Oct. 25, 2011
Wednesday, Oct. 26 – 3:00 p.m. (ET)
Glay Field – Providence, R.I.
#14 NOTRE DAME (7-3-4, 3-2-1)
vs.
PROVIDENCE (9-5-1, 4-2-1)
Notre Dame Leads Series 13-2-1
LIVE STATS:
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SETTING THE STAGE
– Notre Dame (7-3-4, 3-2-1) will conclude its regular-season road slate on Wednesday at BIG EAST Blue Division foe Providence (9-5-1, 4-2-1). Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. (ET) at Glay Field. The Fighting Irish currently are in sixth place in the Blue Division, while the Friars are fourth. – Live stats for Wednesday’s match will be available via Gametracker on UND.com.
IRISH ITEMS
– Notre Dame is coming off a 3-1 win at Pittsburgh on Saturday. Sophomore forward Harrison Shipp scored a career-high two goals in the match. His goals came in the 44th and 48th minutes. Shipp actually had a hand in all three goals as his shot was saved and then deflected in by a Panther defender for an own goal that put the Irish on top, 1-0, in the 33rd minute. Shipp’s four goals this season rank second among all Irish players. – Pittsburgh’s goal in the 90th minute on Saturday put an end to an Irish scoreless streak that was 254:01 in length. – The win at Pittsburgh marked Notre Dame’s 100th regular-season BIG EAST victory. The Fighting Irish are 100-57-19 (.622) all-time in BIG EAST regular-season play. – Last Wednesday’s Notre Dame-Seton Hall match was postponed due to inclement weather. The make-up date is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 31 at Alumni Stadium. That match will kickoff at noon (ET). – The Fighting Irish are averaging 1.50 goals per game, while they are allowing 0.86 per contest. Notre Dame has posted five shutouts this season, while the Irish have been held without a goal three times. – Junior forward Ryan Finley leads the Irish in goals (5) and points (12). Senior midfielder Adam Mena and junior midfielder Dillon Powers both have a team-high four assists. – Senior Will Walsh has played every minute in goal this season. He has five shutouts and boasts a 0.79 goals-against average to go along with a .812 save percentage. He has nine clean sheets in 21 career starts.
PROVIDENCE SERIES HISTORY
– Wednesday will be the 17th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Providence. The Fighting Irish lead the series 13-2-1, which includes three straight wins over the Friars. The Irish topped the Friars 2-1 last season at Alumni Stadium. Notre Dame is 9-0-1 in the last 10 meetings with Providence. The last Friars win over the Irish was a 3-1 decision in 2000 at Providence. – Notre Dame is 5-2-1 all-time at Providence. The Irish won the last meeting at Providence, 1-0 in double-overtime, during the 2009 campaign. – Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark is 14-0-2 all-time against Providence.
A LOOK AT THE FRIARS
– Providence has won its last three matches, including a 2-1 decision at West Virginia on Friday. The Friars are averaging 1.47 goals per game, while allowing 1.00 per contest. Providence has posted six shutouts and the Friars have been blanked twice. Providence is 5-2-0 at home this season. – Freshman midfielder Marcos Ugarte and sophomore forward/midfielder Greg Davis both have a team-best five goals, while Ugarte has a team-high 13 points. Junior midfielder/forward Marc Cintron leads the Friars in assists with four. Cintron was named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. – Senior goalkeeper Jhojan Obando has a 1.00 goals-against average and a .746 save percentage with six shutouts. – Last season, the Friars posted a 13-6-3 record, including a 4-4-1 mark in BIG EAST play. Providence fell at Ohio State, 2-1, in the second round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament. – Head coach Chaka Daley is in his 12th season at the helm of the Friar program.
THE LAST TIME
– Notre Dame defeated Providence, 2-1, last season at Alumni Stadium. The Fighting Irish grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute on a Jeb Brovsky goal, while the Friars tied the match in the 16th minute on an own goal. Steven Perry netted the game winner in the 85th minute.
QUOTING CLARK
– Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark shares his thoughts on the Providence match … “Providence is having a good season. They are on a great run at the moment. It’s going to be a tough game as are all BIG EAST road games. This will be a good test for the character of our team. We are looking forward to the challenge and taking something positive from this game.”
ROAD WARRIORS
– The Providence match will be Notre Dame’s fourth straight road contest. The Irish have not played four consecutive true road matches since the 2005 season.
BUSY STRETCH
– A busy end to the regular season awaits the Irish as they will play three matches in a six-day span. The Fighting Irish will wrap up their 2011 regular-season road schedule on Wednesday at Providence before playing host to West Virginia on Saturday and Seton Hall on Monday.
OFFENSIVE AWAKENING
– The Fighting Irish have tallied three goals in each of their last two games (Georgetown 3-0 and Pittsburgh 3-1). Prior to the last two games, the last time Notre Dame posted three or more goals in consecutive matches was last season when the Irish defeated Pittsburgh, 3-2, and Georgetown, 3-0.
ACCOLADES FOR SHIPP
– Sophomore forward Harrison Shipp was named to the Top Drawer Soccer national team of the week and the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for his career-best two-goal effort in the 3-1 win at Pittsburgh.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
– All but three Irish matches this season have been decided by one goal or have ended in a tie. Seven of Notre Dame’s 14 games this season have been decided by one goal. The Fighting Irish are 4-3 in those contests.
