Sept. 18, 2009
CHICAGO, Ill. – The No. 20 Notre Dame men’s soccer team claimed a 2-1 decision over DePaul on Friday evening at Wish Field in the BIG EAST opener for both squads. The Irish used goals from Jeb Brovsky (Lakewood, Colo./Green Mountain) and Bright Dike (Edmond, Okla./Edmond North) to notch the victory.
Senior midfielder Michael Thomas (Olathe, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) assisted on both goals to up his team-leading assist total to three.
Notre Dame (3-2-1, 1-0-0) got on the board in the 10th minute when Brovsky, a junior forward, took a pass from Thomas and worked his way by the DePaul defense and sent a shot into the upper right corner.
DePaul (3-3-0, 0-1-0) evened the match in the 26th minute as Mark Plotkin sent a shot over Irish goalkeeper Philip Tuttle (Hooksett, N.H./Brewster Academy) from 30 yards out.
The match was knotted 1-1 at halftime.
Notre Dame regained the lead for good in the 60th minute as Dike, a senior forward, scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season when he got behind the Blue Demon defense and sent the ball past goalkeeper Joe Ferrari off a pass from Thomas.
Tuttle improved to 2-1-0 on the season by making two saves. Ferrari made one save in the loss.
“It was a good result,” commented Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark. “We were very good in the second half. The first half was a little sloppy, but the goals from both teams were terrific. They were both good strikes. It certainly was a hard fought game and not many teams come to Wish Field and win. I felt it was a good performance and everyone worked hard. We’ll take it and move on.”
Next up for the Fighting Irish will be a BIG EAST clash at South Florida on Sunday. Game time is slated for 1:00 p.m. (ET) at the USF Soccer Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
Wish Field • Chicago, Ill.
September 18, 2009
#20 Notre Dame (3-2-1, 1-0-0) 1 1 – 2
DePaul (3-3-0, 0-1-0) 1 0 – 1
ND: Jeb Brovsky (Michael Thomas) 9:53; DP: Mark Plotkin (unassisted) 25:22; ND: Bright Dike (Michael Thomas) 59:00
Shots: ND 2-2 – 4, DP 5-2 – 7
Corner Kicks: ND 2-0 – 2, DP 1-2 – 3
Saves: ND 2 (Philip Tuttle – 90:00 – 1 ga – 2 svs – W); DP 1 (Joe Ferrari – 90:00 – 2 ga – 1 sv – L)
Fouls: ND 5, DP 6
Offsides: ND 1, DP 1
-ND–