Nov. 18, 2007
STORRS, Conn. – Connecticut used two goals from Dori Arad to capture a 2-0 win over Notre Dame in the title game of the BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Championship on Sunday afternoon at Morrone Stadium.
Connecticut jumped ahead in the eighth minute as a corner kick from Akeem Priestley was headed in by Arad. The Huskies nearly made it 2-0 with 26:30 left in the first half when a Toni Stahl blast banged off the crossbar before being cleared out by the Irish defense.
UConn did gain a two-goal advantage in the 18th minute as Arad scored off another corner kick. That kick was sent into the box my Mike Pezza. The Irish thwarted a Husky threat in the 25th minute as senior goalkeeper Chris Cahill (Louisville, Ky./DeSales) leaped to punch out a header on goal.
“Set pieces win big games,” stated Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark. “That was very true today. Give full marks to Connecticut because they executed those pieces. From our point of view that changed the game and we had to chase them after that. I felt if we got a goal we could have made a run at it.”
Notre Dame’s first good look of the half came with 15:14 remaining as Ryan Miller (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) sent a header just wide of the net. The Fighting Irish continued to produce offensive pressure late into the first half.
The Huskies needed two saves from goalkeeper Josh Ford to preserve the 2-0 lead heading into the intermission. The first Irish attempt came from Jeb Brovsky (Lakewood, Colo./Green Mountain), who collected a pop up and sent a shot on goal that Ford dove to his left to save. In the 39th minute, Justin Morrow (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Ignatius) sent a shot on frame that Ford corralled in.
In the second half, Andrew Quinn (Silver Spring, Md./DeMatha) replaced Cahill in goal for the Fighting Irish. The junior was tested early as Connecticut’s O’Brian White worked his way into the box in the opening minutes but Quinn made the stop.
The Irish nearly capitalized on their own corner kick in the 56th minute as Kurt Martin (McAllen, Texas/Memorial) put a head on the ball, yet Ford was right there to make the save.
Quinn notched two saves in the 75th minute to keep the Irish in the contest. The first occurred on a breakaway by Chukwudi Chijindu that he came out to save. White then put a shot on goal that Quinn blocked away. The Irish appeared to score a goal late in the match, yet it was called off due to a foul committed on Ford.
The Huskies out shot the Irish 15-11, while they also held a 5-4 edge in corner kicks. Quinn finished with five saves, while Cahill had one in the first half. Ford had seven stops for the Huskies.
“Their goalkeeper came up with some big saves,” added Clark. “I thought this was a very exciting game. It was a good advertisement for the BIG EAST.”
Joseph Lapira (Lake Charles, La./Saint Louis Catholic), Michael Thomas (Olathe, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) and Miller were named to the All-BIG EAST Championship Team for Notre Dame.
The field for the 2007 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship will be revealed on Monday, Nov. 19. The pairings will be announced on ESPNEWS between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. (ET) and the brackets will be available on NCAAsports.com immediately following the selection show.
To stay up to date on the Notre Dame men’s soccer team, log onto und.com or call the official Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.
#11 Notre Dame (12-4-5) 0 0 – 0
#2 Connecticut (18-2-1) 2 0 – 2
Shots: ND 5-6 – 11, UC 7-8 – 15
Corner Kicks: ND 2-2 – 4, UC 4-1 – 5
Saves: ND 6 (Chris Cahill 1, Andrew Quinn 5), UC 7 (Josh Ford 7)
Fouls: ND 7, UC 14
Offsides: ND 1, UC 0