Matt Besler earned both All-America and Academic All-America honors with the Irish.

No. 2 Notre Dame And Cincinnati Play To 1-1 Draw

Sept. 28, 2007

Box Score

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The second-ranked Notre Dame men’s soccer team opened its 2007 home BIG EAST schedule with a 1-1 tie against Cincinnati in front of 1,895 fans at Alumni Field on Friday night. A goal from Irish junior defender Matt Besler (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West) tied the match in the 76th minute. The draw extends Notre Dame’s unbeaten streak to six games.

Notre Dame (5-1-2, 3-0-1) dominated possession throughout the match as the Irish out shot Cincinnati (3-4-1, 2-0-1) 24-9 on the night. Senior forward Joseph Lapira (Lake Charles, La./Saint Louis Catholic) registered a game-high eight shots for the Fighting Irish.

Lapira’s first good chance of the night came with 26:40 left in the first half as he took a pass from Kurt Martin (McAllen, Texas/Memorial) and chipped the ball just over the goal. Senior midfielder Ryan Miller (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) nearly connected a few minutes later as he got into the 18-yard box and sent in a blast that was saved by Cincinnati goalkeeper Miguel Rosales.

The game was scoreless at the half.

“Cincinnati’s had our number over the past couple of years,” said Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark. “We had a big advantage statistically tonight, but at the end of the day the only statistic that matters is the final score. This was a hard game. Every BIG EAST game is hard, there are no easy ones.”

Less than two minutes into the second stanza, Cincinnati’s Patrick Baxter put a shot on frame that was hit over the crossbar by Irish goalkeeper Chris Cahill (Louisville, Ky./DeSales). Cahill, the reigning BIG EAST goalkeeper of the week, made three saves on the night. Rosales, who captured last week’s conference rookie of the week award, had six stops.

The Bearcats cracked the scoring column in the 53rd minute as Brad Simpson headed in a Lionel Jackson free kick from the right side. The score snapped a Cahill scoreless streak that had reached 314:21

Notre Dame would net the equalizer with 75:07 gone by in the match when Jack Traynor (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell North) sent in a free kick that Besler put a head on and sent past Rosales. That was the first goal of the season for Besler.

With just over five minutes left in regulation, the Irish were threatened as a Cincinnati shot was cleared off the line with a Cory Rellas (Plano, Texas/Plano West) header. Lapira had a chance of his own on the other end that was saved.

The Irish held a 4-1 edge in shots during the two 10-minute overtime periods, yet they could not find the back of the net. Notre Dame had an 11-2 advantage in corner kicks for the game.

“I thought we had a lackluster opening period,” stated Clark. “I was very pleased with how we played in the second half. We started to take it to them. I thought we showed a lot of spirit with how we came back.”

The Fighting Irish return to action when they host conference foe Louisville on Sunday (Sept. 30) at 3:30 p.m. (ET).

To stay up to date on the 2007 Notre Dame men’s soccer season, log onto und.com or call the official Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.

Cincinnati (3-4-1, 2-0-1) 0 1 0 0 – 1
#2 Notre Dame (5-1-2, 3-0-1) 0 1 0 0 – 1

UC: Brad Simpson (Lionel Jackson) 52:17, ND: Matt Besler (Jack Traynor) 75:07

Shots: UC 2-6-0-1 – 9, ND 11-9-2-2 – 24
Corner Kicks: UC 0-2-0-0 – 2, ND 3-5-2-1 – 11
Saves: UC 7 (Miguel Rosales 6, Team 1), ND 4 (Chris Cahill 3, Team 1)
Fouls: UC 19, ND 9
Offsides: UC 1, ND 0

-ND–