Aug. 20, 2000

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Sophomore Justin Ratcliffe (Miami, Fla.) tallied the lone goal of the game off a feed from freshman Justin Detter (White Lake, Mich.) 21:23 to lead the Notre Dame men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over visiting Loyola of Chicago in the first of three exhibition games for the Irish.

The Irish, under first-year head coach Chris Apple, outshot the Ramblers 13-10 in the contest. Sophomores goalies Greg Tait (Fayetteville, N.Y.) and Cole Straub (Oakville, Ontario) each played a half. Tait made one save in the first half, while Straub made three stops in the second.

Notre Dame will play two more exhibition contests next weekend when the Irish travel to Fort Wayne, Ind., for the IPFW Soccer Showcase, Aug. 26-27. Apple's squad faces South Carolina on Sat., Aug. 26 at 12:00 p.m. and then meets either St. Louis or Akron in second round action on Sunday, Aug. 27.

Notre Dame opens up the 2000 campaign at the UNLV Fila Snickers Rebel Classic, Sept. 1 and 3, when the Irish play New Mexico and host UNLV. The home opener will be on Wed., Sept. 6 versus Bradley at 7:00 p.m.

Loyola (Chicago)  0    0    --    0
Notre Dame        1    0    --    1

SCORING: Notre Dame: Justin Ratcliffe (Justin Detter), 21:23, SHOTS: Notre Dame 13, Loyola 10, CORNER KICKS: Notre Dame 2, Loyola 2, FOULS: Notre Dame 13, Loyola 16, GOALIE SAVES: Notre Dame 4 (Greg Tait - 1, Cole Straub - 3), Loyola 4 (Tim Caprez - 3, Joseph Trimberger -1)