Oct. 4, 2005
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NOTRE DAME MEN’S SOCCER WEEKLY NOTES
Wednesday, Oct. 5 – Notre Dame at Marquette – 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Saturday, Oct. 8 – No. 10/9 Connecticut at Notre Dame – 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Notre Dame wrapped up its four-game homestand with a 2-1-1 mark and will now hit the road for a match-up versus BIG EAST Conference newcomer Marquette in Milwaukee, Wis. on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 7:00 p.m. (CT). The Fighting Irish will return home to face conference-rival Connecticut on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 7:00 p.m. The Irish currently reside in four-way tie for third place in the BIG EAST’s Blue Division. Connecticut is among the teams tied for third, while Marquette is seventh in the division. Notre Dame owns a 6-3-1 mark overall and 2-2-1 in league play.
ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES: Marquette is 4-4-1 overall and 1-3-1 in the BIG EAST … the Golden Eagles are coming of a 6-0 loss to Connecticut on Saturday, Oct. 1 … Marquette’s lone conference victory was a 2-1 decision against Louisville on Sept. 25 … the two-goal output was the most by the Golden Eagles so far this season … Marquette has tallied just six goals on the year, while allowing 12 … four of Marquette’s nine contests have been against ranked opponents … the Golden Eagles own a 1-3 mark in those matches … they defeated No. 23 Penn State, 1-0, on Sept. 4 at a neutral site at xxx … Marquette has a 3-1-0 home record and a 0-3-1 away mark … forward Duncan Silvert-Noftle and midfielder Blair Kohlmeyer lead the team in points with four apiece … Silvert-Noftle has a team-high two goals, while Kohlmeyer has notched a team-high two assists to go along with one goal … sophomores Steven Grow and Andy Kroll have each split time in goal … Grow owns a 3-1-1 record with two shutouts and a 1.27 goals-against-average … he has allowed six goals, while making 20 stops … Kroll has a 1-3-0 mark with one shutout and a 1.33 goals-against-average … he too has given up six goals to go along with 13 saves.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS MARQUETTE: The Fighting Irish are 6-5-1 all time versus Marquette … the two schools squared off each season from 1979 to 1990 … the last match was a 4-0 Marquette victory … the last Irish win versus the Golden Eagles was a 1-0 victory in 1988 … Notre Dame is 2-4-0 at Marquette and 4-1-1 at home during the series … four of the contests have gone to overtime, with the Irish winning three and the other resulted in a tie … the Golden Eagles have outscored the Fighting Irish 25-21 during the series.
ABOUT THE HUSKIES: Connecticut is 7-2-1 overall and 2-2-1 in BIG EAST play as of Tuesday, Oct. 4 … the Huskies have won their past three contests heading into their match-up against Providence on Wednesday, Oct. 5 … Connecticut is coming off a 6-0 win over Marquette on Saturday, Oct. 1 … the Huskies have outscored their opponents 19-5 … senior Adam Schuerman is the reigning BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week … he was instrumental in the Huskies’ shutout wins over Sacred Heart, 3-0, and Marquette, 6-0, last week … Schuerman has seven shutouts on the season and moved into sole possession of second place on the all-time list at Connecticut with 31 shutouts … he possesses a goals-against-average of 0.50 with 27 saves … the Huskies have had two different players tabbed as the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week … senior Mpho Moloi was garnered the honor on Sept. 12, while sophomore Julius James did so on Sept. 26 … they have both been part of a stout UConn defense that is tops in the BIG EAST with seven shutous and ranks second in the league in goals allowed (5), goals-against-average (0.49) Chukwudi Chijindu leads the team with 11 points on five goals and one assist … Ryan Cordeiro is second with 10 points coming on three goals and four assists … all three of his tallies have been game-winners.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS CONNECTICUT: Notre Dame is 5-7-1 all-time versus Connecticut, with the Irish winning the last two meetings in the series … the Fighting Irish topped the Huskies 2-0 last season at Alumni Field … Irish forward Joe Lapira netted the first goal in that contest … Notre Dame is 3-2-1 versus UConn in South Bend and 1-5-0 in Storrs, Conn. … the one neutral site meeting was a 2-1 Irish win in the 1996 BIG EAST Championship Semifinal in Piscataway, N.J. … Notre Dame also defeated Connecticut in the 2003 BIG EAST tournament … the Irish won a 2-0 decision in the conference quarterfinals at Notre Dame.
