Notre Dame
Second-Half Barrage Sends Notre Dame Past Cal Poly
9/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Five separate Notre Dame players found the back of the Cal Poly net during a 23-minute span in the second half of Sunday's Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament finale at Alumni Stadium as the host Fighting Irish strode to a 5-1 victory against the Mustangs.
Junior Cameron Walters' goal six seconds from time marked the lone reply for Cal Poly (2-2-0), which opened tournament play on Friday by defeating No. 18 Indiana before yielding five goals for the first time since a 5-0 loss against UC Riverside on Nov. 4, 2005.
Notre Dame mustered eight of its 17 shot attempts during the first half, but the Mustangs played the Fighting Irish level and Cal Poly sophomore goalkeeper Chris Violas – making his first collegiate start – was forced into making just one save. The Mustangs themselves placed shots on target through midfielders Evan Richter, Wes Feighner and Mike Hocker.
The Fighting Irish (2-1-1) eventually breached the Cal Poly goal line in the 51st minute, as junior defender Aaron Maund found the upper left corner of the Mustang net from 20 yards. Sophomore midfielder Dillon Powers doubled Notre Dame's lead six minutes later from the top fringe of the penalty area before junior midfielder Brendan King added a goal in the 62nd minute from approximately 35 yards away. Goals by senior midfielder Greg Klazura in the 71st and sophomore defender Grant Van De Casteele in the 74th completed Notre Dame's scoring.
Walters (above) notched his first goal of the season in the 90th minute, blasting a shot from nearly 25 away into the top center portion of the Notre Dame net.
"I thought we played well in the first half and went in 0-0. In the second, our level dropped, (Notre Dame's) level went up and that's a recipe for a loss. And that's what happened," fifth-year Cal Poly head coach Paul Holocher said. "Notre Dame is one of the best teams in the country and the way they played with maturity and strong possession was impressive. We need to learn from them and move on."
The Mustangs, who forced Notre Dame junior goalkeeper Will Walsh into four saves, were whistled offside three times. Senior forward Junior Burgos, making his second appearance of the season following recent international duty with the El Salvador Men's National Team, led Cal Poly with three shot attempts.
Sophomore forward Chris Bernardi, who scored the game-winning goal during Cal Poly's 1-0 upending of nationally-ranked Indiana, was named to the all-tournament team along with Feighner and Burgos.
With a season-opening four-match road trip in the books, Cal Poly begins the home portion of its regular season schedule against No. 17 UCLA on Friday, Sept. 17. Match time at Alex G. Spanos Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m.
