Oct. 9, 2001
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
THE WEEK AHEAD – Notre Dame (4-4-0, 2-2-0) embarks on three straight road games beginning this week with two contests against BIG EAST foes as the Irish travel to West Virginia for a 7:00 p.m. meeting against the Mountaineers on Thurs., Oct. 11 and then to Virginia Tech for a 1:00 p.m. match on Sun., Oct. 14.
RECAPPING THE GEORGETOWN GAME – Notre Dame was victorious in its lone match last week as the Irish defeated Georgetown 3-1 to snap a four-game losing streak to the Hoyas. Erich Braun (Frankfurt, Germany) scored two goals in the game, while Chad Riley (Houston, Texas) added two assists. Braun recorded his first multiple-goal game of the season and fourth of his career in helping Notre Dame to its fourth win of the season. Braun put the Irish up 1-0 with 2:33 remaining before the intermission off assists from Kevin Goldthwaite (Sacramento, Calif.) and Kevin Richards (Warwick, Bermuda). Georgetown knotted the score at 1-1 7:58 into the second half off of a Kenny Owens score. Braun scored what proved to be the game-wining goal at the 68:08 mark when he re-directed a shot into the corner of the net off an assist from Riley. Justin Detter (White Lake, Mich.) added the insurance goal off an assist from Riley. Chris Sawyer (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), making his third consecutive start, finished with six goals in the game. Notre Dame outshot the Hoyas 23-12 in the game, including a 17-5 advantage in the second half.
SERIES RECORD VS. WEST VIRGINIA – This will be the seventh meeting between the two teams with the Irish holding a 4-2 advantage in the series. Notre Dame is 1-2 in games played at WVU which includes a 1-0 setback in its most recent to Morgantown, W. Va., in 1999. Last season, Notre Dame defeated the Mountaineers 2-0 at Alumni Field. All six of the meetings between the two teams have come while both have been members of the BIG EAST Conference.
SERIES RECORD VS. VIRGINIA TECH – This will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
HEAD COACH BOBBY CLARK – Bobby Clark is in his first season at Notre Dame. He was named the fifth head coach in the history of the Notre Dame men’s soccer program on Jan. 19, 2001. In his 15th season as a collegiate coach, Clark was victorious in his debut on the Irish sidelines in Notre Dame’s 5-0 win over Villanova. Prior to coming to Notre Dame, he spent five seasons guiding the Stanford Cardinal to a 71-21-12 record and .740 winning percentage from 1996-2000. Clark also was the head coach at Dartmouth from 1985-1993 where he led the Big Green to an 82-42-13 mark (.646). Heading into this season, Clark ranked 15th among active Division I head men’s soccer coaches in terms of winning percentage. In 14-plus seasons, he owns a 157-67-25 record for a .681 winning percentage. Six of Clark’s teams have advanced to NCAA tournament play with his 1998 Stanford squad finishing as the NCAA runnerup that season. In between his coaching stints at Dartmouth and Stanford, he was head coach of the New Zealand National Team. Clark will be coaching in his 250th collegiate game against West Virginia on Oct. 11.
NOTRE DAME CELEBRATING 25TH SEASON OF VARSITY COMPETITION – The 2001 campaign marks the 25th season of varsity competition for the Notre Dame men’s soccer team. Since its inaugural campaign in 1977, Irish teams have compiled a 319-162-43 mark for a .650 winning percentage. Notre Dame has won 20-plus games on three occasions and 15 or more games 11 times. In the program’s history, only five teams have had a losing season.
BRAUN ON A ROLL – With his two-goal performance against Georgetown, junior Erich Braun leads the Irish in scoring with six goals and two assists (14 points). Braun had his fourth multipl-goal game of his career and first of the season when he tallied two goals in Notre Dame’s win over Georgetown. He has scored a goal in every game that the Irish have scored a goal.
DETTER SECOND IN IRISH IN SCORING COLUMN – Justin Detter is second in the Irish scoring column with four goals and a team-leading three assists (11 points). He recorded the second multiple-goal game of his career in Notre Dame’s win over Cleveland State on Sept. 19 when he tallied two goals and an assist. The five points marked the most in a single game by the Irish sophomore. Detter’s first multiple-goal outing occurred in 2000 in Notre Dame’s 2-1 victory over Northwestern. He has been in the goal-scoring column in three of the five games in which the Irish have scored a goal.
TOUGH STRETCH – Notre Dame begins in a three-game stretch in which it plays its next three game on the road and five of its next seven away from the friendly confines of Alumni Field. Following its two BIG EAST games, the Irish will be on the road for a non-conference game against Indiana on Wed., Oct. 17 at 7:00 p.m. and then return home to face Boston College on Sat., Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m. Notre Dame then takes to the road again to face Providence on Oct. 24 and Connecticut on Oct. 27 before returning to Alumni Field for the final two games of the regular season against Connecticut (Oct. 27) and IUPUI (Oct. 30).
