The No. 3 Notre Dame (13-0-0, 4-0-0 AMC) handed Walsh (6-7-0, 1-3-0 AMC) their third consecutive loss at Korb Field. The Falcons, the two-time defending AMC champion, posted a 3-1 win over WU. (Post game audio)

Walsh who has yet to beat the Falcons in six all-time meetings (0-5-1), found itself trailing Notre Dame for the first time of the match in the 14th minute when the Falcons were challenging in the WU box. After a short Cavalier clearance that fell in the path of #Jacob Child#, a senior defender from Surrey, England. Child wasted little time as he struck a one-timer through the goalmouth traffic from 20 yards, passed the helpless WU net minder, Mike Kelley for his third goal of the season and the Falcons 1-0 lead.

The Cavaliers drew level in the 37th minute when a Walsh counter attack blew by the Falcons defense. Ben Truax showed great composure on the ball before dishing off to Matt Bly around the Falcons penalty spot. Bly would slip the ball past the Falcons #Alex Klein#, a junior goalkeeper from Frankfurt, Germany leveling the score at 1-1.

Although NDC outshot the visiting Cavaliers in the opening 45 minutes 10-6 and holding a 3-2 advantage in corner kicks, the first half would end with the score all level 1-1.

Notre Dame would make a few changes to open the second half. Creating early chances the Falcons looked to regain the lead on a pair of shots by #Tom Mellor#, a sophomore from Shaw, England along with a set of corner kicks. But Kelley would be up to the task keeping the score level.

NDC finally found the breakthrough in the 71st minute when #Erik Beattie# took a opportunistic strike from 33 yards. The sophomore from Madison, Ohio hit a bouncing shot that avoided Kelley and slipped past into the net, giving the Falcons their second lead of the match 2-1.

The Falcons pushed the lead to 3-1 in the 90th minute when Kelley brought down #Luke Holmes#, a junior from Oldham, England earning the midfielder his fifth penalty kick of the season and Kelley a yellow card caution. Holmes would send Kelley the wrong way before calmly sending the ball into the back of the net for his team leading 15th goal of the season, his 61st goal of his career just three shy of Jeremy Kephart's all-time leading 64.

The Falcons would outshoot their AMC opponent 22-10 and hold a 7-4 advantage in corner kicks for the match.

Klein would be credited with two saves on the evening while receiving two assists from the outfield players on his way to a 11-0-0 record and a .42 goals against average.

Notre Dame will go back on the road in defense of its American Mideast Conference title. The Falcons meet Cedarville (9-4-0, 2-2-0 AMC) on Saturday Oct. 16 at Yellow Jacket Field with a scheduled 7:00 p.m. kickoff. The Yellow Jackets spoiled a 2-0 lead for the Falcons in 2009 scoring two goals in the final 10 minutes forcing a 2-2 draw. Saturday's match can be heard on NotreDameFalcons.com with Rudy Roediger and Stefan Perri bringing you the action following Rudy Roediger's coverage of the Notre Dame and Cedarville Women's soccer match scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff. Coverage scheduled to begin 20 minutes before the women's kickoff.


NOTES FROM THE NEST…

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: #Tom Mellor#, a sophomore midfielder from Shaw, England was named the American Mideast Conference Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week for games played Oct. 3-9 for his three goals and two assists against Malone Oct. 9. 

UNPRECEDENTED: #Tom Mellor# became the sixth Falcon to be recognized by the AMC this season, #Alex Klein# and #Ryan McGreevy# earned respective Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 27-Oct. 2), #Mohamet Sougoufara# earned Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 20-26), #Luke Holmes# and #Daniel Knight# earned respective Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 6-12.). Holmes also became only the second NAIA National Player of the week when he earned the NAIA National Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 6-12). Jeremy Kephart first earned the honor in 2002.

STREAKING FALCONS: Notre Dame is tied for the fourth longest active streak of being consecutively ranked in the NAIA Top 25 with 26 consecutive. The NAIA has 220 schools that sponsor men's soccer. Soccer is the largest single division sport for men in the NAIA. Only Men's Basketball has more schools. 261 schools sponsor basketball split between Division I (116) and Division II (145).