Sept. 9, 2010
#22 DRAKE (1-1-0) at
NOTRE DAME (0-1-1)
Friday, Sept. 10 – 7:30 p.m. (ET)
Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament
Alumni Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
Notre Dame Leads Series 2-0-0
Live Audio Broadcast and Gametracker on UND.com
CAL POLY (1-1-0) at
NOTRE DAME (0-1-1)
Sunday, Sept. 12 – 2:00 p.m. (ET)
Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament
Alumni Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
First Meeting
Live Audio Broadcast and Gametracker on UND.com
SETTING THE STAGE … Notre Dame will play host to the ninth annual Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament at Alumni Stadium on Sept. 10 and 12. No. 18 Indiana and Cal Poly will get things underway at 5:00 p.m. (ET) on Friday, Sept. 10. Notre Dame will then face No. 22 Drake at 7:30 p.m. Indiana and Drake will meet at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 12, while the Irish will face Cal Poly at 2:00 p.m. in the tournament’s final match.
FOLLOW THE GAMES … Fans can follow the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament via the tournament page on UND.com http://www.und.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/10-msoccer-berticellimemorial-tournament.html … live stats for all four matches will be available through Gametracker on UND.com … both Notre Dame games will feature a live audio broadcast and in-game blog on UND.com … fans can also 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.
ABOUT THE IRISH … Notre Dame opened the season by going 0-1-1 at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic … the Irish fell to No. 5 UCLA 1-0 and then played Cal to a scoreless draw … junior midfielders Chris Sutton and Michael Rose were named to the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic all-tournament team … junior goalkeeper Will Walsh played all 200 minutes in goal and surrendered just one goal … prior to the season, junior central defender Aaron Maund was voted the BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year by the league’s head coaches …Maund was joined on the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team by his sophomore teammate Dillon Powers, a midfielder … Maund and Powers also earned preseason All-America honors from Soccer America … the Irish returned five starters and 12 letter winners from last season’s squad that posted an 11-8-4 record head coach Bobby Clark is in his 10th season with the Irish … he has a 117-54-27 (.659) record during his Notre Dame tenure.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY … This will mark the ninth year in which the Fighting Irish have hosted a tournament in honor of the former Notre Dame men’s soccer head coach Mike Berticelli … Berticelli coached the Fighting Irish from 1990-99 before passing away suddenly in January of 2000 … he posted a record of 104-80-19 during his 10-year stint at Notre Dame.
IRISH HISTORY IN THE ‘BERT’ … Notre Dame is 10-2-4 all-time in the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament … the Irish have won the tournament on three occasions (2003, 2005, 2008) … Notre Dame finished second at last season’s tournament … the Irish defeated Seattle 3-0 and fell to New Mexico, 2-1 in overtime … here is a glance at the previous tournaments …
Year-Order of Finish
2009-Indiana, New Mexico, Notre Dame, Seattle
2008-Notre Dame, Dartmouth, Indiana, South Florida
2007-Indiana, Notre Dame, Northern Illinois, Rhode Island
2006-Indiana, UAB, Notre Dame, Creighton
2005-Notre Dame, Indiana, Saint Louis, Boston U.
2004-Indiana, Notre Dame, Cal State Fullerton, Evansville
2003-Notre Dame, Akron, Fresno State, Indiana
2002-Bradley, Notre Dame, Furman, Cornell
IRISH AGAINST THE BULLDOGS … Friday will be the second meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Drake … the Fighting Irish have won the two previous encounters with the Bulldogs … the two schools last met in 1987 with Notre Dame coming away with a 2-0 home victory … the Irish claimed a 4-2 decision at Drake in 1978.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS … Drake will bring a 1-1 record into Friday’s showdown with Notre Dame … the Bulldogs opened the season on Sept. 3 with a 1-0 win at Michigan … senior forward Kenan Malicevic netted the goal against the Wolverines … Drake dropped a 1-0 overtime decision at Oakland on Sept. 5 … junior goalkeeper Jordan Kadlec has played every minute and carries a 0.50 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage with 13 saves … Drake advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2009 NCAA Tournament before falling at North Carolina, 2-1 … the Bulldogs finished the 2009 campaign with a 16-7-2 record … Drake finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 6-3-1 record … the Bulldogs returned five starters and 14 letter winners from last season’s squad … head coach Sean Holmes is in his 13th season at Drake … he has a 104-103-24 record at the school.
