Oct. 24, 2007
INDIANOLA, Pa. – A career-high two goals from sophomore midfielder Justin Morrow (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Ignatius) helped the seventh-ranked Notre Dame men’s soccer team to a 3-0 BIG EAST win over Pittsburgh on Wednesday night at Founders Field. Fellow sophomore Michael Thomas (Olathe, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) added the third goal, while senior Joseph Lapira (Lake Charles, La./Saint Louis Catholic) registered two assists in the victory.
Notre Dame (10-3-3, 7-0-2) scored early and often to up its BIG EAST Blue Division lead to four points (23-19) over Connecticut, who faced non-league foe Yale on Wednesday. Both teams have two conference games remaining.
“This win tonight sets us up now to try and win the league with two games left,” said Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark. “It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.”
The Fighting Irish grabbed a 1-0 lead with 2:59 elapsed in the match as Lapira sent a cross on frame from the right side and Morrow deposited the ball into the back of the net. The duo would connect again in the fifth minute as Morrow headed in a Lapira pass for his third goal of the season. That total ranks him third on the team. Lapira leads the Irish in goals (6), assists (6) and points (18).
Thomas upped the margin to three in the 14th minute as he took the ball from a Pittsburgh (2-12-2, 0-8-1) defender in front of the net and scored his first goal of the season. The three goals matched a season-high outburst for Notre Dame. The three first-half tallies marked the third time in the past seven matches that Notre Dame has scored three goals in one half. The Irish out shot the Panthers 15-3 in addition to holding a 9-2 advantage in corner kicks.
“It was a very solid performance for us,” added Clark. “I felt that we dominated from start to finish. We played really smart tonight. We got the early goals and we kept playing hard and we were able to get some of the younger guys in there, which is nice.”
Senior goalkeeper Chris Cahill (Louisville, Ky./DeSales) made one save on the night to pick up his sixth shutout of the season and move his record to 9-2-3. As a team, Notre Dame has eight shutouts. Eric Barnes earned the start in goal for Pittsburgh and surrendered all three goals, while making three saves. Jordan Marks played the second half and made four saves.
The Fighting Irish have now reached the double-digit victory plateau for the seventh straight season. The streak began during the first year of the Clark era.
Notre Dame will return to action with a match at Providence on Sunday, Oct. 28. Game time is slated for 2:00 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 (10-3-3, 7-0-2) 3 0 – 3
Pittsburgh (2-12-2, 0-8-1) 0 0 – 0
ND: Justin Morrow (Joseph Lapira) 2:59, ND: Justin Morrow (Joseph Lapira) 4:42, ND: Michael Thomas 14:00.
Shots: ND 8-7 – 15, UP 2-1 – 3
Corner Kicks: ND 5-4 – 9, UP 1-1 – 2
Saves: ND 1 (Chris Cahill 1), UP 7 (Eric Barnes 3, Jordan Marks 4)
Fouls: ND 11, UP 12
Offsides: ND 1, UP 2