Sept. 20, 2006
Wednesday, Sept. 20
Northern Illinois vs. #21 Notre Dame
7:00 p.m. • Notre Dame, Ind.
Saturday, Sept. 23
Pittsburgh vs. #21 Notre Dame
7:00 p.m. • Notre Dame, Ind.
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Notre Dame returns home following a two-game road trip, which saw the Irish go 1-1-0 last weekend. The Fighting Irish will host a non-conference match against Northern Illinois on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 7:00 p.m. at Alumni Field. Pittsburgh will then come to town for a BIG EAST clash on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 7:00 p.m. The Fighting Irish carry a 4-3-1 record and are ranked 21st in the Soccer America rankings.
ABOUT THE IRISH: Notre Dame went 1-1-0 during a two-game BIG EAST road trip this past weekend … the Fighting Irish are 4-3-1 overall and 2-2-0 in BIG EAST play … Notre Dame defeated Louisville 2-0 on Friday evening (Sept. 15) … junior forward Joseph Lapira netted both Irish goals in the match … he now has two multiple-goal games this season, with the first being a four-goal effort against Indiana (Sept. 3) … Lapira leads the team with seven goals this season … the junior also has a team-high 15 points … his seven tallies matches a personal single-season best mark, which he achieved last year with a team-high seven goals … senior goalkeeper Chris Cahill collected the shutout in his hometown against the Cardinals … the blanking was his second of the season and the 10th of his career … he made four saves on the night … Notre Dame is now 6-0-0 against Louisville all-time … the Irish dropped a 2-1 decision to Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 17) … senior forward Justin McGeeney netted the lone goal for Notre Dame in the match … he is second on the team with four goals … senior midfielder Nate Norman collected his team-best third assist on the tally … Notre Dame is now 1-3-0 all-time versus Cincinnati … Cahill, a senior, has a 3-2-0 mark, while the sophomore Quinn is 1-1-1 … the Irish were picked by the BIG EAST coaches to place second in the league’s Blue Division, behind Connecticut … Bobby Clark is in his sixth season at the helm of the Fighting Irish program … he has a 69-30-14 mark overall at Notre Dame and has guided the Irish to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including two trips to the round of 16 … the Irish made the tournament’s Sweet 16 last season.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Wednesday will be the second meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Northern Illinois … the Huskies won the only other encounter, 2-0, during the 1994 campaign in DeKalb, Ill.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: Northern Illinois has a 5-3-0 record on the season, including a 1-0 win over Portland on Sunday, Sept. 17 … the Huskies are 2-2-0 at home, 1-1-0 on the road and 2-2-0 at neutral sites … junior forward Marcus McCarty leads the squad with 10 points on a team-high four goals and two assists, which is tied for team-best honors … junior forward Curt Zastrow is the only other Husky with multiple goals as he has two … Matt Corcoran has seen the majority of minutes in goal, having started seven contests … he possesses a 1.51 goals-against average and a .744 save percentage … Corcoran has posted three shutouts … the Huskies have been out-scored 11-10 and out-shot 111-83 … Northern Illinois began the season with victories over Dayton (2-0), Drake (2-1) and Bradley (1-0) before dropping matches to Michigan (2-1) and Hofstra (3-2, OT) … the Huskies responded with a victory over Michigan State (1-0, 2OT) before falling to No. 5 Washington (5-0) … Northern Illinois is a member of the Mid-American Conference … last season NIU registered a 11-6-2 mark, including a 4-1-0 record in the league to finish second … the Huskies lost three starters from a year ago and return 15 letterwinners … head coach Steve Simmons is in his fourth season at Northern Illinois … he has posted a 31-29-4 record since taking over the reins of the program.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS PITTSBURGH: Notre Dame and Pittsburgh will square off for the 11th time on Saturday … the Fighting Irish own a 4-3-3 advantage in the series, including a 2-1 victory last season in Pittsburgh … Notre Dame has won the last three meetings overall … prior to that, the Panthers had won two straight … four of the matches have gone to overtime, with three of the those ending in ties and the other was a Pittsburgh victory … the Panthers are 2-2-1 all-time at Notre Dame … the first meeting occurred during the 1995 season, Notre Dame’s first in the BIG EAST Conference, and the Panthers came away with a 3-0 win at home … the scoring edge in the series belongs to the Irish, 15-11.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS: Pittsburgh enters its game against Xavier on Wednesday with a 2-4-2 record overall and a 2-1-0 mark in the BIG EAST … the Panthers are currently in fifth place in the conference’s Blue Division, one spot ahead of Notre Dame … freshman forward Matt Baker leads Pitt with five points on a team-high two goals and an assist … he is also the reigning BIG EAST Rookie of the Week after assisting on Pitt’s only tally in a 1-0 win against DePaul and he scored his team’s only goal in a 1-1 draw with South Florida … junior defender Brendon Smith is second on the team with three points, coming on a goal and an assist … Pittsburgh has been out-scored 9-7 on the season, entering its game with the Musketeers … the Panthers return eight starters and 21 letterwinners from a team that went 3-12-1 last season … Pitt finished seventh in the Blue Division in 2005 with a 2-9-0 mark … Joe Luxbacher is in his 23rd season as the head coach of the Panthers … he has a 180-164-45 mark overall at Pittsburgh.
