The men's soccer team was blown out, 6-1, by No. 7 Notre Dame on Saturday night at Owen T. Carroll Field.
"If we made a mistake, they capitalized," said junior midfielder George Velasquez, who scored the Pirates lone goal in the 42nd minute. "It was a tough loss."
The Irish offense was led by junior forward Harrison Shipp, who scored a hat trick with goals in the 43rd, 71st and 79th minutes.
After Velasquez's goal made the match, 2-1, a give-and-go goal from freshman forward Patrick Hodan just 30 seconds later was the beginning of the end for the Pirates, who would allow three more unanswered goals in the game.
"We would just give them the ball and they just capitalized," Velasquez said. "Every time we made a mistake it cost us. So we have to eliminate those mistakes."
Head coach Gerson Echeverry said the team needs to practice every aspect of the game after their performance against Notre Dame.
"We don't defend well and we don't score enough goals," Echeverry said. "We have to work on everything."
In the 74th minute, Irish senior forward Ryan Finley drew goalkeeper Kevin Bonder out of the net, dribbled by him and capitalized on the defensive mistake from Bonder with a shot that hit the crossbar, but went over the line for a score. The goal was Finley's 11th on the season.
Echeverry said that there is a clear difference between the two team, based on their execution.
"When we made a mistake they were able to put it in the back of the net," Echeverry said. "But when they made a mistake, we were unable to do the same. That's the difference between a team that's in the top 10 and a team where we are."
The six goals by Notre Dame ties the most the Pirates have allowed this season, on Sept. 7 the team allowed six goals to Old Dominion.
"We can't dwell on it," Velasquez said. "We just have to keep working on it and make sure it doesn't happen again."
The Pirates will hit the road for a match against Connecticut at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
T.J. Brennan can be reached at Thomas.Brennan@student.shu.edu
