Oct. 21, 2010
NOTRE DAME (7-4-3, 4-2-0) at
#5 CONNECTICUT (10-1-3, 4-0-2)
Friday, Oct. 22 – 8:00 p.m. (ET)
Joseph J. Morrone Stadium – Storrs, Conn.
Connecticut Leads Series 10-7-2
TV: Fox Soccer Channel
Play-by-Play: Dean Linke, Analyst: Keith Tabatznik
Live Stats: GameTracker on UND.com
SETTING THE STAGE … The Notre Dame men’s soccer team will conclude its three-game BIG EAST road trip on Friday at No. 5 Connecticut. Kickoff against the Huskies is slated for 8:00 p.m. (ET) at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium in Storrs, Conn. The match will be aired live on Fox Soccer Channel. Dean Linke will handle play-by-play duties, while Keith Tabatznik will serve as the analyst. The Fighting Irish are 7-4-3 overall and 4-2-0 in BIG EAST play. The Huskies are 10-1-3 and 4-0-2 in league action.
HOW TO FOLLOW … In addition to the broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel, live stats are available via GameTracker on UND.com … fans can sign up for `Irish Alert’ on UND.com to receive text message score updates … updates and results can also be found on Twitter at UND_com.
IRISH AT A GLANCE … Notre Dame (7-4-3, 4-2-0) captured a 3-1 win at Seton Hall on Tuesday … senior forward Steven Perry leads the Irish in goals (9) and points (21) … freshman forward Harrison Shipp has a team-best six assists … the Irish are averaging 1.50 goals per game, while allowing 0.93 per contest … fifth-year senior goalkeeper Philip Tuttle, who is returning from a knee injury suffered in the summer, has started the past seven matches … Tuttle has a 4-2-1 record with a 1.25 goals-against average and a .719 save percentage … junior Will Walsh has made seven starts in goal and boasts a 3-2-2 record with four shutouts … Walsh has a 0.54 goals-against and a .875 save percentage … head coach Bobby Clark is in his 10th season with the Irish … he has a 124-57-29 (.660) record during his Notre Dame tenure, which has included a trip to the NCAA tournament each season … this is Clark’s 24th season as a college head coach … he has a combined record of 277-120-54 (.674) during his career, which included stops at Dartmouth (1985-93) and Stanford (1996-2000).
THE CONNECTICUT SERIES … Friday will mark the 20th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Connecticut … the Huskies own a 10-7-2 edge in the series … three of the last four meetings have gone to overtime … last season, Notre Dame topped Connecticut 2-1 in overtime at Alumni Stadium … the Irish are 2-7 all-time at Connecticut … the Huskies captured a 1-0 overtime victory during the last meeting in Storrs, which occurred during the 2008 campaign … the first meeting in the series took place during the 1986 season at Connecticut … the Irish won that match in overtime, 2-1 … that was the only contest between the two schools prior to Notre Dame joining the BIG EAST Conference in 1995.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES … Connecticut (10-1-3, 4-0-2) defeated West Virginia 2-0 on Tuesday … the Huskies also have defeated USF (4-0), Seton Hall (4-0) and Providence (2-0) in league play … the Huskies tied Marquette (1-1) and St. John’s (0-0) … Connecticut is riding a four-game unbeaten streak following its lone loss, a 1-0 setback at Maryland … the Huskies are averaging 2.43 goals per game, while allowing 0.29 per contest … Connecticut is 7-0-1 at home this season … junior midfielder Tony Cascio leads UConn in goals (9) and points (23) … sophomore forward Carlos Alvarez has a team-high 12 assists … senior Josh Ford has all 14 decisions in goal … Ford has a 0.29 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage with eight shutouts … the Huskies went 11-4-4 last season and fell to Monmouth in a penalty kick shootout following a scoreless draw in the first round of the NCAA tournament … Connecticut captured the 2009 BIG EAST Blue Division crown with an 8-2-1 league mark … the Huskies returned eight starters and 11 letter winners from that squad … head coach Ray Reid is in his 14th season at the helm of the UConn program.
THE LAST TIME … The Fighting Irish defeated Connecticut 2-1 in overtime last season at Notre Dame … Bright Dike scored the game winner in the 91st minute … Mike Pezza gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute … Michael Thomas netted the equalizer for the Irish in the 28th minute … Notre Dame goalkeeper Philip Tuttle made one save to pick up the win … Josh Ford had six saves for the Huskies … Notre Dame out shot Connecticut 13-7 … the Irish also had four more corner kicks (6-2).
