Oct. 22, 2002
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Notre Dame Game Notes For Villanova and Georgetown Games in PDF Format
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THE VILLANOVA AND GEORGETOWN GAMES – The Notre Dame men’s soccer team will be on the road for two contests this week as the Irish travel to Villanova and Georgetown. With four games remaining in the regular season, these will be the final two road matches for the Irish. Notre Dame faces Villanova on Wed., Feb. 23 at 1:00 p.m. (EST) and then plays at Georgetown on Sat., Oct. 26 at 1:00 p.m. (EST). Coach Bobby Clark’s squad heads into the week riding a four-game win streak, its longest of the season. Three of Notre Dame’s last four victories have resulted in shutouts as the Irish have outscored their opponents 7-1. Clark’s team is ranked 13th in the in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Poll this week and stands 11th in the Soccer America ranking.
SCOUTING THE IRISH – Notre Dame will look to match its six-game win streak of last season if can pick up two wins this week. The Irish own an 8-3-3 record and are 4-2-1 in BIG EAST play. Notre Dame has allowed just 13 goals this season and owns a 0.87 team goals against average. Six of Notre Dame’s 14 games have been decided in overtime (the Irish are 2-1-3 in those contests), while seven matches have been decided by a single goal. Notre Dame has scored 26 goals this season (1.86 goals per game). The Irish defense have held their opponents to one goal or less on 12 occasions. Notre Dame has defeated four ranked opponents and three top 10 foes – both firsts in the 25-plus years in the history of the program. Senior Erich Braun (Frankfurt, Germany) and junior Chad Riley (Houston, Texas) lead the team in scoring with 14 points each. Braun has a team-leading seven goals and has registered three two goal outings – versus Southwest Missouri State, Seton Hall and Providence. In addition, he tallied the final Irish score in Sunday’s 3-1 victory over Connecticut, which snapped a six-game streak in which he didn’t register a goal or an assist. Riley has scored three goals and leads the team with eight assists. Justin Detter (White Lake, Mich.) and Greg Martin (Plano, Texas) rank second on the team in goals scored with four each. In addition. Detter also has dished off four assists for 12 points. Martin’s eight points is good fourth in the scoring column. Rafael Garcia (Palmdale, Calif.) also has eights points as he has scored two goals and dished off four assists. Luke Boughen (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) has three goals (6 points), while Devon Prescod (Marietta, Ga.) has netted two goals with Jack Stewart (Torrance, Calif.) rounding out the goal scoring with one goal. Kevin Goldthwaite (Sacramento, Calif.) has dished off four assists, while Kevin Richards (Warwick, Bermuda) has been credited with three assists this season. Goalkeeper Chris Sawyer (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) returned to action after missing the Akron, Boston College and Michigan State contests due to a hamstring injury suffered in the second half of the Pittsburgh game on Oct. 4. Sawyer has played 1002:36 of a possible 1349:08 and has allowed 11 goals this season and made 33 saves. He owns a a .750 save percentage and 0.99 goals against average.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS – Villanova owns a 4-10-0 overall record and 2-5-0 mark in BIG EAST play. The Wildcats were victorious in their last outing as they registered a 3-2 victory over West Virginia, scoring three goals in the second half which erased a 2-0 hafltime deficit. It was just the second victory for Villanova in its last 10 outings. Charlie Rowan is the team’s leading scorer with four goals (eight points). Villanova has scored 15 goals in 14 outings, while allowing 30 goals.
