Notre Dame rallies to 1-1 split at Showcase Showcase Showcase
By NOAH AMSTADTER
Sports Writer
Behind a strong offense led by three freshmen, the Notre Dame men's soccer team defeated Akron 4-3 on Sunday to finish with a 1-1 record at the IPFW Soccer Showcase in Fort Wayne, IN.
The Irish tallied their first goal as freshman Kevin Richards produced an unassisted goal just 1:45 into the game. Following a goal by Akron's Orjan Bjneso, the two teams went into halftime with the game tied 1-1. The deadlock in scoring was broken 8:14 into the second half as senior veteran Reggie McKnight found junior Matt Rosso to put the Irish up 2-1. Akron, however, rallied to take a 3-2 lead with 28 minutes remaining in the game.
Then, freshman Justin Detter took over. Detter scored unassisted in the 67th minute before finding classmate Devon Prescod to score the game-winner.
"I got spun through, then I saw what was ahead of me and decided that I'd take the guy on," said Detter, "I took him on, and then the keeper came out. I diced the keeper a little bit. I played it a little too far and thought I might have had a bad angle. But luckily I just shot and it went in. I was really excited after I scored. It was a really good feeling.
"On the last goal I was debating if I should shoot or not, and I saw Devon out of the corner of my eye flying down the left side," added Detter, "So I passed it to him, he touched it around a guy and then put it away."
Equally important in the win was the play by sophomore goalie Cole Straub, who is competing with good friend Greg Tait for the starting position in goal. After each playing a half in the first exhibition game last Sunday versus Loyola, Tait played the entire game in Saturday's 2-0 loss to South Carolina and Straub did the same on Sunday. Straub finished Sunday's game with seven saves.
"Right now the coaches are still trying to make the final decision. Both Greg and I are just doing what we can," said Straub, "Anything that the coaches decide will be fine. Whoever is doing the best at the time will be starting, which is best for the team."
Senior McKnight stressed the importance of team unity and cooperation.
"We've always emphasized from the beginning of the season that our team is 26 players," he said, "Every goal is a result of all those players, particularly the ones on the field."
Sunday's win followed a 2-0 loss to South Carolina that served as a good learning experience for the team.
"The 2-0 score was very deceiving. We had all the good scoring opportunities, but we made some silly mistakes," said Detter, "As Coach [Chris Apple] said, we're just using it as a learning experience."
"We continued to bond as a team over the weekend," said McKnight, "We learned more of our strengths and weaknesses."
With the preseason now over, the Irish will use this week as final preparation for the season opener Friday night against New Mexico at the UNLV Fila/Snickers Rebel Classic.
All Sports Stories for Monday, August 28, 2000
