OT goal brings Notre Dame victory in Big East finale
By: BRYAN KRONK
Sports Writer
Down a goal late in the second half, Notre Dame men's soccer coach Bobby Clark told his team to play with some urgency. It couldn't have gotten more urgent for the Irish.
In a thriller that didn't end until the final whistle, Devon Prescod knocked in a goal with eight seconds remaining in regulation, and freshman Kevin Goldthwaite found the net first in sudden death overtime as the Irish overcame a late deficit to stun the Syracuse Orangemen, 2-1.
"This is what builds the character of our team. It would have been very easy to give up [after Syracuse's late goal], but I was very impressed," Clark said.
A season-high attendance of 1,501 turned out to witness a defensive battle between two Big East rivals, with the statistical edge going heavily in favor of the Irish.
Although the game was scoreless at halftime, the Irish led the Orangemen in shots in the first half 11-3, and led the corner kick battle 8-0.
The battle of the defense continued in the second half. Syracuse defender Derek McGeehan was whistled for two yellow cards in a span of eight and a half minutes, leading to his ejection with 26:26 remaining, and forcing the Orangemen to play the remainder of the game with only 10 players on the field.
However, unfazed by the disadvantage, the Syracuse offense went into high gear. With 9:40 left in the second half, Syracuse forward Matt Torok passed the ball to Kirk Johnson. Johnson passed it to Darren Ingles, who chipped a shot from the left side that curved past Irish goalie Chris Sawyer and found the right side of the net to put the Orangemen ahead 1-0.
"When we lost the goal with nine minutes to go, the guys showed tremendous character, persistence and discipline to keep playing and making chances," Clark said.
After the goal, it seemed the lead would stand up. Irish scoring chances surfaced, but none materialized into a scoring play.
That is, until 20 seconds remained on the clock.
Notre Dame midfielder Justin Detter brought the ball up the left side of the field and lobbed a pass in the direction of the goal. After several deflections, the ball found the foot of Prescod, who finally put the Irish on the scoreboard, getting one past Syracuse goalie Anthony Peters and into the back right corner of the net with just eight ticks left on the clock.
"The longer you keep a team like that in the game, the more excited they get, and they thought they had won that game," Clark said. "I thought the urgency we played with in the last nine minutes was tremendous. And that was basically all I asked them to do in the overtime was to play with the same urgency."
Then, in the extra frame, Andreas Forstner, in his final year of eligibility with the Irish, took the ball off of a bad pass by Syracuse, and found Goldthwaite open on the left wing. Goldthwaite launched a beautiful shot past Peters to give the shocked Orangemen a 2-1 defeat just 3:22 into overtime.
The Irish improve to 11-5 on the season, with a final conference record of 7-3.
With the win, and a loss by Boston College to Pittsburgh earlier on Saturday, the Irish have clinched a top-four position in the Big East, guaranteeing a home game in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.
"That was our goal right from the start, to be in the top four," Clark said. "I said at the start that if you're in the top four in the Big East, you've got a chance at winning a national championship."
Game Notes:
u Despite the Irish victory on Saturday, Irish forward Erich Braun's scoring streak came to an end, as he failed to score in a game in which his team scored for the first time this season. Braun finished the regular season with 12 goals.
u This game marked senior night for the Irish, as five players marked their last regular season game at Alumni Field. Before the game, Clark and his wife Bette presented Tim Storino, B.J. Cotter, Matt Rosso, Andreas Forstner and Griffin Howard with flowers to commemorate the occasion.
* This season marks the first season since 1996 in which the Irish have won 11 games. In 1996, the Irish went 14-7-2 and went on to win the Big East tournament. The seven conference victories are the most for the Irish since they joined the Big East in 1995.
* In the Big East quarterfinals, the Irish will likely play host to Boston College, Seton Hall, or Georgetown next weekend. The final pairings will be determined at the conclusion of the Big East regular season on Tuesday. The Irish have completed their regular season schedule.
All Sports Stories for Monday, November 5, 2001
