Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ND SPORTS BY JORDAN WELLS T he No. 2 Irish men's soccer team came out on top in its first top‑10 matchup of the season, defeating No. 9 Clemson 1‑0 Sept. 12 in Alumni Stadium behind a goal from junior de‑ fender Matt Habrowski in the 51st minute. S e n i o r m i d f i e l d e r Evan Panken delivered a corner kick to Hab‑ rowski, who headed the ball into the far corner of net for a lead the Irish wouldn't relinquish. "We called on one of our center backs to get the goal, which was very nice," head coach Bobby Clark told UND. c o m . " M a t t g o t t h e goal. I think everyone was looking at Bernie [Patrick Berneski] as the big target, and Matt snuck in. He's done that a few times, and he did the same thing against Mexico last year in the spring game. "He just sneaks in there and gets his head on it and scores a vital goal. It was a nice goal and that was all we needed." Clark's team hadn't allowed a single goal in four games on the year en‑ tering the contest against the Tigers, and that streak continued through the Sept. 12 matchup. Not only did Notre Dame prevent Clemson from scoring, the Tigers couldn't even earn a qual‑ ity shot against the Irish's smother‑ ing defense, with Notre Dame winning shots on goal 5‑0. "That was always go‑ ing to be a very difficult game," Clark said. "I thought we handled it well and knocked the ball forward well. Our two center backs, Pat‑ rick Berneski and Matt Habrowski, did very well and handled that. Our midfield was very good; Connor Klekota is just a dynamo in there. He works all the time and picks up the pieces. Oliver Harris and Blake Townes also. "We maybe could have finished the game a little better. We didn't get a hold of the ball enough in the last 10 minutes and put the game into their half. We ended up playing in our half more than I would like to, but we sur‑ vived nicely and got the three points." After the win over Clemson, Notre Dame ascended to No. 2 in the Na‑ tional Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, but that same night the Irish suffered a 1‑0 defeat at the No. 2 Men's Soccer Splits Home Games Junior defender Matt Habrowski tallied the game-winning goal in Notre Dame's 1-0 victory over Clemson Sept. 12. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS