Nov. 15: Notre Dame defeated No. 22 Mount Vernon Nazarene at Korb Field Saturday, 2-1, to earn the championship title of the American Mideast Conference (AMC) Tournament. The victory gives Notre Dame (18-2, 11-0 AMC) a sweep of both the regular and postseason league titles for the first time in program history.
The Falcons built a 2-0 lead in the game and then held on to claim the 2-1 final. The full 90 minutes was played in a driving rainstorm. With the win, No. 3-ranked Notre Dame now advances to the NAIA National Championship Tournament, which will begin on Saturday, Nov. 22.
Notre Dame drew the unenviable task of playing against the wind in the first half. However, the Falcons were able to conquer the wind to convert one of their three scoring chances in the opening stanza. Freshman forward Luke Holmes (Oldham, England) scored his 13th goal of the season at the 23:41 mark. Junior forward George Kephart (Parma, Ohio) played a ball into the penalty area into the run of Holmes, who calmly slotted the ball to the far post from the left corner of the six-yard box.
The second half started the same way most of the first half was played, with NDC controlling the run of play. At the 70:55 mark, the Falcons benefited from some unlucky play for Mount Vernon, scoring on an own-goal by the Cougar defense. Freshman midfielder Jonny Stripe (Leeds, England) had his cross deflected over MVNU junior goalkeeper Alex Stout (Pataskala, Ohio) and into the back of the net.
Mount Vernon drew to within a goal less than two minutes later on senior forward Adam Worrall's (Blacklick, Ohio) 20th of the season. Worrall split the NDC defense, and shot the ball past charging junior goalkeeper Craig Pickering (Newcastle, England) to bring the Cougars back into the game at the 72:53 mark.
The goal gave MVNU new life, as their offense put the pressure on the Notre Dame defense over the final 15 minutes of the game. However, the Falcons stymied all of the Cougar advances to hang on for the win.
Pickering finished with two saves, and Stout came up with three. NDC outshot the Cougars, 14-10, in the match.
“Winning championships is always the goal,” said assistant coach Carl Nolan. “But to win a game played in these conditions makes it all the more special. This was a great match to set us up for the upcoming tournament.”
NEWS FROM THE NEST…
SECOND SEASON, FIRST STEP: The Falcons now await word on their opponent in the Opening Round of the NAIA National Tournament. They do know that they will host the game on Saturday, November 22 at Korb Field. Game time is still to be determined. … This will be Notre Dame's second trip to the NAIA Nationals. The Falcons advanced to the Elite Eight in 2005.
BEATING THE RANKS: NDC is now 4-0 on the season versus ranked opponents. MVNU was ranked no. 22 in the NAIA Coaches' Poll coming into the game. … The Falcons are also 2-0 against top-ten teams. Notre Dame defeated then no. 9 Mobile (AL) on August 30, and also defeated then no. 4 Rio Grande on October 25.
