Oct. 24, 2014
VIRGINIA TECH
(7-5-1, 2-3-1 ACC)
at
#1 NOTRE DAME
(8-4-2, 4-1-1 ACC)
Saturday, Oct. 25 – 7 p.m. (ET)
Alumni Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
TV/INTERNET
WatchND.tv (free)
LIVE STATS
UPDATES
@NDMenSoccer
#1 IRISH TO HOST HOKIES ON SATURDAY
– No. 1 Notre Dame returns to Atlantic Coast Conference action Saturday with a home match against Virginia Tech. The Fighting Irish and Hokies will square off at 7 p.m. (ET) at Alumni Stadium.
– There will be a free broadcast of the match on WatchND.tv and live stats will be available via Gametracker on UND.com.
– The Fighting Irish are coming off a 1-0 setback at Indiana on Wednesday. Virginia Tech hasn’t played since a scoreless draw with Pittsburgh last Friday.
FIGHTING IRISH ATOP THE ACC STANDINGS
– Notre Dame is in sole possession of first place in the ACC standings. The Irish have 13 points, while fellow Coastal Division member North Carolina has 12. Virginia Tech is in fourth place in the Coastal Division (8 points). Clemson, Louisville and Syracuse all lead the Atlantic Division with 12 points each.
SENIOR NIGHT
– Notre Dame will honor its 10 senior players prior to Saturday’s game against Virginia Tech. Fifth-year seniors Leon Brown, Luke Mishu, Andrew O’Malley and Patrick Wall along with fourth-year seniors Nick Besler, Vince Cicciarelli, Robby Gallegos, Trevor Gonzales, Max Lachowecki and Brendan Lesch all will be recognized.
– This group helped Notre Dame win the 2013 national championship, a share of the 2013 ACC regular-season title and the 2012 BIG EAST Tournament.
THE VIRGINIA TECH SERIES
– Notre Dame is 4-0-0 all-time against Virginia Tech. The Fighting Irish won at Virginia Tech, 1-0, last season.
– The first three meetings of the series took place from 2001-03 when both programs were members of the BIG EAST Conference.
– This is just the second time the Hokies have visited Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish captured a 2-1 home win over Virginia Tech in 2002.
THE LAST TIME
– Notre Dame topped Virginia Tech, 1-0, last season in Blacksburg, Va. Harrison Shipp scored the game winner with 43 seconds left in regulation. The Fighting Irish held a 9-1 advantage in shots on goal. Irish goalkeeper Patrick Wall made one save in the win.
A LOOK AT THE HOKIES
– Virginia Tech is 7-5-1 overall and 2-3-1 in ACC play. The Hokies have wins over Wake Forest (2-0) and NC State (3-2) in ACC play. The league losses have come against Virginia (1-0), Syracuse (1-0 in 2ot) and North Carolina (5-0). The draw was with Pittsburgh (0-0).
– The Hokies are averaging 1.4 goals per game, while allowing 1.2 per contest. Ricardo John (Fr./F) has a team-high four goals, while Som Essome (So./F) leads Virginia Tech in assists (5) and points (11). Freshman Ben Lundgaard has a 5-3-1 record in goal. He has five shutouts and a 0.95 goals-against average. Senior Ben Lockler is 2-2-0 with one shutout and a 1.75 goals-against average.
– Last season, Virginia Tech went 4-8-5 (1-5-5 ACC).
– Head coach Mike Brizendine is in his fifth season at the helm of the Hokie program.
OFFENSIVE OUTBURST
– Notre Dame’s four goals in last Friday’s 4-1 win at Duke marked the most goals ever for the Irish in an ACC contest.
– Patrick Hodan had two of the tallies while Evan Panken and Jon Gallagher also found the back of the net.
– The Fighting Irish put the game away with three goals in a span of 18:38 in the second half.
– The four goals matched a season-high total for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame also scored four times in the 4-1 win over Dartmouth on Sept. 5.
HODAN ON A HOT STREAK
– Junior midfielder Patrick Hodan has scored five goals in the last five games. His four-game goal streak came to an end on Wednesday at Indiana.
– Hodan netted two goals in a span of 2:14 in the second half of last Friday’s 4-1 win at Duke. The two tallies matched a career-best output that he’s achieved two other times.
– He converted a penalty kick in Notre Dame’s 1-0 win over Northwestern on Oct. 14. Hodan notched the golden goal in the 3-2 victory against Louisville on Oct. 10. Hodan had an equalizer (2-2) in the 3-2 setback at Michigan on Oct. 7.
– Hodan has eight career game-winning goals (three this season).
– Hodan leads the Fighting Irish in goals (6) and points (14) this season. He has the most career goals (23) and assists (12) of any current Notre Dame player.
HONORS FOR HODAN
– Patrick Hodan was named to the College Soccer News Team of the Week and the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week for his performances in the two Irish wins last week. Hodan scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Northwestern and he had two goals in the 4-1 victory at Duke.
A WALL IN GOAL
– Fifth-year senior Patrick Wall made a career-high nine saves in Wednesday’s 1-0 setback at Indiana.
– Wall’s 0.82 goals-against average this season ranks third in the ACC. He also boasts a .782 save percentage with five shutouts.
