Aug. 27, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Two exhibition matches are on tap this weekend for the No. 18 Notre Dame men’s soccer team at the National Soccer Festival in Ft. Wayne, Ind. The Fighting Irish will face No. 14 Ohio State at 8:00 p.m. (ET) on Saturday and will square off against IPFW at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.
The National Soccer Festival features over 20 collegiate soccer teams, including all seven men’s soccer programs from the Big Ten Conference, taking to the pitch in Ft. Wayne from Aug. 27-Aug. 29. Both Notre Dame games will take place at IPFW’s Hefner Stadium. Tickets for the entire weekend are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Go to http://fwsoccerpalooza.com/ for more information on the event.
“This weekend will be another step for us,” said Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark. “On Saturday (against Ohio State), I think we’ll play the more experienced players to try and get a little bit closer to what the team is going to look like. On Sunday (against IPFW), I think we’ll try to get everyone else that’s on the squad into that game. We’ll pretty much play the younger group in that game and see how they handle it.”
On Monday, Notre Dame topped UIC 3-2 in its exhibition opener. Netting goals for the Fighting Irish were juniors Aaron Maund (Dorchester, Mass./The Roxbury Latin School) and Michael Rose (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) along with sophomore Danny O’Leary (Naperville, Ill./Nequa Valley).
Freshman Harrison Shipp (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) notched two assists, while junior Brendan King (Naperville, Ill./Edison Academic Center-Fla.) also had an assist. Junior Will Walsh (Morristown, N.J./Delbarton) played the entire game in goal and made four saves.
“Normally we just have two (preseason) scrimmages, but with having three scrimmages this year it allows us to really have a good look and see which of the freshmen are really ready to step up,” added Clark.
Notre Dame will open the regular season against No. 8 UCLA on Friday, Sept. 3 at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington, Ind. Game time is slated for 5:00 p.m. (ET). The Irish will open their regular-season home schedule against California at 7:00 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, Sept. 5 at Alumni Stadium. That match also is part of the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.
Last season, Notre Dame posted an 11-8-4 record the Irish were runners-up in the BIG EAST Blue Division with an 8-3 mark. The Fighting Irish also were finalists at the BIG EAST Championship. Notre Dame defeated Green Bay, 2-1, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling at Northwestern, 3-1, in the second round. That marked Notre Dame’s ninth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
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