BLUE DIVISION BATTLE … Connecticut enters Friday’s match in second place in the BIG EAST Blue Division with 14 points (4-0-2), while Notre Dame is in third place with 12 points (4-2-0) … Georgetown leads the division with 15 points (5-1-0) … Notre Dame and UConn have combined to win the Blue Division in each of the past three seasons … the Irish and Huskies tied for the crown in 2007 … Notre Dame won it outright in 2008, while UConn finished second … last season, the Huskies claimed the division and the Irish were the runner-up.
ROAD TRIP … The Fighting Irish have spent the past week on the road during the University’s fall break … Notre Dame departed for Louisville on Friday (Oct. 15) and fell to the Cardinals, 2-0, the following day … the Irish then set out for New Jersey … Notre Dame topped Seton Hall 3-1 on Tuesday … the Fighting Irish will head back to South Bend, Ind. on Saturday after taking on Connecticut on Friday … when the trip is complete, Notre Dame will have played five of its previous six matches away from home … the Fighting Irish are 2-2-1 on the road this season.
IRISH ON FRIDAY’S … Notre Dame is 1-1-1 this season when playing on Friday.
GOOD PERFORMANCE AGAINST THE PIRATES … Notre Dame used three different goal scorers in Tuesday’s 3-1 win at Seton Hall … senior forward Steven Perry tallied his team-best ninth goal of the season in addition to collecting an assist … junior midfielders Michael Rose and Brendan King also scored for the Irish … it was King’s second goal of the season, while it was the first for Rose … freshman forward Harrison Shipp notched two assists to move his team-leading assist total to six for the season.
PERRY PERFORMING … Senior forward Steven Perry leads the Irish in goals (9) and points (21) … both of those figures are single-season career-high totals for Perry … he has scored a goal in six of the past eight matches, including a three-point effort (1g, 1a) in Tuesday’s win at Seton Hall … in those eight games, Perry has notched 17 points on seven goals and three assists … Perry scored two goals in a 4-1 win over Marquette on Oct. 13 … that matched a single-game career-high goal total for the senior … Perry also netted two scores in a 2-0 win over Drake earlier this season … he ranks in a tie for first (with Connecticut’s Tony Cascio) among all BIG EAST players in goals and is third in points … Perry’s four game-winning goals this season rank him in a tie for first (also with Cascio) among all BIG EAST players in that category.
HARRISON GIVING A HELPING HAND … Freshman forward Harrison Shipp leads Notre Dame in assists with six … that ranks him in a tie for second among all BIG EAST players in that category … in his first career start, he assisted on Notre Dame’s first three goals of the game in a 4-1 win over Marquette (Oct. 13) … Shipp dished out two assists in Tuesday’s 3-1 triumph of Seton Hall … Shipp has started the past three matches.
NOTRE DAME IN BIG EAST PLAY … Notre Dame owns an overall record of 95-55-17 (.620) in BIG EAST regular-season play since joining the conference in 1995 … the Irish have posted nine straight winning seasons within the league, including last season’s 8-3 mark … the eight wins in BIG EAST play in 2009 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.
CLARK IN THE CONFERENCE … Head coach Bobby Clark has steered the Irish to a winning record within BIG EAST Conference play during all nine of his seasons at Notre Dame … last Saturday’s match at Louisville was Clark’s 100th BIG EAST regular-season game as the Notre Dame head coach … Clark has a 67-24-10 (.713) BIG EAST mark during his Notre Dame tenure, which began in 2001 … his Irish teams have captured three regular-season BIG EAST titles and two BIG EAST tournament championships.
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE … Notre Dame is 5-1-1 at home this season … the Irish have out scored their opponents 14-5 in games played at Alumni Stadium this season.
FIRST HALF OFFENSE … The three first-half goals against Marquette on Oct. 13 marked the first time the Irish have scored three goals in an opening half since they deposited four first-period tallies against USFâ⒬ˆon Sept. 7, 2008.
IN THE CLUTCH … Steven Perry has netted some big goals for the Irish this season … the senior forward scored the lone tally (70th minute) in a 1-0 win over St. John’s (Sept. 25) … Perry then deposited the equalizer in the 79th minute in a 1-1 draw with Northwestern (Sept. 29) … Perry put home the game winner in the 85th minute in a 2-1 triumph of Providence (Oct. 3) … Perry tallied a career-high two goals in a 2-0 victory over Drake (Sept. 10) … he matched that total with two tallies in a 4-1 win over Marquette (Oct. 13) … Perry has four game-winning goals this season.
SECOND HALF SUCCESS … Notre Dame has out-scored its opponents 14-7 in the second half this season … the Fighting Irish are 4-1-3 this season when tied at halftime.
