Nov. 13, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The No. 25 Notre Dame men’s soccer team won a penalty kick shootout, 4-3, against No. 7 Louisville in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship on Friday evening at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. The match ended as a scoreless draw following regulation and two overtime periods.
The Fighting Irish (10-7-3), the No. 2 seed from the Blue Division, now will face St. John’s, the second seed from the Red Division, in the league title game on Sunday at 12 noon (ET). Louisville (13-2-4) was the top seed from the Red Division.
Notre Dame missed its first penalty kick attempt, yet made the next four while the decisive save was made by Irish senior goalkeeper Philip Tuttle (Hooksett, N.H./Brewster Academy) in the final try from Louisville. Tuttle came up big for the Irish as he made six saves on the night.
“I thought we were tough tonight,” said Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark. “You have to be tough to play Louisville because they’re a very tough team. I’m glad Tut (Philip Tuttle) came through. Earlier in the game he had some very good saves when we needed him. His final save in penalty kicks was very good.”
For the match, the Cardinals had 16 shots compared to 12 for the Irish. Louisville also had one more corner kick (3-2).
Louisville’s Freddie Braun produced the first shot of the game just over five minutes into the match and the save was made by Tuttle. Tuttle made another stop six minutes later on a shot from Gerardo Chavez.
Notre Dame’s first shot of the contest came with just over 20 minutes left in the first half as junior forward Jeb Brovsky (Lakewood, Colo./Green Mountain) sent the ball wide of the near post from inside the 18-yard box.
Tuttle came up with another key save with just over 13 minutes left in the first half as he jumped to punch out a Mark Knight shot. Tuttle punched out another Knight shot less than a minute later and Louisville’s Colin Rolfe followed with a shot off the post.
With two minutes left in the first half, Louisville’s Kenney Walker placed a shot on frame and Tuttle made a leaping punch to send the ball over the crossbar.
Notre Dame’s first shot on goal came in the final seconds of the first half as junior defender Bilal Duckett (Peachtree City, Ga./McIntosh) headed a shot that was saved by Cardinal goalkeeper Andre Boudreaux. Louisville out shot Notre Dame 7-3 in the period and the Cardinals had the only two corner kicks of the half.
The Irish had the first good look of the second half as Brovsky sent a shot over the crossbar with 36:15 showing on the clock. Freshman Dillon Powers (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) sent a shot wide of the near post with 33:19 remaining in the half.
It appeared as though Notre Dame scored with 27:06 left in the second half as Steven Perry (Edmond, Okla./Bishop McGuinness) sent the ball into the back of the net off a feed from Brovsky, yet an offside call was made.
The Irish kept the pressure on as a Michael Thomas (Olathe, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) header was saved by Boudreaux with just over 20 minutes left in regulation. With 13:30 left, Bright Dike (Edmond, Okla./Edmond North) attempted a shot from 18 yards out, but a charging Boudreaux deflected the ball away. Boudreaux had three saves on the night.
Both teams had seven shots in the second half, yet neither team could score and the match went to overtime.
Early in the first overtime Gerardo Chavez played the ball down low and he sent a cross to Knight, who sent the ball wide of the goal. That was the only shot of the first 10-minute overtime period. Notre Dame had one corner kick in the stanza.
With 7:15 left in the second overtime, Knight put a close-range header on goal for Louisville that was saved by Tuttle.
On the other end of the pitch, Thomas was centered on goal, yet his shot sailed over the crossbar. With just under five minutes left in the second overtime, Dike sent a blast on goal from deep on the right side and Boudreaux dove and deflected the ball and it was cleared away by the Cardinal defense.
Notre Dame had two shots in the second overtime while Louisville had one.
Connecting on penalty kicks for the Irish were Matt Armstrong (Phoenix, Ariz./North Canyon), Powers, Dike and Brovsky. Paolo Delpiccolo, Kenney Walker and J.T. Murray netted theirs for Louisville.
“There were no goals tonight but it was a fantastic advertisement for college soccer,” added Clark. “It easily could have been 5-5. It was two competitive teams. We had to handle their very direct play, but they’re good at it. They have good forwards and they create chances. I thought our defense, John Schaefer and Aaron Maund, were fantastic. They handled almost everything that came their way. Matt Armstrong, to me, was our man of the match.”
St. John’s defeated Providence, 2-0, in the first semifinal on Friday. St. John’s topped Notre Dame, 2-0, earlier this season (Sept. 6) at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington, Ind.
BIG EAST Championship Semifinals
Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium • Morgantown, W. Va.
November 13, 2009
#25 Notre Dame (#2 Seed Blue Division) (10-7-3) 0 0 0 0 – 0
#7 Louisville (#1 Seed Red Division) (13-2-4) 0 0 0 0 – 0
Notre Dame wins penalty kick shootout, 4-3
Shots: ND 3-7-0-2 – 12, UL 7-7-1-1 – 16
Corner Kicks: ND 0-1-1-0 – 2, UL 2-1-0-0 – 3
Saves: ND 6 (Philip Tuttle – 110:00 – 0 ga – 6 svs – T); UL 3 (Andre Boudreaux – 110:00 – 0 ga – 3 svs – T)
Fouls: ND 14, UL 15
Offsides: ND 4, UL 1