The Fighting Irish are the defending national champions. It is also the No. 1 team in the country thanks in part to its ability to put balls in the back of the net.
IU and its goalkeeper, sophomore Colin Webb, didn’t care.
“I was pretty confident that the way they play plays into our hands,” Webb said. “As long as we kept tight in the details on the counterattack moments and didn’t lose focus when we had possession, we had a good shot of keeping the shutout.”
Webb was tested three times throughout IU’s 1-0 victory against Notre Dame. While that number may not seem high, especially compared to Notre Dame goalie Patrick Wall’s nine saves, each gave Webb a challenge.
Webb’s first test came with about 20 minutes left in the first half.
Notre Dame senior Luke Mishu had possession of the ball outside the box. He sent the ball into the box that arrived at the feet of senior Vince Cicciarelli on Webb’s doorstep.
An equalizer seemed imminent. Colin Webb had other ideas.
“When the ball traveled, (Derek) Creviston was able to make up ground and make the shot more predictable for me,” Webb said. “He put it to my left shoulder and I made the save.”
Webb’s second test came about 10 minutes into the second half. Notre Dame earned a corner after freshman Jon Gallagher’s shot was blocked out of play. The corner kick found the head of freshman Jeffrey Farina once again on Webb’s doorstep.
Webb was ready again, though, keeping the point blank shot and a seemingly sure equalizer out of the back of the net.
Another thing Webb did, like his first save, was hold on to the ball. On both chances there was a Notre Dame player ready to score if the ball popped out to them.
It was also a night in which the field was slick, making it harder to react fast enough to a shot to keep the ball under control.
“For Colin not to give anything up on the second balls tonight was really good,” IU Coach Todd Yeagley said.
Webb’s third and final save came with about 20 minutes remaining in the match. Gallagher made a good run down the right side of the box and was left with an open shot, with only Webb to beat and a good angle.
If only it were that simple for Gallagher.
He tried beating Webb to his far post, but Webb was ready as he reached down for the save.
“He’s been great all year,” IU senior Patrick Doody said. “The first half was kind of a lackadaisical half for him, but he had to come up big.”
While Webb was excellent stopping Notre Dame’s chances, his defenders excelled in preventing him from being troubled more.
Notre Dame junior Connor Klekota had seemingly broke through the IU backline and in alone with only Webb to beat. That was until Creviston’s sliding tackle from behind cleanly dispossessed him.
“I think it was a really good performance for us defensively,” Doody said. “They had a few shots I think they could have done better with, but over the span of 90 minutes that’s going to happen.”
The match was the sixth time IU has prevented its opponent from scoring. It was the second shutout for IU in its last eight matches after posting one in three of its first four matches.
“This is a really good attacking team,” Yeagley said. “To keep them off the board, I thought we could do it, but it would be a tight game.”
