Mexico U20s split with Indiana, Notre Dame

The Mexican Under 20 Mens National Team faced a pair of US college powers last weekend.  Notre Dame was able to earn a hard fought 1-0 win while the Hoosiers fell 2-0.

Mexico Under 20s 2   Indiana 0
Behind goals from Javier Hernandez and Hector Moreno, the U-20 Mexican National Team downed the Indiana Hoosiers, 2-0, in an international friendly on Sunday, April 29, in front of nearly 6,000 fans.

"It was a great game," head coach Mike Freitag said. "If you would remember, the last time they beat us here with the under 17 team, they won the U-17 World Cup. Maybe we're a good luck charm for them. I also want to thank them. It was a good game for us to learn from. We saw a good group of young professionals who make a living at the game, who are technically and tactically very good. They played the game in a good fashion. Hopefully my guys learned something from that. I hope this game was beneficial for them also, and we wish them the best of luck in Canada this summer. They're a class organization. I enjoyed the game. Hopefully the fans liked it too."

Hernandez put Mexico on the board in the 37th minute. Pablo Barrera sent a cross from the right side through to Hernandez in the box, who shot past goalkeeper Chay Cain for the score. Moreno added the insurance goal in the 77th minute, hooking a free kick from the right side into the goal.  Although most of the game was played in the midfield and Mexico controlled a large portion of the possession, Indiana made several runs toward the goal. In the 15th minute, Eric Alexander passed to a breaking Kevin Noschang, but the ball was kicked out. Indiana earned three corner kicks in the first half, but was unable to capitalize.

Indiana's best chance to score came in the 52nd minute, as the Hoosiers put together a series in front of the goal with Daniel Kelly and Billy Weaver that ended with Noschang's shot blocked, earning a corner kick. Weaver also had a shot in the 72nd minute that was saved.  Mexico outshot Indiana 8-2 in the game, while the Hoosiers held a 4-2 advantage in corner kicks. Cain made three saves in goal, and his Mexico counterpart Rodolfo Cota had one.  Mexico will be competing in the U-20 World Cup, held in July 2007 in Canada. Indiana begins its fall season in August.

Notre Dame 1  Mexico Under 20s 0
A Ryan Miller (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) goal in the 79th minute was the difference as the Notre Dame men's soccer team topped the Mexico Under-20 National Team in exhibition play on Friday evening in front of 2,313 fans at a rainy Alumni Field. This marked the third straight season that the Fighting Irish have defeated a Mexican National Team. Notre Dame took down Mexico's U-17 squad the previous two seasons.

Notre Dame was awarded a corner kick after a fine save by Mexico goalkeeper Alfonso Blanco with just over 11 minutes left in the contest. Irish junior Alex Yoshinaga (San Diego, Calif./Granite Hills), who missed most of last season due to an injury, sent a nice kick into the box and Miller sent it in with a header for the only score of the match.

Mexico nearly netted the equalizer in the 85th minute as Arturo Ledesma sent a header of his own on goal off a corner kick, yet a diving save by sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Quinn (Silver Spring, Md./DeMatha) kept the Irish on top. Quinn played the entire second half and made three saves. Senior Chris Cahill (Louisville, Ky./DeSales) played the first half and stopped two shots.

"This was a great game," stated Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark following the match. "It was a good test for us and we handled it reasonably well. This is a very good win for Notre Dame soccer even though it was just a friendly match. Technically they are the best team that we've ever played. There were a lot of excellent performances tonight in difficult conditions. The crowd was also terrific tonight."

Mexico held an 8-7 edge in shots during the first half of play. Both teams had their best chances in the second half. Mexico nearly got on the board first as Pablo Barrera sent a shot off the left post before the Irish defense had a chance to clear the ball out.

"Both teams served up an entertaining game," said Clark. "There were a lot of good opportunities on both ends. It took us a little while to settle into our offense. They had a lot of ball possession early and then late when they were trying for the equalizer. We also had some good chances. Joseph Lapira looked good coming back from his knee injury."

The Fighting Irish were out shot 18-13 for the game, yet held a 7-4 advantage in corner kicks. Blanco made two saves for Mexico. The Mexican squad is currently preparing for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, which will be held in Canada this coming July. A good portion of the players were on the U-17 World Cup champions in 2005. Notre Dame defeated that U-17 Mexico team, 1-0, two years ago.

"We were able to get a good look at some of our new faces tonight," commented Clark. "I think things look promising for the 2007 season. We start out against two of the best teams in the country by playing UCLA and Maryland, so this was a great test for us."