Nov. 16, 2001
Box Score
STORRS, Conn.---- The Notre Dame men's soccer team lost for just the
second time in its last 11 outings as the No.2 seed Irish (12-6) dropped a
1-0 decision to No. 3 seed St. John's (13-2-3) in the semifinals of the
2001 BIG EAST Men's Soccer Championship at Morrone St in Storrs, Conn.
Angel Rodriguez scored the game-winning goal 2:43 into the second for the
Red Storm. The score was set up when Rodriguez slipped through the Notre
Dame defense seven yards inside of the box off of a free kick from outside
of the box by Jeff Matteo. The goal was Rodriguez' seventh score of the
season and third game-winning tally.
"We' obviously disappointed in the outcome because I think when we wake up
tomorrow morning and think about the game it's one of those we would like
to play again," first-year head coach Bobby Clark said following the game.
"We were a little unsettled in the first half, but I think we did a much
better job in the final 45 minutes."
Notre Dame, ranked 17th nationally following a 7-3 conference mark during
the regular season, never really seemed to get on track on offense, but
Clark, the BIG EAST Coach of the Year believes that the hard conditions of
the playing field favored St. John's
"The field was very hard and I believe that it favored St. John's style of
play more than ours," Clark says. "The play on an Astroturf field and our
much more accustomed to the fast conditions. I'm not making any exuses,
but this is the kind of game against a quality opponent that we have to be
accustomed to winning.
"St. John's did an excellent job of sticking to their game plan tonight.
They're a very good team."
This was the first meeting of the season between the two teams. Heading
into the contest, St.John,s, ranked eighth nationally, owned 5-1-2
advantage. This was the second time in BIG EAST tournament play that the
two team have faced each in a semifinal matchup. The Red Storm defeated
Notre Dame 4-1 in the 1997 championship.
Notre Dame, which outshot St. John's 6-2 in the first half, could muster
little scoring opportunity in the second half as the Red Storm owned a 7-4
shot advantage in the final 45 minutes of the contest.
Rodriguez nearly had his second score of the game with 32 minutes left in
the contest when beat two Irish defenders and missed an open shot in front
of the Irish after freshman goalkeeper Chris Sawyer (Highlands, Ranch,
Colo.) had been drawn outside of the goal area. Sawyer made two saves in
the game, while Red Storm goalkeeper Guy Hertz finished with three saves.
Notre Dame had a couple of scoring opportunities in the second half, but
could just not convert. Jack Stewart's (Torrance, Calif.) shot at the 31:04
mark went wide right and Justin Detter (White Lake, Mich.) blasted a shot
from 13 yards out that was tipped over the crossbar by Hertz with 6:28 to
play in the game.
Notre Dame, which was shutout for the fifth time this season and first
time since dropping a 1-0 decision on this same field to Connecticut on
Oct. 27 will now await a bid into the 48-team NCAA field which will be
announced on Monday (Nov.19) afternoon.
"I'm very positive about our chances," Clark says. "We deserve to be one
of the 48 teams selected because of the quality of opponents we have played
and beaten. The only thing we're going to concentrate."
