Oct. 23, 2002
VILLANOVA, Pa. – The 13th-ranked Notre Dame men’s soccer team used first-half goals from five different players to vault into second place in the BIG EAST Conference standings, following Wednesday’s 5-0 victory at Villanova.
Notre Dame (8-3-3, 5-2-1) extended its winning steak to five games (three in conference action) while pushing its point total in the BIG EAST standings to 16 – one ahead of Connecticut, Boston College (both 5-2-0) and Seton Hall (5-4-0). The Irish own the head-to-head tiebreaker versus each of those teams, with conference games remaining at ninth-place Georgetown and versus sixth-placeVirginia Tech (the top four finishers will serve as host teams in the BIG EAST quarterfinal round).
Villanova (4-11-0, 2-6-0) managed just three shots and two corner kicks, with the Irish totaling 15 shots and five corners. Senior Greg Tait made three saves for the Irish in his fourth start of 2002, lowering his season goals-against average to 0.41.
Junior Chad Riley’s fourth goal of the season opened the scoring midway through the first half (22:20). Sophomore defender Kevin Goldthwaite then sent a cross to junior midfielder Justin Detter, who placed his fifth goal of the season past diving ‘keeper Sean Teasdale (29:31).
Just 48 seconds later, Goldthwaite recorded his sixth assist of the season by setting up a score from senior Erich Braun – his team-leading eighth goal of the season and the 33rd of his career (tied for ninth in ND history, just three shy of sixth place on the Irish all-time goalscoring list).
The Irish bunched two more goals in the 37th-38th minutes, with a pass from Riley (his team-best ninth assist of the season) leading to the third goal of 2002 from junior forward Devon Prescod (36:00). Senior midfielder Justin Ratcliffe capped the first-half flurry with his first goal of the season, at the 37:31 mark.
NOTRE DAME 5 0 – 5
VILLANOVA 0 0 – 0
ND 1. Chad Riley 4 (-) 22:20; ND 2. Justin Detter 5 (Kevin Goldthwaite) 29:31; ND 3. Erich Braun 8 (Goldthwaite) 30:19; ND 4. Devon Prescod 3 (Riley) 36:00; ND 5. Justin Ratcliffe 1 (-) 37:31.
Shots: ND 11-4-15, VU 1-2-3.
Corner Kicks: ND 5, VU 2.
Saves: ND 3 (Greg Tait), VU 7 (Sean Teasdale 4, Craig Bald 3).
Fouls: ND 3, VU 8.
Yellow Card: Joel Scardelli, VU (36:05).