IRISH THOUGHTS: Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark discusses the Northern Illinois match …
On Northern Illinois … “Northern Illinois is coming off a very good decision against Portland. I believe they gave Portland their very first defeat of the season.”
“They are a very big, strong and direct team that is very organized. They are a good team and this will be a challenge for us. It won’t be an easy game. They are well coached and organized and they will pose us some problems.”
FRIDAY FUNK: Notre Dame snapped its Friday scoreless drought with a 2-0 victory against Louisville on Sept. 15 … prior to that, the Fighting Irish had not scored a goal in any of its three Friday games … the match against the Cardinals marked Notre Dame’s final Friday contest of the regular season.
NEXT UP: Notre Dame continues its three-game homestand with a BIG EAST match against Marquette on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 7:00 p.m. … the Irish will then hit the road for games at Seton Hall (Sept. 30) and Michigan (Oct. 4).
RECAPPING LOUISVILLE: Joseph Lapira netted two goals as Notre Dame defeated BIG EAST foe Louisville 2-0 on Friday, Sept. 15 at Cardinal Park … Louisville did hold a 13-11 advantage in shots, yet Lapira converted a breakaway attempt in the 58th minute and again in the 83rd minute, thanks to feeds from Kurt Martin and Justin Morrow … Lapira led the Irish with six shots during the match, while senior midfielders Ian Etherington and Nate Norman each had two attempts … the Irish held a 4-3 edge in corner kicks on the evening … Irish senior Chris Cahill got the start in goal and made four saves to collect the shutout.
HOME SWEET HOME: Senior goalkeeper Chris Cahill, a Louisville native, collected his second shutout of the season as he and the Irish held Louisville scoreless in a 2-0 victory on Friday, Sept. 15 … he has 10 career shutouts.
LAPIRA NOTCHES ANOTHER TWO: Joseph Lapira netted both Irish goals in the 2-0 win over Louisville on Friday, Sept. 15 … that marked the second multiple-goal game of the season for the junior forward, with the first being a four-goal effort against Indiana on Sept. 3 … the last Irish player to record two multi-goal games in a single season was Tony Megna during the 2004 season.
RECAPPING CINCINNATI: Cincinnati’s Noah Davidson tallied the game-winner in the 84th minute as he headed in a cross to give the Bearcats a 2-1 victory over Notre Dame on Sunday, Sept. 17 at Gettler Stadium … senior forward Justin McGeeney sent home a rebound off a Nate Norman shot to put the Fighting Irish up 1-0 in the 12th minute … Norman beat his man one-on-one and put a shot on goal that was saved by Bearcat goalkeeper Mike Vessells and then placed in by McGeeney from close range … Notre Dame carried a 1-0 advantage into halftime … Cincinnati notched the equalizer in the 50th minute as Kenny Anaba sent home a one-timer with the assists going to Lionel Jackson and Mike Dwyer … as the match was inching closer to overtime, Davidson headed home a cross, with 83:03 elapsed in the contest … Anaba picked up his third point of the day by collecting an assist, along with Patrick Baxter … Chris Cahill made his second straight start in goal for the Irish following a 2-0 shutout against Louisville on Friday night … the senior goalkeeper made six saves on the day … Cincinnati registered 14 shots, while Notre Dame had 10 … the Irish had a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks.
A CLASSIC PERFORMANCE: Junior forward Joseph Lapira tallied a career-high four goals against No. 8 Indiana in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic on Sunday, Sept. 3 … the four scores established an Indiana Classic record and it was one shy of the Notre Dame record of five, achieved by Kevin Lovejoy in 1993 … by scoring three goals, Lapira became the first Irish player to register a hat trick since Devon Prescod did so versus Cleveland State in 2003.
