Sept. 6, 2016
by Tony Jones
NSCAA RANKINGS (as of Sept. 6)
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — For the seventh time in the last four seasons, the University of Notre Dame men’s soccer team has assumed the number one position in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Division I National Top 25 poll. The Irish received 15 first-place votes (606 voting points) to move from fourth to first in the most recent NSCAA rankings that were released on Tuesday.
LIGHT UP #1
âš½️@NDMenSoccer sits atop the College Soccer Rankings after moving to 4-0 on the year. pic.twitter.com/TcR0s3Iqjk
– The Fighting Irish (@FightingIrish) September 6, 2016
No. 1 Notre Dame opened the 2016 season with a 4-0-0 record after sweeping the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament on Aug. 26-28 at Alumni Stadium, and the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic on Sept. 2-4 at Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington. Key Notre Dame victories have included a 1-0 shutout of New Mexico (Aug. 28), a 2-1 triumph in double overtime against defending NCAA champion and No. 15 Stanford (Sept. 2), and a 5-0 clean sheet in the most recent Irish start against No. 22 California (Sept. 4).
After the first two weeks of the 2016 campaign, Notre Dame ranks in the NCAA Division I soccer top 10 in total goals scored (12, second), scoring offense (3.0 goals per game, seventh) and total points (32, eighth), adding top 10 totals in save percentage (.947, seventh) and goals-against average (0.24, eighth).
Notre Dame was previously recognized as the top team in the NSCAA poll three times in its national championship 2013 season (Nov. 5, Nov. 12 and final), and three times as the defending NCAA champion in 2014 (preseason, Sept. 30 and Oct. 21). A total of eight Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) teams, Notre Dame, Clemson (No. 2), North Carolina (No. 3), Syracuse (No. 6), Virginia Tech (No. 15), Virginia (No. 17), Wake Forest (No. 21) and Boston College (No. 25), were included in the Sept. 6 edition of the NSCAA top 25 poll.
No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 15 Virginia Tech are scheduled to open ACC play on Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. (ET) inside Alumni Stadium. Visit und.com/tickets or call the Murnane Family Ticket Office at 574-631-7356 for more information or to purchase tickets.
–ND–
Tony Jones, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2012 and coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame softball and men’s soccer programs. A native of Jamestown, New York, Jones is a 2011 graduate of St. Bonaventure University, and prior to arriving at Notre Dame held positions at the University of Louisiana Monroe and with the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills.