Sept. 8, 2005
Friday
, 5:00 PM ET
Sunday
, 11:30 AM ET
NOTRE DAME MEN’S SOCCER NOTES PACKET
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The Notre Dame men’s soccer team will host the fourth-annual Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament this Friday, Sept. 9 and Sunday, Sept. 11. Another solid quartet of teams will take to Alumni Field for what should be yet another competitive tournament. A match-up between top-ranked Indiana and Saint Louis will get things underway on Friday at 5:00 p.m. The 17th-ranked Fighting Irish will then square off against Boston University at 7:30 p.m. Sunday’s play begins with Indiana battling Boston University at 11:30 a.m. followed by Notre Dame and Saint Louis at 2:00 p.m. Notre Dame opened the regular-season last weekend at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. The Fighting Irish defeated then No. 7 SMU 4-1 on Friday, Sept. 2 before falling to Wake Forest 1-0 in overtime on Sunday, Sept. 4. The Demon Deacons were ranked 10th at the time.
ABOUT THE MIKE BERTICELLI MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT: This year will mark the fourth year in which the Fighting Irish have hosted a tournament in honor of the former Notre Dame men’s soccer head coach Mike Berticelli … Berticelli coached the Fighting Irish from 1990-99 before passing away in January of 2000.
IRISH HISTORY AT THE MIKE BERTICELLI MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT: Notre Dame is 3-0-3 all time in the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament … the Irish won the 2003 tournament … five of Notre Dame’s six matches have gone to overtime … the inaugural tournament featured the Irish tying Cornell 1-1 and then knocking off No. 7 Furman 2-1 in double-overtime … in 2003, Notre Dame downed Fresno State 2-1 in overtime and then played Akron to a scoreless tie to take home the tournament title … last year, the Fighting Irish defeated in-state foe Evansville 2-1, before a scoreless tie versus Cal State Fullerton … here is a glance at the previous tournaments …
Year Order of Finish
2004 Indiana, Notre Dame, Cal State Fullerton, Evansville
2003 Notre Dame, Akron, Fresno State, Indiana
2002 Bradley, Notre Dame, Furman, Cornell
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS BOSTON UNIVERSITY: The Fighting Irish and the Terriers have squared off two previous times on the pitch, with Notre Dame winning both matches … the two teams met last year at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington, Ind. with Notre Dame winning 2-0 … current Irish junior Nate Norman tallied Notre Dame’s second goal in that match and senior tri-captain John Stephens assisted on Jack Stewart’s score … the first match-up occurred in Miami, Fla. in 1988 … the Irish won that match 5-1.
ABOUT THE TERRIERS: Boston University (1-1-0) opened the season with a 3-2 double-overtime victory versus the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Thursday, Sept. 1 before dropping a 1-0 decision to Boston College on Sunday, Sept. 4 … freshman Neil Hlavaty netted the game-winner versus the Highlanders just 3:13 into the second overtime period … senior captain Jamie Johnson netted a pair of goals in regulation and tallied an assist on the game-winner for a five-point outing … BU goalkeeper Zach Riffett collected the win as he made four saves … despite a valiant effort, the Terriers lost to their cross-town rival Boston College by a single goal for the fourth time in the last five years … the Eagles, who entered the match ranked 15th in the nation, got on the board near the end of the first half and maintained its lead throughout the rest of the game … Johnson leads the team with five points following the Terriers’ first two contests … BU competed against both Notre Dame and Indiana at last year’s adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington, Ind. … the Terriers fell to the Hoosiers 3-2 in overtime and then lost to the Fighting Irish 2-0 … Boston University is a member of the America East Conference.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS SAINT LOUIS: The Notre Dame and Saint Louis men’s soccer programs have met nine times, yet this will be the first match-up since 1991 … the Irish and Billikens last met on Sept. 13, 1991 with Saint Louis coming away victorious, 2-0, at home … that outcome has been typical of the series as Saint Louis owns a 7-2-0 mark against Notre Dame … the first meeting occurred in 1980, a 6-1 Billiken win … Notre Dame’s first win in the series was a 4-3 overtime victory at home in 1981 … the Irish also defeated the Bills in St. Louis by a 2-0 mark in 1988.
ABOUT THE BILLIKENS: Saint Louis (1-1-0) is in the midst of a rugged schedule that features five straight games against ranked teams … the Billikens split a pair of games to start the regular season … Saint Louis opened the season by blanking UMKC 3-0 at home on Thur., Sept. 1 … junior midfielder John DiRaimondo assisted on two goals, while freshman midfielder Dado Hamzagic scored twice … senior goalkeeper Jeff Sackman posted the shutout against the Kangaroos … Saint Louis fell to No. 3 Duke, 3-1, at home on Saturday, Sept. 3 … the Blue Devils stunned the Billikens as they scored a goal in the opening minute of play and would go on to post the victory … senior back Danny Wynn tallied Saint Louis’ lone goal as he deposited a shot in the 58th minute to make it a 2-1 game … Duke scored its final goal just over two minutes later to wrap up the win … the Billikens are entering their inaugural season in the Atlantic-10 Conference … Saint Louis was tabbed to win the Conference USA 2005 men’s soccer title as voted on by the league’s coaches … DiRaimondo was one of 25 players selected to the 2005 M.A.C. Hermann Trophy Watch List, which is presented annually to the nation’s top player … DiRaimondo was also named to the Atlantic-10 Preseason All-Conference team along with teammates Brandon Gasparovic and Ryan Wileman … also garnering All-Conference accolades were Hamzagic and Eric Sweetin, who were both named to the Atlantic-10 Preseason All-Freshman Team … Hamzagic was tabbed as the conference’s Rookie of the Week on Sept. 4 after tallying a team-high five points on two goals and one assist over the course of the first two games … Wynn is second on the team with three points (1 G, 1 A) … Sackman has started both games in goal, collecting five saves and giving up three goals.
