October 6, 2012
RYAN’S RUN
ND’s Finley notches second straight two-goal game

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Ryan Finley’s second straight two-goal performance propelled No. 10 Notre Dame to a 3-0 win over No. 3 Georgetown in Big East Blue Division play Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.

Notre Dame (10-2-0, 2-2-0) opened the scoring in the eighth minute when senior midfielder Dillon Powers sent a corner kick into the box and after the ball was batted around in front of the goalmouth, junior forward Alex Priede deposited his third goal of the season.

Both of Finley’s goals occurred in the 66th minute. Junior forward Harrison Shipp set up the first tally when he played the ball ahead to Finley, who beat a Hoya defender and made it a 2-0 contest. On the second goal, Finley took a nice pass from Patrick Hodan and drilled the ball off the crossbar and into the back of the net for his team-high 10th goal of the season.

Finley also scored two goals in Wednesday’s 7-1 win over Pittsburgh. The senior forward has 11 career multiple-goal games, including three this season.

The Fighting Irish produced several other good chances in the opening half. Priede almost netted a second goal in the 15th minute as he placed a shot just wide right from 15 yards away. Finley threatened in the 21st minute, but his shot from 16 yards out went wide to the left.

Georgetown (10-2-1, 2-2-0) had opportunities of its own in the opening stanza. The first Hoya shot on goal occurred in the 26th minute when Ian Christianson’s 17-yard attempt was stopped by Notre Dame goalkeeper Patrick Wall for the first of his four saves. In the 30th minute, Georgetown’s Andy Riemer blasted a shot that hit the underside of the crossbar, went back into play and was cleared by the Irish defense.

Notre Dame countered with solid chances of its own late in the opening half. In the 38th minute, Finley had a shot deflect off the left post and Hoya goalkeeper Keon Parsa saved the follow-up attempt by central defender Grant Van De Casteele. Parsa had two more saves in the final minute of the first half. He stopped a shot from Irish left back Max Lachowecki and the rebound went to midfielder Kyle Richard, but Parsa was there again for the save.

“This was a great win and a great advertisement for college soccer,” said Irish head coach Bobby Clark. “It was two very, very good teams going at it and it was an exciting match.

The Irish have defeated three top-10 teams this season. Notre Dame also bested No. 4 Akron (3-1) and No. 10 Indiana (1-0).

Notre Dame will return to the pitch on Tuesday at No. 22 Northwestern. The non-conference match is slated for 7 p.m. (CT) in Evanston, Ill.