October 9, 2012
SOCCER NEWS NET SALUTE
Notre Dame's Finley is Men's Player of the Week

Ryan Finley scored four goals in two games to lead Notre Dame to wins over Pittsburgh and #3 Georgetown last week. Photo courtesy Notre Dame Sports Information

Notre Dame senior forward Ryan Finley has been selected as the Soccer News Net Men's College Player of the Week for the week ending October 7.

Finley was previously honored as the Chicagoland Soccer News Men's College Player of the Week and the Big East Conference offensive player of the week.


Finley, from Lumberton, NJ, racked up four goals in two games last week, a pair in Wednesday’s 7-1 romp over Pittsburgh and two goals in a single minute on Sunday, as the Fighting Irish blanked #3 Georgetown 3-0.

Against the Panthers, Finley staked the Irish to a 3-0 lead in the 33rd minute, depositing the ball into the far netting from six yards out on the left side. After hitting the post in the 51st minute, Finley connected for ND’s fifth goal of the game in the 68th. Junior central defender Connor Miller played the ball up to Finley for the finish.

Against the Hoyas, both of Finley’s goals occurred in the 66th minute. Junior forward Harrison Shipp set up the first tally when he played the ball ahead to Finley, who beat a Hoya defender and made it a 2-0 contest. On the second goal, Finley took a nice pass from Patrick Hodan and drilled the ball off the crossbar and into the back of the net for his team-high 10th goal of the season.

Soccer News Net Men’s College Player of the Week
Week ending August 27: Eriq Zavaleta, Indiana Hoosiers
Week ending September 2: Martin Murphy, North Carolina Tar Heels
Week ending September 9: Tim Hopkinson, Old Dominion University Monarchs
Week ending September 16: James Belshaw, Duke Blue Devils
Week ending September 23: Michael Kuzan, Seton Hall Pirates
Week ending September 30: Charlie Rugg, Boston College Eagles
Week ending October 7: Ryan Finley, Notre Dame Fighting Irish