RECAPPING SMU: Notre Dame opened the season in grand fashion by defeating No. 7 SMU 4-1 during game one of the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic at Bill Armstrong Stadium on Sept. 2 … the Fighting Irish netted two goals early and added two more late in the contest to seal the Mustangs’ fate … spreading the wealth was the story for the Irish as four different players tallied goals … Greg Dalby, Nate Norman, John Stephens and Joe Lapira all scored for Notre Dame … it did not take long for the Fighting Irish to get on the board as Dalby netted a free kick less than two minutes into the match … the tri-captain floated the ball over the goalkeeper’s head from 40 yards out for the first goal of his Notre Dame career … SMU cut the deficit in half in the 37th minute as Jay Needham deflected a Paulo da Silva shot past starting Irish goalkeeper Chris Cahill from eight yards out … the Irish led 2-1 at the half … Notre Dame put the game out of reach by hammering in two goals within a minute of each other in the second half … Stephens waited near the right side of the goal on a long free kick from Dalby and sent it in for a 3-1 Irish lead at the 79:13 mark … not even a minute had passed when Lapira took a pass from Alex Yoshinaga, broke away and pushed the shot past the Mustang goalkeeper for a three-goal Irish advantage.
RECAPPING WAKE FOREST: The Fighting Irish finished on the wrong end of a 1-0 overtime decision to No. 10 Wake Forest in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic on Sept. 4 … the Demon Deacons’ Mike Lahoud netted the game-winner less than seven minutes into the first overtime period … a scoreless regulation did not come without good chances for both teams throughout the match … each squad registered eight shots in the second half alone, with many of them nearly snapping the scoreless tie … unfortunately for the Fighting Irish, the first tally was the difference as Lahoud played a ball from Justin Moose and Mark Ellington and sent it past Notre Dame goalkeeper Chris Cahill for the win. TAKING DOWN A TOP-10: Notre Dame’s 4-1 win over No. 7 SMU was the first time the Fighting Irish defeated a top-10 opponent since they took down No. 9 Boston College last October … the Irish have now claimed a victory against a top-10 team in six straight seasons … a 4-0 win over No. 6 Seton Hall in 2002 was the last four-goal output for the Irish versus a top-10 team prior to the win over the Mustangs.
IRISH IMPROVE MARK IN SEASON-OPENERS: After taking down No. 7 SMU, 4-1, in the first match of the 2005 campaign, Notre Dame is now 19-7-3 all time in season-openers, including 4-0-1 in the Bobby Clark era … the Irish have not lost a season-opener since the 1994 campaign, a 1-0 loss at No. 15 Penn State … prior to the SMU match, the last time Notre Dame defeated a nationally-ranked team in a season-opener was in 1993 when the Irish knocked off No. 20 Rutgers 4-1 … the four-goal performance against SMU in the season-opener was the most goals scored in a lid-lifter since 2001, a 5-0 win versus Villanova.
CAHILL AND DALBY NAMED TO ADIDAS/IU CREDIT UNION CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Goalkeeper Chris Cahill and midfielder Greg Dalby were named to the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic All-Tournament Team for their efforts last weekend … in his first collegiate game action, Chris Cahill got the start in goal and allowed only one goal, while stopping one shot in Notre Dame’s 4-1 victory over SMU … the junior held No. 10 Wake Forest scoreless throughout regulation and his only blemish came nearly seven minutes into the first overtime period as the Demon Deacons topped the Irish 1-0 … he made six saves on the weekend … Dalby scored his first collegiate goal just 1:26 into Notre Dame’s victory over SMU … he would go on to collect an assist on a John Stephens goal, which put the Fighting Irish up 3-1 … Cahill and Dalby were also named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll.
DALBY ON TOP DRAWER SOCCER TEAM OF THE WEEK: The adidas/IU Credit Union Classic All-Tournament Team was not the only honor for Dalby during the opening week … the junior midfielder was also named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week.
NEXT UP: Notre Dame will open up BIG EAST action with a road trip to New York … the Fighting Irish will face No. 7 St. John’s on Friday, Sept. 16 … that game will be broadcast by CSTV (College Sports Television) … the team will then travel up the Empire State to battle Syracuse on Sunday, Sept. 18.
