November 17, 1998
NOTRE DAME, IND. — The Notre Dame menis soccer team closed out the 1998 campaign with a 2-0 loss at St. Johnis in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST tournament. The Irish, who made their third consecutive BIG EAST championship appearance, finished the season with a 9-6-3 mark.
IRISH IN THE BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP- Notre Dame has qualified for the BIG EAST tournament three of the four years it has been a member of the league. The Irish were the seventh seed in this yearis championship after finishing with a 5-4-2 league mark. Notre Dame now has a 4-2 record in six tournament games. In its first-ever appearance in 1996, Notre Dame, the number three seed, claimed the title and last season, as the fifth-seed, advanced to the semifinals.
1996 - Notre Dame 2, Georgetown 1 (Quarterfinal - Notre Dame, Ind.); Notre Dame 2, Connecticut 1 (Semifinal - Piscataway, N.J.); Notre Dame 1, Rutgers 0 (Championship - Piscataway, N.J.) 1997 - Notre Dame 2, Seton Hall 0 (Quarterfinal - South Orange, N.J.); St. John's 4, Notre Dame 1(Semifinal - Storrs, Conn.) 1996 - St. John's 2, Notre Dame 0 (Quarterfinal - Jamaica, N.Y.)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW- St. John’s: Notre Dame ended its season with a 9-6-3 record after the Irish were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 1998 BIG EAST Championship following a 2-0 loss to St. Johnis in Jamaica, N.Y. During the regular season, the two teams battled to a 1-1 tie at Notre Dame. The 13th-ranked Storm scored both of their goals in the first half and outshot the Irish 12-7 in the contest. It marked the second straight year St. Johnis eliminated the Irish from the BIG EAST tournament. In 1997, Coach Mike Berticelliis squad dropped a 4-1 decision in the semifinals. The game also marked the third loss for the Irish in as many games at Da Silva Field. Notre Dame goalkeeper Greg Velho (Longwood, Fla.) finished with four saves in the contest.
HEAD COACH MIKE BERTICELLI- Notre Dame head coach Mike Berticelli finished his ninth season along the Irish sidelines and 23rd as a collegiate coach. He has led Notre Dame to three of the school’s four NCAA tournament appearances (1993, 1994 and 1996). In 1996, his Irish squad won the school’s first-ever NCAA tournament game when it defeated second-seeded UNC Greensboro in the first round. Berticelli has a 96-71-16 (.568) mark at Notre Dame and is 283-126-39 (.675) overall. In three of the last six seasons, Irish teams have won conference tournament titles. Under Berticelli, the Irish claimed the 1996 BIG EAST tournament crown in just its second year as a member of the league with consecutive wins over ranked opponents Connecticut and Rutgers. During the 1993 and 1994 campaigns, the Irish won back-to-back MCC tournament crowns and earned berths in the NCAA tournament. Prior to coming to Notre Dame, he spent six seasons (1984-89) at Old Dominion where his teams compiled a 76-27-16 record for a .706 winning percentage. Berticelli coached for four years at UNC-Greensboro (1980-83) with his teams compiling a 70-9-5 record (.863) and winning two Division III national crowns in 1982 and 1983. His first head coaching stint was at Thomas College where he coached from (1976-79) with his teams posting a 41-19-2 mark during that four-year span. The Irish have won 10-plus games in six of his nine seasons at the Notre Dame helm.
THREE IRISH PLAYERS HONORED ON ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM- Notre Dame placed three members on the all-conference second team. Earning a spot on the team were goalkeeper Greg Velho, junior defender Matt McNew (Arlington, Tex.) and freshman forward Shane Walton (San Diego, Calif.). Walton was one of three freshmen in the league to earn first or second team all-conference honors.
WALTON EARNS SPOT ON BIG EAST ALL-ROOKIE- Shane Walton became the third Notre Dame player in four years to earn a spot on the BIG EAST All-Rookie Team. Walton was the leading scorer among rookies in the league as he netted 10 goals and dished off seven assists (27 points) this season and had five goals and four assists (14 points) in 11 league games. His 10 goals and 27 points were the most by a Notre Dame rookie since the 1991 when Tont Richardson led the Irish in scoring with 11 goals and six assists (28 points).
VELHO FINISHES CAREER AS CAREER SHUTOUT LEADER- Greg Velho finished his career as Notre Dame’s shutout leader. His 311 surpassed the 306 Bert Bader had during his four-year career from 1991-94. Velho started 72 of the 76 games he played in, while registering a 1.10 goals against average and allowing 83 goals. He also recorded 26 shutouts and posted a 39-26-7 record.
