RINDGE, N.H. – A deficit means nothing to No. 21 Notre Dame College, at this point. The Falcons have become familiar with putting together comebacks, and they did just that on Thursday evening. After falling behind 1-0 on a penalty kick in the 55th minute,
Marcus Vinicius Pereira converted a penalty kick on the other end to tie the game. In overtime,
Jared Rimmer scored his first collegiate goal to help NDC move past the College of Saint Rose, 2-1, in the First Round of the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Very early in the contest, Saint Rose's Josh Elliott took a shot in between a couple defenders that rolled into the arms of Notre Dame goalkeeper
Pedro Alves. After that shot, the Falcons dominated possession for the next ten minutes, pushing the ball into the attacking third.
For the second time in the last three games, Alves made five saves.
About five minutes into the contest the ball was sent up the field to freshman
Simao Coelho, who found himself alone after a defender had fallen. His shot rolled just outside of the right post.
A solid cross by sophomore
Callum Cleary, 10 minutes into the contest, rolled through the middle of the box and nearly found sophomore
Taylor Dyson on the run toward goal, but the Falcons could not get a touch on it.
Later in the first half, Dyson would send a shot in from distance, about 30 yards away, but Saint Rose goalkeeper Tomas Rozman made a diving save. Notre Dame took 10 first half shots, while the Golden Knights took six.
"It was a really strange game. It was not like a game we had played this season," said head coach
Carl Nolan. "We played some really good soccer in the first half, creating a lot of good chances, it just never dropped for us. I think halftime was about managing frustration. It was about refreshing the team in a few areas, a few different ideas."
In the second half, it was more of the same, early on. The defense was almost impenetrable on both sides, as players had trouble maintaining possession.
In the 55th minute, a foul was called on junior
Antonio Bittencourt, in the box. Hilmar Halldorsson put the penalty kick low and to the right to find the net and give Saint Rose the lead.
Less than 10 minutes later, the comeback was on for NDC. Sophomore
Ailton Fagner Silva was battling with a defender to catch up to the ball in the box and he was fouled. Pereira stepped in for the PK and stuck the ball low and to the left to knot the contest at one.
Saint Rose was able to take two more shots than NDC in the second stanza.
Despite playing three high intensity Mountain East Conference tournament games last week, Notre Dame came out with a lot of energy in overtime. In fact, the Falcons' defense did not allow Saint Rose to take a shot in the first period of overtime.
In the 93rd minute, Notre Dame made a run at the opposing goal. Dyson pushed the ball into the box, where he found senior
Ned Dry. Dry sent the ball behind him to Rimmer, who had snuck in and was forgotten about. He scored for the first time this season with what turned out to be the game-winner.
"One of the things we say is to simplify in front of the goal, not taking too many touches," Nolan explained. "
Jared Rimmer is a very instinctive footballer and he's the type of player who gets crosses into the box early. But, he also just shoots and if he sees something, he does it."
The win represents Nolan's first in the NCAA Division II Tournament and the program's first since defeating Drury University in 2012. The Falcons have reached 16 wins for the first time in the program's NCAA Division II era.
Notre Dame will now battle the top team in the region, and the No. 1 team in the country, Franklin Pierce University on Nov. 12. The match is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
