Notre Dame goalkeeper Anthony Merluse, left, slides to grab the all ahead of Pingry's Arjun Hoshing, right, during the Non-Public A South boys soccer final on Friday afternoon in Martinsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Notre Dame's Nick Angiolino, left, tries to move the ball away from Pingry's Arjun Hoshing, right, during the Non-Public A South boys soccer final on Friday afternoon in Martinsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Notre Dame's Nick Angiolino, left, and Will Lynch, center, try to tackle the ball off away from Pingry's Neil Reiner, right, during the Non-Public A South boys soccer final on Friday afternoon in Martinsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Notre Dame's Will Lynch, left, tries to control the ball a Pingry's Ryan Stern, right, tackles it away during the Non-Public A South boys soccer final on Friday afternoon in Marintsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Notre Dame's Luca Ercolano, 10, crosses the ball against Pingry during the Non-Public A South boys soccer final on Friday afternoon in Marintsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Notre Dame's Will Lynch tries to control the ball against Pingry during the Non-Public A South boys soccer final on Friday afternoon in Marintsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Notre Dame's Riley Miracola, 3, passes the ball against Pingry during the Non-Public A South boys soccer final on Friday afternoon in Marintsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Notre Dame's Tyler Javick, left, and Pingry's Nate Verling, right, chase after the ball during the Non-Public A South boys soccer final on Friday afternoon in Marintsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)The Notre Dame High boys soccer team listens to the pregame speech against Pingry during the Non-Public A South boys soccer final on Friday afternoon in Marintsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Notre Dame coach Bryan Fisher, left, and Pingry coach Miller Bugliari, right, pose for a photo before the Non-Public A South boys soccer final on Friday afternoon in Martinsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Notre Dame's Will Lynch, left, tries to control the ball as he's defended by Pingry's Ryan Stern, right, during the Non-Public A South boys soccer final on Friday afternoon in Martinsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Show Caption1 of 11Notre Dame goalkeeper Anthony Merluse, left, slides to grab the all ahead of Pingry's Arjun Hoshing, right, during the Non-Public A South boys soccer final on Friday afternoon in Martinsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Expand MARTINSVILLE — Bryan Fisher knew his Notre Dame High boys soccer team would have to summon the spirit of 2021 if it was going to lift a sectional championship. That’s because there are no days off in the Non-Public A sectional bracket. Even after the sixth-seeded Irish won road games at third-seeded Christian Brothers Academy and second-seeded St. Augustine, it still needed to conquer top-seeded Pingry on Friday to be a sectional winner for the first time since 2014. Like it did in that 2021 trip to Martinsville, Notre Dame fell behind and showed the fighting spirit that emanates from its star player Will Lynch and head coach, but this time there was no joyous victory. Only a painful defeat after the Big Blue scored on a late counter to seal a 3-1 victory as the Irish were pushing for an equalizer after battling back into the game from two goals down. “This is the best of the best,” Fisher said. “You look across the way and you’ve got Miller Bugliari, one of the best coaches in the history of the game let along New Jersey, sitting there. They haven’t won a title in a while and wanted it, too. We’ve built a ton of resilience this year and at 2-0 the game could have gone sideways and I thought we could have made it 2-2 within the next 10 minutes.” Fisher knew his side was going to have to soak up some pressure and try to hit Pingry on the break. That’s how the first half played out as the Big Blue pinned the Irish back and pumped crossed and long throws into the box. The Irish defended them well — breakout sophomore goalkeeper Anthony Merluse made two terrific saves — until the final minute when Vinnie Ferraro arrived at the backpost to knock in Julian Lopez’s pass. “It’s a gut punch,” Fisher said. “It took us a little while to get going again. Unfortunately, we were down 2-0 before we could get our feet again, but that’s the game. They never quit and fought hard.” The second goal was a bit of misfortune as Harrison Hackett played in a low cross that a Notre Dame defender sliced into his own net trying to clear the danger. The Irish (19-7) got back in the game with a penalty kick when the energetic Luca Ercolano was hauled down inside the box. Up stepped top scorer Will Lynch to bury his 34th goal of the season. With the deficit halved, ND sent bodies forward. Ercolano drove through the middle and fired a shot that tested Pingry goalkeeper Sebastian Martinez. Then Ercolano slid a pass in for Lynch, but the senior couldn’t bring the ball under control before Martinez snatched it out of the air. “This was one of our last games, so just give everything we had,” Lynch said. “We got a goal out of it. … I thought we would be further than a sectional final. There’s young talent, the seniors are great and even our coaches push us in practice every single day to be this team.” As the Irish pressed for that equalizer, Pingry (18-3) hit on the counter through Julian Lopez with three minutes remaining. It was the blow that ended an Irish season that included 19 victories and a runner-up finish in the CVC Tournament. “We had some tough losses along the way that helped us because you learn from those,” Fisher said. “They found a way to go to a CVC championship and a sectional final. I just told them sometimes you don’t hold the hardware up, but it’s the journey that matters. They’ll remember this.” Notre Dame (19-7) 0 1 — 1 Pingry (18-3) 1 2 — 3 Goals: Lynch (p) (ND). Ferrar, Lopez (P). Assists: Lopez (P). Saves: Merluse 10 (ND). Martinez 6 (P).