NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame opens the 2022 season by welcoming Seattle University to Alumni Stadium. The match is slated to start at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, Aug. 25 and will air on ACCNX. The players will sign autographs for fans following the match at the north gate concourse of Alumni Stadium.
NOTRE DAME vs. SEATTLE
Location: Notre Dame, Indiana | Alumni Stadium
Live Stream: ACCNX
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDMenSoccer
Game Notes: vs. Seattle
THE SEATTLE SERIES
• Notre Dame and Seattle will face each other on Thursday evening for the third time in series history.
• The Irish are 2-0-0 against the Redhawks in the all-time series.
• The Irish won a high scoring affair in the most recent meeting, claiming a 4-2 win at Alumni Stadium on Sept. 6, 2019.
OWNING THE OPENERS
• Notre Dame has historically gotten off to a good start to its seasons, posting a record of 27-10-8 in its season openers.
• The Irish have lost just once in their last 11 openers to a season, going 6-1-4.
• Notre Dame has outscored the opposition by a combined score of 17-8 over that stretch.
• Notre Dame has been even better in home openers, recording a mark of 32-9-4.
• The Irish are 2-1-1 under Chad Riley in both home openers and season openers.
• Last season the Irish suffered a heartbreaking defeat in overtime, falling to No. 2 Indiana by a final of 3-2 at Alumni Stadium.
2021 REWIND
• The Irish are coming off one of their most successful seasons in program history.
• The 2021 squad advanced to the College Cup for the second time in history and captured the program’s first ACC Tournament title.
• Notre Dame finished the season on an eight-game unbeaten streak, going 5-0-3 during that span, all coming in postseason play.
• The Irish allowed just two goals over the final eight matches of the year.
• Notre Dame defeated Duke in the ACC Tournament final to capture the crown. The Irish didn’t allow a single goal over four matches of ACC Tournament play.
• The season came to an end in the College Cup semifinals, as the Irish fell to Clemson in penalties (5-3) in Cary, N.C.
KEEP IT CLEAN
• The Notre Dame defense returns starting goalkeeper Bryan Dowd along with three of four starters from the 2021 backline, including CB Josh Ramsey, LB Paddy Burns and RB Ben Giacobello.
The Irish closed the 2021 season with 10 clean sheets in its last 14 matches.
• The Irish totaled 13 shutouts on the season, with Bryan Dowd in goal for 10.
• The 13 clean sheets were tied for third most in program history and the most since recording 13 during the 2006 season.
• Notre Dame had eight clean sheets against ACC opponents, the most by any team in the conference last season (Pitt x2, Duke, Clemson, Wake Forest, Louisville, NC State x2)
• Opponents scored multiple goals in just four of 24 matches in 2021.
• Despite playing some of the top teams in the country, the Irish allowed just seven goals over the final 16 matches.
• Bryan Dowd tied the program record for consecutive clean sheets with six straight, all coming in postseason play.
BALANCED ATTACK
• Fourteen returning Irish players registered at least one point last season, as the team returns 86 points from last year.
• Ten players scored a goal through during the 2021 campaign, with six scoring multiple goals.
• Sophomore Matthew Roou is the top returning goal scorer on the 2022 squad after firing in seven goals during his debut season.
#3 RANKED FRESHMAN CLASS IN THE COUNTRY
• The Irish welcome a seven-man freshman class to South Bend which was ranked as the No. 3 class in the country by TopDrawerSoccer.
• The class features four players ranked in IMG’s top 200 rankings, each ranking in the top 100.
• The seven players come from a combined five states and one foreign country (Ghana).
• Kelvin Baffour (M), Daniel Boateng (M), Wyatt Borso (F), Owen Cornell (GK), Mitchell Ferguson (D), Sebastian Green (M) and Nicholas Legendre (F) make up the class.
• Notre Dame also welcomes Mo Williams to the team, a grad transfer defender from Seton Hall.