Sept. 4, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The 16th-ranked Notre Dame men’s soccer team finished on the wrong end of a 1-0 overtime decision to No. 10 Wake Forest in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic at Bill Armstrong Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Demon Deacons’ Mike Lahoud netted the game-winner less than seven minutes into the first overtime period to send the Irish back home with a 1-1 mark following the first weekend of play.
A scoreless regulation did not come without good chances for both teams throughout the match. Each squad registered eight shots in the second half alone, with many of them nearly snapping the scoreless tie. Unfortunately for the Fighting Irish, the first tally was the difference as Lahoud played a ball from Justin Moose and Mark Ellington and sent it past Notre Dame goalkeeper, Chris Cahill (Louisville, Ky./St. Francis DeSales), for the win.
“It was a great game end-to-end,” said Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark. “We had opportunities to win it and I thought we were going to have a couple goals but they were saved. Both teams had chances like that. On their goal, I don’t think the ball was properly cleared and it bounced around a couple times before he put it in.”
Notre Dame’s first good chance of the second half came when sophomore forward Kurt Martin (McAllen, Texas/Memorial) sent a shot over the crossbar seven minutes into the period. That sequence was preceded by a nice save by Cahill on the other end of the field to preserve the scoreless game. Cahill, a junior making just his second career start, collected five saves on the day, while Wake Forest goalkeeper, Brian Edwards, made four.
Things really started to pick up near the 70th minute as Notre Dame’s Matt Besler (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West) sent a pass to Alex Yoshinaga (San Diego, Calif./Granite Hills), whose shot was saved. Less than a minute later, the Irish attacked again as Jack Traynor (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell North) dished the ball to Joe Lapira (Lake Charles, La./Saint Louis Catholic) inside the box and his shot went right into Edwards’ hands.
Lahoud nearly netted a goal in the 74th minute as he pushed the ball ahead of the Irish defense yet his shot bounced wide right of the goal.
In the first half, Wake Forest threatened a few times around the 30th minute, including an attempt that went off the left post before being cleared over the net by the Irish.
Besler, a freshman, made his Notre Dame debut and nearly connected on a goal minutes after entering the contest. His shot from 12 yards out was collected by a leaping Edwards in the 32nd minute. He nearly capitalized again in the 67th minute but his shot sailed over the crossbar.
Both teams had opportunities late in the first half, yet the match would remain scoreless following the first 45 minutes of action.
Wake Forest out-shot Notre Dame 16 to 11 on the afternoon.
Cahill and junior midfielder Greg Dalby were both named to the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic All-Tournament Team. Cahill allowed just one goal in each of the Irish’s two games, while making a total of six saves. Dalby tallied a goal and an assist versus SMU on Friday.
The Fighting Irish defeated No. 7 SMU 4-1 on Friday night in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. Notre Dame returns to action on Friday, Sept. 9 versus Boston University in the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament at Alumni Field. The Irish will host the event on Friday and Sunday (Sept. 11). The top-ranked Indiana Hoosiers and the 25th-ranked Saint Louis Billikens will also compete in the two-day event.
“This first weekend is a start for us,” Clark commented. “We have work to do in all areas. It would have been fabulous to take two wins here this weekend but it is what it is. We are a little disappointed with how it turned out today but it was a great game with a lot of action. Now we just have to get ready for Boston University next weekend.”
Stay up-to-date on the 2005 Notre Dame men’s soccer season by logging on to und.com or by calling the Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.
#10 Wake Forest 0 0 1 – 1
#16 Notre Dame 0 0 0 – 0
WF: Michael Lahoud (Mark Ellington, Justin Moose), 96:29.
Shots: WF 7-8-1 – 16, ND 3-8-0 – 11,
Corner Kicks: WF 3-2-0 – 5, ND 2-0-0 – 2
Saves: WF 4 (Brian Edwards 4), ND 5 (Chris Cahill 5)
Fouls: WF 14, ND 17
Offsides: WF 1, ND 2
-ND–