SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame opens ACC play with a ranked road matchup at No. 24 Syracuse at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 10. The match will be streamed on ACCNX via WatchESPN.
#22 NOTRE DAME vs. #24 SYRACUSE
Location: Syracuse, New York | SU Soccer Stadium
Live Stream: ACCNX
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDMenSoccer
Game Notes: at No. 24 Syracuse
THE SYRACUSE SERIES
• Notre Dame and Syracuse will face each other on Saturday afternoon for the 21st time in series history. The Irish are 15-3-2 against the Orange in the all-time series.
• Notre Dame has dropped just one decision over the last 16 meetings, posting a record of 13-1-2 in that span.
• The Irish won a 1-0 decision in the last meeting between the two sides on Sept. 11, 2020, at Syracuse.
• Notre Dame is unbeaten when playing at Syracuse, putting together a record of 8-0-1.
LAST TIME OUT
• The Irish battled DePaul to a 1-1 draw at Alumni Stadium on Tuesday, September 6.
• Notre Dame’s goal was scored by Matthew Roou, his first of the season and eighth of his career.
• The Irish outshot the visitors 16-6 and dominated the run of play. Notre Dame took nine corners to DePaul’s one.
• KK Baffour notched the first assist of his career in the draw.
NOTEWORTHY NUMBERS
• The Irish have outshot the opposition 57-31 over three matches, recording more attempts in each of the contests.
• Notre Dame also has earned more corners, holding a 25-14 advantage over its opponents after three games.
• The Irish have posted six assists on their five goals.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
• Of the 12 Notre Dame players that have recorded starts through three matches this season, seven have been either freshmen or sophomores.
• Seven Irish players made their collegiate debuts this season.
• Of the 17 players that have seen the pitch, 11 are either sophomores or freshmen.
• Three of Notre Dame’s four goals and four of their six assists have come from freshmen or sophomores.
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.
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.