Oct. 14, 2003
The University of Notre Dame men’s soccer team (8-2-3) exploded for a season-high goal total during a 6-0 victory at Cleveland State (6-8-0) on Tuesday evening. The Irish were led by senior forward Devon Prescod with three goals – posting the first Notre Dame hat trick since Konstantin Koloskov scored three times against LaSalle on Sept. 24, 1994.
Notre Dame dominated the game action, firing 19 shots (including 16 on goal) against just six for the Vikings (two on goal). The Irish also earn their seventh shutout of the season, as junior Chris Sawyer and sophomore Justin Michaud (in his first career action) stopped one shot each.
The Irish scored first at the 25:45 mark when Prescod headed in a cross from classmate Chad Riley. Riley, who is second on the all-time assist list at Notre Dame, now has 32 in his career (the record is 40 held by Randy Morris, 1985-88).
Justin Detter followed up 3:34 later with his fifth goal of the season off an assist from defender Kevin Richards. Prescod then struck again right before halftime (41:40) with another header off a cross, this time from Detter.
Greg Martin joined the scoring craze 13 minutes into the second half, sending a volley into the net off Cleveland State goalie Amir Kettani’s attempt at clearance.
Five minutes later the Irish scored their fifth goal when Detter streaked through the Viking defense and beat Kettani one-on-one for his second goal of the contest.
Prescod’s third goal, and the final tally for Notre Dame in the game, came at the 71:00 minute mark off an assist from Filippo Chillemi (his first of the season). Prescod now has eight goals on the season after entering the 2003 season with 10 in his entire career. Detter has now pushed his season goal total to six, matching his career-best total from 2002.
A great number of Irish players saw action in the contest, as 19 different players appeared in the game. Michaud, sophomore Ben Crouse, junior Christopher High and senior Roger Klauer saw their first significant minutes of the season.
The final statistics ended up at 19-6 in favor of Notre Dame for shots and 4-3 in favor of the Irish for corner kicks. CSU was forced to make 10 saves, compared to just two for the Irish.
The six-goal total marks the first time in the Bobby Clark era the Irish have put six balls in the net. The last time Notre Dame scored six goals was the first game of the 1998 season against Valparaiso – a 6-1 victory.
Notre Dame returns to BIG EAST Conference action this weekend with a key match at Connecticut on Saturday evening (7 p.m.).