Sept. 1, 2011
2011 adidas/IU Credit Union Classic
Bill Armstrong Stadium – Bloomington, Ind.
DAYTON (0-1-0)
vs.
#10 NOTRE DAME (0-0-1)
Friday, Sept. 2 – 5:00 p.m. (ET)
Notre Dame Leads Series 9-1-1
Live Stats: Gametracker on UND.com
Live Blog: UND.com/blog
SAINT LOUIS (0-1-0)
vs.
#10 NOTRE DAME (0-0-1)
Sunday, Sept. 4 – 11:30 a.m. (ET)
Saint Louis Leads Series 7-3-1
Live Stats: Gametracker on UND.com
Live Blog: UND.com/blog
SETTING THE STAGE
– The Fighting Irish will travel downstate to Bloomington this weekend to take part in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. This will mark Notre Dame’s 12th appearance in the tournament, which is hosted by Indiana. – The Irish will face Dayton at 5:00 p.m. (ET) on Friday at Bill Armstrong Stadium. Indiana will face Saint Louis in the night’s second match. Notre Dame will battle Saint Louis at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday before the Hoosiers and Flyers conclude the event. – Notre Dame opened the season last Saturday at home with a scoreless draw against Indiana. – Live stats via Gametracker and an in-game blog for both Notre Dame matches will be available on UND.com. Fans can also sign up for `Irish Alert’ on UND.com to receive text message score updates. Updates and results can also be found on Twitter at UND_com.
IRISH ITEMS
– Last Saturday’s tie against Indiana moved Notre Dame’s all-time season-opening match record to 21-10-4, including 6-3-2 during the Bobby Clark era. – Notre Dame is coming off a 10-6-4 season in 2010. The Irish finished second in the BIG EAST Blue Division with a 6-2-1 league record before advancing to the semifinals of the league tournament. The Fighting Irish qualified for the NCAA Championship for the 10th straight season as they garnered the tournament’s No. 9 seed. Notre Dame fell to Dartmouth, 2-1, in overtime in the second round. – The Fighting Irish returned seven starters and 12 letterwinners from last season. Notre Dame welcomed back three of its four starters in the defense along with four starting midfielders. – Notre Dame’s leading returning goal scorer is junior midfielder Dillon Powers, who ranked second among all Irish players last season in goals (4) and points (12).
IRISH HISTORY AT THE ADIDAS/IU CREDIT UNION CLASSIC
– This weekend will mark the 12th trip (1989, 1992-93, 2003-11) to the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame owns an 8-10-4 overall mark in the tournament. Notre Dame won the event in 1993. The Irish are 7-5-4 at the IU Classic under head coach Bobby Clark. Notre Dame fell to UCLA (0-1) and tied California (0-0) in last season’s event. The Cal match was played at Notre Dame.
QUITE A CROWD
– A sellout crowd of over 3,000 fans attended Notre Dame’s season opener against Indiana last Saturday. That is a record attendance for a men’s contest at Alumni Stadium, which opened in 2009. It was Notre Dame’s largest crowd for a regular-season match since Sept. 22, 1995 when 3,339 fans came to see the Irish and Hoosiers at old Alumni Field.
WALSH ON WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
– Senior goalkeeper Will Walsh was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for his efforts in the season opener against Indiana. Walsh made five saves in the scoreless draw. It marked his fifth career shutout in just his eighth career start. – Walsh boasts a 0.46 goals-against average and a .892 save percentage in nine career games played. He has a 3-2-3 career record in goal.
CLARK ON THE CUSP
– Fighting Irish head coach Bobby Clark is one win away from tying Rich Hunter for the most victories in program history. Clark, who is in his 11th season on the Irish sidelines, is 127-59-31 during his Notre Dame tenure. Hunter, who was Notre Dame’s first varsity head coach, posted a 128-32-8 record from 1977-83.
THE DAYTON SERIES
– Notre Dame holds a 9-1-1 record all-time against Dayton. Friday will be the first meeting between the Fighting Irish and Flyers since a 4-0 Notre Dame victory during the 1992 season. The Irish have won the last seven meetings in the series. Dayton’s lone win against Notre Dame was a 3-2 overtime triumph in 1979. – Notre Dame’s first match as a varsity program occurred at Dayton in 1977. That match ended as a 3-3 draw. – The Irish and Flyers were Midwestern Collegiate Conference rivals from 1988-92. Notre Dame went 4-0 against Dayton during that stretch. Dayton left the league after the 1992 campaign, while the Irish left to join the BIG EAST in 1995. – Friday will be the first time a Bobby Clark-led team will square off with Dayton.
