Oct. 3, 2006
Wednesday, Oct. 4
#8/10 Notre Dame at Michigan
Ann Arbor, Mich. • 7:00 p.m.
TV – Comcast Local (Live)
Saturday, Oct. 7
Georgetown at #8/10 Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Ind. • 12:00 p.m.
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Notre Dame steps away from conference play for a match-up with Michigan in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 7:00 p.m. The contest will be carried live on Comcast Local. The Irish return home for a BIG EAST tilt against Georgetown on Saturday, Oct. 7 at noon. The Fighting Irish carry a 7-3-2 record (5-2-0 BIG EAST) and are ranked 8th in the NSCAA/adidas poll and 10th in the Soccer America rankings.
ABOUT THE IRISH: Notre Dame went 2-0-0 last week by posting two shutouts in BIG EAST play … the Fighting Irish are riding a season-best three-game win streak and four-game unbeaten streak … Notre Dame defeated Marquette 4-0 at home on Wednesday (Sept. 27) and then took down Seton Hall 2-0 in New Jersey on Saturday (Sept. 30) … junior forward Joseph Lapira continued his amazing play by registering two goals in both games … he has notched five multiple-goal games this season, including three straight two-goal efforts … Lapira has team-highs in goals with 13 and points with 27 … both of those marks are career-bests … senior goalkeeper Chris Cahill collected both shutouts on the week … he made four saves against the Golden Eagles and three against the Pirates … Cahill has five shutouts this season, including three in the past four games … he has 14 career shutouts … Cahill was named the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week, while Lapira copped the league’s Offensive Player of the Week honors … Lapira was also named the National Player of the Week by College Soccer News … the Irish were picked by the BIG EAST coaches to place second in the division, behind Connecticut … Bobby Clark is in his sixth season at the helm of the Fighting Irish program … he has a 72-30-15 (.679) 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 MICHIGAN: The Fighting Irish and Wolverines have squared off five times on the pitch, with Notre Dame holding a 4-0-1 edge in the series … the last meeting took place during the 2004 season, a 3-0 Irish victory … Notre Dame and Michigan met in the round of 16 during the 2003 NCAA Tournament and following a 1-1 tie, the Wolverines advanced on penalty kicks, 4-3 … all five previous encounters have taken place at Notre Dame … the two schools first met in 1977 with Notre Dame prevailing 4-2 … they met again the next season and the Irish claimed a 2-1 victory … a showdown in 1986 went the way of the Irish again, 3-2 … Notre Dame holds a 13-6 scoring advantage in the series … the Irish claimed a 2-1 overtime win in exhibition play last season at Michigan.
SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES: Michigan is 5-5-2, including a 0-1-1 mark in the Big Ten Conference … the Wolverines are coming off a 1-0 double-overtime loss at No. 19 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday … Michigan has faced one other ranked opponent this season … the Wolverines topped No. 14 Kentucky, 2-1, on Sept. 13 … freshman forward Perica Marosevic leads the Wolverines with 12 points on a team-high five goals and two assists … sophomore Patrick Sperry has played 11 games in goal, with 10 starts … he has a 5-4-2 record to go along with a 1.32 goals-against average and a .727 save percentage … Sperry has posted two shutouts … sophomore defender Michael Holody has seven points on three goals and one assist … Michigan has scored 16 goals, while allowing the same total … the Wolverines return six starters and 18 letterwinners from a team that went 8-10-1 last season … they finished in a tie for fifth in the Big Ten with a 2-4 mark … Steve Burns is in his seventh season at the helm of the Michigan program … he has a 65-54-11 record at the school.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS GEORGETOWN: Notre Dame and Georgetown will be meeting for the 17th time on Saturday … the Fighting Irish own an 8-7-1 edge in the series … the Hoyas claimed a 1-0 victory over the Irish last season in Washington, D.C. … Notre Dame had won the prior two meetings … the Irish are 5-3-0 against Georgetown at Notre Dame … the first meeting between the two schools occurred in 1982, a 0-0 tie in Rochester, N.Y. … both teams have met every season since 1995, Notre Dame’s first in the BIG EAST Conference … Notre Dame holds a 27-23 scoring edge in the series.
