LYNDHURST, Ohio – Notre Dame has steamrolled its way back into victory lane in American Mideast Conference play. The Falcons celebrated their fourth AMC win of the season, defeating the Malone Pioneers, 12-0, at Korb Field on Wednesday night.  (Box)

Eleven days after the Blue & White (10-1-1, 4-0-1 AMC) dropped two points at Cedarville in a 2-2 overtime drama, the Falcons gathered a dozen goals worth of confidence for their much anticipated match-up with NAIA powerhouse Rio Grande on Saturday, Oct. 17. That game will be the first meeting between No. 3 Notre Dame and the No. 7 Red Storm since last fall (Oct. 25), when NDC beat Rio for the first time in seven matches, 2-1, in overtime.

But before going into one of the most anticipated games of the season, the Falcons first had to take care of business against the Pioneers. They did so in merciless fashion as strikers #Christian Earnest#, #Luke Holmes# (2), #George Kephart# (2), #Steven Kane#, midfielders #Tom Mellor#, #Jacob Sheppard#, #Ash Young#, #Erik Beattie# and #Jordan Zapotechne# scored for Notre Dame, in addition to an own goal by Pioneer defender Jake Zimmerly. Midfielders #Kyle Hayes#, Mellor, Kane (two each), #Jonathon Stripe# and #Luke Jackson# delivered assists.

Notre Dame outshot Malone, 40-5, and recorded 13-1 corner kicks. Goalies #Craig Pickering# and #Alex Klein# each played 45 uneventful minutes on their end of the field.

Earnest opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a diving header, after Hayes headed a cross by Mellor across the 6-yard box.

In the 25th minute, Holmes picked up a through ball by Sheppard and was fouled inside the penalty box by Pioneer defender Brandon Morales. Not having missed a penalty this season, Notre Dame's leading striker converted himself. Twelve minutes later, Holmes added a second when he converted a cross by Kane from short distance. It was his 20th goal in a dozen matches this year.

Only three minutes earlier, Mellor had scored his 7th net finder of the season, when he finished off a nice set up by midfielder #Jonathan Morris# and Kane to make it 3-0 at the time.

The Falcons would strike twice more before the break. Sheppard put away a cross by Stripe for his first goal of the season in the 43rd. With one minute left in the first half, Malone's Zimmerly deflected a Holmes cross into his own net for the 6-0 Falcon lead.

Nine minutes into the second half, Young, set up by Mellor, scored his fourth goal of the season.

Next, Kephart struck twice within 11 minutes to extend the Falcon lead to nine goals (61st and 72nd). He has now found the back of the net seven times this season.

Kane took the score to double digits when he finished off a play set up by forward #Simon Rumbold# in the 77th.

Beattie in the 85th and Zapotechne in the 88th both marked their second goal of the season to complete the scoring.


NOTES FROM THE NEST …

FLYING HIGH: Notre Dame Men's Soccer is the most successful program in NDC history. The Falcons have an all-time record of 112-49-13. Their .679 winning percentage is the highest among all of Notre Dame's 20 varsity teams. Michael McBride's squad is also the only Notre Dame team ever to have received first-place votes in the NAIA Coaches' Poll. The Blue & White received two such votes this week as they were bumped from the No. 4 spot to be ranked third. The Falcons have now received a Top-10 ranking in 11 straight polls.

RECORD ROUTS: Wednesday's 12-0 blow-out of the Pioneers marked Notre Dame's second highest AMC victory and fourth highest win ever. Only three times have the Falcons scored more than a dozen goals. In their inaugural season, the Blue & White defeated Wilberforce, 13-0, in conference play on Sept. 15, 2001. They beat Pittsburgh-Bradford with the same result on Aug. 31, 2002. A day earlier, Notre Dame scored its highest victory in program history with a 19-0 defeat of Lake Erie. With 64 goals in 12 matches this season, the Falcons are the second highest scoring team in the nation. They only trail Maine at Fort Kent, which has scored 66 times in a dozen matches so far.

FOUR OF A KIND: With Wednesday's victory, the Falcons have won their past four matches against Malone. The Blue & White outscored the Pioneers, 24-0, in those games. Notre Dame's all-time record against Malone is 4-1. The Falcons' only loss occurred during their first match-up when the Pioneers scored a golden goal in overtime to win, 3-2, on Sept. 18, 2001.