RECAPPING BRADLEY: The weather was the story of the night as Notre Dame and Bradley battled the rain, wind and each other for 90 minutes of non-conference men’s soccer action at Alumni Field on Wednesday, Sept. 28 … from the beginning of the match both teams knew the weather would play a factor and make things more difficult … the Irish made the night even more strenuous for the Braves with a goal in the sixth minute … following an early injury to Notre Dame’s Justin McGeeney, Bright Dike subbed in and would make his presence felt early … senior midfielder John Stephens sent a free kick into the six-yard box and Dike got a foot on it and sent it up top past Braves goalkeeper Chris Dunsheath … the goal was the first for Dike in his Irish career and his third point of the season … Bradley started to put together an attack early in the second half but the Notre Dame defense withstood the challenge … Notre Dame had second half opportunities as well, which would have put the game away … with 10:45 remaining, forward Joe Lapira took the ball from Ian Etherington on the left side and sent the ball just off the mark and into the side of the net … Lapira would almost strike again in the 85th minute as he took a shot from straight on inside the 18-yard box but it was punched out by Dunsheath and the Irish were not able to secure the ball for a rebound attempt … Notre Dame out-shot Bradley 20-10 on the night … Cahill posted his fourth shutout of the season by collecting three saves, while Dunsheath made seven stops.
RECAPPING WEST VIRGINIA: Notre Dame held a one-goal lead at three different points of its match versus West Virginia yet the Mountaineers would come back each time to force a 3-3 double-overtime tie at Alumni Field on Saturday, Oct. 1 … Notre Dame and West Virginia both showcased an offensive attack that included three combined goals in the final six minutes of regulation … Notre Dame sophomore forward Joe Lapira registered four points on one goal and two assists during the contest … Notre Dame found the back of the net within the first six minutes of play for the second straight contest when Lapira collected a free kick from John Stephens and volleyed it past West Virginia goalkeeper Nick Noble … West Virginia would respond in the 22nd minute as a shot by Andrew Wright hit off the crossbar and bounced down and the rebound shot by Geoff Cameron was punched out by Irish goalkeeper Chris Cahill and the ball was then headed in by Zak Boggs … the Irish found the back of the net early in the second period on a Justin McGeeney tally with the assist to Lapira … McGeeney, a forward, took the Lapira pass and beat the defender on the left side and sent it in with 46:43 gone by in the match for his second goal of the season … Notre Dame held the 2-1 advantage up until the 85th minute when West Virginia’s Jarrod Smith drove a loose ball past Cahill after an Andy Wright corner kick … it would not take the Irish long to regain the lead … junior midfielder Nate Norman sent home a one-touch volley from Ian Etherington and Lapira for his third tally of the season with just 3:10 left to play in the second half … however, the Mountaineers would have one more equalizer left in them … following a long throw-in by Pat Carroll, Smith sent the shot past Cahill and into the back of the net just 27 seconds after the Norman goal … neither team could mount much of an attack in either of the two 10-minute overtime periods as the match ended in a 3-3 draw.
IT’S BEEN AWHILE: The Irish played to a draw for the first time this season when they tied West Virginia 3-3 on Saturday … that was Notre Dame’s highest-scoring tie since another 3-3 draw versus Dayton on Sept. 16, 1977, which was a span of 606 games … that match was Notre Dame’s first as a varsity program … this season, Notre Dame owns a 1-1-1 mark in overtime.
LAPIRA GOES FOR FOUR: Sophomore forward Joe Lapira collected his first career four-point match against the Mountaineers … he netted the first goal of the night in the sixth minute and would later add assists on goals that gave the Irish a 2-1 lead and later a 3-2 advantage … the last Irish player to register a four-point performance was Tony Megna versus Pittsburgh last October … he netted two goals versus the Panthers … Lapira was named to the BIG EAST weekly honor roll for his efforts.
