Sept. 1, 2006
Bloomington, Ind. – The No. 18 Notre Dame men’s soccer team played Saint Louis to a 0-0 double-overtime draw on Friday evening in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic at Bill Armstrong Stadium. With the tie, the Fighting Irish move to 1-1-1 on the season, while the Billikens are now 0-1-1. Junior forward Joseph Lapira (Lake Charles, La./Saint Louis Catholic) led Notre Dame with four shots and sophomore Andrew Quinn (Silver Spring, Md./DeMatha) made three saves on the night for the Irish.
Saint Louis nearly cracked the scoring column in the 16th minute as the Billikens sent a corner kick into the box, which was headed off the hands of Quinn before hitting the crossbar and nearly landing in the goal before being cleared out of bounds by the Irish
Notre Dame’s best chance in the first half came with 20:30 remaining when Greg Dalby (Poway, Calif./Poway) sent a pass to Ian Etherington (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral), who put a shot on goal from 12 yards out, yet it was saved by Billiken goalkeeper Nick Billman. Billman made four saves on the night.
“Joseph Lapira was superb tonight,” said Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark. “Dale Rellas was also very good and Andrew Quinn was excellent. He made a tremendous save in the first half and he had a good game overall.”
The second half featured a couple good opportunities for both squads. Saint Louis’ Bobby Wilmering dished a pass to Dado Hamzagic, who sent the shot just wide right of the goal four minutes into the second stanza. Irish freshman Michael Thomas (Olathe, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) had a good look with 34:10 remaining but his shot was deflected by a Billiken defender over the crossbar. Senior defender Ryan Miller (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) sent a shot high off of the ensuing corner kick.
Freshman Justin Morrow (Cleveland/Ohio/St. Ignatius) and Lapira nearly hooked up for the Irish in the 64th minute, yet Lapira chipped the ball over the net from close in. Notre Dame then survived a scare from Saint Louis with seven minutes remaining as a header from five yards out was saved by Quinn.
Lapira had the best look for the Irish during the overtime periods. The junior sent a blast on goal off a rebound from a Kurt Martin (McAllen, Texas/Memorial) shot, yet it was stopped by Billman. Notre Dame kept Saint Louis shot-less during both 10-minute overtime sessions.
“I thought we dominated the last hour of the game,” commented Clark. “I don’t know why we started out slow, but you have to give credit to Saint Louis. They are a superb team and one of the elite teams in the Midwest. They came out in better shape than we did.”
The Irish will take on No. 8 Indiana on Sunday during the final day of the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. Gametime against the host Hoosiers is slated for 2:00 p.m. The first game of the day will feature Saint Louis versus No. 16 Connecticut at 11:30 a.m.
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.
Saint Louis 0-0-0-0 – 0
#18 Notre Dame 0-0-0-0 – 0
Shots: SL 6-4-0-0 – 10, ND 3-5-1-3 – 12
Corner Kicks: SL 2-3-0-0 – 5, ND 1-2-0-1 – 4
Saves: SL 5 (Nick Billman 4), ND 4 (Andrew Quinn 3)
Fouls: SL 13, ND 8
Offsides: SL 4, ND 1