Oct. 16, 2007
#12 Indiana at #4 Notre Dame
Wednesday, Oct. 17 • 7:00 p.m. (ET)
Alumni Field • Notre Dame, Ind.
TV: Comcast Local (Live)
Seton Hall at #4 Notre Dame
Sunday, Oct. 21 • 1:30 p.m. (ET)
Alumni Field • Notre Dame, Ind.
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Notre Dame will wrap up the home portion of its 2007 regular-season schedule with two matches this week. The fourth-ranked Irish will face No. 12 Indiana on Wednesday (Oct. 17) at 7:00 p.m. (ET). The match can be seen live on Comcast Local. BIG EAST foe Seton Hall will then come to Alumni Field for a match on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. (ET).
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH: The Notre Dame-Indiana match will be broadcast live on Comcast Local (Michigan) … it will be re-aired by the station at 6:00 a.m. (ET) on Friday, Oct. 19 and at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 21 … go to comcastlocal.com to see if the station is carried in your area … the game can also be seen tape-delayed on Comcast SportsNet (Chicago) on Thursday, Oct. 18 at 9:00 p.m. (ET) … go to chicago.comcastsportsnet.com for more information.
ABOUT THE IRISH: Notre Dame (8-2-3, 5-0-2) is coming off a 3-3 tie against No. 1 Connecticut on Saturday, Oct. 13 … the Irish overcame a 2-0 halftime deficit with three unanswered goals in the second period … senior forward Joseph Lapira notched a season-high two goals against the Huskies … Notre Dame saw its nine-game unbeaten streak come to an end with a 1-0 loss at Michigan State on Wednesday (Oct. 10) … the Irish went 7-0-2 during their unbeaten stretch, which was the program’s longest since an 11-game streak in 2004 … Notre Dame is unbeaten through its first seven BIG EAST games for the first time since joining the league in 1995 … Notre Dame is currently in second place in the BIG EAST Blue Division, just two points behind Connecticut … the Irish are averaging 1.46 goals per game, while allowing 0.80 per contest … the match against Connecticut marked the second time this season that Notre Dame had faced a top-ranked team … the Irish defeated No. 1 UCLA, 2-1 in overtime, in the season opener on Aug. 31 … the Irish have six starters and 14 letterwinners back from last season’s squad that went 15-6-2 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals for the first time in program history … head coach Bobby Clark is in his seventh season with the Irish … he has an overall record of 88-35-18 (.688) at Notre Dame.
IRISH LEADERS: Senior midfielder/defender Ryan Miller leads the team in goals (5) and points (13) … senior forward Joseph Lapira and junior defender Jack Traynor share the team lead in assists with four apiece … senior goalkeeper Chris Cahill has a 7-1-3 record with a 0.69 goals-against average and a .846 save percentage to go along with four shutouts.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS INDIANA: Notre Dame and Indiana will renew the instate rivalry with the 28th meeting on Wednesday … the Hoosiers hold a 21-5-1 advantage in the series … Notre Dame is 4-3-0 against Indiana in the Bobby Clark era … in their last meeting, the Fighting Irish claimed a thrilling 5-4 overtime victory in Bloomington, Ind. … Indiana is 10-2-0 all-time at Notre Dame … the Hoosiers captured a 3-0 victory in their last encounter with the Irish at Alumni Field during the 2005 campaign … this will be the seventh year in-a-row that both teams have met … the series began during the 1978 campaign, a 7-1 win for Indiana in Bloomington.
A CLASSIC PERFORMANCE: Notre Dame and Indiana put on quite a show during last season’s meeting, which occurred at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington, Ind. on Sept. 3, 2006 … Notre Dame was ranked 18th at the time of the match, while Indiana was eighth … the Fighting Irish held leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 4-3 before eventually claiming a 5-4 victory in overtime … Joseph Lapira tallied a career-high four goals, including the game winner in overtime, to establish an Indiana Classic record … the total was just one shy of the Notre Dame record of five … that match was the launching pad for Lapira’s remarkable campaign, which concluded with him winning the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy.
