NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame welcomes No. 5 Wake Forest to Alumni Stadium for its ACC spring home opener at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 21. The game will air on ACCNX.
NOTRE DAME vs. WAKE FOREST
Location: Notre Dame, Indiana | Alumni Stadium
Live Stream: ACCNX
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDMenSoccer
Game Notes: vs. Wake Forest
THE WAKE FOREST SERIES
• The Irish and Demon Deacons will meet on the pitch for the 13th time in program history on Saturday evening.
• Notre Dame trails in the all-time series with a record of 4-6-2, however, the Irish are 1-0-1 when playing at home.
• The Irish won the most recent matchup in the series, knocking off a No. 2 Wake Forest team in Winston-Salem by a score of 1-0 on Oct. 26, 2019.
LAST TIME OUT
• The Irish recorded their second straight clean sheet in a 1-0 win over Calvin in a mideweek matchup at Alumni Stadium.
• The Irish scored an early goal off a corner, as Dawson McCartney’s delivery was nodded in by Aiden McFadden, which ended up being the game winner.
• Freshman goalkeeper Bryan Dowd made his Irish debut and notched the first win and clean sheet of his career.
LYNN LEADS THE LINE
• Junior forward Jack Lynn enters the week tied for first in goals scored on the year (8), second in the ACC in goals per game (0.73) and fourth in points per game (1.45) despite missing time early in the fall season with an injury.
• Lynn paces all active Irish players in career goals with 21 over his three years at Notre Dame.
• In the final match of the fall regular season, Lynn recorded the first hat trick of his career, scoring three times in the first half in the 4-1 win over Louisville.
• The forward enjoyed a breakout 2019 campaign, scoring a career-high 10 goals to lead the Irish attack.
KEEP IT CLEAN
• The Irish have six shutouts on the season and three in their first four games of the spring.
• Notre Dame hasn’t allowed a single goal in regulation in any of its four spring matches, only allowing an overtime score against Virginia and recording clean sheets in wins over Butler, Duke and Calvin.
• Senior goalkeeper Keagan McLaughlin has recorded eight clean sheets in his 15 career starts in goal for the Irish.
• McLaughlin has helped Notre Dame record four shutout wins this season, coming in wins over Kentucky, Syracuse, UNC, Butler and Duke
• The senior shot stopper recorded a career-high five saves in the victory over the Tar Heels to send the Irish to the ACC semifinals.
• McLaughlin kept clean sheets in all three starts during the 2019 campaign, coming in wins over Denver, Michigan State and Purdue Fort Wayne.
STRONG STARTS
• The Irish are unbeaten at 7-0 when scoring the opening goal of a game this season, including 3-0 when doing so this spring.
• Notre Dame has conceded a total of one goal in the seven games when it has struck first.
• Five of the seven games when the Irish have scored first have come in the first half.
AIDEN’S ASSISTS
• Senior forward Aiden McFadden is living up to his No. 10 jersey this season, totaling four assists.
• McFadden’s four assists rank tied for fourth in the ACC.
• All four of McFadden’s assists have come off crosses, including two from service on corners.
• Despite not getting credited with an assist, McFadden provided the final touch from a Notre Dame player in the double overtime own goal to help the Irish defeat the Cavaliers on Oct. 24.
• McFadden has scored two goals this season, including the game winner over UNC in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament in OT in the fall. He also scored in the seventh minute in the win over Duke.
• The senior was selected as the 59th overall pick (third round) by Atlanta United FC in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft.
FALL REWIND
• The Irish finished the fall portion of the schedule with a record of 5-4, including a mark of 4-3 in the regular season.
• Notre Dame recorded regular season wins over Kentucky (1-0), Syracuse (2-1), Virginia (2-1, 2OT) and Louisville (4-1) to earn the No. 3 seed from the North Region in the ACC Tournament.
• The Irish pulled out a thrilling 1-0 overtime win over UNC in the ACC quarterfinals before falling to No. 1 Pitt in the semifinal round.
RILEY IN YEAR THREE AT NOTRE DAME
• Head Coach Chad Riley is in his third season at the helm of his alma mater.
• Riley has led the Irish to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances since taking the reins of the program.
• The Irish have a record of 29-20-4 during Riley’s tenure.
• Riley became the first head coach in program history to reach the NCAA quarterfinals in his debut season after earning the No. 7 overall seed in the tournament.