Irish Set For NCAA First Round Match Against Green Bay

Nov. 18, 2009

Game Notes

GREEN BAY (14-2-3)
at
#19 NOTRE DAME (10-7-4)

Live Broadcast on und.com
Live Stats: Gametracker on und.com

SETTING THE STAGE … No. 19 Notre Dame will play host to Green Bay on Thursday, Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. (ET) in the first round of the NCAA Championship. The Fighting Irish will be making their ninth straight NCAA Championship appearance and the 13th trip overall in program history. This will be Green Bay’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1983. The Irish are 2-1 all-time against the Phoenix.

TICKETS … Tickets are $7 for adults (up to 55 years old), $3 for youth (age 6 to ‘college age’) and seniors (55 and older), while children (3-5 years old) are $1 … the first 250 Notre Dame/St. Mary’s/Holy Cross students will gain free admission into the match.

GAME WATCH … Thursday’s match can be seen live and for free on und.com … Tom Staudt will handle play-by-play duties, while Michael Scholl will provide color commentary … live stats via Gametracker also are available on und.com.

FIGHTING IRISH AGAINST THE PHOENIX … Notre Dame is 2-1 all-time against Green Bay … the last meeting occurred during the 1994 campaign and Green Bay won that match 2-1 at Notre Dame … Notre Dame won at Green Bay, 3-2 in overtime, in 1985 and captured a 2-1 home victory over the Phoenix in 1988.

IRISH IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP … The Irish are making their ninth straight NCAA Championship appearance and the 13th trip overall in program history … the Irish have a 9-11-1 record all-time in the NCAA Championship … Notre Dame’s high-water mark in the NCAA Tournament were quarterfinal trips in 2006 and 2007 … last season, the Irish fell at home to Northwestern, 2-1, in the second round … the Irish have made the tournament’s Round of 16 on five occasions (1996, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007) … Notre Dame owns a 5-2-1 mark at home and a 4-9-0 record on the road in the NCAAs.

FIRST ROUND HISTORY … Thursday will be Notre Dame’s first first-round NCAA Championship game since the 2005 season … the Fighting Irish have received a first-round bye in each of the past three seasons … Notre Dame topped Western Illinois, 2-0, in the first round of the 2005 tournament … Notre Dame is 6-6 all-time in its first game of an NCAA Championship.

WHAT’S AT STAKE … The winner of Thursday’s NCAA Championship first-round match between Notre Dame and Green Bay will advance to play at Northwestern in the second round on Sunday, Nov. 22 … the match in Evanston, Ill. is slated for a 1:00 p.m. (CT) kickoff … Northwestern is the tournament’s No. 9 seed.

ABOUT THE IRISH … Notre Dame is 10-7-4 on the season … the Fighting Irish fell to St. John’s on Sunday in a penalty kick shootout, 5-3, in the title game of the BIG EAST Championship … the match ended as a scoreless draw … Notre Dame posted an 8-3 record in the BIG EAST Conference to finish second in the Blue Division … senior forward Bright Dike, the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year, leads the team in goals (10) and points (23) … senior midfielder Michael Thomas, a first-team all-league honoree, has a team-best six assists … Notre Dame is averaging 1.43 goals per game, while surrendering 0.95 goals per contest … Philip Tuttle has started 11 games in goal, while Andrew Quinn has started nine matches … Tuttle is 7-3-2 with five shutouts … the senior boasts a 0.71 goals-against average and a .743 save percentage … Quinn, a fifth-year senior, is 3-4-2 with two shutouts … Quinn has a 1.15 goals-against average and a .750 save percentage … head coach Bobby Clark is in his ninth season with the Irish … he has a 116-52-26 (.665) record during his Notre Dame tenure.

SCOUTING GREEN BAY … Green Bay captured the Horizon League title with a 3-2 shootout victory over Butler on Sunday … the match ended as a scoreless draw … the Phoenix will carry a 14-2-3 record into Thursday’s match … Green Bay has allowed one goal in its past five matches … the Phoenix offense averages 2.42 goals per game, while the defense allows 0.89 per contest … JC Banks leads the team in goals (13), assists (9) and points (35) … David Znaty has eight goals, while David Prochazka is tied for the team lead with nine assists … Ryan Wehking has started every match in goal and carries a 0.87 goals-against average with a .761 save percentage and nine shutouts … head coach Tom Poitras is in his sixth season with the Phoenix … this is Green Bay’s first trip to the NCAA Championship since 1983.