SCOUTING THE HOOSIERS: Indiana (8-4-1) is coming off a 1-0 victory over No. 6 Northwestern on Sunday (Oct. 14) … Daniel Kelly scored the game winner in the 26th minute … the Hoosiers have won five of their last six matches … Indiana is averaging 1.42 goals per game, while allowing 0.90 … Kevin Noschang has a team-high nine points on four goals and one assist … Eric Alexander also has four goals … Billy Weaver leads the Hoosiers with four assists … goalkeeper Chay Cain has started all 13 matches and has a 7-3-1 record with five shutouts … he carries a 0.75 goals-against average and a .855 save percentage … Indiana posted a 15-4-3 mark last season and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Santa Clara on penalty kicks, 5-4 … the Hoosiers returned eight starters and 18 letterwinners from that squad … Mike Freitag is in his fourth season with the Hoosiers … he has an overall record of 55-15-11 at the school.
A TOUGH STRETCH: The Indiana match will mark Notre Dame’s fourth encounter with a ranked team in the last five games … the Fighting Irish are 2-0-1 in the first three games … the Irish defeated then-No. 16 Michigan, 3-0, and followed that with a 1-0 victory over No. 13 West Virginia … Notre Dame tied No. 1 Connecticut 3-3 following a 1-0 loss to then-unranked Michigan State … the Spartans are now ranked sixth.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS SETON HALL: Notre Dame and Seton Hall will be squaring off for the 16th time on Sunday … the Irish own a 9-4-2 record against the Pirates, including a 2-0 win last season at Seton Hall … Joseph Lapira netted both goals in the victory … Notre Dame is 4-0-1 in the last four encounters with the Pirates … the last Seton Hall victory in the series came in the 2001 season, a 1-0 victory in South Orange, N.J. … the Fighting Irish are 4-1-1 all-time at home against the Pirates … Notre Dame has out scored Seton Hall 25-9 in the series … the Irish have shut out the Pirates on 10 occasions, including in each of the last five meetings.
SCOUTING THE PIRATES: Seton Hall enters its game against Adelphi on Wednesday with a 6-6-0 mark overall … the Pirates are 3-3-0 within the BIG EAST … the Pirates are currently in fifth place in the league’s Blue Division … Eliseo Giusfredi leads the team in goals (7), assists (7) and points (21) … Andrew Welker has five goals … Paul McHenry has registered 11 starts in goal and carries a 6-5-0 record … he has a 1.75 goals-against average and a .719 save percentage … Seton Hall returned seven starters and 14 letterwinners from a team that went 9-8-1 last season, including a 7-4-0 conference mark, which tied the Pirates for fourth in the division … Manfred Schellscheidt is in his 20th season at the helm of the Seton Hall program.
NOTRE DAME IN BIG EAST PLAY: Notre Dame owns an overall record of 74-48-14 (.596) in BIG EAST regular-season play since joining the conference in 1995 … the Irish have posted six straight winning seasons within the conference, including last season’s 8-3-0 record … it marked the second time that the Irish posted at least eight BIG EAST victories … Notre Dame won its only regular-season BIG EAST title in 2004 with an 8-1-1 record … the Fighting Irish captured BIG EAST Tournament crowns in 1996 and 2003.
IRISH THOUGHTS: Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark shares his thoughts on the Indiana match …
“You can’t play a more storied program than IU. It’s one of the games that we look forward to most each season. You know they’ll come in and compete. Any time you get a result against them you take a lot of credit in that. We know eachother very well because they play in our tournament at the beginning of the season and we play in theirs. They are very talented and this will be another huge game for us.”