A LOOK AT THE FLYERS
– Dayton opened the 2011 campaign on Aug. 26 with a 2-0 loss at Kentucky. – The Flyers posted a 7-8-3 record last season, which included a 3-4-2 mark in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Dayton returned seven starters and 17 letterwinners from its 2010 squad. Senior defender Jack Pearson earned NSCAA All-East Region third team honors last season. – Head coach Dennis Currier is in his seventh season at Dayton. It’s his 19th season overall as a college head coach.
THE SAINT LOUIS SERIES
– Sunday will mark the 12th meeting all-time between Saint Louis and Notre Dame. The Billikens hold a 7-3-1 advantage in the series. Notre Dame and Saint Louis last met during the 2006 campaign. That match, which also took place at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic, ended as a 0-0 draw. The Irish captured a 1-0 home victory over the Billikens during the 2005 season. Prior to that meeting, Saint Louis had won five straight in the series. – Five of the encounters took place while both teams were members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (MCC). The Fighting Irish went 1-4 against the Billikens during their time in the MCC. – Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark is 1-1-1 all-time against Saint Louis.
A LOOK AT THE BILLIKENS
– Saint Louis opened its season last Saturday with a 2-1 home loss to Northern Illinois. – The Billikens returned seven starters and five of their top seven scorers from last year’s team that went 9-7-3 overall and 5-3-1 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Senior midfielder Alex Johnston (3G, 2A) and junior midfielder Alex Sweetin (2G, 4A) led the team in scoring last year. Sophomore defender Jon Roeckle led the team with five assists, while sophomore forward Adnan Gabeljic and sophomore defender Christian Briggs tied for team-high honors with three goals apiece. Junior midfielder Michael Robson was tabbed second-team All-Region by the NSCAA. – Head coach Mike McGinty in his second season at the helm of the Saint Louis program.
SUSTAINED SUCCESS
– Since Bobby Clark took over the reins of the Notre Dame program in 2001, the Irish have won at least 10 matches during all 10 seasons of the Clark era. The Fighting Irish have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of the past 10 seasons. That streak ranks in a tie for fifth nationally. – Notre Dame is the only team in the BIG EAST to finish in the top two of either division standings in each of the past four seasons. The Fighting Irish also are the only BIG EAST squad to qualify for the semifinals in each of the past four league tournaments.
QUOTING CLARK
– Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark shares his thoughts on the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic … “These will be two huge games for us. We are always excited to go down and play in this tournament. It’s a great field to play on and it’s always a good experience. Hopefully it’ll get us kick-started to some winning ways and we can leave with smiles on our faces.” “These games will be a real test for us. It’s supposed to be hot so we’ll have to make sure that we’re well hydrated. We also need to make sure we’re ready to play. It’s difficult being the first game of the tournament because we’re coming off of playing in front of two great crowds at home. Now we’re the game before the home team (Indiana) plays. We’ll have to bring a different mentality and be ready to play.”
UP NEXT
– Notre Dame will play host to the 10th annual Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament next weekend at Alumni Stadium. Indiana and Bucknell will get things underway at 5:00 p.m. (ET) on Friday, while the Irish will face Denver in the nightcap (7:30 p.m.). Indiana and Denver will meet at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday and the Notre Dame-Bucknell match will wrap things up at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.
A NIGHT OF FIRSTS
– Three Notre Dame players made their first collegiate start in last Saturday’s season opener against Indiana. Senior Michael Knapp started at right back, while junior Danny O’Leary and sophomore Leon Brown started in the attack. It also was Brown’s collegiate debut. – Junior forward Ryan Finley made his Fighting Irish debut when he came off the bench in the 31st minute. Finley is a transfer from Duke.
FAMILIAR FACES
– The Notre Dame and Indiana teams will probably have seen enough of each other after the end of the first three weeks of the 2011 campaign. The Fighting Irish and Hoosiers opened the season against one another on Saturday and then Notre Dame will take part in Indiana’s adidas/IU Credit Union Classic this weekend before the Hoosiers travel back to South Bend for the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament (Sept. 9 & 11), which is hosted by the Fighting Irish. The Irish and Hoosiers will not face each other in either tournament.
