Bulldogs fend off Tigers 2-1

Joe Froemsdorf swung around and buried a shot past Central goalie Carlos Salas.

The goal was one of the few bright spots offensively for the Notre Dame soccer team in the second half.

But the Bulldogs' defense refused to wilt, and host Notre Dame held on for the 2-1 victory Tuesday.

"They are crosstown rivals and it always feels good to beat them," Froemsdorf said. "I guess it's a big step as a junior to come out and have the goal and assist."

Froemsdorf scored with just under 30 minutes left in the second half. The ball rarely saw Central's end the rest of the game. Central (13-7) controlled the ball and kept blasting away, but the Tigers couldn't get the equalizer.

"It looks frustrating on paper and it can seem frustrating," Central coach Dan Martin said. "We learned. Now we've got to put our chances away and do something about playing the ball to that big keeper. He always gets his hands on it. It was a learning tool more than anything."

Notre Dame (14-3) senior Brock Dirnberger acknowledged Central's offensive dominance in the second half.

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com Kelly pitcher Danielle Dock delivers a pitch in the seventh inning of Kelly's 7-0 victory over Twin Rivers on Tuesday, October 14, 2008.

"We just couldn't get anything going," he said about the second half. "The forwards couldn't even get the ball. But you've got to take your hat off to them. We couldn't do anything about it. They were playing great offensively."

Central would work the ball toward the goal, but shots kept going wide or over the goal. When a shot was on the mark, Notre Dame keeper Ryan Bass came flying out to make the save.

Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn said his seniors provided the steady hand to avoid panic as the Tigers whaled away at the goal.

"The best players on the team have to be composed and they have to have the other players look in their eyes and see confidence," Wittenborn said. "Like a Joda Holloway plays a lot of club soccer in St. Louis. If he was barking at his teammates for every mistake they made, the other players read that as things aren't going well and there's a little bit of panic. I have fantastic senior leadership out there, and they help us stay composed by giving some instruction before a play happens, but not criticizing so much after a play happens."

ELIZABETH DODD ~ edodd@semissourian.com Notre Dame's Joe Froemsdorf, left, John Unterreiner and Brock Dirnberger celebrate on the field after Froemsdorf scored the second goal of the game against Central leading to a Bulldog 2-1 victory at Notre Dame Tuesday.

The game started well for the Tigers when Zach Zaruba scored less than a minute into the game. The Tigers pressured the ball, and Zaruba was able to slip a shot past Bass, who had come out of the goal.

"We knew Zaruba was a threat coming in," Froemsdorf said. "He's scored a lot of goals the last few games. It was a surprise he came out strong. Bass is a good goalie, he was just unlucky back there."

The teams played at a frenzied pace in the first half, with each team enjoying quality chances. Notre Dame pulled even when it got a free kick just outside the box along the end line. Froemsdorf hit a perfect floater that Dirnberger headed home to even the score 1-1.

Salas came up big twice in the final four minutes of the half, making leaping stops on shots at point-blank range.

Martin said it took a half for his team to find its groove.

"Leading up to this, there was a lot of intimidation — big crowd, big night, Central vs. Notre Dame," he said. "I think they got lost in the first half during that. The second half, we showed what we could do.

"At halftime, you got the first goal and you gave up the other one. You realized you can play with this team. They can play with you guys. Now we've got to come out composed and relaxed and play our system and our style."

Even though the Bulldogs were forced to fend off wave after wave of Central attacks in the second half, Dirnberger enjoys games like Tuesday's contest.

"These are the games we love, the 2-1 games," he said. "We love the hard games. We love the games we lose 1-0. We hate beating teams 8-0. It's not any fun."