NEXT UP: Notre Dame will hit the road for its final three regular-season games of the 2007 season … all three tilts are BIG EAST showdowns … first, the Fighting Irish will face Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 7:00 p.m. (ET) before traveling to Providence for a match on Sunday, Oct. 28 at 2:00 p.m. (ET) … the regular season will conclude at Georgetown on Saturday, Nov. 3 … game time against the Hoyas is slated for 12 noon (ET).
LAST TIME OUT: In an action-packed match between two of the nation’s top teams, No. 3 Notre Dame played No. 1 Connecticut to a 3-3 draw on Saturday, Oct. 13 at Alumni Field … Joseph Lapira scored two goals for the Fighting Irish, who overcame a 2-0 halftime deficit … Notre Dame came out strong in the first half and dominated play early … the Irish controlled the ball and nearly capitalized with crosses and corner kicks sent into the box … Connecticut was held silent in the opening half until O’Brian White netted his 15th goal of the season in the 36th minute off a feed from Ryan Cordeiro … the Huskies struck again eight minutes later as Euan Holden took a pass from Chukwudi Chijindu and put the ball into the back of the net … Toni Stahl also notched an assist on the play … the Fighting Irish rally began in the 53rd minute as Lapira was tripped up in the 18-yard box and awarded a penalty kick … the reigning M.A.C. Hermann Trophy winner delivered to cut the deficit in half … the re-energized Irish kept attacking and senior midfielder Ryan Miller netted the equalizer in the 60th minute as he deposited the rebound off a Jeb Brovsky shot that was saved … Notre Dame connected on its third unanswered goal in the 66th minute when Lapira headed in a cross from Jack Traynor … Miller also collected an assist on the goal, which was Lapira’s fourth of the campaign … the Huskies responded with an equalizer of their own from Chijindu with the assists going to Cordeiro and Akeem Priestley in the 72nd minute … Connecticut kept pressuring late in regulation but to no avail … after a scoreless first 10-minute overtime period, both teams had good looks early in the second overtime, yet neither squad could notch the golden goal … Notre Dame out shot Connecticut 20-15 for the match, while the Irish also held an 8-5 edge in corner kicks … senior goalkeeper Chris Cahill made four saves for the Fighting Irish, while Josh Ford had five stops for the Huskies.
COMING BACK: The Connecticut match marked the first time the Irish had scored three consecutive goals in a game they were trailing since Aug. 27, 2006 … in that contest, Notre Dame fell behind Creighton 1-0 before running off four straight goals.
BIG HALF: Notre Dame has produced a three-goal half in two of its last four matches … the Irish netted three goals in the first half of a 3-0 win over No. 16 Michigan on Oct. 3 … Notre Dame tallied three second-half goals in a 3-3 tie with No. 1 Connecticut on Oct. 13.
WEEKLY HONORS: Senior forward Joseph Lapira was named to the Top Drawer Soccer national team of the week on Monday, Oct. 15 for his two-goal effort against No. 1 Connecticut … Lapira was selected to the Top Drawer Soccer team of the week twice last season … Lapira was also on the BIG EAST weekly honor roll for his performance against the Huskies.
FACING #1, AGAIN: The 3-3 draw with Connecticut marked the second time this season that Notre Dame had squared off with a team ranked No. 1 at the time of the meeting … Notre Dame topped then-No. 1 UCLA, 2-1, in overtime during the season opener on Aug. 31 … the Fighting Irish are 1-5-1 when facing a top-ranked team since the 1990 season.
NO STREAKS: Following last week’s 1-0 loss at Michigan State, Notre Dame tied Connecticut, 3-3, on Saturday to up its streak of not losing consecutive matches … the Irish have not lost back-to-back regular-season games since the beginning of the 2001 season when they fell to No. 5 Furman, 3-2, in double-overtime and then lost 4-0 to No. 16 Clemson … both of those matches occurred at the Umbro/Spinx Furman Invitational in Greenville, S.C. … Notre Dame followed up this season’s only other loss, a 3-0 setback against Maryland, with a 3-0 win over Rhode Island.
