Sept. 12, 2003
The 16th-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s soccer team improved to 2-1-1 on the season with a 2-1 (OT) victory over the visiting Fresno State Bulldogs (0-3-0) in day one action at the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament Friday evening. Senior Justin Detter chipped classmate Chad Riley’s free kick from the deep left wing past Fresno State goalkeeper Eric Kronberg to end the contest with 52 seconds remaining in the first overtime.
Notre Dame got on the scoreboard first with a brilliant display of team soccer. Just over 26 minutes into the contest, Detter tapped the ball to team captain Greg Martin at the top of the box, Martin sent a touch pass back to Detter, who then hit a streaking Devon Prescod behind the Bulldog defense. Prescod controlled the ball, dribbled past a defenseless Kronberg and put away his third goal of the season.
The Irish were able to control much of the action throughout the contest, holding the ball and working on breaking down the Fresno State defense. The Bulldogs, however, got a matching goal in the second half when Dan Oka sent a perfect corner kick into the heart of the Notre Dame defense. Jeremiah Leroy timed his jump perfectly and bounced a header past Irish goalkeeper Chris Sawyer for the first Fresno State goal of the season.
That was arguably Fresno’s last legitimate scoring chance. The back row defense of Greg Dalby, Kevin Richards and Jack Stewart kept the Bulldogs from mounting a consistent offensive attack. The Irish, on the other hand, put together numerous solid scoring chances. Detter richocheted a great header off the cross bar late in the second half and seemed to be a threat to score each time he touched the ball.
Notre Dame out-shot Fresno State 19-10 in the game. Sawyer made two saves in goal for the Irish, while Kronberg stopped five of seven Notre Dame shots on goal. The corner kicks were even at 4-4, while Fresno led the game in fouls 19-13.
The Irish were particularly active in the overtime period, out-shooting Fresno State 5-0 in the extra stanza. Detter led Notre Dame in shots as an individual with nine (four on goal), while Ian Etherington, Luke Boughen and Devon Prescod each had two shots.
In other tournament action, Akron upset #14 Indiana 1-0 in the first game on Friday evening. The Zips scored the game-winner just minutes into the first overtime. Indiana will take on Fresno State at 11 a.m. on Sunday, while the Irish are set to take on Akron at 1:30 p.m.