TicketsSept. 26, 2008
CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati men's soccer team, playing its third straight opponent ranked in the Top 25, dropped a 3-0 decision against third-ranked Notre Dame on Friday night (Sept. 26) in front of a season-high 1,051 fans at Gettler Stadium.
UC played No. 20/17 Providence to a 1-1 draw on Sept. 19 and dropped a 2-1 decision at No. 7/4 Connecticut last weekend. Notre Dame marked the fifth ranked team a young UC squad has played in its first eight matches this season.
UC (2-4-2, 0-2-1 BIG EAST) stayed even with the Irish in the first half, despite being outshot, 10-3. The Bearcats had an opportunity to get on the board in the early stages of the second half, when a Sam Klosterman (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) throw-in caromed into the box, where Francesco Furio (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) and Nick Wieghtmann (Lenark, Scotland/St. Aidan's) each had shots that were turned away from close range.
A few moments later, following a Notre Dame foul, Brad Simpson (Novi, Mich./Novi) had a look with a free kick from 25 yards out, but his shot sailed over the crossbar.
Tamba Samba put ND (6-1-1, 3-0-1) on top in the 57th minute, tucking a left-footed shot inside the right post after a feed from Steven Perry.
The Bearcats nearly drew even in the 67th, as Weightmann fired a low driving shot from the right side just outside the far post.
Notre Dame sealed the victory with a Michael Thomas goal in the 73rd minute and Bright Dike put home a third in the 88th minute with the Bearcats offense pushed forward.
"We are obviously disappointed in the result," said head coach Hylton Dayes. " We need to consistently play at a higher level. Tonight, Notre Dame's level of play was high the whole match and we had a few breakdowns. We certainly had opportunities in the match, but we just haven't been able to score goals."
UC will look for its first BIG EAST win on Sept. 28 when Marquette visits Gettler Stadium. The match will be the second of a doubleheader with the women's team, which hosts No. 1/1 Notre Dame at 1 p.m. The men's contests will start at approximately 3:30 p.m.