Bulldogs strike for 1-0 victory vs. Central

~ Notre Dame used strong defense and a first-half goal to turn aside the Tigers

Notre Dame needed one golden scoring opportunity.

Sophomore Jonathan Lynch capitalized and the Bulldogs' defense shut down Central on senior night at Notre Dame for a 1-0 victory.

"Our defense played really good," Lynch said. "They stepped up in big spots and cleared the ball out. They stepped hard and won some big headers out of the box for us."

The Tigers (5-17) opened the first half with constant pressure, keeping the ball on the Bulldogs' side for the majority of the half.

"We just talked as a team," Central coach Dan Martin said. "We knew that the key was putting the pressure on their backs. We played deep balls in. Right from the get-go the intensity and urgency had to be there. And I thought our boys showed up. I thought the first half was excellent. They did very well. I'm very proud of them."

Central had plenty of chances to score first.

The Tiger's Josh Hiett ripped a shot from well outside the 18-yard box to force Bulldogs keeper James Holloway to make a diving save 10 minutes into the contest.

Central's Josh Compas nearly put a loose ball that was rolling around the box in the back of the net minutes later.

"They kept running at us," Notre Dame senior KeKe Kellum said. "They were attacking us and attacking us. They're in good shape."

"To start, they were playing a guy in our sweeper," Bulldogs coach Brad Wittenborn said. "It took a little longer to sort that out than I would have liked it to. We went to man mark and Dustin Hutson did a nice job man marking. We got settled in after 10 or 15 minutes."

The Bulldogs (11-12) capitalized on their first true chance in the first half.

Jack Mocherman fed Joe Froemsdorf off a quick restart then Froemsdorf deked his defender and played it out wide to fellow senior Jake Pewitt. Pewitt streaked down the right side and crossed a ball to the back post where Lynch dived to head the ball into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.

"I was just hoping that it would get through," Lynch said. "Joe played a great ball out wide and Pewitt played a great ball in. I was fortunate to get a head on it."

"John's really starting to settle in and become more of a goal scorer," Wittenborn said. "It's not just the goal scoring, he's playing with a lot more confidence. He's creating a lot of plays. He's young, but he's not playing like a sophomore, and the diving header just caps that off."

The Tigers refused to stop pressuring. Central had several good chances to open the second half.

Hiett took a free kick just outside the 18, but his shot sailed over the crossbar 15 minutes in. Tigers forward Matt Ponder played a cross through the box that went untouched minutes later.

"I thought Notre Dame did very well coming back and clearing the ball," Martin said. "We were trying to win the second ball, and I thought we succeeded, but they didn't go back in a shell. We just didn't capitalize on our chance like they did."

Notre Dame had an excellent chance to go up another goal when Froemsdorf made a nifty move to shake his defender and played a cross to Lynch, who failed to convert.

Central made one last push to even the score in extra time.

Michael Denmark hit a long cross from the right side to a diving Compas in the middle of the box, but Compas pushed his header left and the Bulldogs held on.

"Cape played their hearts out," Wittenborn said. "They had some very good chances to score. We were fortunate Lynch finished a nice head ball there. Our defense held together and made it stand up."