Sept. 11, 2009
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 10th-ranked Fighting Irish used three different goal scorers and a dominating second-half performance to best Seattle, 3-0, in men’s soccer action on Friday night in front of 1,469 fans at Alumni Stadium. The match was part of the eighth annual Hilton Garden Inn Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament.
Seniors Justin Morrow (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Ignatius), Michael Thomas (Olathe, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) and John Schaefer (Troy, Mich./Detroit Jesuit) did the scoring for the Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame (2-1-1) jumped on top at the nine minute mark of the first half as senior forward Bright Dike (Edmond, Okla./Edmond North) crossed the ball to Morrow from near the right end line and he deposited it into the back of the net. That was the first goal of the season for Morrow. Dike now has a team-best seven points this season.
Junior forward Jeb Brovsky (Lakewood, Colo./Green Mountain) had a good look on net with just under 34 minutes remaining in the half, but sent his shot just wide to the right.
Seattle (0-3-1) registered its first shot of the match with 32:24 showing on the clock in the first half as Brandon Hamer placed his shot just wide of the frame. The Redhawks had another opportunity with seven minutes left in the period but Irish goalkeeper Philip Tuttle (Hooksett, N.H./Brewster Academy) saved Ian Walsh’s kick.
Notre Dame threatened again in the 44th minute as junior midfielder Josh Thiermann (Stoughton, Wis./Stoughton) made a nice run into the 18-yard box, but sent his shot wide to the right of the post. The Irish led 1-0 at halftime.
“At the end of the game, I think the result was well deserved,” said Irish head coach Bobby Clark. “We give full credit to Seattle. I feel like they gave us everything we could handle in the first half.”
The Fighting Irish came out aggressive in the second half and out shot the Redhawks 12-1 in the stanza. Thomas made it 2-0 in favor of the Irish in the 60th minute as he took a pass from Thiermann and scored from 15 yards out. Thiermann had another good look of his own a minute later but could not capitalize off a nice feed from Schaefer.
Schaefer put the finishing touches on the win in the 72nd minute as he scored off the rebound of a save from Seattle goalkeeper Emerson De Oliveira. That marked the first career goal for Schaefer, a central defender.
Notre Dame sophomore Michael Rose (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park), who was seeing his first collegiate action, nearly scored less than a minute after checking into the match as he drilled a shot that was saved by De Oliveira with under five minutes left in the contest.
“We out shot them 12-1 in the second half and it was a whole different ball game,” added Clark. “I thought the attitude was terrific in the second half and we need to bring that along in the first half sometimes as well.”
Tuttle, a senior, made two saves to pick up the third shutout of his career. He is now 1-1-0 on the season. De Oliveira made three stops in the loss. Notre Dame out shot Seattle 19-7 for the match in addition to gaining seven more corner kicks (9-2) than the Redhawks.
The Irish have out scored their opponents 8-0 during the first two matches at the brand new Alumni Stadium. Notre Dame opened the venue with a 5-0 win over Michigan on Sept. 1.
Tonight marked the first ever meeting between Notre Dame and Seattle.
Indiana defeated New Mexico, 3-2, during the tournament’s first game on Friday.
The 2009 Hilton Garden Inn Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament will conclude on Sunday with Indiana taking on Seattle at 11:30 a.m. (ET), followed by Notre Dame against New Mexico at 2:00 p.m.
Hilton Garden Inn Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament
Alumni Stadium • Notre Dame, Ind.
Sept. 11, 2009
Seattle (0-3-1) 0 0 – 0
#10 Notre Dame (2-1-1) 1 2 – 3
ND: Justin Morrow (Bright Dike) 9:00; ND: Michael Thomas (Josh Thiermann) 59:37; ND: John Schaefer (unassisted) 71:57
Shots: SU 6-1 – 7, ND 7-12 – 19
Corner Kicks: SU 1-1 – 2, ND 2-7 – 9
Saves: SU 3 (Emerson De Oliveira – 90:00 – 3 svs – 3 ga – L); ND 2 (Philip Tuttle – 90:00 – 2 svs – 0 ga – W)
Fouls: SU 8, ND 10
Offsides: SU 0, ND 4