SCOUTING THE HOYAS: Georgetown carries a 3-7-0 mark (2-4-0 BIG EAST) into its match against Howard on Tuesday evening … the Hoyas have dropped their past three contests, two of them in overtime … Georgetown fell to UConn, 3-1, on Sept. 23 and then lost to Seton Hall in overtime, 2-1, on Sept. 27 … senior forward Ricky Schramm leads the Hoyas in goals with five and points with 11 … he was a third-team all-BIG EAST selection last season … senior midfielder Daniel Grasso is the team’s second leading scorer with three goals … junior Joe Devine and senior Andrew Keszler have split time in goal … Devine has a 2-4-0 record to go along with a 1.32 goals-against average and a .750 save percentage … Keszler is 1-3-0 with a 3.06 goals-against average and a .522 save percentage … Georgetown returned nine starters and 17 letterwinners from a squad that went 10-9-1 last season … the Hoyas finished fifth in the league’s Blue Division with a 6-5-0 mark … head coach Brian Wiese is in his first season at Georgetown after spending the previous five campaigns as an assistant at Notre Dame.
WELCOME BACK BRIAN First-year Georgetown head coach Brian Wiese will return to Notre Dame on Saturday (Oct. 7) for the first time with his Hoya club … Wiese had spent the previous five seasons as an assistant on Bobby Clark’s staff at Notre Dame … prior to that, Clark and Wiese were together for five years at Stanford.
IRISH THOUGHTS: Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark discusses Michigan and his team’s recent play …
On the Michigan game …
“This will be a very difficult regional game for us. They are a very good team and they have played a very tough schedule. Michigan has played well against some of the best teams in the country. This game will have NCAA ramifications because they are one of the top teams in our region. This is a big game for us.”
On the team’s recent play …
“We are starting to come together as a team. We are finding ourselves as a team and we need to continue to build off of that. This team is very capable of great things. This is a key part of the season. We have some momentum going and we have to keep it up.”
NEXT UP: Notre Dame wraps up the home portion of its 2006 ledger with a non-confernce showdown against Michigan State on Wednesday, Oct. 11 and a conference clash with Providence on Saturday, Oct. 14 … both games are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Alumni Field.
RECAPPING MARQUETTE: Two early goals from Joseph Lapira would put the No. 17/15 Notre Dame on its way to a 4-0 victory over Marquette on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at Alumni Field … senior midfielder Nate Norman and sophomore forward Bright Dike added the other two tallies for the Irish … with just over two minutes elapsed in the contest, Lapira put a foot on a deflected cross and hit it off the left post and then the ball caromed into the net for an early 1-0 Notre Dame lead … he would strike again in the 11th minute as sophomore defender Matt Besler sent a nice ball to Lapira and he dribbled through the top of the box and sent it over Marquette goalkeeper Marc Dettmann and into the goal … the Fighting Irish nearly made it 3-0 before the end of the first half with good chances from Besler and senior midfielder Greg Dalby in the final 10 minutes of the stanza … Besler placed a foot on a Jack Traynor free kick, which was placed perfectly, yet Dettmann was there for the stop right in front of the goal … Dalby took a corner kick from Kurt Martin and sent it on goal, yet the shot was deflected by a Golden Eagle defender to keep the Irish lead at two heading into halftime … Notre Dame dominated possession for much of the second half and it paid off in the 73rd minute as Norman dribbled through traffic and fired a shot into the back of the net from 15 yards out to make it a 3-0 contest on his first goal of the season … Dike put the capper on the match with just over eight minutes remaining as he settled a high ball and placed it into the right side of the netting for his second goal of the year … yet again, the Fighting Irish out-shot their opponent as they put up 19 attempts to nine from Marquette … Notre Dame also had seven corner kicks, while the Golden Eagles had three … Notre Dame has collected more shots than its opponent in eight of 11 matches this season … Chris Cahill picked up his fifth win of the season by posting his fourth shutout of the campaign … he made four saves on the night as did Dettmann.
RECAPPING SETON HALL: Another two-goal performance from junior forward Joseph Lapira led Notre Dame to a 2-0 win over Seton Hall on Saturday, Sept. 30 at the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Lubetkin Field … Lapira has notched three straight two-goal games and has five multi-goal matches on the season … Lapira ignited the Fighting Irish offense with a goal in the 10th minute off a cross from sophomore midfielder Cory Rellas … the assist was the first point for Rellas in his collegiate career … this was the second straight contest in which Lapira has netted a goal in the opening 10 minutes of the game … the junior forward found the back of the net again in the 71st minute as he took a drop pass from freshman Michael Thomas and deposited it into the high corner … that was the first point for Thomas in his young Notre Dame career … the Irish out-shot the Pirates 22-19 on the afternoon, with Lapira registered a game-high eight attempts … Seton Hall held a 10-5 advantage in corner kicks … Irish senior Chris Cahill stopped three shots to earn his second straight shutout and his fifth of the season to improve his record to 6-2-1 on the campaign … Seton Hall’s Paul McHenry made eight saves on the day.
