Right back Bilal Duckett netted the golden goal in last season's 2-1 overtime win at Georgetown.

Irish To Open Season On Friday Against No. 5 UCLA

Sept. 2, 2010

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#5 UCLA (0-0-0) vs. #18 NOTRE DAME (0-0-0)
Friday, Sept. 3 – 5:00 p.m. (ET)
adidas/IU Credit Union Classic
Bill Armstrong Stadium – Bloomington, Ind.
UCLA Leads Series 3-1-0
Gametracker on UND.com

CALIFORNIA (0-0-0) at #18 NOTRE DAME (0-0-0)
Sunday, Sept. 5 – 7:00 p.m. (ET)
adidas/IU Credit Union Classic
Alumni Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
Notre Dame Leads Series 1-0-0
Video Broadcast and Gametracker on UND.com

SETTING THE STAGE … The No. 18 Notre Dame men’s soccer team will open the 2010 campaign against No. 5 UCLA on Friday, Sept. 3 at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington, Ind. The Fighting Irish and Bruins are slated for a 5:00 p.m. (ET) kickoff at Armstrong Stadium. A change to this year’s format is that Notre Dame will return home to conclude the tournament as the Irish play host to California on Sunday, Sept. 5 at Alumni Stadium. The Irish and Golden Bears will square off at 7:00 p.m. (ET). Sunday will be `Pack the House’ night at Alumni Stadium as the Irish open their home schedule in one of the finest collegiate soccer facilities in the country.

FOLLOW THE GAMES … Live stats for both matches will be available through Gametracker on UND.com … go to the Notre Dame men’s soccer page and click on `Schedule’ and select the game to follow … UND.com will have a live video broadcast of Sunday’s match against California … 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 went 3-0 in exhibition play … the Irish defeated UIC 3-2 at Alumni Stadium and then took care of No. 10 Ohio State (2-0) and IPFW (3-0) at the National Soccer Festival in Ft. Wayne, Ind. … 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 … the Irish return five starters and 12 letter winners from last season’s squad … 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 … head coach Bobby Clark is in his 10th season with the Irish … he has a 117-53-26 (.663) record during his Notre Dame tenure.

A MARQUEE EVENT … The adidas/IU Credit Union Classic annually showcases some of the nation’s top teams … this year’s event features three teams ranked in the Soccer America preseason top-25 poll, UCLA (#11), Notre Dame (#18), Indiana (#21) … this is the 28th year that Indiana has hosted the classic … the eventual NCAA champion has played in the event nine times, with the Hoosiers capturing six of those titles.

IRISH HISTORY AT THE ADIDAS/IU CREDIT UNION CLASSIC … This weekend will mark the 11th trip (1989, 1992-93, 2003-10) to the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic for the Fighting Irish … Notre Dame owns an 8-9-3 overall mark in the tournament … the Irish are 7-4-3 over their past seven visits to the classic … the Irish tied Wake Forest 1-1 in the first game of last year’s event … Notre Dame fell to St. John’s, 2-0, on day two.

IRISH AGAINST THE BRUINS … Friday will be the fifth meeting all-time between Notre Dame and UCLA … the Bruins lead the series 3-1 … Notre Dame won the last encounter, a 2-1 overtime victory at the 2007 adidas/IU Credit Union Classic … the two schools also met at the 1992 IU Classic and the Bruins came away with a 1-0 win … UCLA captured victories over Notre Dame in Los Angeles in 1987 (3-2) and 1994 (4-0).

THE LAST TIME … Notre Dame defeated UCLA in the 2007 season opener at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic … the Bruins were ranked No. 1 at the time of the match, while the Irish were ninth … Alex Yoshinaga deposited the golden goal in the 94th minute to give the Irish the victory … Joseph Lapira gave Notre Dame a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute and UCLA’s Chance Myers knotted the match with 38 seconds left in regulation.

SCOUTING THE BRUINS … UCLA is coming of a 12-4-4 campaign in 2009 … the sixth-seeded Bruins fell in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship at Wake Forest, 2-0 … UCLA won the 2009 Pac-10 crown with a 5-1-4 league record … four starters and 19 letter winners returned to the Bruins from the ’09 squad … head coach Jorge Salcedo is in his eighth season at the helm of the UCLA program … Salcedo is 71-33-22 with the Bruins.

FOR STARTERS … Notre Dame is 21-9-3 all-time in season openers, including 6-2-1 in the Bobby Clark era … last season, the Irish topped Michigan 5-0 in the season opener … that was the sixth time the Irish scored at least five goals in a season opener … it also marked the 12th time Notre Dame has shut out its opponent in a season lidlifter.

IRISH AGAINST THE GOLDEN BEARS … Sunday will mark the second meeting all-time between Notre Dame and California on the pitch … the Irish won the only other encounter, 2-1 in overtime, during the 2003 season in Bloomington, Ind. … Devon Prescod scored both goals for Notre Dame … he netted the equalizer in the 81st minute and the golden goal in the 102nd minute.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN BEARS … California will open the season on Friday at Indiana … the Golden Bears posted a 9-8-1 record last season … Cal went 3-6-1 in Pac-10 play to finish sixth in the league … the Bears returned eight starters and 14 letter winners from last season’s squad … Hector Jimenez led the Pac-10 in assists (9) one season ago … head coach Kevin Grimes is in his 11th season at the helm of the Cal program … he boasts a 114-69-21 record at the school.

QUOTING CLARK … Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark shares his thoughts on the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic …
“It’s going to be a great weekend. We’re playing, without question, two of the best teams coming out of the West Coast. It’ll be a good challenge. I’m a great believer in finding out where you are early in the season. There’s no use playing `so called’ easier teams because you can set up an easy stumble that way. I think our guys are excited about both of these games and I think we’ll be challenged. At the end of the weekend, I think we’ll have a better idea of where we are.”

UP NEXT … Notre Dame will play host to the ninth annual Hilton Garden Inn Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament at Alumni Stadium on Sept. 10 and 12 … Indiana and Cal Poly will get things underway at 5:00 p.m. (ET) on Friday, Sept. 10 … Notre Dame will face 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.

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 will face another challenging schedule this season … Notre Dame has eight teams on its 2010 slate that are ranked in the NSCAA preseason top-25 poll … UCLA (5), Northwestern (9), Drake (14), St. John’s (17), Louisville (20t), Indiana (20t), Connecticut (22) and Michigan State (24) are the Irish opponents that appear in the poll … the Irish are receiving votes in the poll.

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.