Sept. 26, 2006
Wednesday, Sept. 27
Marquette vs. #17/15 Notre Dame
7:00 p.m. • Notre Dame, Ind.
Saturday, Sept. 30
#17/15 Notre Dame vs. Seton Hall
12:00 p.m. • Newark, N.J.
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Notre Dame wraps up its three-game homestand with a BIG EAST clash against Marquette on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 7:00 p.m. The Irish will then hit the road for another conference match-up against Seton Hall on Saturday (Sept. 30) at Noon at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, N.J. Note the time change because the game against Seton Hall was originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m. The Fighting Irish carry a 5-3-2 record (3-2-0 BIG EAST) and are ranked 15th in the Soccer America rankings and 17th in the NSCAA/adidas poll.
ABOUT THE IRISH: Notre Dame went 1-0-1 last week in opening a three-game homestand … the Irish played Northern Illinois to a scoreless tie in non-conference action on Wednesday, Sept. 20 … senior goalkeeper Chris Cahill collected his third shutout of the season, and the 12th of his career, by stopping two Husky shots … the Irish are 0-1-1 all-time against Northern Illinois … Notre Dame returned to league play with a 3-1 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday, Sept. 23 … junior forward Joseph Lapira recorded his third multiple-goal game of the season by tallying two scores on the night … Lapira has a team-high nine goals to go along with one assist for a team-best 19 points, which ties a single-season career high from last year … sophomore defender Matt Besler gave the Irish a 1-0 lead in the contest with the first goal of his collegiate career … the assist on the score went to senior forward Justin McGeeney … McGeeney is second on the team with nine points coming on four goals and one assist … senior midfielder Nate Norman picked up the assist on Lapira’s first goal against the Panthers, which came in the 56th minute to give the Irish a 2-1 advantage … Norman leads Notre Dame with four assists on the season … Notre Dame is now 5-3-3 all-time against Pittsburgh … Cahill, a senior, has a 4-2-1 mark, while sophomore Andrew Quinn is 1-1-1 … the Fighting Irish are currently fifth in the BIG EAST Blue Division with nine points … West Virginia and Connecticut lead with 13, followed by Providence and Seton Hall, who both have 12 … the Irish were picked by the BIG EAST coaches to place second in the division, behind Connecticut … Bobby Clark is in his sixth season at the helm of the Fighting Irish program … he has a 70-30-15 mark overall at Notre Dame and has guided the Irish to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including two trips to the round of 16 … the Irish made the tournament’s Sweet 16 last season.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS MARQUETTE: Wednesday will be the 14th meeting between Marquette and Notre Dame on the pitch with the Fighting Irish holding a 7-5-1 advantage … the Irish downed the Golden Eagles 1-0 last season in Milwaukee … Justin McGeeney tallied the lone goal of the match on an assist from Ian Etherington … that was the first meeting between the two schools since the 1990 campaign … Notre Dame and Marquette had squared off during 12 straight seasons from 1979-1990 … both schools were in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference together from 1988-1990 … the Golden Eagles own a 25-22 scoring edge in the series … Marquette is 1-4-1 all-time at Notre Dame.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES: Marquette is 1-8-1 on the season and 0-5-0 in BIG EAST play … the Golden Eagles are coming off a 1-0 loss to Providence last Saturday … Marquette opened the season with a 2-1 victory over Loyola and a scoreless tie against Denver before dropping eight straight contests … senior forward Matt Blouin and sophomore midfielder Dan Addis lead the team in goals with two apiece and points with four … freshman Matt Pyzdrowski has seen the majority of minutes in goal, posting a 1-6-1 mark and a 1.63 goals-against average along with a .700 save percentage … head coach Louis Bennett is in his first season at Marquette … the Golden Eagles return eight starters and 13 letter winners from a team that went 5-11-1 last season and finished eighth in the BIG EAST Blue Division with a 1-8-1 conference mark.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS SETON HALL: Notre Dame and Seton Hall will be squaring off for the 15th time on Saturday … the Irish own an 8-4-2 record against the Pirates, including a 4-0 win last season at Alumni Field … Joseph Lapira tallied two goals and an assist for a then career-high five points and Bright Dike and Ryan Miller also netted goals in last year’s match with the Pirates, while Kurt Martin added two assists … Seton Hall was ranked 16th at the time of last year’s match … Notre Dame is 3-0-1 in the last four encounters with Seton Hall … the last Pirate victory in the series came in the 2001 season, a 1-0 victory in South Orange, N.J. … the Fighting Irish are 4-3-1 all-time at Seton Hall … Notre Dame has outscored Seton Hall 23-9 in the series … the Irish have shutout the Pirates on nine occasions.
