NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The No. 11-ranked Fighting Irish capped off an undefeated weekend by claiming the 2019 Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament title after defeating Denver by a score of 1-0 on Sunday evening at Alumni Stadium.
Notre Dame has now won the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament nine times. The second-ranked Indiana Hoosiers finished second, while Seattle placed third and Denver came in fourth in this season’s edition.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish attack asked all the questions in the opening 45 minutes of Sunday evening’s contest, putting waves of pressure on Denver’s backline. Sophomore midfielder Mohamed Omar nearly lifted the seal on the match with a thunderous header in the 16th minute off a corner but the attempt found the right post to keep the match scoreless.
In the 37th minute the Irish found the opening goal via the right foot of Lynn, who continues to be in lethal form in front of goal. Senior center back Senan Farrely’s ball into the box took a deflection off a Pioneer defender and right into the path of Lynn, who stroked it low and inside the far post on a one-time effort.
The Pioneers turned up the pressure in the second half but the Notre Dame defense stood strong. Both Notre Dame and Denver had chances in the final 45 minutes but neither found the back of the net, as the Irish secured the 1-0 victory to start the season with three wins in three matches.
STAT OF THE MATCH
With the win, the Irish have won four straight Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament titles.
HEAD COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the team’s performance…
“It was a good performance. It was nice to get a shutout against a good opponent in Denver. I think they are a really quality team and going to have a really good season. For us to play well against them I feel good about the performance overall. We got a lot of guys experience that haven’t gotten a lot of minutes before so that was nice as well.”
On the defensive performance…
“I thought it was really good. Their big striker Preston Judd is a handful. They are very good in set pieces and very efficient on the counter attack but overall our defense played really composed and for the most part limited their chances.”
NOTES OF THE MATCH
- The Irish begin the season unbeaten through the first three matches for the eighth straight year.
- Notre Dame has won each of its first three matches for the third time in the last four seasons.
- Notre Dame has scored a combined eight goals over its first two matches of the season.
- Lynn has already matched his season goal total from last season with three. The sophomore has scored a goal in all three contests in 2019.
- With an assist, Farrelly registered the first point of his career on Sunday in the win over Denver.
- The Irish clean sheet is the first of the season and the first of goalkeeper Keagan McLaughlin’s career.
- McLaughlin made his Notre Dame debut in goal, earning the start. Patrick Coleman and John Rea also made the first starts of their career on Sunday.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM & MVP
Lynn earned Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament MVP honors after scoring a goal in each of the two Notre Dame wins. Here is the All-Tournament Team:
Jack Lynn (ND)
Felicien Dumas (ND)
Mohamed Omar (ND)
Aiden McFadden (ND)
Ian Black (IU)
Joe Schmidt (IU)
Sean Caufield (IU)
Hal Uderitz (SU)
Noe Meza (SU)
Liam Johnson (DU)
Preston Judd (DU)
UP NEXT
The Irish open ACC play on Friday, Sept. 13, as Notre Dame welcomes No. 19 Clemson to Alumni Stadium for a 7 p.m. ET start. The match will air live on ACCNX.
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