Oct. 1, 2008
YPSILANTI, Mich. – The eighth-ranked Notre Dame men’s soccer team suffered a 3-1 setback to Michigan in non-conference action on Wednesday afternoon at Eastern Michigan University’s Scicluna Field. Senior forward Bright Dike (Edmond, Okla./Edmond North) netted a goal for the fourth straight game for the Fighting Irish.
Michigan (7-2-2) struck first in the 10th minute as Mauro Fuzetti sent a shot past Irish junior Philip Tuttle (Hooksett, N.H./Brewster Academy), who was making his first career start in goal. The goal was the first first-half score allowed by the Fighting Irish this season.
Notre Dame (6-3-1) netted the equalizer in the 23rd minute as Dike deposited his team-leading seventh goal of the season with a low shot from five yards out off a pass from Jeb Brovsky (Lakewood, Colo./Green Mountain). The four-game goal streak is a personal best stretch for the senior.
The Wolverines regained the lead less than a minute later when Jake Stacy headed in a cross from Perica Marosevic. Michigan held a 2-1 lead at halftime. For the half, the Irish out shot the Wolverines 8-4.
“It was a funny game,” stated Irish head coach Bobby Clark. “I thought we opened the game well and I thought we played well. I thought we did a lot of things well, but we just didn’t score when we had the chances.”
Michigan claimed a two-goal advantage in the 69th minute on a goal from Marosevic. Fuzetti picked up the assist on the play.
“All of their goals were good goals,” added Clark. “They scored from far out on their first shot of the game. They struck again after (Bright) Dike got the equalizer. But then they scored again against the run of play.”
Wolverine goalkeeper Patrick Sperry made three saves in the win. Tuttle finished the match with three stops as well. Both teams registered 14 shots on the afternoon. Notre Dame held a 5-4 edge in corner kicks. All five Irish corner kicks came in the second half.
“We decided to give (Phil) Tuttle some game experience since (Andrew) Quinn has been playing so much,” said Clark. “I thought Tuttle played well.”
Prior to today, the Fighting Irish, who fell at Louisville in overtime on Sunday, had not lost back-to-back regular-season games since the 2001 season.
Notre Dame returns to BIG EAST play with a home tilt against No. 24 Georgetown on Sunday, Oct. 5. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. (ET) at Alumni Field.
#8 Notre Dame (6-3-1) 1 0 – 1
Michigan (7-2-2) 2 1 – 3
UM: Mauro Fuzetti (unassisted) 9:32; ND: Bright Dike (Jeb Brovsky) 22:29; UM: Jake Stacy (Perica Marosevic) 23:11; UM: Perica Marosevic (Mauro Fuzetti) 68:44
Shots: ND 8-6 – 14, UM 4-10 – 14
Corner Kicks: ND 0-5 – 5, UM 1-3 – 4
Saves: ND 3 (Philip Tuttle 3); UM 3 (Patrick Sperry 3)
Fouls: ND 10, UM 9
Offsides: ND 3, UM 1