ball after it was batted around in front of the goalmouth.
The Fighting Irish were two minutes away from victory when Vitalis crossed the ball to a diving Strong, who headed in the equalizer. Notre Dame produced one last opportunity in the final minute of regulation when a free kick was sent into the penalty box and remained loose, but it couldn’t be put away.
Despite allowing two equalizers, the Irish remained resilient in overtime and it paid off when Gallagher played the ball back to Hodan and he tucked his shot past a diving Jeffs and just inside the far post from 16 yards away. Hodan and Brown both have a team-best three goals this season.
“This was a big win for us,” Hodan said. “It hurt to be up 2-1 and give up a goal with two minutes left, but we found a way to win and that’s all that matters.”
Both teams were equal in shots (15) and shots on goal (6), while the Fighting Irish earned one more corner kick (3-2) than the Cardinals.
“Tonight was a great advertisement for ACC soccer,” Clark stated. “Both teams were going at it and both teams were quite similar in several respects. From our point of view it was a great result and we needed that to get back in the win column. Now we have to try and put a streak together.”
The Fighting Irish are back in action Tuesday when they play host to No. 20 Northwestern at Alumni Stadium. The non-conference match is slated for 7 p.m. (ET) and it can be seen live on WatchND.tv.
Oct. 10, 2014
Alumni Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
#16 Louisville (5-5-1, 3-2-0) 0 2 0 – 2
#6 Notre Dame (6-3-2, 3-1-1) 1 1 1 – 3
Scoring: ND: Vince Cicciarelli (Luke Mishu, Connor Klekota) 12:11; UL: Tim Kubel (Ben Strong) 66:05; ND: Andrew O’Malley (unassisted) 80:48; UL: Ben Strong (Will Vitalis) 87:58; ND: Patrick Hodan (Jon Gallagher) 97:38
— Sean Carroll, Assistant Athletic Media Relations Director
–ND–