LEADING POINTS: Joe Lapira leads the team with nine points on three goals and three assists … junior midfielder Nate Norman is tied with Lapira for the team lead in goals with three … midfielders Ian Etherington (2 G, 1 A) and John Stephens (1 G, 3 A) each have five points … junior forward Justin McGeeney, who led the team one year ago with 12 points, has four points on two goals so far this season.
SPREADING THE WEALTH: Notre Dame has totaled 15 goals on the year, with eight players notching at least one tally … nine different individuals have recorded an assist … the Irish have 16 assists in all.
SECOND HALF SCORING: Eleven of Notre Dame’s 15 goals have been scored either in the second half or overtime … seven of the 10 goals the Irish have allowed have been scored in the second half or overtime.
NARROW MARGINS: Notre Dame played its eighth straight one-goal game of the season on Wednesday night versus Bradley … the 1-0 win gave the Fighting Irish a 5-3 mark in those matches which were decided by a single tally … that stretch of one-goal contests was the longest for the Irish since a span of 10 games to close out the 1996 season … Notre Dame went 5-5 during those games … one of those matches was a 1-0 upset of No. 2 UNC Greensboro in the first round of the NCAA tournament … the only game not decided by a single tally or less was Notre Dame’s 4-1 season-opening victory over No. 7 SMU on Sept. 2.
IRISH IN BIG EAST PLAY: Notre Dame owns an overall record of 57-43-11 (.563) all time in BIG EAST regular-season play dating back to the 1995 campaign … the Irish have posted four straight winning seasons within the conference, including an 8-1-1 mark last season … that was Notre Dame’s first eight-win BIG EAST campaign and that record gave them the regular-season title for the first time in program history … the Fighting Irish have captured BIG EAST tournament crowns in 1996 and 2003.
BIGGER EAST: Notre Dame has faced two of the BIG EAST Conference newcomers so far this season … the Irish downed Louisville 2-1 on Sept. 23 … Cincinnati knocked off the Irish by a 2-1 margin on Sept. 25 … Marquette is also a new member to the league and the last one on the schedule for the Fighting Irish during the 2005 regular season … other teams making their BIG EAST debut this season are DePaul and South Florida.
CHALLENGING SLATE: Once again, the Fighting Irish have scheduled a very tough ledger for the 2005 season … six of the teams on Notre Dame’s slate were ranked in the NSCAA preseason poll (#1 Indiana, #5 St. John’s, #7 SMU, #10 Wake Forest, #19 Connecticut, #25 Saint Louis) … five Irish opponents are currently ranked in the top-25 of the NSCAA rankings (#5 St. John’s, #10 Connecticut, #11 Indiana, #16 Wake Forest, #17 Cincinnati) … the Irish opened up the season by facing SMU and Wake Forest, who were ranked seventh and 10th, respectively, at the time and were coming off Sweet 16 appearances in the 2004 NCAA tournament … in all, the Irish will face eight teams that made the College Cup last season … Notre Dame has only faced one team with a losing record entering the match … Wake Forest, who was 0-1-0 after losing 1-0 to No. 1 Indiana at adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.
IRISH VERSUS THE TOP: When Notre Dame faces No. 10/9 Connecticut it will mark the fourth time that the Irish will have squared-off against a ranked opponent so far this season … Notre Dame is 1-2-0 versus ranked opponents in the 2005 campaign … the Fighting Irish downed No. 7 SMU, 4-1, in the season-opener on Sept. 2 … the Irish fell to No. 10 Wake Forest, 1-0, in overtime two days later … Notre Dame lost 2-1 to No. 10 St. John’s on Sept. 16.
NEXT UP: Following Saturday’s contest against UConn, the Fighting Irish will begin a four-game road trip with visits to Michigan State and Georgetown … Notre Dame will take to the pitch versus Michigan State on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 4:00 p.m. (ET) for a non-league showdown … Notre Dame is 8-2-4 all time versus the Spartans … the Irish will face BIG EAST-rival Georgetown on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 1:00 p.m. (ET) … Notre Dame leads the series with the Hoyas, 8-6-1.
