Bilal Duckett gave the Irish the win in the 97th minute.

Irish Top Hoyas, 2-1, On Duckett's Golden Goal

Oct. 21, 2009

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – A Bilal Duckett (Peachtree City, Ga./McIntosh) golden goal in the first overtime period gave the Notre Dame men’s soccer team a 2-1 victory over Georgetown in BIG EAST Blue Division play on Wednesday afternoon at North Kehoe Field. The goal was the first for Duckett, a junior right back, in his Irish career.

Notre Dame (8-6-1, 6-3-0) struck first in the match when senior midfielder Michael Thomas (Olathe, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) headed in a Brendan King (Naperville, Ill./Edison Academic Center (Fla.)) free kick. That was Thomas’ fifth goal of the season. The senior led the Irish with four shots, including two on goal, on the day.

The Fighting Irish led 1-0 at the intermission. Georgetown had seven shots in the first stanza compared to four from Notre Dame.

Georgetown (8-6-1, 5-4-0) netted the equalizer in the 51st minute as Scott Larrabee headed in a goal. Jimmy Nealis and Mark Zeman collected the assists on the tally.

Duckett netted the game winner when he blasted a shot into the back of the net from 25 yards out. That marked Notre Dame’s second golden goal in the past four matches. Senior forward Bright Dike (Edmond, Okla./Edmond North) deposited one against Providence on Oct. 10.

The Fighting Irish had the only three shots of overtime. Georgetown held a 16-12 edge in shots for the match in addition to gaining three more corner kicks (7-4). Notre Dame senior goalkeeper Andrew Quinn (Silver Spring, Md./DeMatha) made seven saves to improve his record to 3-3-1 on the season. Georgetown’s Matthew Brutto played all of regulation in goal before being replaced by Erik Garciamendez.

“It was a good win for us,” stated Irish head coach Bobby Clark. “It was a hard game. We started a little slow in the second half but we then finished regulation well and then dominated the overtime. Overall it was a pretty good game. We played a lot of guys and a lot of guys played well. Bilal Duckett played well and Andrew Quinn made some big saves for us.”

Notre Dame and Georgetown entered Wednesday’s match tied for third in the BIG EAST Blue Division.

The Fighting Irish return to action at Pittsburgh on Saturday, Oct. 24. Game time is slated for 1:00 p.m. (ET).

North Kehoe Field • Washington, D.C.
October 21, 2009

Notre Dame (8-6-1, 6-3-0) 1 0 1 – 2
Georgetown (8-6-1, 5-4-0) 0 1 0 – 1

ND: Michael Thomas (Brendan King) 30:28; GU: Scott Larrabee (Jimmy Nealis, Mark Zeman) 50:48; ND: Bilal Duckett (unassisted) 97:00

Shots: ND 4-5-3 – 12, GU 7-9-0 – 16
Corner Kicks: ND 4-0-0 – 4, GU 4-3-0 – 7
Saves: ND 7 (Andrew Quinn – 97:00 -1 ga – 7 svs – W); GU 1 (Matthew Brutto – 90:00 – 1 ga – 1 sv; Erik Garciamendez – 7:00 – 1 ga – 0 svs – L)
Fouls: ND 12, GU 10
Offsides: ND 0, GU 3