Oct. 11, 1998

MORAGA, Calif. —– The Notre Dame men’s soccer team posted a 2-1 win at Saint Mary’s to finish 1-1 on its West Coast road swing over the weekend as the Irish rebounded from their 3-1 loss to 17th-ranked Santa Clara on Friday night.

Matt McNew (Arlington, Tex.) and Shane Walton (San Diego, Calif.) each tallied goals for the Irish in the victory as Coach Mike Berticelli’s squad’s improved its record to 6-3-3 on the season.

McNew got the Irish on the scoreboard quickly as he tallied his second goal of the season 5:08 into the contest off a Andrew Aris (Auckland, New Zealand) feed. After the Notre Dame score, the contest was evenly contested throughout the first half. Both teams had seven shots, while Saint Mary’s owned a 5-4 advantage in corner kicks.

The Gaels put the pressure on in the second half as they outshot the Irish 9-6 and had four more corner kicks (5-1). Irish goalkeeper Greg Velho (Longwood, Fla.) was extremely steady as he made six saves in the final 45-minute stanza and finished with seven for the game.

Notre Dame went up 2-0 on what proved to be the contest’s game-winning goal at 74:58 when freshman Shane Walton (San Diego, Calif.) booted in a Reggie McKnight (Greenville, S.C.) pass. For Walton, it was his ninth goal in 12 games and his fourth game-winning goal of the season. He continues to lead the team in scoring with nine goals and five assists (23 points) and has scored goal in eight of Notre Dame’s 12 games.

Jon Gordon netted Saint Mary’s only goal at 84:30 off a Nate Kropp assist.

Notre Dame returns to action on Friday, October 16 at Alumni Field when the Irish host top-ranked Connecticut at 7:30 p.m. in the first of two crucial BIG EAST matchups next weekend. On Sunday, October 18, Notre Dame plays host to #14 Seton Hall at 1:00 p.m.