SCOUTING THE HOYAS – Georgetown fell to 5-8-0- and 3-4-0 in the BIG EAST following Sunday’s 4-1 loss to Virginia Tech on the road. The Hoyas are 3-3 in their last six outings and have been outscored 13-10 in those contests. Georgetown opponents have outscored the Hoyas 29-19 this season. Kemmons Feldman and Ben Jefferson-Dow lead the team in scoring with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
RECAPPING CONNECTICUT GAME – Notre Dame exploded for three second-half goals en route to snapping a five-game losing streak to Connecticut with a 3-1 victory. Junior Greg Martin tallied the Irish’s first two scores, while Erich Braun netted the third goal. The victory was Notre Dame’s first over the Huskies since the semifinals of the 1996 BIG EAST Championship and the first-ever win during the regular season since joining the league in ’95. The win also marked the Irish’s fourth this season against a ranked opponent – a first in school history. In addtion, Notre Dame has produced a single-season school-record three wins over top-10 teams. Connecticut outshot the Irish 6-0 in the first 45 minutes of the game and scored the lone Husky goal at the 23:19 mark of the contest. The visitors nearly went up 2-0 in the game, but freshman defender Dale Rellas (Plano, Texas) made a back save to kick it out of the goal area. Notre Dame scored two goals in the first 8:41 of the second half to take a 2-1 lead. Martin scored his first goal off of a penalty kick 1:49 into the second half and then netted his second score at the 53:41 mark of the contest. Notre Dame’s defense limited the Huskies to just two shots in the second half as the Irish outshot Connecticut 8-2 in the final 45 mintues. Clark’s squad also owned a 4-2 advantage in corner kicks. Erich Braun scored Notre Dame’s third goal of the afternoon off an assist from Rafael Garcia.
HEAD COACH BOBBY CLARK – Bobby Clark is in his second season at Notre Dame after being named the fifth head coach in the program’s history on January 19, 2001. In his 16th season as a collegiate coach, Clark has an overall record of 173-73-28 for an overall winning percentage of .682 and is 20-10-3 (.652) at Notre Dame. Heading into the 2002 campaign, he ranked 16th all-time among active Division I coaches in terms of winning percentage. Last season, he guided the Irish to a 12-7 mark and their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1996. Prior to coming to Notre Dame, he spent five seasons guiding the Stanford Cardinal to a 71-21-12 mark and .740 winning percentage from 1996-2000. Clark also was head coach at Dartmouth from 1985-93 where he led the Big Green to an 82-242-13 record (.646). Seven of Clark’s teams have advanced to NCAA tournament play with his ’98 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 (1994-95).
CLARK HAS LED THREE DIFFERENT TEAMS INTO NCAAs – As a head coach, Bobby Clark is certainly NCAA tournament tested. With Notre Dame’s appearance in the 2001 championship, he has now guided three different schools to the NCAA postseason. At Dartmouth, he led the Big Green to two appearances in nine years, while his Cardinal teams at Stanford earned four berths in the five seasons he spent on Palo Alto, Calif., campus. Clark is the first Notre Dame coach to lead the Irish to the NCAAs in his first season.
SERIES RECORD VS. VILLANOVA – Notre Dame owns a 6-2 advantage in the series and have won five straight against the Wildcats. Both of Irish losses have been at Villanova with its most recent coming in 1996 (2-1). Notre Dame defeated Villanova 5-0 last season at Alumni Field and have outscored the Wildcats 15-2 in the last five meetings between the two schools.
SERIES RECORD VS. GEORGETOWN – The Irish lead the series 6-4-1 and have won the last two meetings. Last season, Notre Dame registered two wins over the Hoyas – both at Alumni Field in 2001. Coach Bobby Clark’s squad posted a 3-1 win during the regular season and then earned a 1-0 decision in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament. Prior to last sesaon, Notre Dame had dropped four straight to the Hoyas. Notre Dame is 2-2 in games played at Georgetown – its last win was a 2-1 overtime decision in 1996.
ROLLING ALONG – Notre Dame’s four-game win streak is its longest of the season. The Irish will look to match last year’s six-game winning streak with victories in its next two games.
IRISH GARNER SECOND ROAD WIN OF SEASON – Notre Dame’s victory at Boston College was the second road win of the season for the Irish on their opponent’s home field. Six days prior to the win over the Eagles, Coach Bobby Clark’s squad earned a hard-fought 1-0 win at Akron. Earlier in the season, the Irish’s 3-2 over Southwest Missouri State on a neutral site in Omaha, Neb., to begin the season.