IRISH THOUGHTS: Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark looks ahead to this week’s BIG EAST games versus Marquette and Connecticut …
On facing Marquette … “They’re a very stingy team. They have not given up many goals until the UConn game. But those games happen. We had one like that a couple of years ago against Rutgers. You feel like you are playing well and then all of a sudden you’re down by four goals at halftime.”
“They are also a very organized team and very well coached. With the exception of the UConn game, they are difficult to breakdown. It will also be a tough environment to play in. We’ll have to show patience and stick to our game plan. Hopefully we can get three goals again but not lose them this time. We need to put our offense and our defense together.”
On having a lot of road games coming up … “We tend to pile up our road games towards this time of year around fall break so we don’t miss as many classes. Sometimes that’s nice because there is no school for the guys to have to focus on that week. It’s nice to play in our own backyard but we try to adopt the `road warrior’ mentality. Playing in tough environments will hopefully prepare us for the postseason.”
On facing Connecticut … “UConn is one of the most talented teams in the country. They are possibly the most technical team in the country so it should be a great game to come and watch. They were No. 1 in the country a few weeks ago and they are very talented.”
LISTEN TO THE FIGHTING IRISH: Every Notre Dame home match is broadcast on the internet … to access the link, go to the official Notre Dame athletics web site at und.com and go to the men’s soccer home page … click on the `Schedule’ link at the top of the page and find the day’s game and click `Listen’ … live stats are also available through the `Gametracker’ link.
IRISH IN BIG EAST OPENERS: With a 2-1 loss at St. John’s on Sept. 16, Notre Dame is now 7-3-1 all time in BIG EAST openers … the Fighting Irish opened conference play last season with a 4-1 win over Georgetown at Alumni Field.
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.
IRISH WIN MIKE BERTICELLI MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT: For the second time in the history of the four-year old Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament, the host Irish captured the title as they defeated Boston University 1-0 on Sept. 9 and Saint Louis 1-0 in double-overtime on Sunday, Sept. 11 … that marked the first time that Notre Dame won both games of the tournament … the Fighting Irish also won the event in 2003 … Indiana, the No. 1 team at the time, finished as runners-up of this year’s tournament after tying Saint Louis 1-1 on Friday and defeating Boston University 5-0 on Sunday.
NOTRE DAME LANDS FOUR ON ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Goalkeeper Chris Cahill, midfielder Nate Norman, forward Joe Lapira and defender Ryan Miller were all named to the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament All-Tournament Team for the Fighting Irish.
CAHILL GARNERS LEAGUE HONORS: Chris Cahill was named the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week on Sept. 12 following a weekend in which he posted shutouts over Boston University and Saint Louis in the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament … the junior did not have any margin for error, as both Notre Dame wins were 1-0 decisions … Cahill was also named to BIG EAST Honor Roll following the first weekend of play as the Irish upset No. 7 SMU 4-1 and suffered a 1-0 overtime loss to No. 10 Wake Forest. TAKING DOWN A TOP-10: Notre Dame’s 4-1 win over No. 7 SMU was the first time the Fighting Irish defeated a top-10 opponent since they took down No. 9 Boston College last October … the Irish have now claimed a victory against a top-10 team in six straight seasons … a 4-0 win over No. 6 Seton Hall in 2002 was the last four-goal output for the Irish versus a top-10 team prior to the win over the Mustangs.
IRISH IMPROVE MARK IN SEASON-OPENERS: After taking down SMU in the first match of the 2005 campaign, Notre Dame is now 19-7-3 all time in season-openers, including 4-0-1 in the Bobby Clark era … the Irish have not lost a season-opener since the 1994 campaign, a 1-0 loss at No. 15 Penn State … prior to the SMU match, the last time Notre Dame defeated a nationally-ranked team in a season-opener was in 1993 when the Irish knocked off No. 20 Rutgers 4-1 … the four-goal performance against SMU in the season-opener was the most goals scored in a lid-lifter since 2001, a 5-0 win versus Villanova.
