7th-ranked Furman falls to Notre Dame in Berticelli Tourney
By: BRYAN KRONK
Sports Writer
It was a performance that would have made a late Irish soccer coach proud.
In a very physical contest, a goal by Greg Martin in the second overtime helped the mens soccer team knock off seventh-ranked Furman, 2-1, to conclude the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament held this past weekend at Alumni Field.
The tournament is named for the former Notre Dame mens soccer coach who died suddenly in January of 2000. This was scheduled to be the second annual Berticelli Memorial Tournament; however, the events of Sept. 11, 2001, cancelled last year's inaugural tournament.
The Irish are now unbeaten in their first five games of the season and currently stand at 3-0-2 on the year, after tying Cornell Friday night, 1-1.
"I felt we really controlled [Sunday's] game from start to finish," Irish coach Bobby Clark said. "I think it was nice to play against a team like [Furman] and really control the tempo of the game. And a nice thing about [the victory] was that they beat us in overtime down there last year, so it was good to get a little bit of revenge."
The Irish got off to a slow start in Sunday's contest with the Palladins, allowing Furman some early chances. No major scoring opportunities materialized for either side, however, in a very back-and-forth first half.
The second half began much like the first, with the Palladins getting some early chances offensively. But the Irish retaliated later with some attacks of their own. The tide appeared to turn for the Irish with 19:34 left in the second half when Furman's Sergei Raad was ejected from the game after a hard foul against Irish midfielder Kevin Goldthwaite.
With an 11-on-10 situation, the Irish seemed poised to strike.
With just over 16 minutes left in the second half, an Irish indirect kick found Erich Braun in front of the net. His shot was tipped out by Furman goalie John Hanley, but Irish defender Greg Martin redirected the save back at the net. Unfortunately for the Irish, Martin's shot landed right in Hanley's hands.
Notre Dame finally capitalized on the Furman ejection with 2:27 left in the game. After another Furman foul just outside their own penalty area, Chad Riley booted a perfect ball that found its way around the wall of Palladins and past a shielded Hanley to give the Irish an apparent victory with a very little time remaining.
The Palladins would not go down without a fight, however. Off of a Furman corner kick, Palladin forward Kenny Penn lobbed the ball past Irish goalie Chris Sawyer with 34 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
"You've got to give [Furman] credit, for them to lose a goal with three minutes left and get back into the game – you've got to always give something to the other team for making it a game," Clark said.
The first overtime passed relatively evenly and uneventfully, with no major scoring chances for either side.
The Irish would once again capitalize on the man advantage in the second overtime. After a shot by Goldthwaite with six minutes left went just wide of the net, an Irish corner kick by Riley found Martin waiting in front of the net. Martin's redirection of Riley's ground kick sent the Irish home victorious just 2:31 short of a tie.
"I thought they gave in a little bit in the first [half], but in the second half, even before the red card, I thought we had gotten a hold of a game, and it was just a matter of time." Clark said.
The Irish victory came off the heels of a lackluster performance Friday night against Cornell. While the Irish had many scoring opportunities in the first half, they were unable to convert on any of those chances into goals.
The Big Red, who opened their season in the tournament, induced a goal for their side to open the scoring in the second half. A shot by Cornell midfielder Kevin London was mistakenly tipped past Sawyer by Irish defender Dale Rellas, giving the Big Red a 1-0 lead with 35:40 remaining in the game.
"When they scored the first goal, I think it was the first time we'd been behind this season, and that's including Scotland," Clark said, referring to the team's 4-0-1 record on its preseason tour of Scotland in early August.
Notre Dame responded less than 10 minutes later as Irish midfielder Justin Detter took a brilliant pass by forward Devon Prescod and blasted it past Cornell goalie Doug Allan to tie the game with 28:43 remaining.
Sloppy play would plague the Irish in both overtime frames and the game ended a 1-1 tie.
"I thought we controlled Cornell better than we controlled Seton Hall," Clark said, "but the goals just weren't there. Cornell had a lot of emotion in the game, and we were just a little flat, so that's the way it goes sometimes."
Next up for the Irish is No. 24 Bradley, who was also a participant in the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament this weekend. That match will take place Thursday at 7 p.m. in Peoria, Ill.
Notes:
Despite the Irish finishing the tournament undefeated, the Bradley Braves won the tournament on a tiebreaker. Since the Irish and Braves were tied in both overall record (1-0-1) and goals scored (3), the Braves took the tournament on goals allowed. The Braves allowed no goals in two games while the Irish allowed two.
Bradley goalkeeper Chris Dunsheath earned tournament MVP honors for not allowing a goal in two games.
The only reported injury for the Irish is senior midfielder Alan Lyskawa, who has not seen action since Notre Dame's first exhibition game on August 23 against Bethel.
All Sports Stories for Monday, September 16, 2002