COMMON OPPONENTS … Notre Dame and Green Bay have played two common opponents this season (DePaul and Pittsburgh) … both the Irish and Phoenix topped DePaul 2-1 and Pittsburgh 1-0.

QUOTING CLARK … Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark discusses the upcoming match against Green Bay … “This game certainly won’t be easy for us. Green Bay is a very well-coached team and they’ve only lost two games all season. No game at this stage is easy. Every team in the tournament has had a good season. It’s a testament to our guys that we’ve made the tournament nine straight times, but the trick now is to advance.”

BEEN HERE BEFORE … Head coach Bobby Clark has led the Fighting Irish to an NCAA Championship berth during all nine of his seasons at Notre Dame … the Irish have advanced to the Round of 16 on four occasions and the quarterfinals twice under Clark (2006 & 2007) … Clark carries an 8-7-1 record in the NCAA Championship during his Notre Dame tenure … Clark steered Dartmouth to the NCAA quarterfinals on two occasions (1990 & 1992) during his nine-year stint with the Big Green … during Clark’s five seasons at Stanford, he led the Cardinal to the NCAA title game in 1998 and to the quarterfinals in 2000.

IRISH AGAINST THE NCAA FIELD … Notre Dame faced eight teams that made this year’s NCAA Championship … the Fighting Irish went 2-5-4 against those squads … the Irish squared off against BIG EAST foes USF, Louisville and St. John’s twice each … a total of five BIG EAST schools received a berth to the NCAA Championship … St. John’s was the highest seeded team from the league as the Red Storm earned the No. 13 seed.

SHOOTING IT OUT … All three of Notre Dame’s BIG EAST Championship matches went to a penalty kick shootout … the Irish bested USF in penalty kicks, 5-4, in the quarterfinals after both teams were tied 2-2 following regulation and two overtime periods … the Irish defeated Louisville in a shootout, 4-3, in the semifinals after a scoreless draw … in the final, Notre Dame fell to St. John’s in a shootout, 5-3, following a 0-0 tie.

WORKING OVERTIME … Notre Dame’s past four matches have gone to overtime … that marks the first time the Fighting Irish have played four consecutive overtime games since the 1998 season when Notre Dame played in five straight contests that went to overtime.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS … Five of Notre Dame’s past eight matches have been decided by one goal … the other three games in that stretch were draws … the Fighting Irish have played a total of 11 one-goal games this season … the Irish are 6-5 in those contests.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM … Jeb Brovsky, a junior midfielder, Michael Thomas, a senior midfielder, and sophomore Aaron Maund, a sophomore defender, were named to the BIG EAST Championship all-tournament team.

DIKE NAMED BIG EAST OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR … Notre Dame senior forward Bright Dike was named the 2009 BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year … Dike, who was voted the conference’s preseason offensive player of the year, leads the league in points (23) and is tied for the lead in goals (10) … Dike is the second Notre Dame player ever to be tabbed as the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year … Joseph Lapira took home the honor in 2006.

IRISH HONORS … Six Notre Dame players garnered all-BIG EAST honors at the league’s annual awards banquet on Nov. 12 … joining Bright Dike, the league’s offensive player of the year, on the all-BIG EAST first team was Irish senior midfielder Michael Thomas … fellow senior Justin Morrow, a defender, was a second-team pick … junior forward Jeb Brovsky and sophomore defender Aaron Maund were selected to the third team … freshman midfielder Dillon Powers was named to the BIG EAST All-Rookie Team.

NOTRE DAME IN BIG EAST PLAY … Notre Dame owns an overall record of 91-53-18 (.617) in BIG EAST regular-season play since joining the conference in 1995 … the Irish have posted nine straight winning seasons within the conference, including this season’s 8-3-0 mark … the eight wins in BIG EAST play tied for the most ever for the Fighting Irish … Notre Dame also won eight BIG EAST matches in 2004 (8-1-1) and 2006 (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.

THOMAS NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN … Fighting Irish senior midfielder Michael Thomas has earned third-team Academic All-America honors from ESPN the Magazine and the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) … Thomas becomes the seventh player in program history to be selected as a CoSIDA Academic All-American … Notre Dame has produced an Academic All-American in four of the past five seasons.

IRONMAN … Notre Dame senior left back Justin Morrow has played in a team-best 66 consecutive games, including 52 straight starts.

COMING BACK … Despite falling behind USF by two goals, Notre Dame came back to force a 2-2 draw in their BIG EAST Championship quarterfinal match on Nov. 8 … it was the first time Notre Dame had come back from a two-goal deficit since Oct. 13, 2007 when the Irish fell behind Connecticut 2-0 before claiming a 3-2 lead … that match would end in a 3-3 tie.