LAPIRA NAMED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK, AGAIN: Joseph Lapira was named the National Player of the Week by College Soccer News on Oct. 2 for his two-goal efforts against Marquette (Sept. 27) and Seton Hall (Sept. 30) … that marked the second time this season that Lapira has garnered national honors … after notching four goals against Indiana on Sept. 3, he was named the National Player of the Week by Top Drawer Soccer and Soccer Times along with being selected to the College Soccer News Team of the Week.
CAHILL AND LAPIRA TAKE HOME WEEKLY BIG EAST HONORS: Senior Chris Cahill was named the BIG EAST Conference Goalkeeper of the Week and junior forward Joseph Lapira copped the league’s Offensive Player of the Week honor for the week ending Oct. 1 … Cahill posted back-to-back shutouts in wins over Marquette (4-0) and Seton Hall (2-0), while Lapira netted two goals in both contests to bring his team-high total to 13 for the season … this is the second such honor for Cahill, who was named the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week once last season … Lapira becomes the first ever Fighting Irish player to collect the conference’s Offensive Player of the Week honor twice in the same season as he also earned the honor on Sept. 4 following a four-goal effort against No. 8 Indiana … the last Notre Dame duo to collect BIG EAST honors for the same week was Lapira and then senior goalkeeper Chris Sawyer back on Oct. 25, 2004 … Lapira, a freshman at the time, was tabbed as the Offensive Player of the Week, while Sawyer was named the Goalkeeper of the Week.
STATISTICAL EDGE: Notre Dame owns a decided advantage in most statistical categories … the Irish have out-shot their opponents 218-128 and have gained 33 more corner kicks (84-51) … Notre Dame has out-scored its opposition 24-11, while collecting nine more assists (16-7).
IRISH IN THE BIG EAST: Notre Dame leads the BIG EAST with 218 shots taken and 84 corner kicks attempted … the Irish are tied for first, along with West Virginia, in goals scored with 24 … Notre Dame ranks fourth in points with 64 … West Virginia leads in that category with 69, while Cincinnati has 68 and Providence has 65 … the six team shutouts ranks Notre Dame in a tie for first, along with St. John’s and West Virginia.
LAPIRA MULTI-GOAL GAMES: Junior forward Joseph Lapira has notched three straight two-goal games and has posted five multiple-goal games this season.
LAPIRA IN THE BIG EAST: Notre Dame junior forward Joseph Lapira leads the BIG EAST Conference with 13 goals and 62 attempted shots … he also leads the league with 27 points … Lapira has a conference-best five game-winning goals.
THE NATIONAL CHARTS: Joseph Lapira’s 13 goals ties him for first nationally in that category along with Winthrop’s Saidi Isaac … his 1.08 goals-per game average ranks him fifth … Lapira is eighth in Division I men’s soccer with 2.25 points per game … his four-goal, eight-point effort against Indiana ties him second nationally for goals scored and points totaled in a single match this season.
CAHILL BLANKINGS: Chris Cahill’s back-to-back shutouts against Marquette and Seton Hall moved his season shutout total to five … he has held the opponent scoreless in three of the past four contests … Cahill has 14 career shutouts and will be looking for a career-best third straight shutout against Michigan on Wednesday.
IRISH FIRSTS: Sophomore defender Matt Besler netted the first goal of his collegiate career in the 3-1 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 23 … sophomore midfielder Cory Rellas and freshman midfielder Michael Thomas notched the first points of their Notre Dame careers with assists against Seton Hall on Sept. 30.
A CLASSIC PERFORMANCE: 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.
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 8th in this week’s NSCAA/adidas poll and 10th in the current Soccer America rankings … the Irish are 15th according to Soccer Times and 21st in the College Soccer News poll … three of the Irish’s 2006 opponents appear in the latest Soccer America rankings, West Virginia (8), Indiana (9), and Cincinnati (15).
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.