Aug. 22, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 16th-ranked Notre Dame men’s soccer team played No. 6 New Mexico to a 1-1 double-overtime tie in both team’s exhibition opener on Monday night at Alumni Field. The Lobos opened the scoring in the 35th minute on a goal by Matt Wootton. Fighting Irish junior defender Ryan Miller (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) evened the score 22 minutes later. Neither team could find the back of the net again during regulation and two overtime periods.
New Mexico controlled the ball for most of the first half as the Irish could not put together a sustained attack. Notre Dame junior Chris Cahill (Louisville, Ky./St. Francis DeSales) got the start in goal and had a solid first half, which included three saves. However, he did surrender New Mexico’s only goal as Wootton recovered a loose ball at the top of the box and sent a rocket into the back of the net at the 34:44 mark. The Lobos would take a 1-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Irish came out more determined in the second half and it paid off at the 56:47 mark as junior Nate Norman (Rochester, Mich./Rochester Adams) struck the ball and Miller redirected it off of the crossbar and down into the right side of the goal to even the score at one apiece. Following the Irish goal, senior goalkeeper Justin Michaud (Austin, Texas/St. Stephens Episcopal) replaced Cahill in goal and would go on to collect three saves.
“I couldn’t let my younger son get a victory here tonight,” stated Irish head coach Bobby Clark, whose son, Jamie, is an assistant coach for New Mexico. “It was a good, hard fought game and that is exactly what we needed. We didn’t step up to the plate in the first half but we went above and beyond in the second half. We had a tremendous second half.”
A packed house of nearly 2,300 fans at Alumni Field witnessed the action and helped a good cause. Proceeds from Monday’s game benefited Grassroot Soccer, an international AIDS awareness and education organization that reaches youth in Africa through soccer clinics. Admission to the game was $1 and an anonymous Notre Dame soccer alumnus matched the donations dollar-for-dollar as did Irish head coach Bobby Clark and the Notre Dame men’s soccer camp. Clark’s oldest son, Tommy, is the founder of the organization.
The Fighting Irish, who are ranked 16th in the NSCAA/adidas preseason poll and 19th in the Soccer America preseason rankings, will travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan to take on the Wolverines in the team’s final exhibition match on Sunday, Aug. 28 at 2:00 p.m. EDT (1:00 p.m. South Bend time). Notre Dame opens the regular-season versus SMU at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic on Friday, Sept. 2 in Bloomington, Indiana.
#6 New Mexico 1 0 0 0 – 1
#16 Notre Dame 0 1 0 0 – 1
NM: Matt Wootton (unassisted) 34:44.
ND: Ryan Miller (Nate Norman) 56:47.
Shots: NM 9-2-1-3 – 15, ND 3-9-2-1 – 15
Corner Kicks: NM 2-0-0-0 – 2, ND 1-3-0-0 – 4
Saves: NM 4 (Mike Graczyk), ND 6 (Chris Cahill 3, Justin Michaud 3)
Fouls: NM 21, ND 15
Offsides: NM 2, ND 3
-ND–