SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Coming off a dominant 4-0 win over Chicago State in a midweek matchup, the Irish are back in action at Alumni Stadium in an ACC showdown with North Carolina. First touch is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 24. The match will be streamed on ACCNX via WatchESPN.
NOTRE DAME vs. UNC
Location: South Bend, Indiana | Alumni Stadium
Live Stream: ACCNX
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDMenSoccer
Game Notes: vs. UNC
THE NORTH CAROLINA SERIES
• The Irish and Tar Heels will meet on the pitch for the 11th time on Saturday evening.
• The Irish trail in the series with a mark of 3-6-2.
• Notre Dame is 1-2-2 against UNC when playing the Tar Heels in South Bend.
• Four of the five matches played at Alumni Stadium were level at the end of regulation.
THE LAST TIME OUT
• The Irish defeated Chicago State with a dominant performance in a 4-0 win on Wednesday evening at Alumni Stadium.
• Paddy Burns recorded his first career brace and Ben Giacobello and Daniel Russo each scored their first goals of the season.
• ND allowed just two shots over the 90 minutes, neither of which were on frame.
BAFFOUR’S BUZZER BEATER
• Notre Dame escaped Charlottesville with a thrilling 2-1 road win over Virginia in ACC play on Friday, Sept. 16.
• KK Baffour provided the heroics, scoring the match winner with 3.1 seconds left after Matthew Roou played him through on goal just before crossing the midfield line.
• Baffour’s goal was the first of his collegiate career.
• Notre Dame has now won three of the last four matchups against Virginia and the last 11 matches have been decided by a goal or ended in a draw.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
• Of the 15 Notre Dame players that have recorded starts this season, eight have been either freshmen or sophomores.
• Seven Irish players made their collegiate debuts this season.
• Of the 19 players that have seen the pitch, 11 are either sophomores or freshmen.
#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.