ND avenges loss to Jackson 3-0

Senior John Unterreiner and the Notre Dame offense struck fast against rival Jackson on Thursday after being shutout by the Indians just seven days earlier.

Unterreiner made Senior Night at Notre Dame a victorious one, scoring twice, including kicking in the first goal 17 minutes, 8 seconds into the match as he helped the Bulldogs to a 3-0 win over Jackson.

"It was pretty special," Unterreiner said. "It wasn't our last game on this field but it was special for all of us. It really didn't hit me until about the second half that it was Senior Night and four years have gone by quick. But to beat a good team like Jackson and to get a little revenge on them for when they beat us, it feels good."

Unterreiner's two scores against the Indians give him 10 goals — six more than he had all of last year. He leads the Bulldogs with 29 points.

Unterreiner, who was converted to forward from midfield this fall, scored the first goal off a breakaway after taking a pass from fellow senior Joda Holloway.

After Unterreiner watched it get past Central keeper Justin Darnell, he pumped his fist in celebration and the student section began chanting "This is our house."

"We were a lot more calm this week," Unterreiner said. "We kept our composure and we just tried to spread the field. ... And our defense did excellent. It just seemed like the whole game we were consistently pressuring them. We just found the holes, and we put it in. Last week, we had some chances that we didn't finish."

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com Notre Dame's Joda Holloway pushes the ball past Jackson's Law Duncan during the first half on Thursday, October 9, 2008.

Notre Dame (12-3) increased its lead to 2-0 when Josh Robert scored a penalty kick 4:45 into the second half.

"I've taken all of them [penalty kicks] so far," Robert said. "I kind of told coach I wanted them and I kind of step up and take them.

"I thought we played well tonight," Robert added. "We possessed. We moved the ball. We played perfect as a team."

Unterreiner increased the Bulldogs lead to 3-0 over the Indians (7-9) scoring his second goal with 27:20 remaining in the contest.

Notre Dame keeper Ryan Bass recorded the shutout, making 11 saves. Notre Dame took 26 shots to Jackson's 11.

"We didn't win a lot of 50-50 balls," Jackson coach Zack Walton said. "We didn't win balls in the air. Notre Dame was hungry for the balls. I thought we played all right in the first half. We didn't obviously play our best. ... You have to give them credit for playing a good game."