By Steve Kirck III
Special to the Voice
Notre Dame’s soccer team inched closer to qualifying for state tournament, while cross-country won itsfinal regular season dual meet and the basketball team is gearing up for big fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 28. Oh yeah, football didn’t win or lose. Heck, it didn’t even tie. It had a bye week before returning to action hosting Xavier on Friday, Oct. 20 in the first of three-straight home games.
Soccer Needs Tie To Qualify — When the ND soccer team walked off Veterans Field following a 2-2 tie with Hamden on Friday, Oct. 13, there was a sense of disappointment having surrendered a goal on a penalty kick inside of 10 minutes left in the game. However, in the big picture look, the tie enabled head coach Rudy Raffone’s squad to inch closer to achieving their pre-season goal of qualifying for the CIAC Class L Tournament. Now, the Green Knights need only one tie to make the tournament over its final four games. Brad Doyle and Sean Hayes tallied the ND goals that erased a 1-0 deficit and turned it into a 2-1 lead against Hamden. After Jordan Pattavina’s penalty kick tied the game, Hamden’s pressure continued and goalie Jay Brennan needed two huge saves in final 10 seconds to preserve tie. Earlier in the week, Matthew Consorte tallied his first varsity goal but ND fell to Cheshire 2-1. ND starts this week with a 4-4-4 overall record.
Cross-Country Ends Dual Meet Season With Win — The Notre Dame cross country team sent the 10 seniors on the 2017 squad out on a winning note at the final regular-season dual meet against crosstown rival West Haven.The underclassmen led the way as Thomas Minar (Milford), Oliver Shannon ‘20 (Branford, CT), and Jon Katz (Hamden, CT) finished second, third, and fourth respectively to lead the Green Knights to a 20-35 win over West Haven at Carrigan MS. West Haven’s Sebastian Villanueva placed first running the 3.07-mile course in 17:59. The Green Knights had the next three cross the finish line. Minar finished 11 seconds behind in a time of 18:10. Shannon (18:11) and Katz (18:16) finished right after Minar to lead Notre Dame to victory, its second of the dual-meet schedule. Notre Dame will end its season running in the SCC Championship Meet on Thursday, October 19 and the CIAC Class L Meet on Saturday, Oct. 28.
Harlem Wizards Coming Oct. 28 — The Notre Dame basketball team will be hosting a benefit basketball game with the Harlem Wizards on Saturday, Oct, 28, at 7:30 pm at the University of New Haven Gymnasium. This event is a fundraiser for the Green Knights basketball team, that will play three games in Orlando, FL during winter recess as part of a tournament at the Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney World. Tickets are $12 for adults/$10 for students if purchased in advance. For more information, visit https://www.notredamehs.com or ND’s social media outlets @NDWHAthletics.
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