NOTRE DAME PICKED SECOND IN BLUE DIVISION: Notre Dame was selected to finish second in the BIG EAST’s Blue Division behind Connecticut, while St. John’s was tabbed to be the league’s Red Division champion … the Irish collected seven first-place votes compared to the Huskies’ nine … Notre Dame was tabbed to finish third in the conference last year, yet went on to win the regular-season league title.
DALBY AND ETHERINGTON NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST TEAM: Junior midfielder Greg Dalby was one of three unanimous selections to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Team as voted on by the league’s 16 head coaches … Dalby’s classmate and fellow midfielder Ian Etherington joined him on the 13-man squad … Dalby was a second-team all-BIG EAST selection last season … the other unanimous choices for the preseason squad were St. John’s midfielder Matt Groenwald and Seton Hall forward Sacha Kljestan … Etherington garnered third-team all-BIG EAST honors in 2004.
DALBY NAMED TO M.A.C. HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST: Greg Dalby was named to the 2005 Missouri Athletic Club 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) … Notre Dame and UCLA were the only schools to have at least one member of the men’s and women’s soccer team named to the 2005 M.A.C. Hermann Trophy Watch List … Jen Buczkowski, Candace Chapman and Katie Thorlakson were all named to the list for the Irish women.
COLLEGE SOCCER NEWS WATCH LIST: Greg Dalby was also selected to the College Soccer News Pre-Season All-America second team … the junior tri-captain was not the only Irish student-athlete honored by the publication, as four incoming freshmen were named to the `100 Freshmen to Watch’ list for the 2005 season … (M/D) Matt Besler, (F) Bright Dike, (GK) Luke Seibolt and (D) Jack Traynor 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 18th nationally by College Soccer News … (M/D) Matt Besler, (D) Kyle Dagan, (F) Bright Dike, (GK) Andrew Quinn, (M//D) Cory Rellas, (GK) Luke Seibolt and (D) Jack Traynor make up the talented crop of Fighting Irish rookies.
DALBY CAPTAINS U.S. UNDER-20s AT FIFA WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Junior midfielder Greg Dalby captained the U.S. Under-20 team during a solid showing at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship this past summer … the U.S. won Group D, which was referred to as the `Group of Death’ entering play, with an undefeated 2-0-1 record … the highlight of the tournament occurred in the first match as the U.S. defeated eventual champion Argentina 1-0 … that would be Argentina’s only loss during its seven-game stretch … a disappointing 3-1 loss to Italy in the Round of 16 brought an end to the event for the U.S. … despite the loss, the U.S. still had a historic run at the tournament … back-to-back-to-back shutouts versus Argentina (1-0), Germany (0-0) and Egypt (1-0) in the tournament’s toughest group marks one of the greatest national team accomplishments in U.S. soccer history … the U.S. became just the 12th team in the tournament’s 28-year history to manage that feat … Dalby was one of 10 college players on the Under-20 team, which also featured a formidable mix of professional and high school standouts … one name easily recognizable to all soccer fans was DC United’s Freddy Adu, but the Under-20 team also featured Eddie Gaven (N.J. Metrostars), Jonathan Spector (Manchester United) and attacking players Jacob Peterson (Indiana) and Lee Nguyen (the lone high school player out of Texas).
WINNING WAYS: The Fighting Irish have put together four straight winning seasons all under the watch of head coach Bobby Clark … Clark has guided Notre Dame to four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, including the program’s first trip to the Sweet 16 in 2003.
McGEENEY WINS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: Justin McGeeney, a junior forward, was part of the Des Moines (Iowa) Menace team that lifted the PDL national championship in El Paso, Texas on Saturday, Aug. 13 … the Menace and the El Paso Patriots fought out a 0-0 tie in front of 7,000 spectators and the Menace took the title in a penalty kick tie-breaker.
METHEMBE NDLOVU NAMED COACH OF THE YEAR: Indiana Invaders head coach Methembe Ndlovu, a volunteer assistant coach for the Irish, was named the Premier Development League Coach of the Year on Aug. 11 … the award was voted on by the United Soccer League’s coaches and general managers … the second-year Invaders head coach led the team to its third straight 11-win season at 11-5-0, missing the postseason by one point for the second consecutive season … he was 11-5-0 in his debut last season.
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.
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