FIRST TIME FOR IRISH, NOT CLARK … Sunday will be the first meeting between Notre Dame and Cal Poly on the pitch … Fighting Irish head coach Bobby Clark has faced Cal Poly three times, posting a 2-1 record.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS … Cal Poly is 1-1 on the season … the Mustangs opened the 2010 campaign with a 1-0 victory at Denver before falling at Air Force, 2-1 in overtime … sophomore Chris Gaschen (M/F) scored against Denver, while junior Tim White (M/F) netted the goal against Air Force … junior Patrick McLain has played every minute in goal and carries a 0.96 goals-against average with a .882 save percentage and has 15 saves … Cal Poly went 8-10-2 last season, which included a 6-3-1 record in the Big West Conference … the Mustangs returned six starters and 18 letter winners from that squad … head coach Paul Holocher is in his fifth season at Cal Poly … he carries a 38-29-16 record at the school.
QUOTING CLARK … Irish head coach Bobby Clark shares his thoughts on the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament …
“This is always a special weekend for remembering Mike Berticelli. We get to remember all the great things he did for the Notre Dame soccer program.” “We’ll be playing two very good teams. Drake had a superbly successful season last year as they made it to the NCAA quarterfinals. Cal Poly also had a terrific season last year. This will be our third game against a team from California this year and hopefully the third time is a charm to get a win.” “Also with Indiana in the tournament, it’ll make for a great weekend of soccer. If people want to see good soccer, Alumni Stadium will be the place to be this weekend.”
UP NEXT … The Fighting Irish will encounter two Big Ten Conference teams next weekend … Notre Dame will travel to Michigan on Friday, Sept. 17 for a 7:30 p.m. (ET) kickoff … the Irish will play host to Michigan State at 2:00 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, Sept. 19.
OPENING WEEKEND … Notre Dame posted a 0-1-1 record at last weekend’s adidas/IU Credit Union Classic … the Irish finished fourth at the tournament, while Cal won the tournament and Indiana and UCLA placed third and fourth, respectively … Notre Dame fell to UCLA 1-0 in the first day of the event in Bloomington, Ind. … the Irish played host to Cal during the second day of the event … the Irish and Golden Bears played to a scoreless draw.
DELIGHTFUL DEBUT … Junior goalkeeper Will Walsh surrendered just one goal in 200 minutes of play during the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic … he made nine saves over the course of two matches … Walsh had five saves and allowed a single goal in a 1-0 setback to No. 5 UCLA in his first career game action … he had four saves to earn his first career shutout in a 0-0 tie against Cal.
SOLID STAT SHEET … Despite coming out of the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic with a 0-1-1 record, Notre Dame owned the stat sheet by out shooting and gaining more corner kicks in both of its matches … the Irish out shot UCLA 19-14 and Cal 28-16 … Notre Dame earned six more corner kicks than both UCLA (10-4) and Cal (13-7).
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.
BROVSKY A LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE … Forward Jeb Brovsky has been named one of 30 candidates 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 list of 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot … ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select a candidate that best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
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.
TWO ON FRESHMAN LIST … Two Notre Dame freshmen were named to the College Soccer News `100 Freshmen To Keep An Eye On’ list for the 2010 season … goalkeeper Adam LaPlaca and defender Andrew O’Malley were selected to the list and are part of a very talented eight-man freshman class for the Irish.
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.
TOUGH SLATE … The Irish have another challenging schedule this season … Notre Dame has nine teams on its 2010 slate that are ranked in the latest NSCAA top-25 poll … Connecticut (10), Louisville (13), UCLA (17), Indiana (18), California (19), Georgetown (20), Drake (22), Michigan State (23) and St. John’s (25) are the Irish opponents that appear in the poll.
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.