Oct. 4, 2002
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s soccer team had its chances, but the Irish just couldn’t convert as they dominated their opponent for the second straight game.
Pittsburgh’s Keeyan Young’s scored the game-winning goal with 1:57 remaining in the first sudden death overtime to lift the Panthers to a 1-0 victory over the 16th-ranked Irish at Alumni Field. Coach Bobby Clark’s squad dominated the Panthers in every area of the game, but no player’s shot could make it into the net. Young scored the game winner when his chip shot off an assist from Jeff Krause went over the head of Irish goalkeeper Greg Tait (Fayetteville, N.Y.).
With the loss, Notre Dame, 0-2-1 in its last three outings, falls to 4-3-3 on the season and 2-2-1 in BIG EAST play, while Pittsburgh improved to 7-3-0 overall and 2-2-0 in BIG EAST play. It also marked the fifth overtime contest in 10 games this season for the Irish who fell to 1-1-3 in those contests.
Notre Dame was thoroughly dominant throughout the game as the Irish outshot the Panthers 20-10 and owned an 11-1 advantage in corner kicks. The Irish had several scoring opportunities, but Panther goalkeeper Justin Gaul, who made four stops in goal, came up with a couple of heady saves at critical times in the contest.
The loss continued recent frustration for the Irish against the Panthers as the Irish dropped their second straight to the visitors. The two teams did not play each other last season, but Pittsburgh was a 3-2 winner over the Irish at Alumni Field during the 2001 campaign. Notre Dame has only one win in the seven meetings between the two schools, and that was during the 1996 campaign. There have been three times in the series.
Notre Dame outshot Pittsburgh 10-3 in the first 45 minutes of the contest and could not convert on scoring opportunities. Irish leading scorer Erich Braun(Frankfurt, Germany), who has not scored a goal in four games, had a couple of goal-scoring chances from inside the box, but could not finish on those chances. Notre Dame’s best scoring opportunity came when Kevin Goldthwaite (Sacramento, Calif.) shot from the left of the box bounced off a Panther defender and nearly went into the net. Luke Boughen (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) had a scoring chance at the 84:59 mark, but his shot hit the crossbar and went over the goal.
Irish goalkeeper Chris Sawyer (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) appeared to suffer an injury at the start of the second half and played just 5:15 after the halftime intermission before being replaced by Tait for the final 47:48.
Notre Dame returns to action on Sun., Oct. 6 when the Irish travel to Akron to face the Zips in the first meeting between the two schools since 1989.