Goallllllll!
Falcons tally eight goals, win home opener
| Box Score |

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Notre Dame remained unbeaten Sunday with an 8-0 shutout victory over St. Francis (IL). NDC notched their season-high in goals and their second shutout victory in what was the Falcons' 2007 home opener at Korb Field in Lyndhurst.

Notre Dame (3-0-1) played a strong game throughout, keeping pressure on the Fighting Saints' defense to the tune of 41 shots, 13 on goal.

Boris Smoljan (Jr/Jajce, Croatia) started the afternoon's scoring with a header into the top right of the net on a feed from Danny Bartulovic (Sr/Gates Mills, OH). Bartulovic finished the game with a team-high, season-high five points (one goal, three assists). The veteran forward from Gates Mills figured in four of the Falcons' first five tallies Sunday.

Notre Dame's eight goals were scored by eight different players, signaling a depth that Head Coach Michael "Mac" McBride is happy to see. "We have some new faces this year," said McBride. "But the lads worked well together (Sunday)."

The lads who scored for McBride included Smoljan, Jacob Child (Fr/Surrey, England), Josh Lipka (Fr/Lexington, KY), Bartulovic, Nick Jordan (Sr/Mentor, OH), Luke Jackson (So/Burnley, England), Stephen O'Brien (Fr/Dublin, Ireland), and James Wood (Jr/Barnsley, England).

For both Jordan and Wood, Sunday's goal gives them three on the season, a figure that leads the squad four matches into the season. Three freshman players - Child, Lipka, and O'Brien - found the net for the first time in their collegiate careers.

The Falcons scored three goals in the opening stanza - eight, 20, and 38 minutes in. The Blue & Gold added five second half scores. For the game, NDC outshot USF, 41-5. The Falcon defense did not allow a shot on goal.

Notre Dame's next game is scheduled for Friday, Sep. 14, when the squad travels to Bethel, Ind., to particapate in a four-team invitational. The Falcons are slated to face St. Ambrose (IA) Friday at 4:30pm.