Sept. 7, 2002
Notre Dame, Ind. – Senior forward Erich Braun (Frankfurt, Germany) registered his second two-goal outing of the season as the #11 Irish men’s soccer team defeated #6 Seton Hall in its 2002 BIG EAST and home opener.
Braun scored both of his goals in just over 10 minutes during the second half as Notre Dame tallied three second-half goals in a 14-minute span to break open a close game. With the victory the Irish improve to 2-0-1 overall and 1-0-0 in the BIG EAST, while Seton Hall, who upset Connecticut 3-2 last week, fell to 2-1-0 and 1-1-0 in league play.
The win over the Pirates was the first for the Irish since a 2-0 decision in October of 1998 at Alumni Field. Heading into the contest, Notre Dame was just 0-2-1 against Seton Hall in the last three meetings between the two teams and had not scored a goal in each of the last two matchups in 2000 and ’01.
Braun recorded the sixth multiple-goal game of his career and registered his second two-goal game of the season.
Braun’s frontline partner, senior Rafael Garcia (Palmdale, Calif.) gave the Irish a 1-0 advantage with his second goal of the season 23:28 into the contest off an assist from sophomore Kevin Goldthwaite (Sacramento, Calif.).
Justin Detter (White Lake, Mich.) pushed the lead to 2-0 off of a Goldthwaite assist 12:50 into the second half before Braun’s back-to-back goal at the 61:10 and 71:35 marks of the contest. His second goal came off an assist from junior Chad Riley (Houston, Texas).
Notre Dame outshot Seton Hall 14-6 in the game, including a 10-4 shot advantage in the second half. The Irish also owned a 3-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Sophomore goalkeeper Chris Sawyer (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) went the distance in recording the shutout as he finished with two saves.
With its first loss of the season, Seton Hall drops to 2-1-0 and 1-1-0 in the BIG EAST.
SCORING: ND: Rafael Garcia (Kevin Goldthwaite), 23:28; ND: Justin Detter (Kevin Goldthwaite) 57:50; ND: Erich Braun, 61:10; ND: Erich Braun (Chad Riley), 71:35.
GAME STATISTICS: Shots: Notre Dame 14, Seton Hall 6; Saves: Notre Dame 2 (Chris Sawyer – 2), Seton Hall 3 (Alex McDonald – 3); Fouls: Notre Dame 16, Seton Hall 15; Corner Kicks: Notre Dame 3, Seton Hall 1