Sept. 27, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Two early goals from Joseph Lapira (Lake Charles, La./Saint Louis Catholic) would put the No. 17/15 Notre Dame men’s soccer team on its way to a 4-0 victory over Marquette on Wednesday evening at Alumni Field. This was the second straight two-goal performance for the junior forward and his fourth multiple-goal game of the season. Senior midfielder Nate Norman (Rochester, Mich./Rochester Adams) and sophomore forward Bright Dike (Edmond, Okla./Edmond North) added the other two tallies for the Irish, who are now 6-3-2 on the season and 4-2-0 in BIG EAST play. The Golden Eagles fall to 1-9-1 on the season and 0-6-0 in the league.
With just over two minutes elapsed in the contest, Lapira put a foot on a deflected cross and hit it off the left post and then the ball caromed into the net for an early 1-0 Notre Dame lead. He would strike again in the 11th minute as sophomore defender Matt Besler (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West) sent a nice ball to Lapira and he dribbled through the top of the box and sent it over Marquette goalkeeper Marc Dettmann and into the goal. The tally was his team-leading 11th of the season, while the assist was Besler’s second of the year.
“Joseph Lapira just scores goals, he was fantastic yet again,” said Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark. “I was also really pleased with Cory Rellas. He did a fabulous job filling in for Ian Etherington, who was hurt. All season Cory has been a guy that we’ve been able to put in many places. He’s so versatile and he did another great job tonight.”
The Fighting Irish nearly made it 3-0 before the end of the first half with good chances from Besler and senior midfielder Greg Dalby (Poway, Calif./Poway) in the final 10 minutes of the stanza. Besler placed a foot on a Jack Traynor (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell North) free kick, which was placed perfectly, yet Dettmann was there for the stop right in front of the goal. Dalby took a corner kick from Kurt Martin (McAllen, Texas/Memorial) and sent it on goal, yet the shot was deflected by a Golden Eagle defender to keep the Irish lead at two heading into halftime.
Notre Dame dominated possession for much of the second half and it paid off in the 73rd minute as Norman dribbled through traffic and fired a shot into the back of the net from 15 yards out to make it a 3-0 contest on his first goal of the season. Dike put the capper on the match with just over eight minutes remaining as he settled a high ball and placed it into the right side of the netting for his second goal of the year.
“I thought we handled Marquette well today,” stated Clark. “They are a dangerous team until you put them away. You can’t underestimate anyone and we’ve had games earlier this year where it should have been 4-0 but it wasn’t. We just didn’t finish in those other games like we did tonight.”
Yet again, the Fighting Irish out-shot their opponent as they put up 19 attempts to nine from Marquette. Notre Dame also had seven corner kicks, while the Golden Eagles had three. Notre Dame has collected more shots than its opponent in eight of 11 matches this season. Senior goalkeeper Chris Cahill (Louisville, Ky/DeSales) picked up his fifth win of the season by posting his fourth shutout of the campaign. He made four saves on the night as did Dettmann.
The Fighting Irish return to action this Saturday (Sept. 30) at Seton Hall. Game time is set for noon at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, N.J. Note the time change as the match was originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
“It’ll be good to go on the road and see what we can do,” said Clark. “Seton Hall is on our side of the conference and it would be nice to get something done out there.”
To stay up to date on the 2006 Notre Dame men’s soccer season, please log on to und.com or call the official Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.
Marquette (1-9-1, 0-6-0 BE) 0 0 – 0
#17/15 Notre Dame (6-3-2, 4-2-0 BE) 2 2 – 4
ND: Joseph Lapira (unassisted) 2:03, ND: Joseph Lapira (Matt Besler) 10:57, ND: Nate Norman (unassisted) 72:33, ND: Bright Dike (unassisted) 81:44
Shots: MU 4-5 – 9, ND 9-10 – 19
Corner Kicks: MU 2-1 – 3, ND 5-2 – 7
Saves: MU 4 (Marc Dettmann 4), ND 4 (Chris Cahill 4)
Fouls: MU 18, ND 10
Offsides:MU 4, ND 3