Oct. 22, 2000
Piscataway, N.J. – Two second-half goals with under 20 minutes to play in the contest lifted Rutgers to a 3-1 victory over visiting Notre Dame in a BIG EAST soccer match. Guy Abrahamson and Dustin Sheppard, who both finished with a goal and an assist in the contest, tallied back-to-back socres within a span of 1:45 to break a 1-1 deadlock midway through the second half.
With the loss, Notre Dame falls to 6-8-1, 3-7 in the BIG EAST, while Rutgers improves to 8-7-1 overall and 5-4-1 in the league.
Sophomore Erich Braun (Frankfurt, Germany), who had both of the Irish scores in their 2-1 vicory over Villanova on Friday, Oct. 20, scored the lone Notre Dame goal in the contest. Braun’s goal off assists from Andreas Forstner (Gerlinden, Germany) and Chad Riley (Houston, Texas) leveled the match at 1-1 with 1:47 remaining before halftime.
Rutgers’ Dennis Ludwig gave the Scarlet Knights the 1-0 advantage 28:40 into the contest when he scored off of Sheppard’s feed.
Abrahamson broke the 1-1 deadlock with an unassisted goal at the 69:05 mark that proved to be the game-winner. Sheppard added the insurance score less than two minutes later on an assist from Abrahamson.
Tight defense dictated the tempo of the game as both teams attempted only seven shots each in the contest. Irish goalkeeper Cole Straub (Oakville, Ontario) made one save, while Rutgers stopper Ricky Zinter came up with three saves.
Notre Dame returns to action for the final home game of the regular season when the Irish play host to West Virginia on Fri., Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Notre Dame (6-8-1, 3-7-0) 1 0 -- 1Rutgers (8-7-1, 5-4-1) 1 2 -- 3
SCORING:
Rutgers: Dennis Ludwig (Dustin Sheppard), 28:40
Notre Dame: Erich Braun (Andreas Forstner, Chad Riley), 43:14
Rutgers: Guy Abrahamson, 69:05
Rutgers: Dustin Sheppard (Guy Abrahamson), 70:50
SHOTS: Notre Dame 7, Rutgers 7
CORNER KICKS: Notre Dame 1, Rutgers 4
FOULS: Notre Dame 11, Rutgers 7
GOALIE SAVES: Notre Dame 1 (Cole Straub – 1), Rutgers 3 (Ricky Zinter – 3)