TRIO OF IRISH PLAYERS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
– Ryan Finley (Jr./F), Aaron Maund (Sr./D) and Dillon Powers (Jr./M) all have received preseason All-America honors. Finley and Maund copped the accolades from College Soccer News, while Maund and Powers were tabbed by Soccer America. – Finley, who is in his first season with the Fighting Irish after transferring from Duke, was named the 2010 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Offensive Player of the Year as he led the league in goals (17) and points (37). He also was named to the 2010 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-America third team. Finley tallied 64 points on 28 goals and eight assists during his two seasons with the Blue Devils. – Maund has been a mainstay in the Irish lineup, starting all 60 matches in which he has played during his Notre Dame career. He notched one goal and two assists last season. For his career, Maund has seven points on two goals and three assists. Along with earning second-team all-BIG EAST honors last season, he copped third-team all-league accolades as a sophomore. Maund also was named to the All-Great Lakes Region third team in 2009 and 2010. – Powers has played in 39 matches, including 25 starts, during his first two seasons with the Irish. He started every contest last season and ranked second on the team in goals (4) and points (12) en route to earning second-team all-conference honors. The midfielder has 17 career points on four goals and nine assists.
BIG EAST ELITE
– Notre Dame senior defender Aaron Maund along with junior midfielder Dillon Powers were named to the 2011 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team for men’s soccer in a vote by the league’s head coaches. The Irish duo was among 12 players named to the squad.
IRISH PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN DIVISION
– Notre Dame was picked to finish second in the BIG EAST Blue Division, while Connecticut was tabbed to win the division. The Huskies received 10 first-place votes among the eight Blue Division squads, while the Irish garnered two. Louisville was picked to win the Red Division. The league’s 16 head coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams.
TOUGH SLATE
– The Irish will face another challenging schedule this season as six of their opponents appear in the latest College Soccer News top-30 poll. Louisville (#1), Connecticut (#6), West Virginia (#14), Indiana (#16), Michigan State (#28) and Denver (#30) all appear in the rankings. Notre Dame is ranked 12th in the poll.
KLAZURA A LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE
– Greg Klazura is one of 30 candidates up for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in the men’s soccer division. – 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. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. – Klazura returned to the Irish for a fifth season after turning down a chance to take part in the 2011 Major League Soccer draft combine. Klazura, one of three captains for the Irish this season, started all 20 games at left back during the 2010 campaign and tallied three points on one goal and one assist. He helped the Fighting Irish defense post six shutouts in 2010. – Klazura graduated in May with a Bachelor of Science degree in pre-professional studies (pre-med). He finished his undergraduate career with a 3.583 cumulative grade-point average. He currently is taking courses that emphasize service and or medicine to boost his resume for medical school. Klazura was named to the 2010 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Scholar All-Region first team. He also is a two-time BIG EAST Academic All-Star (2009 & 2010).
CAPTAINS
– Greg Klazura (Sr./D), Aaron Maund (Sr./D) and Dillon Powers (Jr./M) will serve as first-time team captains for the Fighting Irish during the 2011 campaign.
ROOKIE RANKINGS
– Notre Dame’s 2011 freshman class was selected as the 14th best rookie class in the nation according to College Soccer News. The five-man class features four high school All-Americans. Comprising the class are: midfielder/defender Nick Besler (Overland Park, Kan.), forward Vince Cicciarelli (Peoria, Ill.), midfielder Robby Gallegos (Aptos, Calif.), midfielder/forward Max Lachowecki (Evansville, Ind.) and midfielder Brendan Lesch (Westport, Conn.).
A GREAT NIGHT FOR GRASSROOT
– Notre Dame held its annual exhibition game to benefit Grassroot Soccer on Aug. 22. A total of 2,444 fans packed into Alumni Stadium to watch the Irish play Creighton to a 2-2 draw. All of the proceeds from the match went to Grassroot Soccer, an international AIDS awareness and education organization that reaches youth in Africa through soccer clinics. Dr. Tommy Clark, the eldest son of Irish head coach Bobby Clark, is the founder and CEO of Grassroot Soccer. Notre Dame has held a match to benefit Grassroot Soccer in each of the past eight seasons.
FOLLOW THE IRISH ON UND.COM
– All 2011 Notre Dame home matches that are not televised can be seen live on UND.com. The streaming broadcasts are free of charge. Log on to UND.com to stay up to date on the Fighting Irish men’s soccer team throughout the 2011 campaign.
PURCHASE YOUR IRISH SOCCER TICKETS
– To purchase a season pass or single-game tickets for Fighting Irish soccer, call the Murnane Family Athletics Ticket Office at (574) 631-7356, visit the tickets page at the official Notre Dame athletics web site, UND.com (UND.com/tickets) or stop by the Murnane Family Athletics Ticket Office windows inside the new Rosenthal Atrium at Purcell Pavilion (entrance via Gate 9). Tickets also can be purchased at Alumni Stadium on gamedays. For group discount pricing information call Rita Baxter in the Notre Dame Ticket Office at (574) 631-4165.