IU RETURNS TO IRISH SCHEDULE – Notre Dame will renew its in-state rivalry with Indiana as the two squads face each other for the first time since the 1997 campaign when the Irish played host to the Hoosiers. This year’s contest will be played on Wed., Oct. 7 in Bloomington, Ind. The first meeting between the two schools was played in 1978, and the two met continuously (except for in 1990) through the 1997 campaign. Indiana leads the series 18-1-1. Notre Dame picked up its lone victory in the series in 1987 with a 4-3 overtime victory.
HOME SWEET HOME – Notre Dame is 3-1 at home this season at Alumni Field after finishing just 4-4 last year. The Irish own a 72-28-7 mark for a .706 winning percentage at Alumni Field. The 2001 campaign marks the 11th season for the Irish playing at Alumni Field.
SAWYER GETS STARTING NOD IN GOAL – Rookie Chris Sawyer has been in the starting lineup for each of Notre Dame’s last three games. The first-year player has registered 13 saves in his last two outings, making a career-high seven stops against Seton Hall in a 1-0 loss and six in a 3-1 victory over Georgetown. He has played in four games overall this season and owns a 1.16 goals against average and .833 save percentage. He has allowed four goals and made 20 saves while playing 311:04.
STEWART GETS FIRST CAREER START – Freshman midfielder Jack Stewart (Torrance, Calif.) made his first career start against Georgetown and is the second Irish rookie to earn a start in the lineup. Goalie Chris Sawyer has been in the Irish starting lineup three times.
GETTING BACK IN THE FLOW – Sophomore Chad Riley, who led the Irish in scoring during his rookie season with three goals and a team-leading six assists, did not record a point until Notre Dame’s sixth game of the season against Bradley when he dished off an assist to Justin Ratcliffe (Miami, Fla.). Riley has dished off two assists in the team’s most recent win over Georgetown, giving him three assists in the last three games.
A GAME OF FIRSTS – Notre Dame’s win over Villanova proved to be a night of firsts for many associated with the team. First, head coach Bobby Clark got his first win with the Irish in his coaching debut. Three players – freshman Kevin Goldthwaite, sophomore Greg Martin (Plano, Texas) and junior Justin Ratcliffe tallied their first collegiate goals. Martin had the first multiple-point game of his career as he also dished off his first career assist.
GETTING INTO THE ACTION – Of the six freshmen on the Irish roster, two rookies – Kevin Goldthwaite and Jack Stewart have seen action in all seven games coming off the bench. Goldthwaite’s first collegiate game will be one to remember as his first goal in a Notre Dame uniform came off of his first-ever shot in a game. It also was the first goal scored by the Irish in 2001.
GOAL PRODUCTION – Notre Dame has nearly matched its goal total of a year ago with 16 goals in the first eight games of the season for a 2.00 goals per game average. Last year, the Irish tallied just 19 goals in 17 games for a 1.11 average. Erich Braun’s total of six goals surpasses that of any Notre Dame player last season as the Irish had three individuals lead the team with four goals each.
GOOD BIG EAST START – Notre Dame continued its trend of success in BIG EAST openers with its 5-0 win over Villanova in what was the season and conference opener for the Irish this season. Overall, Notre Dame is 5-1-1 in league openers since becoming a conference member in 1995. The Irish dropped their league opener last season at Boston College (2-0) and tied Pittburgh (0-0) in 1997. Both of those games were on the road.
YOUNG GUNS – The 25-man Notre Dame roster is comprised of just four seniors and nine juniors with almost half of the squad made up of sophomores and freshmen. Bobby Clark inherited a program which returned eight starters and 19 letterwinners from last year’s squad.
TOUGH LUCK IN OVERTIME – Two of Notre Dame’s four losses have come on the road and been decided in overtime. The Irish lost a 3-2 decision to Furman at the 108:59 mark on Sept. 7, in addition to its 1-0 setback at Seton Hall 6:45 into the overtime period. Notre Dame played two overtime games last season and was 0-0-2 in those matchups.
IRONMAN – Junior defender Andreas Forstner (Gerlinden, Germany) has missed just one start in the 43 games he has played in during his collegiate career. Forstner started 17 of the 18 games he played in during his rookie season and started all 17 contests in 2000. This season, he has been one of five players who has started all eight games. Heading into its matchup with West Virginia, the third-year Irish player has made 26 consecutive starts and has played in 43 of 45 career games.
MAKING A STATEMENT – Sophomores Devon Prescod (Marietta, Ga.) and Kevin Richards (Warwick, Bermuda) certainly have had an impact for the Irish this season. Richards is one of five players to start all eight contests in 2001, while Precod has been in the starting lineup for on seven occasions. Both were in the starting lineup for just two games last season.
RISING ROSSO – Heading into the 2001 campaign, senior Matt Rosso (Churchville, Pa.) had started just four games in his three previous seasons at Notre Dame. This season, the Irish midfielder has doubled that total and has been in the starting lineup for all eight contests.
SECOND-HALF DOMINANCE – Notre Dame outshot Georgetown 23-12 in its win over the Hoyas, including a 17-5 advantage in the second half. The Irish trend this season shows that they have been much more aggressive in the second half of games. Notre Dame has outscored its opponents 11-8 in the second 45-minute stanza and own a 74-56 shot advantage in that period. Also telling is the fact that Irish opponents have come up with 12 more saves in the second half (35-23).