MARTIN, RICHARDS EARN BIG EAST WEEKLY HONORS – Greg Martin was named the BIG EAST Co-Offensive Player of the Week and Kevin Richards earned Co-Defensive Player of the Week accolades after helping the Irish to two wins last week, including a 3-1 victory over No. 5 Connecticut. It marked the first time that either player had earned one of the league’s weekly honors. Already this season, Notre Dame has had three other players honored – Kevin Goldthwaite, Justin Ratcliffe (Miami, Fla.) and Greg Tait.
HOME COOKIN’ FOR THE IRISH UNDER CLARK – Notre Dame suffered its first home loss of 2002 when the Irish dropped a 1-0 decision to Pittsburgh in overtime on October 4. It was just the second loss at home for the Irish during Bobby Clark’s tenure. The setback was the first for the Irish since dropping a 3-0 decision to Rutgers on September 22, 2001. Notre Dame has a 12-2-1 record at Alumni Field under Clark.
FOUR WINS OVER RANKED OPPONENTS – The 3-1 win over Connecticut gave the the Irish their fourth win over a ranked opponent this season – a first in the 26-year history of the program. The victory also was the third by Notre Dame versus a top-10 opponent – also a first by an Irish team. Prior to this season, the most wins by an Irish team over a ranked opponent was three in 1996. During that season, Notre Dame defeated No. 14 Connecticut (2-1), No. 12 Rutgers (1-0) and No. 2 UNC Greensboro (1-0) in conecutive outings. The Irish’s other three ranked wins this season have been at home to No. 6 Seton Hall (4-0) and No. 7 Furman (2-1) and on the road at No. 15 Boston College (1-0) in overtime. In its 25-plus seasons of varsity competition, Notre Dame has 10 wins over teams that have been ranked in the top 10 of either the NSCAA or Soccer America polls.
THE CAPTAINS – Seniors Erich Braun and Justin Ratcliffe and junior Greg Martin are serving as captains for the 2002 men’s soccer team. Braun and Ratcliffe will be serving as captains for the first time in their career, while Martin has been selected as one of the Irish leaders for the second consecutive year. In 2001, Martin was the first sophomore in the 25-year history of the program to serve as a captain and becomes just the 10th player ever to serve as a two-time captain.
PLAYING OVERTIME – Through the first 14 games of the season, Notre Dame has already played six overtime contests. The Irish are 2-1-3 in those contests with four of them going to double overtime. Notre Dame’s two overtime wins were against Boston College and Furman. In the victory against the Paladins, they tallied the game-winner with 2:31 left in the second overtime session. Last season, Notre Dame played just three overtimes in 19 outings and were 1-2 in those contests. Under head coach Bobby Clark, Notre Dame is 3-3-3 in overtime games.
BRAUN MOVING UP THE CHARTS – With his seven goals this season, Erich Braun has moved to 10th on the all-time Irish goals scored list with 32. His 76 points (32 goals, 12 assists) places him 11th on the all-time scoring list.
MARTIN MAGIC – Greg Martin’s two goals against Connecticut on Sunday marked the first two-goal outing of his career. He scored Notre Dame’s first two goals as he helped the Irish erase a 1-0 halftime deficit. His second score came at the 53:41 mark of the contest, which proved to be the game-winning goal. He has scored four goals on the season and leads the team with two game-winners. Martin also had the decisive goal in Notre Dame’s 2-1 overtime win against Furman. He scored his first goal of the season in the season opener against Southwest Missouri State – a 3-2 Irish victory. Last season, Martin played in 13 games and earned starts in nine of those contests. Heading into the 2002 campaign, he had scored one goal and dished off one assist.