DOUBLE DIGITS … Since head coach Bobby Clark took over the Fighting Irish program in 2001, he has steered the Irish to a double-digit win total in each of his nine seasons … Notre Dame currently is 10-7-4.

GOLDEN MOMENTS … Notre Dame has netted a golden goal three times this season … Bright Dike produced a game winner in the 110th minute against Providence on Oct. 10 … junior right back Bilal Duckett tallied a golden goal in the 97th minute versus Georgetown on Oct. 21 … Dike then delivered his second golden tally of the season when he scored in the 91st minute against Connecticut on Oct. 31.

SETTING THE PACE … Notre Dame is 6-1-1 this season when Bright Dike scores a goal … Dike leads the Irish in goals (10) and points (23) … the Irish are 5-0-1 when Michael Thomas nets a goal … Thomas is second on the Irish squad with six goals to go along with a team-high six assists.

AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS … Senior forward Bright Dike, the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year, leads the league with 23 points … Dike’s 10 goals ties him for the BIG EAST lead with Louisville’s Colin Rolfe.

CORNERING THE MARKET … The Fighting Irish have gained 39 more corner kicks (132-93) than their opponents … Notre Dame’s 132 corner kicks lead the BIG EAST.

FIRST TIMERS … Four Notre Dame players have scored their first career goal in recent matches … junior right back Bilal Duckett tallied the golden goal in the 97th minute in a 2-1 win at Georgetown on Oct. 21 … sophomore midfielder Michael Rose netted the lone goal (48th minute) in Notre Dame’s 1-0 win at Pittsburgh on Oct. 24 … sophomore midfielder Adam Mena scored the only Irish goal (37th minute) in a 2-1 setback against Michigan State on Oct. 28 … sophomore central defender Aaron Maund netted the equalizer in the 83rd minute in a 2-2 draw against USF in the BIG EAST Championship quarterfinals on Nov. 8.

SECOND HALF SUCCESS … Notre Dame has out scored its opponents 22-11 in the second half and overtime periods this season.

SHOOTING DOWN THE COMPETITION … Notre Dame has out shot 17 of its 21 opponents so far this season … the Irish hold a 305-210 advantage in shots, including 126-83 in shots on goal, over their opponents … Notre Dame’s 305 shots lead the BIG EAST.

NIGHT OWLS … Notre Dame is 5-1-2 this season when playing at night … last season, the Fighting Irish were 7-4-2 during night games.

TAKING DOWN A TOP-FIVE … The 2-1 overtime win against fifth-ranked Connecticut on Oct. 31 marked Notre Dame’s first victory over a top-five team since they defeated No. 5 USF 5-0 last season (Sept. 7, 2008).

TOUGH SLATE … Notre Dame faced four teams this season that were ranked in the top-five nationally at the time of the match … the Irish took on #3 Wake Forest (T, 1-1) and #1 St. John’s (L, 0-2) at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic (Sept. 4 & 6) … the back-to-back games against Wake Forest and St. John’s was the first time ever the Fighting Irish had faced back-to-back top-three teams … Notre Dame fell at #5 South Florida, 2-1, on Sept. 20 … the Fighting Irish took down #5 Connecticut, 2-1 in overtime, on Oct. 31 … Notre Dame is 3-3-4 this season versus teams ranked in the national top-25.

IRISH EXPLOSION … The four goals scored in the second half against Louisville on Sept. 25 were the most goals scored in a single period by the Irish since they netted four in the first half in a 5-0 win over USF last season (Sept. 7, 2008).

OFFENSE AT ALUMNI … Notre Dame has scored three or more goals three times this season at the brand new Alumni Stadium … those performances have occurred against Michigan (5-0), Seattle (3-0) and Louisville (4-0) … Notre Dame scored the first nine goals at the stadium before surrendering a score to New Mexico in the 38th minute during the game on Sept. 13 … the scoreless streak in the new venue reached 217:54.

MAUND AND POWERS AT U-20 WORLD CUP … Sophomore defender Aaron Maund and freshman midfielder Dillon Powers were members of the United States Under-20 National Team that recently competed at the U-20 World Cup in Egypt … the U.S. went 1-2 and finished in 17th place, one slot shy of advancing to the Round of 16 … Powers started the first contest of group competition, a 3-0 loss to Germany on Sept. 26, and played the entire first half … in a 4-1 win over Cameroon on Sept. 29, he came on in the 73rd minute and completed the game for the United States … Powers and Maund did not enter the final match of Group C play, a 3-0 loss to Korea Republic on Oct. 2 … Maund did not see match time during the tournament … Notre Dame and UCLA were the only two schools with multiple representatives on the team … the duo returned to the Irish for the match at Marquette on Oct. 7 … Notre Dame went 3-2 in their absence.