SCOUTING THE PIRATES: Seton Hall is 6-3-0 overall and 4-1-0 in the BIG EAST entering its game at Georgetown on Wednesday night (Sept. 27) … the Pirates are currently tied for third in the conference’s Blue Division, one spot ahead of Notre Dame … senior forward John Raus leads the Pirates with 12 points on four goals and four assists, while sophomore forward Eliseo Giusfredi has a team-high five goals to go along with one assist for 11 points … Giusfredi and senior defender Gordon Kljestan were named to the BIG EAST All-Preseason Team … senior Ian Joyce has started six games in goal, posting a 4-2-0 record and a 1.14 goals-against average and a .825 save percentage … Seton Hall returns seven starters and 16 letter winners from a team that went 13-4-3 last season, including a 6-3-2 mark in the conference to finish second in the Blue Division … the Pirates made it to the second round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament before dropping a 1-0 decision to Penn State … Seton Hall defeated Hartwick, 2-1, in the opening round … head coach Manfred Schellscheidt is in his 19th season at Seton Hall … he has compiled a 205-121-36 record at the school.
IRISH THOUGHTS: Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark discusses Marquette and his team at the midway point of the season …
On Marquette …
“I can really only judge Marquette on the one time that we played them, which was last year. It was a very tough game and they have a lot of the same players back this season. The BIG EAST is a very difficult conference and there are never any gimmies.”
On his team …
“The team has stayed pretty steady throughout this season. We have a good group. It’s interesting to see how we are leading or close to leading the BIG EAST in several offensive categories. We are generating good offense and the goals that we’ve missed were not that far away. The key now is to tighten up the areas that we haven’t been solid at and then expand on the areas where we’ve been solid.”
NEXT UP: Notre Dame travels to Michigan for a non-conference showdown on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 7:00 p.m. … the match will be broadcast by Comcast Local … the Irish return home for a conference clash with Georgetown on Saturday, Oct. 7 at Noon.
RECAPPING NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Despite holding a 24-7 edge in shots, Notre Dame played Northern Illinois to a scoreless tie on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at Alumni Field … Joseph Lapira led the Irish with seven shots, including a couple good chances for the game-winner late in the match … Northern Illinois got deep into Notre Dame territory a few times early in the contest, yet Irish goalkeeper Chris Cahill held strong and shut the door on the Husky attempts … the senior made two stops on the night to collect his third shutout of the season … the Irish soon found some rhythm and ended up out-shooting the Huskies 9-3 in the first half … Ryan Miller had some nice crosses for the Irish, yet the sequences could not be finished … Notre Dame appeared to crack the scoring column with 3:25 left in the opening stanza as a Lapira corner kick was headed in by sophomore defender Matt Besler, but the tally was negated due to a foul call on the Irish … Notre Dame did not waste much time in applying more pressure in the second half … midfielder Cory Rellas sent a blast on goal just 20 seconds into the period however, Husky goalkeeper Joe Zimka made the save to preserve the scoreless match … Zimka collected four saves on the evening … Lapira would later make a bid for a tally as he sent a shot off the crossbar with a blast from just inside the 16-yard box with less than five minutes remaining in regulation … that would be the last good chance for either team prior to overtime … the Huskies had perhaps their best chance of the night early in the first overtime session as Marcus McCarty blasted a close-range shot at Cahill and the senior made the save to keep the Irish alive … Justin Morrow had Notre Dame’s best look in the initial 10-minute period as he weaved through the Northern Illinois defense and put a shot on goal that was saved by Zimka … arguably the two best chances for the Irish on the night occurred in the second overtime period … in the 105th minute, Lapira sent a shot on goal as Zimka was out of the box and the ball appeared to be heading in for a Notre Dame victory before Husky defender Blake Gotkowski cleared the ball of the line … Gotkowski would do the same thing a couple minutes later after Notre Dame’s Michael Thomas headed the ball near an empty goal.
