Oct. 28, 2007
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Notre Dame and Providence played to a 2-2 draw in BIG EAST men’s soccer action at Glay Field on Sunday afternoon. Scoring for the seventh-ranked Fighting Irish was Matt Besler (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West) and Ryan Miller (Barrington, Ill./Barrington). With the tie, Notre Dame remains in first place in the league’s Blue Division, two points ahead of Connecticut (24-22). Both teams have one conference game remaining.
Notre Dame (10-3-4, 7-0-3), the only undefeated team in the BIG EAST, controlled the possession early in the contest. The Fighting Irish pressured with Joseph Lapira (Lake Charles, La./Saint Louis Catholic) making runs into the 18-yard box. Notre Dame also attacked from the outside as a Michael Thomas (Olathe, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) blast on frame with 27:08 left in the half was stopped by Friar goalkeeper Timothy Murray.
Providence (9-5-2, 5-3-2) had a good look with just under 24 minutes remaining in the opening stanza when an Alex Redding shot from close range was saved by Irish keeper Chris Cahill (Louisville, Ky./DeSales).
The Irish cracked the scoring column in the 27th minute as Lapira sent a free kick in from the left side that was headed in by Besler, a junior defender, for his second goal of the season.
The Friars nearly notched the equalizer when an Alex Bury shot from the top of the box was sent just wide to the right. Notre Dame responded later in the half and almost made it a two-goal advantage as Lapira connected with Jeb Brovsky (Lakewood, Colo./Green Mountain) and the freshman’s shot was saved by Murray.
Providence kept pressuring late into the first half and it paid off as Nick Cianci scored off a feed from Jonathan Medcalf with under one minute left. The match was tied, 1-1, at halftime.
“I thought we handled the game very well,” commented Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark. “They are a very direct team and I thought we handled that well. We went 2-0-1 during our fall break and we’ll take that. It would have been nice to go home as BIG EAST champions, but we’ll have to put that on hold.”
Notre Dame regained the lead in the 65th minute as Miller, a senior defender, scored his sixth goal of the season off a pass from Lapira. Miller is now tied with Lapira for the team lead in goals. The assist marked Lapira’s fourth in the past two matches. The senior forward leads the team with eight assists, which are a career-high total.
An offensive surge from Providence late in the second half produced another equalizer for the Friars. A Matt Marcin goal off a pass from Toussaint McClure made it a 2-2 contest in the 83rd minute. The match would head into overtime knotted 2-2.
Bury nearly notched a golden goal with 10 seconds remaining in the second 10-minute overtime period, yet Cahill punched the ball over the net. Cahill made six saves on the day, while Murray had four stops. Providence held a 15-13 edge in shots and Notre Dame had a 7-5 advantage in corner kicks.
“I thought we started the second half superbly,” added Clark. “I was happy with our tempo. I felt after our second goal we let them come back. I was a little disappointed we couldn’t maintain our command.”
Notre Dame will conclude the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 3 at Georgetown. Game time against the Hoyas is slated for 12:00 p.m. (ET).
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.
#7 Notre Dame (10-3-4, 7-0-3) 1 1 0 0 – 2
Providence (9-5-2, 5-3-2) 1 1 0 0 – 2
ND: Matt Besler (Joseph Lapira) 26:51, PC: Nick Cianci (Jonathan Medcalf) 44:22, ND: Ryan Miller (Joseph Lapira) 64:24, PC: Matt Marcin (Toussaint McClure) 82:39
Shots: ND 5-7-0-1 – 13, PC 7-4-2-2 – 15
Corner Kicks: ND 2-4-0-1 – 7, PC 1-3-1-0 – 5
Saves: ND 6 (Chris Cahill 6), PC 4 (Timothy Murray 4)
Fouls: ND 19, PC 23
Offsides: ND 0, PC 1