Aug. 30, 2012
SAN DIEGO STATE
vs.
#15 NOTRE DAME
adidas/IU Credit Union Classic
Friday, August 31 – 5 p.m. (ET)
Armstrong Stadium – Bloomington, Ind.
CLEMSON
vs.
#15 NOTRE DAME
adidas/IU Credit Union Classic
Sunday, September 2 – 11:30 a.m. (ET)
Armstrong Stadium – Bloomington, Ind.
TV/INTERNET BROADCAST:
None
LIVE STATS:
Gametracker on UND.com
UPDATES:
Irish Alert! text messaging
(sign up on UND.com)
IRISH HEAD TO ADIDAS/IU CREDIT UNION CLASSIC
– The 15th-ranked Fighting Irish will travel downstate to Bloomington to take part in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. Notre Dame will face San Diego State at 5 p.m. (ET) on Friday at Bill Armstrong Stadium. Indiana will face Clemson in the night’s second match. The Irish will battle Clemson at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday before the Hoosiers and the Aztecs conclude the event.
– Live stats via Gametracker 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 @NDsidSean.
– The Fighting Irish opened the season Saturday with a 1-0 win over Duke at Alumni Stadium.
FIGHTING IRISH HISTORY AT THE IU CLASSIC
– Notre Dame is making its 13th appearance (1989, 1992-93, 2003-12) at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. The Fighting Irish own a 9-11-4 overall mark in the tournament.
– Notre Dame won the event in 1993. The Irish are 8-6-4 at the IU Classic under head coach Bobby Clark. The Fighting Irish defeated Dayton (4-1) and fell to Saint Louis (2-1 in double-overtime) in last season’s event to finish in third place.
UNFAMILIAR FOES
– Notre Dame has a limited history with both San Diego State and Clemson. The Irish have faced San Diego State just once, a 1-0 Aztec victory during the 1987 season in Los Angeles, Calif.
– Sunday will be just the third meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Clemson. The two teams last met in the 2005 NCAA Tournament Round of 16 and the Tigers claimed a 1-0 victory at home. The first encounter was a 4-0 Clemson win during the 2001 season in Greenville, S.C. That was head coach Bobby Clark’s third game at Notre Dame.
SIZING UP SAN DIEGO STATE
– Friday will be the season opener for San Diego State. The Aztecs posted a 10-6-3 record last season and finished third in the Pac-12 Conference with a 4-5-1 league mark.
– The Aztecs returned seven starters and 17 letter winners from last season’s squad. Junior forward Jordan Ongaro is the top returning goal scorer. He netted five goals last season.
– Head coach Lev Kirshner is in his 13th season at the helm of the San Diego State program.
PLAYING THE PAC-12
– San Diego State is a member of the Pac-12 Conference for men’s soccer. Notre Dame is 3-5-1 all-time against teams currently in the Pac-12. Notre Dame’s last match versus a Pac-12 school was a scoreless draw against California during the 2010 season.
– San Diego State is the first of two Pac-12 foes on Notre Dame’s 2012 slate. The Irish will play host to Oregon State Sept. 7 during the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament.
A LOOK AT CLEMSON
– Clemson will bring a 1-0-1 record into Friday night’s match versus Indiana. The Tigers opened the season with a 1-0 win over USC Upstate and then played Davidson to a scoreless draw.
– Freshman forward TJ Casner has Clemson’s lone goal this season. Junior Cody Mizell has played all 200 minutes in goal and has made 11 saves without allowing a goal.
– Head coach Mike Noonan is in his third season at Clemson.
IRISH AGAINST THE ACC
– Notre Dame is 13-17-1 against teams currently in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Irish defeated ACC foe Duke, 1-0, Saturday in the season opener.
NOT A BAD START
– Notre Dame opened its 2012 campaign Saturday with a 1-0 win over Duke at Alumni Stadium. Senior forward Ryan Finley netted the lone goal in the 76th minute on assists from Dillon Powers and Harrison Shipp.
– The Irish defense limited the Blue Devils to four shots, including just one on goal. Senior goalkeeper Will Walsh made one save for the Irish to collect his 10th career shutout. Notre Dame had 18 shots in the match. Eight of the attempts were on goal.
– The Fighting Irish had 11 corner kicks compared to just one for Duke.
– Notre Dame improved to 22-10-4 all-time in season openers, which includes a 7-3-2 mark during the Bobby Clark era.
– Notre Dame has opened each of the last six seasons against a ranked opponent. The Irish are 3-2-1 in those matches.
FINLEY DOWNS THE DEVILS
– Senior forward Ryan Finley netted the game winner in the 76th minute in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Duke. It was fitting since Finley spent the first two seasons of his collegiate career at Duke before transferring to Notre Dame.
– Finley tallied 28 goals and eight assists in his two seasons with the Blue Devils. He was named the 2010 ACC Offensive Player of the Year in addition to earning first team All-America honors that season. Finley led the Irish in goals (7) and points (16) last season en route to copping second team all-BIG EAST accolades.
O’MALLEY HONORED
– Junior central defender Andrew O’Malley was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts in Saturday’s 1-0 season-opening win over No. 21 Duke. O’Malley made his first career start in the Duke match and helped anchor the Irish backline for all 90 minutes. The Blue Devils mustered only four shots, including just one on goal. This was the first conference player-of-the-week honor for O’Malley, who had appeared in two career matches entering the 2012 campaign.
FIRST TIMERS
– Andrew O’Malley (Jr./D), Alex Priede (Jr./F), Nick Besler (So./M) and Max Lachowecki (So./D) all made their first career start in the Duke match.
TOUGH SLATE
– The Irish will face another challenging schedule this season as five of their opponents appear in the latest Soccer America top-25 poll. Included in that group are the No. 1 (Connecticut) and No. 2 (Akron) teams. Notre Dame foes Indiana (#8), Georgetown (#21) and Northwestern (#23) also appear in the rankings. The Irish are ranked 15th in the poll.
BIG EAST ELITE
– Irish seniors Ryan Finley (F) and Dillon Powers (M) were named to the 2012 Preseason All-BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Team in a vote by the league’s head coaches. The Fighting Irish duo was among 15 players named to the squad.
IRISH PICKED SECOND IN DIVISION
– Notre Dame was picked to finish second in the BIG EAST Blue Division, while Connecticut was tabbed to win the division. Georgetown was selected to finish third followed in order by Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall and Pittsburgh. Connecticut received 13 first-place votes among the seven Blue Division squads, while Notre Dame and Georgetown both garnered one first-place nod. St. John’s was selected to win the eight-team Red Division. The league’s 15 head coaches were not permitted to vote for their own squads.
CAPTAINS
– Midfielders Dillon Powers and Michael Rose will serve as Notre Dame team captains during the 2012 campaign. Powers, a senior, will be serving as captain for the second straight season, while Rose, a fifth-year senior, is a first-time captain.
IRISH ITEMS
– Notre Dame went 9-5-4 in 2011 and finished tied for fourth in the BIG EAST Blue Division with a 5-3-1 league mark. The Irish saw their season come to an end with a 1-0 setback to Villanova in the first round of the BIG EAST Championship.
– The Fighting Irish return six starters and 14 letter winners from last season.
– Notre Dame welcomed back 25 of its 27 goals scored from last season. Finley returns in the attack after leading the Irish in both goals (7) and points (16) in 2011, while fellow senior Adam Mena had a team-best five assists.
– Senior Will Walsh started all 18 matches in goal last season and notched a 0.83 goals-against average and a .795 save percentage with five shutouts.
FOLLOW THE IRISH ON UND.COM
– All 2012 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 2012 campaign.