Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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The play sparked some controversy as the first of two borderline handballs by the Irish that went uncalled by the referee. Sophomore forward Patrick Hodan blocked the original Terrapins shot with his arm while standing on the goal line. Had a handball been called, Maryland would have been awarded a penalty kick and the Irish might have lost Hodan, their top postseason goal scorer, to a red card. Hodan scored five goals in Notre Dame's five tournament games, including both tallies in a 2-0 semifinal win over New Mexico two days before the championship. "That would've been a very stiff red card," Clark said. "It wasn't like he put a hand to the ball. His arm went out. I suppose maybe they would've said we don't give you the goal we give you a penalty, but then we could always save the penalty or they could miss the penalty." Instead, Notre Dame responded like it had many times earlier in the year. Only five minutes later, senior Leon Brown slid into a loose ball behind the Terps' defense and snuck it past Steffen to tie the game. The play started with a long throw-in from senior Luke Mishu. The ball was headed past Maryland's back line by sophomore Nick Besler where Brown caught up with it. Brown, playing with a forehead fracture that will require postseason surgery, typically didn't see the field until the second half during Notre Dame's postseason run. He came on early to replace junior Vince Cicciarelli, who broke his collarbone while leaping for a contested ball early in the match. Notre Dame's defense kept Mullins at bay for the rest of the day, and O'Malley's goal (only the third of the season for the defender) early in the second half provided the game-winner. "The goal itself was really put on a silver platter for me," O'Malley told reporters following the game. "It would have been tough for me to screw it up, I suppose. Harry just played a beauti- IRISH ROAD TO THE TITLE First Round — Bye Second Round (Nov. 24) — No. 3 Notre Dame 4, Wisconsin 0 Irish Goals: Harrison Shipp 2, Vince Cicciarelli and Patrick Hodan; Irish Saves: Patrick Wall 2 Third Round (Dec. 1) — No. 3 Notre Dame 4, No. 14 Wake Forest 2 Irish Goals: Patrick Hodan, Evan Panken, Harrison Shipp and an own goal; Irish Saves: Patrick Wall 4 Quarterfinal Round (Dec. 7) — No. 3 Notre Dame 2, No. 11 Michigan State 1 Irish Goals: Evan Panken and Patrick Hodan; Irish Saves: Patrick Wall 4 Semifinal Round (Dec. 13) — No. 3 Notre Dame 2, No. 7 New Mexico 0 Irish Goals: Patrick Hodan 2 Irish Saves: Patrick Wall 5 National Championship (Dec. 15) — No. 3 Notre Dame 2, No. 2 Maryland 1 Irish Goals: Leon Brown and Andrew O'Malley; Irish Saves: Patrick Wall 2