Irish clinch home berth in Big East quarterfinals
By BRYAN KRONK
Sports Writer
The Notre Dame soccer team was awarded a home playoff berth in the Big East quarterfinals on Monday.
Ironically, it was the Eagles of Boston College who clinched it for the Irish.
With the Eagles' 3-2 victory over then fifth-place Rutgers Monday night, the Irish remained in fourth in the Big East at the close of the conference schedule, clinching a home game in the quarterfinal round this weekend.
The Scarlet Knights' loss, combined with Georgetown's 1-0 win over West Virginia earlier Monday, means the Irish will meet the Hoyas in the first round, a repeat of last year's Alumni Field quarterfinal. Georgetown finished tied with Rutgers for fifth in the Big East, but the Hoyas claimed the fifth spot due to having beaten Rutgers, 1-0, on Sept. 21.
But that wasn't the only good news the Irish received Monday.
It was also announced that defender Kevin Goldthwaite was named to the College Soccer News Team of the Week for his offensive contributions to the two Irish victories of the past week.
In Notre Dame's 2-1 victory over Virginia Tech Friday, Goldthwaite's header goal off a Chad Riley corner kick tied the score at 1-1 with under 10 minutes remaining in the game.
Goldthwaite also provided the cross pass assist to Greg Martin that scored the game-winning goal in Notre Dame's 1-0 victory over Loyola (Chicago) Sunday.
The Irish finish the regular season with an 11-4-3 overall record.
Those two victories for the Irish also boosted their national rankings, as the team moved up one spot in Monday's NSCAA/adidas Coaches' Poll, from No. 19 to No. 18, trading places with Stanford, Irish head coach Bobby Clark's former team.
In addition, the Irish also climbed one spot in the Soccer America poll also released Monday. The Irish moved from No. 16 to No. 15.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, November 5, 2002