TUTTLE RETURNS … Fifth-year senior goalkeeper Philip Tuttle returned to the Fighting Irish lineup on Sept. 29 against Northwestern after missing the first seven games of the campaign with a knee injury he suffered while training during the summer … in addition to missing the first seven matches of this season, Tuttle did not play in Notre Dame’s final three contests last year after breaking his thumb against Louisville in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship … Tuttle remained in that match despite the injury and helped the Irish advance in a penalty kick shootout … this season, Tuttle has a 4-2-1 record with a 1.25 goals-against average and a .719 save percentage … for his career, Tuttle is 13-8-3 with seven shutouts to go along with a 0.99 goals-against average and a .731 save percentage.
CORNERING THE MARKET … Notre Dame has gained 15 more corner kicks (100-85) than its opponents this season … the Irish have had more corner kicks than their opponents in eight of 14 matches this season … Notre Dame’s high-water mark for corner kicks in a game this season was 13 versus California … the Irish rank second among all BIG EAST teams in corner kicks … Pittsburgh is first with 105.
SHOOTING DOWN THE COMPETITION … The Fighting Irish have out shot their competition 256-194 this season, including a 101-66 advantage in shots on goal … Notre Dame leads all BIG EAST teams in shots and shots per game (18.3).
BROVSKY BURRIES TWO MORE … Senior midfielder Jeb Brovsky gave the Irish a 1-0 lead in back-to-back 2-1 victories over Providence (Oct. 3) and Indiana (Oct. 6) … Brovsky leads all current Notre Dame players with 13 career goals and 12 career assists.
MAUND MAKING A DIFFERENCE … Junior central defender Aaron Maund is the only Notre Dame player to have played every minute on the pitch so far this season … he has anchored the backline and has helped the Irish produce a 0.93 goals-against average and limit opponents to 4.7 shots on goal per game … in addition, he has scored one goal this season … Maund was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 27 and was selected to the league’s weekly honor roll on Sept. 13 … Maund has started all 53 matches in which he has played during his Irish career.
HOLDING THE LEAD … The Fighting Irish are 7-0 this season when they score first … Notre Dame is 0-4-1 when its opponent nets the first goal.
TOPDRAWER RANKINGS … Four Notre Dame players are ranked among the National Top 100 upperclassmen according to TopDrawerSoccer.com … Aaron Maund (Jr./D) is ranked 19th, while Dillon Powers (So./M) is 32nd … Jeb Brovsky (Sr./F) is 46th and Steven Perry (Sr./F) is 93rd … Notre Dame forward/midfielder Harrison Shipp is 37th in the TopDrawerSoccer freshman rankings … both rankings are updated weekly.
LOSE THE SHOES … At halftime of the Notre Dame-Providence match on Oct. 3, the championship game of Notre Dame’s `Lose the Shoes’ tournament was held … the proceeds from the 3-on-3 barefoot soccer tournament benefited Grassroot Soccer, a South Africa-based non-governmental organization that integrates the cross-cultural appeal of soccer with evidence-based HIV prevention and life skills programs that arm African youth with the knowledge, skills, and support to live HIV free … Tommy Clark, the eldest son of Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark, is a cofounder of Grassroot Soccer … in the fall of 2006, Dartmouth College held the first ever `Lose the Shoes’ tournament and since then, over 80 `Lose the Shoes’ tournaments have raised almost $150,000 … Notre Dame held its first `Lose the Shoes’ tournament last year … the semifinals of this year’s tournament were held at halftime of the Notre Dame-St. John’s women’s game on Oct. 3 … the preliminary games of the tournament took place on Oct. 2 on Notre Dame’s South Quad.
CLEAN SHEETS … Junior goalkeeper Will Walsh has posted four shutouts in his seven starts this season … Walsh saw a career-best scoreless streak of 357 minutes come to an end when Cal Poly scored with six seconds remaining in the 5-1 Irish victory on Sept. 12 … Walsh had not seen game action prior to this season.
TOUGH SLATE … The Irish have another challenging schedule this season … Notre Dame has five teams on its 2010 slate that are ranked in the latest NSCAA top-25 poll … Louisville (2), Connecticut (5), UCLA (11), California (12), and Michigan State (16) are the Irish opponents that appear in the poll … Notre Dame is 0-3-1 against those squads so far this season … the Fighting Irish tied California (0-0) … Notre Dame fell to UCLA (1-0), Michigan State (2-0) and Louisville (2-0) … Notre Dame plays at Connecticut on Friday.
EARLY SEASON OFFENSE … The five goals scored in the 5-1 win over Cal Poly (Sept. 12) marked the fourth time in the past five seasons that Notre Dame has tallied five goals in one of its first four matches of the season … last year, the Irish bested Michigan 5-0 in the season opener … in 2008, Notre Dame topped USF 5-0 in the fourth game of the campaign … in the fourth contest of the 2006 season, the Fighting Irish bested Indiana 5-4 in overtime.
