ND nets lone goal vs. Central

~ The Bulldogs won 1-0 on a rare shot and even rarer goal

Jack Mocherman found himself wide open at the 18-yard box.

He did something he usually doesn't do.

He fired a shot.

The rare attempt went off the crossbar and into the back of the net to boost Notre Dame past host Central 1-0 on Tuesday night.

Central senior Erik Allen, left, collides with Notre Dame goalie James Holloway during Tuesday's game at Central. (Kit Doyle)

"Coach has been telling us to take more shots lately," Mocherman said. "If you never take shots, you never make it. So I knew I had to let it fly."

The Tigers (4-15) dominated the opening minutes of the game.

Central forward Derek Parker ripped a shot just outside the 18-yard box that forced Bulldogs keeper James Holloway to make a diving save five minutes into the contest.

"We get excited to play Notre Dame at home," Central coach Dan Martin said. "It's always a nice matchup. I thought we applied good pressure, but so did they."

The two rivals battled each other evenly in the first half, with Notre Dame earning a golden chance with seconds left in the first half.

Notre Dame's Ethan Huber centers Tuesday evening, October 13, 2009, in Cape Girardeau. (Kit Doyle)

Sophomore Jonathan Lynch got free in the left side of the box and fired a shot off the left post that deflected out of bounds.

The second half was filled with plenty of chances.

Notre Dame's Jake Pewitt laced a cross across the box that was deflected back to Mocherman outside the 18 just six minutes into the half.

Mocherman hit a perfect strike for his first goal of the season to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.

"It was a great finish overall, upper 90," Martin said. "After they scored, they had more confidence. They applied more pressure. They really thrived off that goal."

The Bulldogs (7-11) kept the pressure up, but failed to capitalize on several excellent opportunities.

Just minutes after Mocherman's goal, Notre Dame's Joe Froemsdorf played a ball to midfielder Taylor Essner bolting down the right side. Essner settled it and fired a cross to a streaking Pewitt, whose header sailed just over the crossbar.

"In the first half, we weren't getting numbers up," Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn said. "So I told them to just throw caution to the wind and crash the box and see what happens. We started taking shots and getting more numbers up and we did a lot better in the second half. We played with a lot of energy."

Not long after Pewitt's chance, Froemsdorf took a pass from Mocherman, beat his defender and dished it to Lynch just inside the box. Central goalie Jamie Pickel made a nice diving save on Lynch's shot to keep the Tigers in the game.

"Jamie's a fighter," Martin said. "He takes full advantage of every opportunity. He loves the game. If it wasn't for him, it could have been three or four to nothing."

The Tigers couldn't muster any solid chances to tie the game. Notre Dame's defense collapsed quickly and often on any Central player with the ball.

"Their effort was good," Wittenborn said of his defenders. "They were backing each other up."