Cory Rellas and the Fighting Irish defeated the Mexico Under-20 National Team, 1-0, last spring.

Irish To Open BIG EAST Play At Marquette On Saturday

Sept. 13, 2007

#8 Notre Dame at Marquette
Saturday, Sept. 15 • 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Valley Fields • Milwaukee, Wis.

Game Notes in PDF Format
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Notre Dame will open BIG EAST Conference play with a showdown at Marquette on Saturday, Sept. 15. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m. (CT). The Irish carry a 2-1-1 mark into the contest, while the Golden Eagles are 1-2-0. Notre Dame is ranked eighth in this week’s Soccer America poll and 9th in the NSCAA rankings. Saturday will mark the first of three straight road matches for the Fighting Irish.

ABOUT THE IRISH: Notre Dame (2-1-1) went 1-0-1 at last weekend’s Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament … the Irish downed Rhode Island, 3-0, on Friday before playing Northern Illinois to a 1-1 draw on Sunday … senior Kurt Martin was named the tournament’s offensive MVP as he tallied a goal in both matches … he was joined on the all-tournament team by his Irish teammates Matt Besler and Cory Rellas … Martin leads the team with two goals … Notre Dame is No. 8 in this week’s Soccer America and Soccer Times rankings … the Irish are ninth in the NSCAA coaches poll and 10th in the College Soccer News rankings … 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 82-34-16 (.682) at Notre Dame.

SERIES HISTORY VERSUS MARQUETTE: Saturday will mark the 15th meeting between Marquette and Notre Dame … the Fighting Irish hold an 8-5-1 advantage in the series … the Irish captured a 4-0 home victory over the Golden Eagles last season … this will mark the third straight season that the two schools have met … Notre Dame and Marquette squared off during 12 straight seasons from 1979-1990 … both schools were in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference together from 1988-1990 … the Irish own a 26-25 scoring edge in the series … Notre Dame is 3-4-0 all-time at Marquette, including a 1-0 win during the 2005 campaign.

THE LAST TIME: Notre Dame captured a 4-0 win over Marquette last season at Alumni Field … Joseph Lapira led the way with two goals for the Irish … Nate Norman and Bright Dike also added tallies … the Irish out shot the Golden Eagles 19-9 … goalkeeper Chris Cahill picked up the win by making four saves.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES: Marquette (1-2-0) is coming off a 2-1 win over Xavier on Sept. 7 … the Golden Eagles fell to Denver, 1-0, in the season opener and then suffered a 3-1 setback against Illinois-Chicago … Dan Addis, Stefan Antonijevic and Josh Curry all have all tallied one goal this season … Matt Pyzdrowski and Steve Purdy have both seen time in goal … Pyzdrowski collected the win against Xavier … head coach Louis Bennett is in his second season at Marquette … the Golden Eagles went 1-15-1 last season … Marquette returns six starters and 11 letterwinners from that squad.

IRISH IN BIG EAST OPENERS: The Fighting Irish are 7-4-1 all-time in BIG EAST Conference openers … last season, Notre Dame dropped a 2-0 decision against South Florida to open league play … the Irish have dropped their last two BIG EAST openers … Notre Dame fell at St. John’s, 2-1, in 2005.

NOTRE DAME IN BIG EAST PLAY: Notre Dame owns an overall record of 69-48-12 (.581) 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 mark … 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 have captured BIG EAST Tournament crowns in 1996 and 2003.

IRISH THOUGHTS: Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark shares his thoughts on the match up against Marquette …

“It’s the start of BIG EAST competition and that’s when it all starts to happen. It’ll be a tough game and I imagine they will draw a big crowd like they usually do when we’re there. I think the team will be ready. They were a little disappointed with last Sunday’s result and I think they’ll be ready for Marquette.”

NEXT UP: Notre Dame will continue its three-game road trip with games against Rutgers and Villanova next weekend … the Irish will take on the Scarlet Knights on Friday, Sept. 21 at 8:00 p.m. (ET) … that match can be seen on Fox Soccer Channel … a showdown with the Wildcats will then await Notre Dame on Sunday, Sept. 23 at 12 noon (ET).

RECAPPING NORTHERN ILLINOIS: No. 8 Notre Dame played Northern Illinois to a 1-1 tie on Sunday, Sept. 9 at Alumni Field during the second day of the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament … Kurt Martin scored the lone goal for the Irish and was named the tournament’s offensive MVP. The Irish finished second at their home event, while No. 7 Indiana captured the title … Notre Dame jumped in front in the 17th minute as Martin took a pass from freshman Matt Armstrong and blasted the ball high over the Northern Illinois goalkeeper and into the back of the net from 35 yards out … it marked the first point of the season for the rookie Armstrong … Northern Illinois tallied the equalizer in the 28th minute when Marcus McCarty fed Ben Thomas and he sent the shot into the lower-right corner of the net … Notre Dame’s Chris Cahill made three saves on the afternoon … Notre Dame out shot Northern Illinois, 10-4, in the first half and 22-14 for the entire match. The Irish held an 8-1 advantage in corner kicks … the Irish nearly went ahead with just over 19 minutes remaining in regulation as freshman Jeb Brovsky played the ball to Joseph Lapira and the senior forward sent a shot just wide to the left … Thomas had two good looks near the goal in the 85th minute for Northern Illinois, yet Notre Dame’s Ryan Miller cleared the second shot out of the zone … neither side could mount a significant attack in the first 10-minute overtime period … with 39 seconds elapsed in the second overtime, Notre Dame’s Dave Donohue was tripped inside the 18-yard box and the Irish were awarded a penalty kick … Martin could not convert on the penalty kick and the match ended as a draw.