IRISH THOUGHTS: Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark shares his thoughts on the Berticelli Tournament and what it means to the Fighting Irish program …
“We are going to have a fabulous weekend of soccer with four of the best teams in the country coming in. We hope that the soccer public of South Bend will support us and come out in droves like the fans did in Bloomington last weekend for the IU tournament. I’m not sure if we’ll draw 8,000 fans but this tournament is worthy of that as well.”
“IU is looking fabulous and they are very deserving of the No. 1 ranking. Both Saint Louis and Boston University have very exciting players and when you add us in the mix you have a fabulous group of teams.”
“This will be a great test. It’s our last non-conference games before we start BIG EAST play and we purposely wanted games that would test us. We want to do well this weekend and take another step forward before going to St. John’s next week to start league play.”
“The Berticelli Tournament is an opportunity to remember someone who was fabulous to soccer. Mike touched everyone in soccer at the college level and beyond that. He touched coaches at so many different places across the United States.”
NOTRE DAME PICKED SECOND IN BLUE DIVISION: Notre Dame was selected to finish second in the BIG EAST’s Blue Division behind Connecticut, while St. John’s was tabbed to be the league’s Red Division champion … the Irish collected seven first-place votes compared to the Huskies’ nine … Notre Dame was tabbed to finish third in the conference last year, yet went on to win the regular-season league title.
DALBY AND ETHERINGTON NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST TEAM: Junior midfielder Greg Dalby was one of three unanimous selections to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Team as voted on by the league’s 16 head coaches … Dalby’s classmate and fellow midfielder Ian Etherington joined him on the 13-man squad … Dalby was a second-team all-BIG EAST selection last season … the other unanimous choices for the preseason squad were St. John’s midfielder Matt Groenwald and Seton Hall forward Sacha Kljestan … Etherington garnered third-team all-BIG EAST honors in 2004.
DALBY NAMED TO M.A.C. HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST: Greg Dalby was named to the 2005 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List … the trophy is presented annually to the top male and female Division I soccer player in the United States … the 25-man watch list was compiled by a panel of coaches from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) … Notre Dame and UCLA were the only schools to have at least one member of the men’s and women’s soccer team named to the 2005 M.A.C. Hermann Trophy Watch List … Jen Buczkowski, Candace Chapman and Katie Thorlakson were all named to the list for the Irish women.
COLLEGE SOCCER NEWS WATCH LIST: Greg Dalby was also selected to the College Soccer News Pre-Season All-America second team … the junior tri-captain was not the only Irish student-athlete honored by the publication, as four incoming freshmen were named to the `100 Freshmen to Watch’ list for the 2005 season … (M/D) Matt Besler, (F) Bright Dike, (GK) Luke Seibolt and (D) Jack Traynor were selected to the list and are all part of a very talented seven-man freshman class for the Irish.
FRESHMAN CLASS NATIONALLY RANKED: Notre Dame’s seven-man freshman class was ranked 18th nationally by College Soccer News … (M/D) Matt Besler, (D) Kyle Dagan, (F) Bright Dike, (GK) Andrew Quinn, (M//D) Cory Rellas, (GK) Luke Seibolt and (D) Jack Traynor make up the talented crop of Fighting Irish rookies.
DALBY CAPTAINS U.S. UNDER-20s AT FIFA WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Junior midfielder Greg Dalby captained the U.S. Under-20 team during a solid showing at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship this past summer … the U.S. won Group D, which was referred to as the `Group of Death’ entering play, with an undefeated 2-0-1 record … the highlight of the tournament occurred in the first match as the U.S. defeated eventual champion Argentina 1-0 … that would be Argentina’s only loss during its seven-game stretch … a disappointing 3-1 loss to Italy in the Round of 16 brought an end to the event for the U.S. … despite the loss, the U.S. still had a historic run at the tournament … back-to-back-to-back shutouts versus Argentina (1-0), Germany (0-0) and Egypt (1-0) in the tournament’s toughest group marks one of the greatest national team accomplishments in U.S. soccer history … the U.S. became just the 12th team in the tournament’s 28-year history to manage that feat … Dalby was one of 10 college players on the Under-20 team, which also featured a formidable mix of professional and high school standouts … one name easily recognizable to all soccer fans was DC United’s Freddy Adu, but the Under-20 team also featured Eddie Gaven (N.J. Metrostars), Jonathan Spector (Manchester United) and attacking players Jacob Peterson (Indiana) and Lee Nguyen (the lone high school player out of Texas).
McGEENEY WINS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: Justin McGeeney, a junior forward, was part of the Des Moines (Iowa) Menace team that lifted the PDL national championship in El Paso, Texas on Saturday, Aug. 13 … the Menace and the El Paso Patriots fought out a 0-0 tie in front of 7,000 spectators and the Menace took the title in a penalty kick tie-breaker.
METHEMBE NDLOVU NAMED COACH OF THE YEAR: Indiana Invaders head coach Methembe Ndlovu, a volunteer assistant coach for the Irish, was named the Premier Development League Coach of the Year on Aug. 11 … the award was voted on by the United Soccer League’s coaches and general managers … the second-year Invaders head coach led the team to its third straight 11-win season at 11-5-0, missing the postseason by one point for the second consecutive season … he was 11-5-0 in his debut last season.
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