SPREADING THE WEALTH: A total of 10 different Irish players have notched a goal this season … senior Ryan Miller leads the way with five tallies, while fellow senior Joseph Lapira is second with four … senior Kurt Martin along with sophomore Dave Donohue and freshman Jeb Brovsky are third with two goals apiece, while five other players have scored once … a total of 13 players have tallied at least one point … Miller has a team-best 13 points … Lapira and junior defender Jack Traynor both have a team-high four assists.
SHOOTING STARS: Notre Dame has out shot its opponents 230-155 this season … the Irish own a 114-53 advantage in shots during the first half and a 104-96 edge in the second period … Notre Dame has a 12-6 shot lead in overtime periods.
CORNERING THE MARKET: The Fighting Irish have a 77-41 advantage in corner kicks over their opponents, including a decisive 35-12 margin in first-half play … Notre Dame owns a 36-29 edge in the second half, while the Irish have out cornered the opposition 6-0 in overtime.
BLANKING THE COMPETITION: Notre Dame has posted six shutouts this season … Irish goalkeepers Chris Cahill and Andrew Quinn both saw action in a 3-0 win over Rhode Island … Quinn picked up the shutout against Marquette (1-0), while Cahill and the Irish defense held Rutgers (2-0) and Villanova (1-0) without a goal … Cahill notched a shutout against No. 16 Michigan in a 3-0 victory by making a season-high seven saves … he followed that with another blanking in a 1-0 win over No. 13 West Virginia.
SHOCKING SHUTOUTS: While the Irish defense has posted six shutouts this season, the Notre Dame offense has been held without a goal just twice in the past 27 matches … Notre Dame’s 3-0 loss to then-No. 7 Maryland on Sept. 2 marked the first time the Fighting Irish had been shut out since Sept. 20, 2006, a span of 15 games … that match was a 0-0 tie with Northern Illinois at home … that also signified the last time the Irish have been held scoreless at home, a current streak of 14 games … Notre Dame’s only other scoreless game this season was a 1-0 setback at Michigan State on Oct. 10 … the Irish have gone 17 regular-season BIG EAST matches without being shut out.
ROOKIE IMPACT: The Irish have had a significant impact from its 2007 freshman class … Jeb Brovsky is tied for third on the team with two goals and is tied for fourth in points with five … Matt Armstrong has started every game in the midfield and has notched one assist … Armstrong has filled the shoes of two-time first-team All-American Greg Dalby, who had a stellar four-year career with the Irish … Josh Thiermann and Steven Perry have combined to play in 14 games and have been valuable sparks off the bench.
TAKING DOWN A TOP-10: The victory over top-ranked UCLA on Aug. 31 gave Notre Dame a win over a top-10 team for the eighth straight season … Notre Dame took down three top-10 teams last season … the Irish topped both Creighton (4-1) and Indiana (5-4, OT) when those squads were ranked eighth nationally … Notre Dame bested No. 7 Maryland, 1-0, in double-overtime during the third round of the NCAA Tournament … that marked the first time the Irish beat three top-10 teams in a season since 2002.
HIGH MARKS: Notre Dame was ranked No. 2 in all four major polls (Soccer America, NSCAA, Soccer Times, College Soccer News) during the week of Sept. 24 … that marked the highest-ever ranking in program history.
PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF: Joseph Lapira opened the season with a three-point match in a 2-1 overtime win against No. 1 UCLA … he gave the Irish a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute and then assisted on Alex Yoshinaga’s golden goal in the 94th minute to give Notre Dame the victory … Lapira led all NCAA Division I men’s soccer players with 22 goals and 50 points last season.
IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Senior forward Joseph Lapira currently ranks in a three-way tie for sixth place on Notre Dame’s all-time goals list … he has 36 tallies, which ties him with Erich Braun (1999-02) and Mario Manta (1979-82) … Lapira is two goals away from cracking into the top five … Kevin Lovejoy (1978-80) is the program record-holder with 67 goals … Lapira’s 89 career points rank him ninth in program history … he is one behind Manta for eighth all-time … Lovejoy has that mark as well with 153 points.