RECAPPING PITTSBURGH: Joseph Lapira registered his third multiple-goal match of the season as Notre Dame defeated Pittsburgh 3-1 in BIG EAST play on Saturday, Sept. 23 at Alumni Field … Lapira netted two goals on the night to bring his team-leading total to nine on the season … sophomore defender Matt Besler put Notre Dame on the board in the 21st minute with the first goal of his collegiate career … Besler chipped a short cross from Justin McGeeney into the right side of the net to make it 1-0 in favor of the Fighting Irish … Notre Dame had a few other scoring chances in the first half, including two failed header attempts off of crosses from midfielder Ian Etherington … the Irish would lead 1-0 at the half … Pittsburgh’s Keeyan Young deposited the equalizer in the 48th minute … Notre Dame goalkeeper Chris Cahill dove to scoop up a loose ball yet could not get a firm grip on it and Young sent it in from 14 yards out … Cahill made one save on the night to pick up his fourth win of the season … the Irish responded in the 56th minute as Nate Norman sent a cross into the box and Lapira slid to get a foot on it and put it into the back of the net and give Notre Dame the lead once again … Norman, a senior midfielder, has a team-high four assists … Lapira struck again in the 71st minute as he ripped a shot from the top of the 18-yard box and past Panther goalkeeper Andy Jorgensen to make it a 3-1 contest … Jorgensen collected six saves on the night and the Irish out-shot the Panthers 24-9 … Notre Dame put the game away just in time as both teams played in a downpour for the final 15 minutes of the match.
LAPIRA MULTI-GOAL GAMES: Joseph Lapira’s two-goal performance against Pittsburgh marked the third time this season that the junior forward has notched at least two goals in a match … he is the first Irish player since Justin Detter in 2003 to record three multi-goal games in a single season … Lapira has four games with two or more goals during his career, with the first coming in a 4-0 win over Seton Hall last season.
CAHILL BLANKINGS: Chris Cahill’s shutout against Northern Illinois on Sept. 20 was his third of the season and the 12th of his Fighting Irish career … he recorded nine last season.
BESLER TALLIES FIRST: Sophomore defender Matt Besler netted the first goal of his collegiate career in the 3-1 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 23 … he put the Irish on the board in the 21st minute … he now has five career points.
STATISTICAL EDGE: Notre Dame owns a decided advantage in most statistical categories … the Irish have out-shot their opponents 177-100 and have gained 34 more corner kicks (72-38) … Notre Dame has out-scored its opposition 18-11, while the collecting six more assists (13-7).
IRISH IN THE BIG EAST: Notre Dame leads the BIG EAST with 177 shots taken and 72 corner kicks attempted … the Irish are second in goals scored with 18, which is one fewer than West Virginia … Notre Dame ranks third in points with 49 … West Virginia also leads in that category with 57, while Cincinnati has 51 … the four team shutouts also ranks Notre Dame in a tie for third, along with South Florida, within the conference … St. John’s leads with six and West Virginia has five.
LAPIRA IN THE BIG EAST: Notre Dame junior forward Joseph Lapira leads the BIG EAST Conference with nine goals and 50 attempted shots … he is tied with West Virginia’s Jarrod Smith for the league lead in points as they both have 19 … Lapira has totaled his on nine goals and one assist, while Smith has notched eight goals and three assists.
LAPIRA ON THE NATIONAL CHARTS: Joseph Lapira ranks sixth nationally in goals scored with nine … he is eighth in the country by averaging 0.90 goals per game … the junior forward is 17th in Division I men’s soccer with 1.90 points per game … his four-goal, eight-point effort against Indiana ties him second nationally for goals scored and points totaled in a single match this season.
IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame is 15th in this week’s Soccer America rankings, 17th in the NSCAA/adidas poll and 29th according to College Soccer News … three of the Irish’s 2006 opponents appear in the latest Soccer America rankings, West Virginia (10), South Florida (11), and Indiana (14).
A CLASSIC PERFORMANCE: Joseph Lapira tallied a career-high four goals against No. 8 Indiana in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic on Sunday, Sept. 3 … the four scores established an Indiana Classic record and it was one shy of the Notre Dame record of five, achieved by Kevin Lovejoy in 1993 … by scoring three goals, Lapira became the first Irish player to register a hat trick since Devon Prescod did so versus Cleveland State in 2003.
LAPIRA HONORS: After notching four goals against Indiana on Sept. 3, Joseph Lapira was named the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic Offensive MVP and the BIG EAST Conference Offensive Player of the Week … the junior forward also garnered national recognition as he was named the Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week and was selected to the College Soccer News Team of the Week.
AN IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY: Notre Dame’s five goal output against Indiana on Sept. 3 was the most goals scored by an Irish team since a 6-0 victory over Cleveland State in 2003 … the five tallies were the most ever against a ranked foe in program history … it marked the first time the Hoosiers had ever allowed five tallies in a single game … the nine combined goals were the most in a Notre Dame match since a 9-2 victory against Valparaiso in 1989.
