Notre Dame advances to region final with 4-0 win

Notre Dame's Michael Quatrano and Merrol Hyde's Josh Hayward, left, and Camden Cutright fight for the ball Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at Notre Dame.
Notre Dame's Michael Quatrano and Merrol Hyde's Josh Hayward, left, and Camden Cutright fight for the ball Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at Notre Dame.

By the time Alexander Tuttle placed a sparkling exclamation point on Notre Dame's Region 4-A/AA soccer tournament semifinal victory Tuesday night, any lingering doubts in the Irish's match with visiting Merrol Hyde from Hendersonville had long left Jim Eberle Field.

In the eyes of his teammates and the Irish coaching staff, Tuttle's left-footed pivot shot with his back to the net from 35 yards out was the kind of goal that eased the pain from the only question coming out of Notre Dame's 4-0 win.

The question: What kind of offensive firepower will the Irish bring to the 4-A/AA title match against Murfreesboro Central Magnet if offensive leader Michael Quatrano is unable to play or is not at full strength Thursday night?

Quatrano, who scored Notre Dame's opening goal five minutes into the match, suffered a foot injury midway through the second half that left a welt approaching the size of a baseball near his ankle. While Quatrano hopes to play against Central Magnet, which ended Chattanooga Christian's season in overtime on Tuesday, the powerful striker couldn't put weight on his foot at the end of the contest.

Notre Dame (14-3-3) outshot the Hawks by a 28-5 margin.

"That's the biggest question coming out of this game," Notre Dame coach Jim Schermerhorn said of Quatrano's status. "He's our leader, but we're fortunate that we've got other guys capable of stepping up. The focus isn't just one player, and we feel good about our team.

"Alex's goal, with that move, wasn't a fluke. He planned that," he added. "Alex has that kind of skill level."

While Tuttle moved into Quatrano's lead striker position in the second half, Milan Card served as a dominating force from the start of the contest, setting up Quatrano's first goal before assisting on a scoring header by Alex Darras with a perfect corner kick 14:00 into the match.

Darras spent most of his night anchoring a suffocating defense that also featured Colin Sawyer and Jared Henry. Despite experiencing a lack of pressure, Notre Dame keeper James Teal was perfectly positioned in stopping the Hawks' best chance of the night on a point-blank, breakaway by Josh Hayward.

Quatrano scored the final goal of the first half with five minutes left when he saw an opening from 50 yards out while dribbling down the right sideline. His knifing shot found a small opening on the short side against Merrol Hyde keeper Nicolas Goldberg, who performed valiantly in making 11 saves while facing a barrage of shots.

But it was Tuttle's goal, inspired by a shot attempt the sophomore had seen on YouTube, that still had his teammates talking after the game.

"I had seen someone do that in a Chelsea Under-18s game on YouTube, and I was thinking of taking that shot," Tuttle said. "I thought I'd try it and see what happens."

"I just stood up and started clapping for him because I had never seen anyone do that," Card said. "The way we played tonight gives us some confidence (for the final). Michael's our main go-to guy. When he's out, we've got to come together as a team."

Contact Greg Thompson at sports@timesfreepress.com.

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