Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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The Irish have participated in nine of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments, but had never made it past the quarterfinal round before advancing to the College Cup and being crowned champs this year. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS ful ball, and all I needed to do was redirect it to the back post." He and the rest of the Irish back four forced Maryland to try to attack from the outside in during the second half. Despite a few quality chances, the Terps couldn't score the equalizer. Notre Dame flew back to South Bend later that night with trophy in hand for an impromptu pep rally. Several of the players were taking final exams less than eight hours later. The glow of victory also faded quickly for Clark, who at 68 years old has his sights set on a few more trips to the finals in the near future. Reaching the last stage can be a bit of a crapshoot. Clark and his players say they learned a few lessons from their success this year, such as the importance of having a home-field advantage and keeping players healthy during the regular season. "I think part of it is not being satisfied with just winning in the regular season, too," Shipp said. "We know that wins in the regular season are only going to take us so far. It's how do you consistently build from game one all the way through 24 or 25 so that you're playing your best soccer in the national championship game. I think that separated us from a lot of teams." ✦