Aug. 24, 2015
DATE: Aug. 24, 2015
TIME: 7 p.m. (ET)
LOCATION: Notre Dame, Ind. (Alumni Stadium — cap. 3,500)
LAST MEETING (Exhibition): T, 0-0 (8/16/14 at SLU)
BROADCAST: WatchND
LIVE STATS:
TWITTER: @NDMenSoccer
TICKETS: Free admission, with donations to Grassroot Soccer accepted at the gate of Alumni Stadium and during the match.
IRISH AGAINST SAINT LOUIS
-Saint Louis holds an 8-3-1 edge in the all-time series against Notre Dame in official matches. The Billikens and Irish last met during the regular season on Sept. 4, 2011, a 2-1 Saint Louis win that was part of the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic at Indiana.
-Notre Dame and Saint Louis battled to a 0-0 draw after 61 minutes on Aug. 16, 2014, in an exhibition match that was suspended due to inclement weather.
-The Irish are 2-1 against the Billikens all-time in matches held on the Notre Dame campus. The last Saint Louis road victory in the series came on Sept. 14, 1990, a 3-2 win at old Alumni Field.
-Head coach Bobby Clark is 1-2-1 against Saint Louis in his career, including a 1-1-1 mark during his tenure at Notre Dame.
SCOUTING THE BILLIKENS
-Saint Louis returns 16 veteran players from last season’s team that finished 14-5-2, which included a 5-1-2 record in Atlantic 10 Conference play. The Billikens were a perfect 11-0 in home matches in 2014, including a 2-0 win over Tulsa on Nov. 20 during first round of the NCAA Championship.
-Senior midfielder David Graydon is the leading returning scorer for Saint Louis after notching two goals and a team-high six assists (10 points) last season. Senior defender Marco Heskamp also chipped in six assists in 2014.
-Sophomore goalkeeper Sascha Otte started all 21 matches for Saint Louis as a true freshman last season, logging a 0.88 goals against average and a .756 save percentage to go along with 12 solo shutouts.
-Head coach Mike McGinty is entering his sixth season at the helm of the Billikens, and is 59-32-8 since arriving at Saint Louis in 2010.
CICCIARELLI RETURNS TO ALUMNI STADIUM
-Forward Vince Cicciarelli (’15) makes his return to Alumni Stadium on Monday as a member of the Saint Louis forward corps. Cicciarelli is playing his final season of collegiate eligibility with the Billikens in 2015.
-In 44 career matches (39 starts) as a member of the Irish from 2011-15, Cicciarelli scored eight goals and added three assists (19 points) on 81 shots. Three of his eight career goals were game-winning tallies.
-Cicciarelli was a third team all-ACC selection for Notre Dame as a junior in 2013, scoring six goals and adding three assists as a member of that season’s NCAA Championship winning team.
MEET THE IRISH
-Notre Dame has split its first two exhibition matches during the 2015 preseason. The Irish were defeated by Ohio State 2-1 on Aug. 16 before bouncing back with a 1-0 victory at Butler on Aug. 19. Jon Gallagher and Patrick Hodan have notched both Notre Dame goals thus far in the exhibition slate.
-Notre Dame was slated fourth in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) preseason poll that was released on Aug. 3. The Irish, one of three Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) teams in the initial NSCAA top five (Virginia, No. 2, North Carolina, No. 5), logged a 12-5-4 record in 2014 that included an ACC regular-season championship following a 6-1-1 conference mark.
-A total of 10 monogram winners, including six regular starters, are back in the fold from the 2014 Notre Dame team that reached the NCAA Championship Round of 16 for the third consecutive season.
-Senior midfielder and tri-captain Patrick Hodan returns as the reigning ACC Offensive Player of the Year after pacing the Notre Dame attack with nine goals and 21 points in 2014. Hodan, a 2014 NSCAA first team All-American and CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-America first team selection, was named to the Missouri Athletic Club’s (MAC) Hermann Trophy Watch List.
-For the first time since 2012, Notre Dame will have a goalkeeper other than Patrick Wall (’14) appear in net in an official match. Wall started the last 46 Irish regular season and postseason games in that span. Senior Brian Talcott, junior Chris Hubbard and freshman Ryan Krutz are in the mix to earn the starting goalkeeper job this season.
-Notre Dame returns 23 of 35 goals, 23 of 31 assists and 69 of 101 points from last season’s roster in 2015. Five Irish returners, Hodan, Evan Panken, Jeffrey Farina, Jon Gallagher and Brandon Aubrey, appeared in all 21 matches in 2014.
FINAL SCRIMMAGE BEFORE IU
-Monday’s contest against Saint Louis is the final scheduled exhibition match for Notre Dame leading up to the start of the 2015 regular season. The Irish travel to the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic next weekend at Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington, facing No. 13 Maryland on Friday at 5 p.m. and No. 14 Indiana at 2 p.m. on Sunday on the Big Ten Network.
Season and single game tickets for Notre Dame men’s soccer are on sale now. Visit und.com/tickets or call the Murnane Family Ticket Office at 574-631-7356.
–ND–
— Tony Jones, Athletics Communications Assistant