Oct. 19, 2005
Providence, R.I. – The Notre Dame and Providence men’s soccer teams were less than three minutes away from a double-overtime tie when sophomore midfielder Kurt Martin (McAllen, Texas/Memorial) netted the game-winner to give the Irish the 2-1 win at Glay Field on Wednesday afternoon. Both teams entered the match tied for fourth place in the BIG EAST’s Blue Division with 10 points apiece. Notre Dame now stands at 8-5-2 overall and 4-4-1 in conference play, while the Friars are now 4-2-7 overall and 2-2-4 in the BIG EAST.
“This was a great win to get,” said Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark. “I felt that we were in control the entire game. But this was a very hard fought match. Providence is a good team and they had a lot of confidence because they had only lost one game. It was great to see us get that goal and get the win.”
The Fighting Irish snapped their scoreless streak, which had spanned over two games, in the ninth minute as junior forward Justin McGeeney (Ames, Iowa/Ames) sent home his team-leading fourth goal of the season off of Friar goalkeeper Chris Konopka from 20 yards out. Notre Dame junior defender Ryan Miller (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) collected the assist on the tally.
Each team had five shots in the first half yet the Irish would hold a 1-0 advantage on the scoreboard.
Notre Dame was on the verge of collecting the victory in regulation, however the Friars’ Ian Wexler notched the equalizer early in the 88th minute. Wexler sent the ball into the back of the net after a long throw-in from Timothy Ritter and a Scott Hankard cross.
After each team played a scoreless 10-minute first overtime period, Martin delivered the first goal of his Notre Dame career in dramatic fashion with 7:10 gone by in the second overtime. The tally was set up as midfielder Nate Norman (Rochester, Mich./Rochester Adams) worked his way around the Friar defense and hammered a cross that was flicked on by forward Joe Lapira (Lake Charles, La./Saint Louis Catholic) to Martin.
“We needed a result like this big time,” Clark stated following the match. “This should settle us down and we hope to follow this up with a win at Pittsburgh on Saturday.”
Notre Dame junior goalkeeper Chris Cahill (Louisville, Ky./DeSales) stopped eight Friar shots to collect the win. Konopka collected six saves during the match. Providence would hold a 17-11 advantage in shots on the afternoon.
The Fighting Irish will conclude their four-game trek away from home with a BIG EAST showdown against Pittsburgh on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 1:00 p.m. (ET). Stay up-to-date on the Notre Dame men’s soccer team by logging on to und.com or by calling the Notre Dame Athletics Hotline at (574) 631-3000.
Notre Dame 1 0 0 1 – 2
Providence 0 1 0 0 – 1
ND: Justin McGeeney (Ryan Miller) 8:42, PC: Ian Wexler (Scott Hankard, Timothy Ritter) 87:05, ND: Kurt Martin (Nate Norman, Joe Lapira) 107:10
Shots: ND 5-4-1-1 – 11, PC 5-8-2-2 – 17
Corner Kicks: ND 1-3-0-0 – 4, PC 1-2-0-1 – 4
Saves: ND 8 (Chris Cahill 8), PC 6 (Chris Konopka 6)
Fouls: ND 7, PC 12
Offsides: ND 3, PC 4
-ND–