RECAPPING RHODE ISLAND: A dominating performance from No. 8 Notre Dame produced a 3-0 victory over Rhode Island on Friday, Sept. 7 at Alumni Field … the match was part of the sixth annual Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament … the Irish used goals from three different players to notch the win … Notre Dame pressured early and it paid off as sophomore midfielder Dave Donohue tallied the first goal of his Notre Dame career in the fourth minute. Ryan Miller and Kyle Dagan picked up the assists on the play … the second goal of the night occurred in the 57th minute as Alex Yoshinaga played the ball up to sophomore Justin Morrow and he took on a defender and blasted a shot into the lower right corner of the net … that was the first goal for Morrow in a Fighting Irish uniform … the match was salted away in the 65th minute when Kurt Martin connected on a penalty kick to make it 3-0 … it was a physical match that featured both teams receiving three yellow cards … Notre Dame junior defender Jack Traynor picked up two yellow cards and was ejected from the game in the 66th minute … goalkeeper Chris Cahill made four saves to pick up the win … Andrew Quinn replaced Cahill with just over 15 minutes left to play … Quinn made one save … Notre Dame out shot Rhode Island 15-8 and held a 4-2 edge in corner kicks.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Kurt Martin was named the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament’s offensive MVP … he tallied a tournament-high two goals … he was joined on the all-tournament team by his junior teammates Matt Besler and Cory Rellas.

HONORS FOR MARTIN: Senior forward/midfielder Kurt Martin was named to the College Soccer News national team of the week for his two-goal weekend in the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament … he was also named to the BIG EAST weekly honor roll for the first time of his career.

A NIGHT OF FIRSTS: It was a night of firsts for Notre Dame during a 3-0 win over Rhode Island on Sept. 7 … sophomores Dave Donohue and Justin Morrow both scored the first goals of their careers … sophomore defender Kyle Dagan picked up his first career assist in his first career start.

NO STREAKS: The Fighting 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 loss, a 3-0 setback against Maryland, with a 3-0 win over Rhode Island.

TAKING DOWN A TOP-10: The victory over top-ranked UCLA 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 bested three top-10 teams in a season since 2002.

BACK IN ACTION: Senior midfielder Alex Yoshinaga is back in the Fighting Irish lineup after missing most of last season with a collarbone injury … Yoshinaga made his presence felt in the season opener as he netted a golden goal in the 94th minute to down top-ranked UCLA … he also collected an assist on Notre Dame’s first goal of the match.

PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF: Joseph Lapira opened the season with a three-point match in a 2-1 overtime win over 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: Joseph Lapira currently ranks in a tie for 10th place on Notre Dame’s all-time goals list … he has 33 tallies, which ties him with Pat Szanto, who played from 1983-85 … Lapira is five goals away from cracking into the top five … his 80 career points rank him 11th in program history.

SHOCKING SHUTOUT: Notre Dame’s 3-0 loss to 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.

BIG EAST ACCOLADES: Senior forward 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 … 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.

GOOD CAUSE: Notre Dame raised $6,300 for the Grassroot Soccer organization during its exhibition game versus Northwestern on Monday, Aug. 27 … admission was free and donations were taken with all proceeds benefiting the foundation, which is an international AIDS awareness and education organization that reaches youth in Africa through soccer clinics … a crowd of 3,367 fans showed up at Alumni Field to watch the match … a Notre Dame soccer alumnus, who wishes to remain anonymous, more than matched the amount from the crowd and Irish head coach Bobby Clark and the Notre Dame men’s soccer camp matched the attendance output dollar-for-dollar.

QUITE A CROWD: The 3,367 fans that attended Notre Dame’s exhibition match on Monday, Aug. 27 marked the third largest crowd in program history … the total nearly equaled the record of 3,502, which saw the game against SMU on Oct. 14, 1994.

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.

TOUGH SLATE: The Irish will be facing another challenging schedule this season … Notre Dame has eight teams ranked in the College Soccer News preseason top-30 poll on its 2007 slate … UCLA (1), Indiana (8), Maryland (9), West Virginia (14) and Connecticut (18) appeared in the top 20, while Rutgers (24), Northern Illinois (26) and Rhode Island (29) also appeared in the rankings.

IRISH ON THE SMALL SCREEN: Notre Dame will have three of its regular-season matches televised … the Fighting Irish will take on BIG EAST-rival Rutgers on Fox Soccer Channel on Friday, Sept. 21 in Piscataway, N.J. at 8:00 p.m. (ET) … two Irish home games will also be televised … Notre Dame and Michigan will appear 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 … both of those matches begin at 7:00 p.m. (ET).

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 all home matches.

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.