LAPIRA HONORS: After notching four goals against Indiana on Sept. 3, Joseph Lapira was named the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic Offensive MVP and the BIG EAST Conference Offensive Player of the Week … the junior forward also garnered national recognition as he was named the Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week and was selected to the College Soccer News Team of the Week.
AN IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY: Notre Dame’s five goal output against Indiana on Sept. 3 was the most goals scored by an Irish team since a 6-0 victory over Cleveland State in 2003 … the five tallies were the most ever against a ranked foe in program history … it marked the first time the Hoosiers had ever allowed five tallies in a single game … the nine combined goals were the most in a Notre Dame match since a 9-2 victory against Valparaiso in 1989.
TAKING DOWN A TOP-10: Notre Dame has downed two top-10 teams this season … the Irish topped No. 8 Creighton, 4-1, on Aug. 27 and then defeated No. 8 Indiana, 5-4, on Sept. 3 … the Irish have claimed a victory against a top-10 opponent in seven straight seasons … last season, the Irish took down No. 7 SMU (4-1) and No. 5 Indiana (2-0) … the victory against the Hoosiers came in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame is 21st is this week’s Soccer America poll and 27th in the College Soccer News rankings … four of the Irish’s 2006 opponents appear in the latest Soccer America rankings, West Virginia (12), South Florida (17), Saint Louis (19) and Indiana (20).
NOTRE DAME PICKED SECOND IN BLUE DIVISION: Notre Dame was selected to finish second in the BIG EAST’s Blue Division behind Connecticut, while South Florida was tabbed to be the league’s Red Division champion … the Irish collected five first-place votes compared to the Huskies’ 11 … Notre Dame was tabbed to finish second in the conference’s Blue Division last year and wound up placing in a tie for third with West Virginia … the Irish did garner the division’s No. 3 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament as a result of a tie-breaker.
DALBY AND ETHERINGTON NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST TEAM: Senior midfielders Greg Dalby and Ian Etherington were named to the 2006 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team as voted on by the league’s 16 head coaches … both Dalby and Etherington were first-team all-BIG EAST selections last season.
DALBY NAMED TO M.A.C. HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST: Greg Dalby was named to the 2006 Missouri Athletic Club (M.A.C.) Hermann Trophy Watch List … the trophy is presented annually to the top male and female Division I soccer player in the United States … the 25-man watch list was compiled by a panel of coaches from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
COLLEGE SOCCER NEWS WATCH LIST: Greg Dalby was selected to the College Soccer News Pre-Season All-America first team … the senior co-captain 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 2006 season … (M/F) Justin Morrow and (M/D) Michael Thomas were selected to the list and are all 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 16th nationally by College Soccer News … (M) John Baumgardner, (M) Dave Donohue, (M/F) Justin Morrow, (F) Tamba Samba, (D) John Schaefer, (M/D) Michael Thomas and (GK) Philip Tuttle make up the talented crop of Fighting Irish rookies.
NUMBER CHANGES: Seven members of the Fighting Irish team will be sporting new numbers for the 2006 season …
Name New Number Old NumberLuke Seibolt 1 24Kyle Dulworth 4 21Joseph Lapira 10 4Kurt Martin 11 8Bright Dike 14 18Nate Norman 19 20Alex Yoshinaga 20 19
NEW COACHES: The Fighting Irish are welcoming three new assistant coaches to the sidelines for the 2006 season … assistant coaches Jamie Clark and Chad Riley joined the program in March … Clark, the youngest son of head coach Bobby Clark, spent the last four seasons at New Mexico, where he helped guide the Lobos to the finals of the 2005 College Cup … Clark was a two-time All-American at Stanford, where he played from 1996-98 … Riley returns to Notre Dame, where he played from 2000-03 … he was a two-time all-BIG EAST performer at midfield … he was an assistant coach last season at St. John’s as the Red Storm compiled a record of 11-6-5 and made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament … Rick King is the Irish’s new volunteer assistant coach … King, a 1995 graduate of East Stroudsburg, also coaches the Indiana Invaders club soccer team.
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 … live audio is also available for certain home matches.
NOTRE DAME ANNOUNCES IRISH ALERT TEXT MESSAGE SERVICE: The University of Notre Dame athletic department, in cooperation with Notre Dame Sports Properties and Centennial Wireless has brought back Irish ALERT for the 2006 fall sports season … continuing Notre Dame’s commitment to its alumni and fans, Irish ALERT will be free of charge (check with your wireless provider for any additional fees that may be charged due to receiving text messages) … starting the weekend of Sept. 15 all of the fall sports will start sending text alerts to Irish fans across the country on their wireless communication devices … log onto und.com for more details and to sign up.