WORKING OVERTIME
– Notre Dame has played seven overtime games this season. The Irish are 1-2-4 in those matches. – Two of Notre Dame’s three losses have occurred in double-overtime. The Irish fell to Saint Louis (104th minute) and St. John’s (110th minute) by identical 2-1 scores.
STRONG STARTS
– Notre Dame holds an 11-2 scoring edge in the first half of play this season. – The Fighting Irish have scored the first goal in nine of their 14 matches this season (two of their games have been scoreless draws). – The Irish have only trailed once at halftime this season (Marquette, 1-0).
SUCCESS ON THE STAT SHEET
– The Irish have a 99-65 advantage in shots on goal over their opponents this season. – The Fighting Irish have gained 25 more corner kicks (88-63) than their opponents.
HOME SWEET HOME
– Notre Dame is 11-2-5 at home over the past two seasons, including a 3-0-4 mark this season. The Irish are 7-0-1 in their last eight BIG EAST regular-season home matches. Notre Dame was 5-0-0 in league play at home last season.
ROSE RETURNS
– Senior midfielder Michael Rose made his season debut in the Connecticut match on Oct. 8. Rose missed the first 10 games of the season as he was recovering from a knee injury suffered in the spring. He scored his first goal of the season in the win over Georgetown (Oct. 15). – Rose has appeared in 37 career matches, totaling 11 points on three goals and five assists.
BLANKING THE BEST
– Four of Notre Dame’s five shutouts this season have occurred against teams currently ranked in the Soccer America top-25 poll. The Irish blanked current No. 2 Connecticut and No. 8 Indiana in scoreless draws. Notre Dame shutout No. 20 Georgetown in a 3-0 victory and No. 22 Louisville in a 1-0 win.
IRISH DEFENSE RECOGNIZED
– Notre Dame has produced two BIG EAST Defensive Players of the Week this season. Junior central defender Grant Van De Casteele earned the honor on Sept. 19, while senior left back Greg Klazura received the accolade on Sept. 26. Klazura also was named to the Soccer America national team of the week. – Central defender Aaron Maund was named to the Top Drawer Soccer national team of the week on Sept. 26, while senior goalkeeper Will Walsh has been selected to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll twice this season (Aug. 29 & Sept. 26).
GUARDING THE GOAL
– Notre Dame has allowed just 31 goals over the past two seasons, a span of 34 matches. The Fighting Irish allowed just 19 goals all of last season and they have given up 12 so far this season. – The Irish have not surrendered more than two goals in a single match since a 3-1 loss at Northwestern in the second round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
– Notre Dame’s 21 goals this season have come from nine different players. Junior forward Ryan Finley has a team-high five goals, while sophomore forward Harrison Shipp has four. Senior midfielder Adam Mena and junior forward Danny O’Leary both have three goals. Five Irish players have one goal apiece.
NOTRE DAME IN BIG EAST PLAY
– Notre Dame owns an overall record of 100-57-19 (.622) in BIG EAST regular-season play since joining the conference in 1995. The Irish have posted 10 straight winning campaigns within the league, including last season’s 6-2-1 mark. – The most wins for Notre Dame in BIG EAST play is eight, which occurred in 2004 (8-1-1), 2006 (8-3) and 2009 (8-3). – The Irish have three regular-season BIG EAST titles. Notre Dame won the championship outright in 2004 and 2008 (Blue Division) and shared the Blue Division trophy with Connecticut in 2007. The Fighting Irish captured BIG EAST tournament crowns in 1996 and 2003.
KLAZURA A LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST
– Greg Klazura has been named one of 10 finalists 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 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).
IRISH HAVE A MAINSTAY IN MAUND
– Senior defender Aaron Maund has started all 73 matches in which he has played during his Notre Dame career. The only five games he has missed was during his sophomore campaign in 2009 when he was with the United States Under-20 National Team at the U-20 World Cup in Egypt. He has started all 47 matches with the Irish since returning from the international competition. He played every possible minute on the pitch during the 2008 and 2010 campaigns and he has not left a match this season.
CLARK MOVES TO TOP OF PROGRAM WINS LIST
– Notre Dame’s 2-1 victory over Bucknell on Sept. 11 gave Irish head coach Bobby Clark the most wins in program history. Clark, who is in his 11th season on the Notre Dame sidelines, has a 134-62-34 (.657) record with the Irish. He moved past Rich Hunter, who was Notre Dame’s first varsity head coach from 1977-83.
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.
QUITE A CROWD
– A sellout crowd of over 3,000 fans attended Notre Dame’s season opener against Indiana on Aug. 27. 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. – The Fighting Irish are averaging 1,750 fans per home game this season.
TRIO OF IRISH PLAYERS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
– Ryan Finley (Jr./F), Aaron Maund (Sr./D) and Dillon Powers (Jr./M) all received preseason All-America honors. Finley and Maund copped the accolades from College Soccer News, while Maund and Powers were tabbed by Soccer America.
CAPTAINS
– Greg Klazura (Sr./D), Aaron Maund (Sr./D) and Dillon Powers (Jr./M) are serving as first-time team captains for the Fighting Irish during the 2011 campaign.
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. Check 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 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.