DIKE DEPOSITS HAT TRICK … Senior forward Bright Dike had a stellar start to the 2009 season as he registered the first hat trick of his career in a 5-0 win over Michigan … the hat trick was the first for a Notre Dame player since Dave Donohue scored three times against Marquette last season.

OFFENSIVE OPENER … Notre Dame’s five-goal outburst against Michigan in the season opener was the first for the Fighting Irish since a 5-0 triumph of USF on Sept. 7, 2008 … the five tallies are the most in a season opener for Notre Dame since a 5-0 victory over Villanova in 2001, which was head coach Bobby Clark’s first game with the Irish.

ALUMNI STADIUM … The 2009 season signifies a new era for Fighting Irish soccer as Notre Dame begins play in Alumni Stadium … the Irish opened the facility with a 5-0 victory over Michigan on Sept. 1 … the $5.7 million venue resides just east of the Joyce Center on the Notre Dame campus and features a natural grass field, lights, locker rooms, restrooms, concession areas and permanent seating for over 2,000 spectators … the lead benefactors for the facility are former Irish soccer players Tom Crotty and Rob Snyder.

ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOK … Jeb Brovsky’s goal in the 26th minute of the season-opening 5-0 win over Michigan was the first goal scored in Alumni Stadium … Michael Thomas collected the assist on the play.

POWERS EARNS NATIONAL HONORS … Freshman midfielder Dillon Powers was named the 2008-09 Gatorade Boys Soccer Player of the Year … in addition, he was selected as the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Co-Player of the Year in July.

RETURNING FIREPOWER … Notre Dame returned 38 of 41 goals scored from last season … leading the way was senior forward Bright Dike, who led all BIG EAST players in goals (12) and points (29) one year ago … Michael Thomas was the top scoring midfielder in the league with 21 points on eight goals and five assists … junior forward Jeb Brovsky is back after totaling five goals and six assists as a sophomore … seniors Dave Donohue (5g, 5a) and Justin Morrow (2g, 4a) registered 15 and eight points, respectively, one season ago … sophomore Brendan King and senior Tamba Samba chipped in two goals apiece for the Irish … King also added three assists.

COLLEGE SOCCER NEWS WATCH LISTS … Two Notre Dame freshmen were named to the College Soccer News `100 Freshmen To Keep An Eye On’ list for the 2009 season … midfielder/defender Danny O’Leary and midfielder Dillon Powers were selected to the list and are part of a very talented six-man freshman class for the Irish.

FRESHMAN CLASS NATIONALLY RANKED … Notre Dame’s freshman class was ranked ninth according to College Soccer News … Bob Novak (M), Danny O’Leary (M/D), Dillon Powers (M), Kyle Richard (M/F), Grant Van De Casteele (D) and Eric Tilley (M/D) make up the stellar class.

IRISH CAPTAINS … Senior midfielders Dave Donohue, Justin Morrow and Michael Thomas along with fifth-year senior midfielder/defender Cory Rellas were named team captains for the 2009 campaign … this is the second straight season in which Thomas has been an Irish captain, while the other three are first-time captains.

SEASON IN REVIEW … Last season, Notre Dame posted a 12-7-2 mark, including a 7-2-2 record in conference play, en route to capturing its second straight BIG EAST Blue Division title … the Fighting Irish garnered the 12th seed for the NCAA Championship … the Irish fell to Northwestern, 2-1, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Alumni Field … the Fighting Irish concluded the season ranked 16th in the final National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll … Notre Dame averaged 1.95 goals per game last season, while allowing 1.10 per contest … Bright Dike led the BIG EAST in goals (12) and total points (29) … the forward copped first team all-league and all-region honors in 2008 … central defender Matt Besler was named a first-team All-American and first team Academic All-American in addition to being tabbed as the NSCAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year … Besler became the highest MLS SuperDraft pick in program history as he was selected eighth overall by the Kansas City Wizards … the New York Red Bulls drafted his backline mate, Jack Traynor, with the 29th overall selection.

SIGN UP FOR IRISH ALERT … Go to und.com and sign up for Irish ALERT, a text messaging service designed to give fans up-to-the-minute game updates for all 26 varsity sports at Notre Dame … men’s soccer fans can sign up to receive scores after each half of every game.