IRISH EXPLOSION … The five goals scored in the second half against Cal Poly on Sept. 12 were the most goals scored in a single period by the Fighting Irish since they netted five in the first half during a 5-0 win over Villanova on Oct. 23, 2002 … it marked the most goals scored in a second half since depositing seven in a 7-1 triumph of Western Michigan on Oct. 14, 1997.
ALL OVER THE MAP … Notre Dame’s 29-man roster boasts student-athletes from 18 different states … the state represented the most on the Irish roster is Illinois, which is home to six Notre Dame players … Brendan King (Naperville), Greg Klazura (Rockford), Craig Krzyskowski (Western Springs), Bob Novak (Homer Glen), Danny O’Leary (Naperville) and Harrison Shipp (Lake Forest) all hail from the Prairie State … next in line is Texas, which has supplied the Irish with four players on this year’s squad.
BROVSKY A SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST … Forward/midfielder Jeb Brovsky has been named one of 10 finalists for the 2010 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in the men’s soccer division … to be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – classroom, character, community and competition … the finalists were chosen by a media committee from the list of 30 candidates … nationwide fan voting is underway to determine the winner … fans are encouraged to vote via the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award website (seniorclassaward.com) through November 14 … fan votes will be combined with media and coaches votes to determine the winner … the award will be announced during the 2010 NCAA Men’s College Cup championships in early December.
PRESEASON ACCOLADES … Aaron Maund (Jr./D) and Dillon Powers (So./M) were named Soccer America Preseason All-Americans … Notre Dame was one of five schools with multiple representatives on the 25-man Soccer America Preseason All-America Team … Akron had four players on the squad, while Virginia, North Carolina and Tulsa joined the Irish with two apiece.
MORE HONORS FOR MAUND AND POWERS … Fighting Irish junior Aaron Maund, a central defender, was named the 2010 BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in a vote by the league’s head coaches … Irish sophomore Dillon Powers, a midfielder, joined Maund on the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team.
IRISH PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN DIVISION … Notre Dame was picked to finish second in the BIG EAST Blue Division, while Connecticut was tabbed to win the division … the Huskies received 12 first-place votes among the eight Blue Division squads, while the Irish garnered four … St. John’s was picked to win the Red Division … the league’s 16 head coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams.
CAPTAIN KEEPER … Fifth-year senior goalkeeper Philip Tuttle is Notre Dame’s lone captain for the 2010 campaign … this is Tuttle’s first season as a captain.
POWERS PACES TEAM USA … Sophomore Dillon Powers helped the United States Under-20 national team capture the Milk Cup Tournament in early August … Powers was named the MVP of the Milk Cup, which is an international youth soccer tournament held annually in Northern Ireland … the midfielder earned a start in two of the three matches as the U.S. posted a 3-0 record.
ROOKIE RANKINGS … Notre Dame’s freshman class was ranked ninth according to College Soccer News … Leon Brown (F), Kyle Craft (M), Adam LaPlaca (GK), Luke Mishu (D), Andrew O’Malley (D), Alex Priede (F), Harrison Shipp (M/F) and Patrick Wall (GK) make up the stellar class.
A GREAT NIGHT FOR GRASSROOT … Notre Dame held its annual exhibition game to benefit Grassroot Soccer on Aug. 23 against UIC … over 2,000 fans packed into Alumni Stadium to watch the Irish defeat the Flames, 3-2 … a grand total of $3,000 was raised for Grassroot Soccer, an international AIDS awareness and education organization that reaches youth in Africa through soccer clinics … $1,000 worth of donations were received at the gate and during the match … head coach Bobby Clark, whose son Tommy is the founder and CEO of the organization, and the Notre Dame men’s soccer camp donated $2,000.
LOOKING BACK … 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 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.
PURCHASE YOUR IRISH SOCCER TICKETS … To purchase a season pass or single-game tickets, call the Notre Dame ticket office at (574) 631-7356, visit und.com/tickets or stop by the Notre Dame ticket office inside Purcell Pavilion … tickets can also be purchased at Alumni Stadium on gamedays.
THE ROAD TO RED BULL … The BIG EAST and Red Bull New York have joined forces with a three-year partnership for the Conference’s men’s soccer championship to be held at the new state-of-the-art Red Bull Arena through the 2012 tournament … the soccer-specific facility in Harrison, N.J., is the new home of the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer (MLS) … the stadium opened in the spring of 2010 … the BIG EAST will hold its semifinal and championship games at the venue, along with team practices before each day of competition, beginning this season … the dates of the championships over the next three years are: 2010 – Nov. 12 & 14; 2011 – Nov. 11 & 13 and 2012 – Nov. 9 & 10 … for more information, including how to buy tickets, go to bigeastsoccer.com.