BIG EAST ACCOLADES: Joseph Lapira was named the preseason BIG EAST offensive player of the year and junior defender Matt Besler joined Lapira on the all-BIG EAST preseason team … Lapira was the 2006 BIG EAST offensive player of the year.
LAPIRA NAMED TO M.A.C. HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST: Joseph Lapira was named to the 2007 Missouri Athletic Club (M.A.C.) Hermann Trophy Watch List … the trophy is presented annually to the top men’s soccer player in the United States … Lapira won the award last season as he led all NCAA Division I men’s players with 22 goals and 50 points … he became the first Notre Dame men’s player to receive the award … a panel of coaches from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) compiled the 29-man M.A.C. Hermann Trophy Watch List … Lapira will try to become the first back-to-back recipient of the most prestigious award in college soccer since Virginia’s Claudio Reyna took home the Hermann Trophy in 1992 and 1993.
NOTRE DAME PICKED SECOND IN BLUE DIVISION: Notre Dame was selected to finish second in the BIG EAST Blue Division for the 2007 season … the Irish garnered 102 points in voting by the league’s head coaches, while Connecticut received 105 points … Connecticut garnered 10 first-place votes in the Blue Division, while Notre Dame had four and West Virginia totaled three … St. John’s was tabbed to win the league’s Red Division followed by Rutgers and South Florida.
COLLEGE SOCCER NEWS WATCH LISTS: Joseph Lapira was selected to the College Soccer News Pre-Season All-America first team … the senior was not the only Irish student-athlete honored by the publication, as two incoming freshmen were named to the `100 Freshmen to Watch’ list for the 2007 season … (M) Matt Armstrong and (F) Josh Thiermann were selected to the list and are part of a very talented seven-man freshman class for the Irish.
FRESHMAN CLASS NATIONALLY RANKED: Notre Dame’s seven-man freshman class was ranked 15th nationally by College Soccer News … (M) Matt Armstrong, (M) Jeb Brovsky, (D) Bilal Duckett, (M) Greg Klazura, (F) Andrew Luttrell, (F) Steven Perry and (F) Josh Thiermann make up the talented crop of Fighting Irish rookies.
IRISH ON THE SMALL SCREEN: Notre Dame will have four of its regular-season matches televised … the Fighting Irish played Rutgers on Fox Soccer Channel on Sept. 21 in Piscataway, N.J. … two Irish home games will also be televised … Notre Dame and Michigan appeared on Comcast Local on Wednesday, Oct. 3 and the Irish’s tilt against Indiana, set for Wednesday, Oct. 17, will also appear on Comcast Local at 7:00 p.m. (ET) … a match at Providence on Oct. 28 will be carried by Cox Sports Television.
STAY UP-TO-DATE ON NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS: To stay updated on all 26 varsity sports at Notre Dame you can log on to the official Notre Dame athletics web site at und.com or you can call the official Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000 … to access men’s soccer information on the hotline all you need to do is dial 4 from the main menu and then dial 1.
FOLLOW ALL ND HOME GAMES ONLINE: All Notre Dame home games will feature livestats available through und.com, the official web site of all 26 varsity athletic programs at the University … simply go to the men’s soccer page and click on `Schedule’ at the top of the page and find the game that is being played that day and click on `Gametracker’ to follow the game for free.
WATCH THE IRISH ONLINE: Go to und.com to watch a live broadcast of the Notre Dame men’s soccer games … all of the remaining home games, except for the Indiana contest since that will be aired by Comcast Local, will be available free of charge on und.com … simply find the `Live Events’ tab on the front page and find that day’s game to watch.
SIGN UP FOR IRISH ALERT TEXT MESSAGE SERVICE: Go to und.com to 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.