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Hodan, Fighting Irish rally past Maryland for first national title

12/17/2013, 7:00pm CST
By ERIC ANDERSON
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Patrick Hodan (Milwaukee Marquette) celebrated a national championship with his Notre Dame teammates Sunday.

But the sophomore midfielder from Brookfield was fortunate he was on the field when the final whistle blew at PPL Park in Chester, Pa.

The third-ranked Fighting Irish (17-1-6) rallied past No. 4 Maryland 2-1 to claim their first NCAA College Cup title, getting second-half goals from Leon Brown and Andrew O'Malley to slip past their Atlantic Coast Conference rivals.

Yet after the match, much of the discussion centered on Hodan and the sequence that led to the Terrapins' goal in the first half.

Maryland's Tsubasa Endoh took a corner kick from the right side in the 35th minute that found its way to Alex Shinsky at the top of the 6-yard box. Hodan, stationed on the goal line at the far post, appeared to move his left arm out and block the shot with his elbow. The ball bounced out to Terrapins standout Patrick Mullins, who saw the ball glance off his hand before he fired a shot past Hodan and Notre Dame goalkeeper Patrick Wall.

Referee Hilario "Chico" Grajeda opted not to call either handball. If he had, Hodan would have been sent off for denying a goal-scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball in the box, giving Maryland a penalty kick and forcing the Irish to play the final 55 minutes with 10 men.

The Washington Post quoted Hodan as saying: "It wasn't anything deliberate; it was more of a reaction. It was closer to the shoulder, I'd like to say. They ended up scoring anyway, so it wasn't too big of a deal."

In his post-match news conference, Terrapins coach Sasho Cirovski (UW-Milwaukee) declined to criticize Grajeda's non-call.

"I think Chico is the best referee in this country. I have full faith in him," said Cirvoski, whose team finished 17-3-5 and will move into the Big Ten Conference next fall. "I think once we review it on video, I might be hurting a little more, but at this point we have no control over any of the situations. I have no regrets about the game."

Hodan had a tremendous sophomore season: He had 11 goals and five assists, ranking second on the team in both categories behind senior standout Harrison Shipp, and scored in six consecutive matches before Sunday. Hodan logged the full 90 minutes in the final, played two days after he scored both goals in a 2-0 win over No. 25 New Mexico in the semifinals.

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