UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The No. 13 Saginaw Valley State University men's soccer team defeated Notre Dame College by a score of 3-2 today (Sept. 28) in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest at the SVSU Soccer Complex.
The scoreless tie was broken in the 16th minutes when a Conor Reaume (Troy, Mich.) corner kick was finished off from the back post by a Taylor Clarke (Cary, Ill. / Cary-Grove HS) header as the Cardinals took the 1-0 edge.
Notre Dame responded less than eight minutes later on a deflected shot that was put in the back of the net for the equalizer as the contest would go into halftime tied at 1-1.
At the 51:52 mark of the second half, the Falcons took the 2-1 lead on a shot from the top of the 18 to beat the Cardinal goalkeeper.
Saginaw Valley wiped away the Notre Dame momentum with a goal from Zach Myers (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Forest Hills Eastern HS) on a header off a tremendous throw-in by Robert Short (Goodrich, Mich.) to knot the match up at 2-2.
In the 79th minute of action, Zack Minor (Hartland, Mich.) made a well-timed pass to the top of the box where Craig Neal (Bay City, Mich. / Bay City Western HS) was there to boot it home giving SVSU the 3-2 edge and the win.
Jason Wise (Troy, Mich.) made four saves in goal for the Cardinals, but none was bigger then when he went to the upper 90 to knock a free kick away and keep the Cardinals on top, 3-2.
"Today was a great display from both sides, Notre Dame is a top program with great coaches. Our team had to really battle in the first half to stay in the game but I thought after halftime we really stepped up and played our style," commented head coach Cale Wassermann. "We take pride in our home field and the boys showed today what we are capable of, but we also know we have another huge game on Sunday. ODU is one of the best teams we will see all year so matching today's performance is vital."
The Cardinals will return to action on Sunday when they host Ohio Dominican for a 1:00 PM start in a battle of top teams in the GLIAC.