TAKING DOWN A TOP-10: Notre Dame has downed two top-10 teams this season … the Irish topped No. 8 Creighton, 4-1, on Aug. 27 and then defeated No. 8 Indiana, 5-4, on Sept. 3 … the Irish have claimed a victory against a top-10 opponent in seven straight seasons … last season, the Irish took down No. 7 SMU (4-1) and No. 5 Indiana (2-0) … the victory against the Hoosiers came in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
NOTRE DAME PICKED SECOND IN BLUE DIVISION: Notre Dame was selected to finish second in the BIG EAST’s Blue Division behind Connecticut, while South Florida was tabbed to be the league’s Red Division champion … the Irish collected five first-place votes compared to the Huskies’ 11 … Notre Dame was tabbed to finish second in the conference’s Blue Division last year and wound up placing in a tie for third with West Virginia … the Irish did garner the division’s No. 3 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament as a result of a tie-breaker.
DALBY AND ETHERINGTON NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST TEAM: Senior midfielders Greg Dalby and Ian Etherington were named to the 2006 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team as voted on by the league’s 16 head coaches … both Dalby and Etherington were first-team all-BIG EAST selections last season.
DALBY NAMED TO M.A.C. HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST: Greg Dalby was named to the 2006 Missouri Athletic Club (M.A.C.) 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).
COLLEGE SOCCER NEWS WATCH LIST: Greg Dalby was selected to the College Soccer News Pre-Season All-America first team … the senior co-captain was not the only Irish student-athlete honored by the publication, as two incoming freshmen were named to the `100 Freshmen to Watch’ list for the 2006 season … (M/F) Justin Morrow and (M/D) Michael Thomas 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 16th nationally by College Soccer News … (M) John Baumgardner, (M) Dave Donohue, (M/F) Justin Morrow, (F) Tamba Samba, (D) John Schaefer, (M/D) Michael Thomas and (GK) Philip Tuttle make up the talented crop of Fighting Irish rookies.
NUMBER CHANGES: Seven members of the Fighting Irish team will be sporting new numbers for the 2006 season …
Name New Number Old NumberLuke Seibolt 1 24Kyle Dulworth 4 21Joseph Lapira 10 4Kurt Martin 11 8Bright Dike 14 18Nate Norman 19 20Alex Yoshinaga 20 19
NEW COACHES: The Fighting Irish are welcoming three new assistant coaches to the sidelines for the 2006 season … assistant coaches Jamie Clark and Chad Riley joined the program in March … Clark, the youngest son of head coach Bobby Clark, spent the last four seasons at New Mexico, where he helped guide the Lobos to the finals of the 2005 College Cup … Clark was a two-time All-American at Stanford, where he played from 1996-98 … Riley returns to Notre Dame, where he played from 2000-03 … he was a two-time all-BIG EAST performer at midfield … he was an assistant coach last season at St. John’s as the Red Storm compiled a record of 11-6-5 and made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament … Rick King is the Irish’s new volunteer assistant coach … King, a 1995 graduate of East Stroudsburg, also coaches the Indiana Invaders club soccer team.
STAY UP-TO-DATE ON NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS: To stay updated on all 26 varsity sports at Notre Dame you can log on to the official Notre Dame athletics web site at und.com or you can call the official Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000 … to access men’s soccer information on the hotline all you need to do is dial 4 from the main menu and then dial 1.
FOLLOW ALL ND HOME GAMES ONLINE: All Notre Dame home games will feature livestats available through und.com, the official web site of all 26 varsity athletic programs at the University … simply go to the men’s soccer page and click on `Schedule’ at the top of the page and find the game that is being played that day and click on `Gametracker’ to follow the game for free … live audio is also available for certain home matches.
NOTRE DAME ANNOUNCES IRISH ALERT TEXT MESSAGE SERVICE: The University of Notre Dame athletic department, in cooperation with Notre Dame Sports Properties and Centennial Wireless has brought back Irish ALERT for the 2006 fall sports season … continuing Notre Dame’s commitment to its alumni and fans, Irish ALERT will be free of charge (check with your wireless provider for any additional fees that may be charged due to receiving text messages) … starting the weekend of Sept. 15 all of the fall sports will start sending text alerts to Irish fans across the country on their wireless communication devices … log onto und.com for more details and to sign up.