Irish defeat Hoosiers 1-0

This season the No.6 Hoosiers have prided themselves on a stifling defense, shutting out eight of the last ten teams they have faced.\nThe backs have been known for smothering the opposing offense as it enters IU territory. Goalie Colin Rogers, with the lowest goals allowed average in the nation at .40, rarely lets the ball touch the back of the net. \nWednesday night Notre Dame rolled into Bloomington and gave IU a taste of their own medicine at Bill Armstrong Stadium. The Fighting Irish handed the Hoosiers their first loss in four games with a 1-0 shut out. \nIt was the first time IU has lost to Notre Dame since 1987.\nFirst year Notre Dame coach Bobby Clark, who came to South Bend after five years at the helm of the Stanford program, is known for instilling a tough defensive mentality into his teams. This philosophy was evident in his Irish squad.\n"I thought we played well tonight," Clark said. "I really respect (IU head coach Jerry) Yeagley's program. I always say their the best defensive team in the country and I always like to think my Stanford teams were very close. So for us to make a couple of chances against Indiana, I was very pleased."\nIn the first half, however, IU had chances at the goal but were unable to capitalize. Junior Forward Pat Noonan had four unsuccessful shots before the break, coming very close on each attempt. \nNotre Dame was unable to get much going offensively, but the Irish managed to neutralize IU's explosive forward duo of Noonan and freshman Mike Ambersley. At halftime the score remained 0-0. \nYeagley said Notre Dame had good coverage in the goal from freshman keeper Chris Sawyer.\n"I thought Sawyer had a wonderful game," Yeagley said. "He made some outstanding saves."\nThe Irish came out after halftime with high energy and confidence after holding the Hoosiers for 45 minutes. Just minutes into the second half, the Irish scored what would turn out to be the winning goal.\nNotre Dame forward Devion Prescod sent a cross past a diving Rogers. Junior forward Erich Braun gave the ball a tap as Rogers attempted to regain his composure and it trickled into the back of the net.\n"It was completely a mistake on my part," Rogers said of the goal after the game. "I called the ball from (senior back Ryan) Hammer. I probably should have let him clear it. I made a bad decision and they got a goal from it."\nYeagley said it was hard to see the goal scored in what seemed to be a moment of miscommunication.\n"It was sad to give up the goal," Yeagley said. "We've been so good defensively and we sort of made a pact that if anyone scores on us, it's going to be a well-earned goal that they deserve to score."\nAfter the Irish achieved the lead, they put eight defenders in the back field. The tactic created a wall that was tough for the Hoosiers to break through.\n "We should have been able to come back and get a goal and we just couldn't crack it. (Noonan) gave a valiant effort," Yeagley said. "We just weren't able to get that one. When a team has a one goal lead and packs it in it's hard to crack that."\n The defensive had an obvious objective to keep Noonan out of scoring position. Each time the ball was at his feet, he found himself engulfed in a sea of blue jerseys. He finished with eight shots, two of them on goal.\n"They played well together and they got a goal," Noonan said. "They played good defense the whole game, we couldn't get anything going, so I compliment them"