– Wall has played every minute in goal the last two seasons after splitting time with Will Walsh during the 2012 campaign. Wall has a career record of 34-6-8 (.792) with 18 clean sheets and a 0.79 goals-against average.
WALL A SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST
– Fifth-year senior goalkeeper Patrick Wall has been selected as a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award in the men’s soccer division. Wall is among 10 student-athletes in contention for the honor.
– To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.
– The finalists were chosen by a media committee from the list of 30 candidates announced in September. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner. Fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website through November 24. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches’ votes to determine the winner. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2014 NCAA Men’s College Cup® in December.
BEATING THE BEST
– Notre Dame is 5-1-2 against ranked teams this season.
– The Fighting Irish are 21-4-8 (.758) versus ranked foes since the beginning of the 2012 season.
SECOND HALF SUCCESS
– Notre Dame has outscored its opponents 15-7 in the second half and overtime this season. The Irish own a 134-82 shot advantage in the second half and overtime.
FRESHMAN CONNECTION
– Freshman forwards Jeffrey Farina and Jon Gallagher combined for four points in last Friday’s 4-1 win at Duke. Farina notched two assists, including one on Gallagher’s first career goal.
– Farina has two goals and a team-high four assists this season, while Gallagher has one goal and three assists.
– Gallagher assisted on both of Farina’s goals this season.
HABROWSKI HELPS ON BACKLINE
– Sophomore central defender Matt Habrowski earned his first career start last Friday at Duke. He filled in for an injured Andrew O’Malley, who had been in the Irish staring lineup for 36 straight games. Habrowski also started Wednesday’s match at Indiana.
CLOSE CONTESTS
– Six of Notre Dame’s last seven matches all have been decided by one goal. The Fighting Irish are 3-3 in those contests. The Irish are 5-4 this season in games decided by a single tally.
GOLDEN MOMENTS
– Two of Notre Dame’s last four wins have been clinched on golden goals. Nick Besler netted the game winner in the 107th minute of the 1-0 double-overtime victory against VCU on Sept. 30. Patrick Hodan tallied the decisive goal in the 98th minute of the 3-2 win over Louisville on Oct. 10.
IRISH AT ALUMNI STADIUM
– Notre Dame is 22-4-3 (.810) at home over the past three seasons. The Fighting Irish are 40-12-9 (.730) at Alumni Stadium since it opened in 2009.
– A capacity crowd of 3,500 filled Alumni Stadium to see Notre Dame top North Carolina on Sept. 26. That was the second-largest crowd in Fighting Irish history.
IRISH AIMING FOR ANOTHER ACC CROWN
– Notre Dame won a share of last season’s ACC regular-season title in its first campaign in the league. The Fighting Irish and Maryland both finished the regular season with 7-1-3 conference marks.
BESLER ON MAC HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST
– Senior midfielder Nick Besler is among 32 players on the watch list for the MAC Hermann Trophy, the most prestigious individual award in NCAA soccer. The winner will be announced Jan. 9, 2015, at the trophy presentation banquet at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
FIFTH-YEAR FIREPOWER
– The Fighting Irish have four fifth-year seniors on this season’s roster. Leon Brown (F), Luke Mishu (D), Andrew O’Malley (D) and Patrick Wall (GK) have returned for one final campaign with the Irish.
– Brown and O’Malley scored Notre Dame’s two goals in the 2013 national title game.
– Both Mishu and O’Malley are in their third season as starters on the Notre Dame backline, while Wall has played every possible minute in goal over the last two seasons after splitting the starting duty in 2012. Brown has competed in 77 career matches, which are the most for any current Notre Dame player. He has 10 goals and nine assists during his career.
SUCCESSFUL STRETCH
– Notre Dame is 42-9-9 (.775) over the past three seasons.
– The Fighting Irish went 17-1-6 last season and won their first national title. Notre Dame tied Maryland for the 2013 ACC regular-season title.
– In 2012, the Irish went 17-4-1 and won the BIG EAST Championship. The Irish earned the No. 1 overall seed for the 2012 NCAA Championship.
PIPELINE TO THE PROS
– Notre Dame has produced 15 MLS SuperDraft picks since 2008 and the Fighting Irish have had 22 SuperDraft picks since Bobby Clark became head coach in 2001. That list does not include Harrison Shipp, who was signed by the Chicago Fire in January as a Homegrown Player.
– Grant Van De Casteele was selected by the Colorado Rapids in the first round of the 2014 MLS SuperDraft.
– Matt Besler (Sporting KC) is the program’s most decorated alum. He was a first-round pick in 2009 and has gone on to earn three MLS All-Star nods (2011, 2013, 2014). Besler was named the 2012 MLS Defender of the Year and he has appeared on the MLS Best XI team twice (2012, 2013). He also captained Sporting KC to the 2013 MLS Cup.
– Besler, the older brother of Irish senior midfielder Nick Besler, started all four matches for the United States at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
– Justin Morrow (Toronto FC) was an MLS All-Star in 2012 when he was playing with San Jose.
– Dillon Powers was named the 2013 MLS Rookie of the Year.