COX HAS STRONG RETURN THIS SEASON- Junior Ryan Cox (Broadview Hts., Ohio), who battled injuries during both the i96 and i97 campaigns in his first two seasons, was one of seven players who has started all 18 contests this season. He finished as the teamis second leading scorer overall with five goals and a team-leading eight assists for 18 points. Cox, who missed all but two games last season with an ankle injury after earning BIG EAST All-Rookie team honors in i96, has six goals and 10 assists (22 points) in his career.
OVERTIME IRISH- Notre Dame played six overtime games this season. Coach Mike Berticelliis squad was 2-1-3 in those games in i98. The Irish played in a school-record five consecutive overtimes contests earlier this season. The single-season record for overtime games in a season by a Notre Dame squad is seven set during the 1985 campaign.
WALTON’S HEROICS- Freshman Shane Walton had four game-winning goals this season and one game-tying goal. Walton scored a goal in nine of 18 contests in 1998 and was named the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week three times. He had one multiple-goal game and two multiple-point contests. Waltonis 10 goals and 27 points are the most by an Irish rookie since Jean Joseph (1991-95) who had 11 goals and 28 points in his freshman season in 1991. The last rookie to lead the Irish in both goals scored and overall scoring was Bill Lanza who had eight goals and four assists (20 points) during his freshman year in 1992.
HOME SWEET HOME- Notre Dame finished 5-1-2 at home this season. The 1998 campaign marked the ninth campaign for the Irish playing at Alumni Field. Since 1990, Notre Dame has won 72.4 percent of its games there, compiling a 58-20-7 record.
CLOSE CALLS- Seven of Notre Dameis 17 games this season were decided by a single goal. The Irish were 4-3 in those games in 1998. Notre Dame beat Northwestern (1-0), Villanova (2-1 in overtime), IUPUI (1-0 in overtime) and Saint Maryis (3-1) and lost road games to Rutgers (1-0 in overtime), Georgetown (2-1) and Providence (2-1).
VELHO GETS CAREER SHUTOUT 26- Greg Velho recorded his second straight shutout and 26th of his career in Notre Dameis 2-0 victory over West Virginia on October 30.
VELHO HAS BEEN STRONG IN GOAL- Greg Velho has 84 saves overall this season (4.7 per game) and 58 in 11 BIG EAST games (5.3 per game). He tied his career best with 12 saves in Notre Dameis 1-1 tie with St. Johnis on September 26.
THE WALTON AND COX SCORING COMBINATION- The combination of Shane Walton and Ryan Cox appeared prominently on the Irish scoresheet this season. Together, the duo was involved in 10 of the 29 goals scored by the team this season. They are both one-two in the Irish scoring column with 45 of the teamis 92 points. Walton and Cox combined for 15 goals and 15 of Notre Dameis 34 assists.
IRONMAN- Matt Johnson (Livermore, Calif.) has played in all 81 games throughout his career and has made starting appearances in 80 of those contests. The only start he missed was against Georgetown during the 1995 season. Johnson had a goal and four assists (five points) this season.
IRONMAN II- Since midway through the 1996 campaign, four-year starter Greg Velho played every minute of every contest spanning Notre Dameis last 50 outings. He played 4,731 consecutive minutes in goal. With a shoulder injury to Gerick Short (Mobile, Ala.) this season, he was the only goalkeeper in the Irish lineup. Velho had not been replaced in the lineup since the Irish beat Western Illinois 6-0 on October 11, 1996.
1998 Schedule/Results
(9-6-3, 5-4-2)
AUGUST 21 Fri. OHIO STATE (Exhibition) L, 1-2 28 Fri. DEPAUL (Exhibition) W, 3-1
SEPTEMBER 1 Tue. VALPARAISO W, 6-1 5 Sat. at Syracuse* W, 3-1 8 Tue. (15/NR) NORTHWESTERN W, 1-0 13 Sun. (15/NR) PITTSBURGH* T , 2-2 (OT) 18 Fri. (16/NR) at Rutgers* L, 0-1 (OT) 20 Sun. (16/NR) at Villanova* W, 2-1 (OT) 26 Sat. (18/NR) ST. JOHNiS* (7/7) T, 2-2 (OT) 29 Tue. (17/NR) at Western Michigan T, 1-1 (OT)
OCTOBER 3 Sat. (17/NR) at Georgetown* L, 1-2 6 Tue. (T22/NR) IUPUI W, 1-0 (OT) 9 Fri. (T22/NR) at Santa Clara (20/17) L, 1-3 11 Sun. (T22/NR) at St. Maryis (Calif.) W, 2-1 16 Fri. CONNECTICUT* (1/5) L, 0-2 18 Sun. SETON HALL* (13/NR) W, 2-0 21 Wed. at Providence* L, 1-2 24 Sat. at Boston College* W, 3-0 30 Fri. WEST VIRGINIA* W, 2-0
NOVEMBER 7 Sat. at St. John's ! (13/10) L, 0-2
*BIG EAST match!BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinal match (Jamaica, N.Y.)
