St. Louis - No. 17 Notre Dame slipped past Saint Louis 1-0 in double overtime this afternoon before 1,330 fans at Notre Dame's Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament. Sophomore forward Joe Lapira scored in the 108th minute as the Billikens played their second straight overtime affair.

"It was disappointing only in that we had two shots off the post in regulation that could have given us a positive result," Billikens head coach Dan Donigan said. "I was proud of the way we battled throughout the match considering the energy and effort that we spent Friday night against Indiana."

The game winner came at 107:09 as junior midfielder Nate Norman sent a cross from the left flank that DiPira ran on to from 10 yards and sent a header into the left corner. SLU junior midfielder Alex Matteson had the Bills' best chance in the second OT session when he 20-yard drive was just wide right in the 102nd minute.

In a scoreless first half on a sunny, 88-degree afternoon, Notre Dame pressed the attack early and tried to take advantage of a SLU side that was working to find its legs after a grueling overtime tie against top-ranked Indiana on Friday night. The Irish compiled most of their 8-3 shots advantage in the opening 10 minutes of play. Billiken keeper Jeff Sackman was alert on a pair of Joe Lapira shots at each post.

The Billikens eventually settled in and got an advantage in possession time, but had difficulty generating shots against Notre Dame's organized defense. Senior defender Danny Wynn registered SLU's first shot in the 31st minute with a 20-yard drive that sailed just wide of the left post.ND keeper Chris Cahill had to use one hand to snag Casey Spiess's 8-yard deflection less than a minute later. Billiken freshman back Calum Angus made the defensive play of the first half cutting off the angle on an Irish 2-on-1 attempt and forced freshman forward Bright Dike to shoot at the near post where Sackman easily handled it.

Billiken forward Kyle Patterson had two chances in the opening minute of the second half as ND's Cahill stopped the first shot, but the rebound went off the right post. An Irish defender cleared the next shot off the ND line. As the Bills dominated possession, Patterson had another chance in the 74th minute as he dribbled along the right endline, but Cahill stepped out to smother his shot. SLU forward John DiRaimondon had a 3-on-3 situation in the 77th minute, but sent a 25-yard blast wide right. In a pretty combination passing play in the ND penalty area, SLU senior Ryan Wileman hit the left goal post from eight yards.

In the final six minutes, Notre Dame turned the tide. Irish midfielder Ian Etherington was high from 126 yards in the 85th minute. SLU defender Jason Vilmer made a beautiful slide tackle on ND's Lapira to save a break-in less than a minute later. Sackman saved Lapira's 12-yard drive with 15 seconds remaining and smothered the rebound.

Notre Dame (3-1-0) out-shot the Bills 23-10 and had a 6-3 edge in corners. ND's Cahill made four saves to record the shutout, while his defense cleared one ball off its line. SLU's Sackman made 12 saves. Matteson and Angus were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Saint Louis (1-2-1) travels to SMU on Fri., Sept. 16, for a 7:30 p.m. kick-off.

#17 NOTRE DAME 1, SAINT LOUIS 0 (2OT)
ND 107:09 Joe DiPira 10-yds from Nate Norman, Ryan Miller

Shots: SLU - 10, ND - 23 Corners: SLU - 3, ND - 6 Saves: SLU - 12 (Sackman), ND - 5 (Cahill-4, Team-1 ) Fouls: SLU - 20, ND - 14 Att: 1,330