Sept. 21, 2014
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 4 Notre Dame grabbed a lead in the 65th minute, but No. 5 Virginia equalized less than three minutes later and the Atlantic Coast Conference men’s soccer showdown ended as a 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon at warm and sunny Klockner Stadium.
The Notre Dame (3-1-2, 1-0-1) scoring opportunity began when Evan Panken played the ball ahead to Vince Cicciarelli and the forward was taken down in the penalty box by Wesley Suggs, who was issued a red card. Patrick Hodan converted the ensuing penalty kick for his first goal of the season. Leon Brown nearly gave the Irish a two-goal lead less than a minute later when his 15-yard attempt was pushed just wide of the post by Cavalier goalkeeper Calle Brown.
Eric Bird netted the equalizer for Virginia (4-1-1, 1-0-1) in the 68th minute as he placed his shot from eight yards out just inside the far post. Kyler Sullivan assisted on the score.
“We go one up and they get a guy sent off for a last-man foul and it’s 11 against 10 and you’re feeling pretty good,” Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark said. “And it seemed in no time they tied it up with a goal. It wasn’t great team defending in the back for us. But full marks to our team. That goal upset them for about 10 minutes, but then I felt we took over the game for most of it. Obviously we expected to do that with being a man up.
“We played very well and I thought we were going to get it in overtime, but it never happened. It kind of felt like a loss because you feel we should have taken more, but a point at Klockner Stadium is a good point. Everybody played well and it was a good team performance.”
The Fighting Irish were more dangerous than the Cavaliers in overtime. In the 94th minute, Notre Dame’s Jeffrey Farina lobbed a seven-yard shot that deflected off the crossbar. Fellow freshman forward Jon Gallagher threatened minutes later yet his close-range attempt sailed over the frame. Farina had a header saved by Brown in the final seconds of the first overtime period.
In the opening minutes of the second overtime stanza, Cicciarelli dribbled deep into the penalty box and sent a shot on goal that Brown deflected out of bounds. In the 107th minute, Cicciarelli blasted the ball towards the frame from the top of the 18-yard box but Brown was there for the save.
The Irish also were the aggressors in the opening stages of the match. Cicciarelli worked his way into the penalty box with the ball a few times early on and his first shot came in the eighth minute but it was placed wide of the near post.
“We opened the game very, very well,” Clark said. “We lost a little bit towards the end of the first half after Nick Besler picked up a little bit of an injury and we lost his energy in the midfield. We were great in the second half. We knew we could get a lot out of them in transition. Vince (Cicciarelli) was great at being a high man and running into channels. It was a great ball delivered by Evan Panken.”
The game’s first shot on goal came in the 32nd minute off the foot of Virginia’s Scott Thomsen and Notre Dame goalkeeper Patrick Wall was there for the save. After the Cavaliers regained possession Ryan Zinkhan sent a low shot just wide of the far post.
Virginia’s Nicko Corriveau had the initial attempt on frame in the second half as he directed a kick right to Wall from 20 yards out in the 53rd minute. Wall finished with two saves on the day, while Brown had four stops for Virginia. The Irish outshot the Cavaliers 16-11 and Notre Dame also earned five more corner kicks (11-6).
Notre Dame will play host to No. 1 North Carolina Friday at Alumni Stadium. The ACC match is slated for 7:30 p.m. (ET) and it can be seen live on ESPN3.
Sept. 21, 2014
Klockner Stadium – Charlottesville, Va.
#4 Notre Dame (3-1-2, 1-0-1) 0 1 0 0 – 1
#5 Virginia (4-1-1, 1-0-1) 0 1 0 0 – 1
Scoring: ND: Patrick Hodan (penalty kick) 64:26; UVA: Eric Bird (Kyler Sullivan) 67:17
— Sean Carroll, Assistant Athletic Media Relations Director
–ND–