( ) - indicates rankings at time of game in NSCAA and Soccer America polls.
All times are local
1998 BIG EAST STANDINGS
BIG EAST Overall Final Record Record 1. Connecticut 9-2-0 17-3-0 2. St. Johnis 8-2-1 13-4-3 3. Rutgers 8-3-0 12-7-2 4. Georgetown 7-4-0 15-6-0 5. Providence 6-4-1 9-9-1 Seton Hall 5-3-3 11-4-4 7. NOTRE DAME 5-4-2 9-6-3 8. West Virginia 4-6-1 11-8-1 Syracuse 4-6-1 8-9-1 10. Boston College 2-8-1 5-10-2 11. Pittsburgh 1-8-2 6-9-3 12. Villanova 1-10-0 5-12-0
BIG EAST Tournament Champion: St. John's
NSCAA (Week of November 9) LW1. Clemson 12. Indiana 33. UCLA 44. Duke 65. Virginia 56. Connecticut 87. Washington 28. Southern Methodist 169. St. John's 1310. South Carolina 1111. Akron 1212. Stanford 1013. Creighton 714. Rutgers 1515. Brown 1416. Maryland 1617. Saint Louis 918. UNC Greensboro 2319. Cal State Fullerton 1920. Penn State NR21. Butler 2222. Bradley T2523. Virginia Commonwealth NR24 San Jose State NR25. St. Francis NR
SOCCER AMERICA (final poll)LW1. Clemson (20-1-0) 22. Indiana (18-2-0) 33. Duke (18-3-0) 44. Washington (16-3-0) 105. UCLA (16-3-0) 16. South Carolina (15-4-0) 67. Virginia (14-3-3) 58. St. Johnis (14-4-3) 89. Stanford (14-4-2) 710. Cal State Fullerton (14-4-2) 1211. Creighton (14-3-2) 1312. Connecticut (17-3-0) 913. Akron (17-2-1) 1614 Brown (12-2-2) 1715. Saint Louis (14-4-1) 1516. North Carolina (11-4-2) NR17. UNC Greensboro (18-3-2) 1818. Maryland (13-7-0) 2019. Georgetown (15-6-0) NR20. Butler (18-4-1) NR
NSCAA GREAT LAKES REGIONAL POLL(Final Poll) 1. Indiana (50) 18-2-0 2. Akron (45) 17-2-1 3. Butler (40) 18-4-0 4. Cincinnati (35) 11-4-3 5. NOTRE DAME (30) 9-6-3 6. Oakland (24) 12-4-0 7. Dayton (20) 13-9-0 8. Bowling Green (12) 10-8-2 9. Wright State (11) 12-7-2 10. Western Kentucky (8) 12-8-1
Others receiving votes: Marshall, Xavier
NSCAA(Week of November 9)LW1. Clemson 12. Indiana 33. UCLA 44. Duke 65. Virginia 56. Connecticut 87. Washington 28. Southern Methodist 169. St. Johnis 1310. South Carolina 1111. Akron 1212. Stanford 1013. Creighton 714. Rutgers 1515. Brown 1416. Maryland 1617. Saint Louis 918. UNC Greensboro 2319. Cal State Fullerton 1920. Penn State NR21. Butler 2222. Bradley T2523. Virginia Commonwealth NR24 San Jose State NR25. St. Francis NR
SOCCER AMERICA(final poll) LW1. Clemson (20-1-0) 22. Indiana (18-2-0) 33. Duke (18-3-0) 44. Washington (16-3-0) 105. UCLA (16-3-0) 16. South Carolina (15-4-0) 67. Virginia (14-3-3) 58. St. Johnis (14-4-3) 89. Stanford (14-4-2) 710. Cal State Fullerton (14-4-2) 1211. Creighton (14-3-2) 1312. Connecticut (17-3-0) 913. Akron (17-2-1) 1614 Brown (12-2-2) 1715. Saint Louis (14-4-1) 1516. North Carolina (11-4-2) NR17. UNC Greensboro (18-3-2) 1818. Maryland (13-7-0) 2019. Georgetown (15-6-0) NR20. Butler (18-4-1) NR
NSCAA GREAT LAKES REGIONAL POLL(Final Poll) 1. Indiana (50) 18-2-0 2. Akron (45) 17-2-1 3. Butler (40) 18-4-0 4. Cincinnati (35) 11-4-3 5. NOTRE DAME (30) 9-6-3 6. Oakland (24) 12-4-0 7. Dayton (20) 13-9-0 8. Bowling Green (12) 10-8-2 9. Wright State (11) 12-7-2 10. Western Kentucky (8) 12-8-1
Others receiving votes: Marshall, Xavier