Oct. 14, 1997

Irish Erupt for Seven Second-Half Goals to Top Western Michigan

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Ryan Turner, Ben Bocklage and Bill Savarino each scored twice as the 25th-ranked Notre Dame men's soccer team erupted for seven second-half goals as the Irish beat visiting Western Michigan 7-1. The come-from-behind victory helped the Irish rebound from Saturday night's 1-0 loss at home to Syracuse.

Bill Savarino's first goal gave Notre Dame the lead for good.

Joe Gallo and Scott Wells each finished with two assists in the contest.

Notre Dame fell behind 1-0 early as the Broncos scored 2:45 in the contest when Phil Rosendall headed in a Danny Moulding cross that came from the center of the field off a Jason Hoffmeyer pass. The score remained 1-0 for the remainder of the first half despite the Irish outshooting Western Michigan 7-2 in the first 45 minutes of the game.

The Irish wasted little time in getting on the score board at the start of the second half. Bocklage blasted a shot off a Gallo feed 18 seconds into the second half. Savarino gave the Irish the lead for good at the 51:42 mark on a 40-yard blast that put the Irish up 2-1. Less than seven minutes later, Andrew Aris tallied Notre Dame's third score off a Matt Johnson feed at 58:10.

Notre Dame did not score again until the 75:32 mark, but had four goals in a nine-minute span. Turner led off the scoring on a header off a Gallo assist. Savarino netted his second goal of the night at the 77:25 mark when he took a Wells feed and put it into the net. Wells was credited with assist on Notre Dame's next goal, Turner's second, five minutes later. Bocklage finished off the scoring with a goal off a Bocklage assist at 84:14.

The seven goals were the most scored by the Irish since a 7-0 shutout versus Valparaiso on September 8, 1995.

Notre Dame dominated the second half outshooting the Broncos 17-5 and finished the game with a 24-7 shot advantage.

Eric Progue came up with 10 saves in goal for Western Michigan, who fell to 4-4-2 with the loss.

This was the final non-conference battle for Notre Dame who now improves to 8-4-2 overall. The Irish, currently second in the BIG EAST regular-season standings, return action on Friday, October 17 in final contest of a three-game homestand as they entertain league-leading Georgetown at 7:30 p.m. on Alumni Field.