THREE CHEERS FOR CHAD – Chad Riley’s three assists against Providence marked a single-game career-best for the junior who has led the Irish in that category during his two-plus seasons. He leads the team with eight assists this season, exceeding his previous single-season best of six during both the 2000 and ’01 campaigns. In 49 career games, Riley has dished off 20 assists. His team-leading eight match that of Ryan Cox’s during the 1998 campaign. He also leads the team in scoring with three goals and eight assists.
BIG EAST PLAY BRINGS OUT THE BEST IN SAWYER – Chris Sawyer has a knack for playing well in BIG EAST games. In the six BIG EAST games he has played, Saywer has surrendered just three goals in 495:07 minutes of action. In 14 career league games, he has registered five complete-game shutouts.
BOUGHEN HAS CAREER DAY AGAINST FRIARS – Sophomore Luke Boughen registered the first two goals of his collegiate career against Providence just 1:12 apart from each other. It also marked his first career points in an Irish uniform. Boughen scored his first goal at the 51:19 mark and then followed with his second score at 52:31.
RAFAEL IS COMING UP BIG – One Irish player who has stepped up his level of play this season has been senior forward Rafael Garcia. He has two goals and three assists on the season and stands fourth in the scoring column with seven points. Garcia registered goals in both the Creighton and Seton Hall contests and is credited with assists in the Southwest Missouri State and Furman matches. Garcia has started all 13 games. Heading into the 2002 campaign, he had made 13 starts in 38 games and had scored two goals and dished off two assists.
DETTER DOING IT – Justin Detter is Notre Dame’s third-leading goal scorer this season with four goals and and four assists (12 points). Detter has already equalled his single-season best for goals scored and has 12 career goals and nine assists (33 points).
IRISH MAINSTAYS – Four Irish veterans have started 90.0 percent or better in Notre Dame games during their careers: Erich Braun (Sr.) – 64 of 66 (.970); Justin Ratcliffe (Sr.) – 63 of 69 (.913); Justin Detter (Jr.) – 49 of 50 (.980); and Chad Riley (Jr.) – 47 of 50 (.940).
QUICK FLICKS – Notre Dame has wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard in four games this season. Erich Braun tallied the season’s first goal 17 seconds into the contest in the season opener against Southwest Missouri State, while Rafael Garcia put in the Irish’s lone goal versus Creighton at the 7:12 mark. Against Seton Hall, Garcia scored Notre Dame’s initial goal 23:28 into the contest and Braun gave the Irish a 1-0 lead at the 11:04 mark of the match against Providence.
GETTING HIS STARTS – Freshman Dale Rellas (Plano, Texas) has been in the starting lineup all 14 of Notre Dame’s games in 2002. He was the only Irish rookie to see action against Southwest Missouri State in the season opener. Rellas came up with a critical back save in Sunday’s game against Connecticut that prevented a Husky score.
PLAYING THE BEST – The ’02 men’s soccer schedule features nine teams that advanced to NCAA tournament play a year ago. Those teams featured on the 18-game slate include: Akron, Boston College, Connecticut, Creighton, Furman, Michigan State, Rutgers, St. John’s and Seton Hall.
25 AND COUNTING – The 2001 campaign marked the 25th season of varsity competition for the Notre Dame men’s soccer program. Since its inaugural season in 1977, Irish teams have compiled a 335-168-45 record for a .652 winning percentage. Notre Dame has won 20-plus games on three occasions and 15 or more contests 11 times. In the program’s history, only five teams have had a losing season.
ALL IN THE FAMILY – Freshman defender John Stephens (Woodbridge, Ill.) is no stranger to athletics at Notre Dame. His grandfather, Colonel John Stephens, served as Notre Dame’s longtime associate athletics director until the mid-80’s. His father, John, is a graduate of Notre Dame and received a law degree from the University.
HOME SWEET HOME – Notre Dame will play nine of its 18 regular season contests at the friendly confines of Alumni Field during the 2002 season. The Irish finished 7-1 last year at home (its only loss was to Rutgers). The Irish own an 80-29-8 mark all-time for a .718 winning percentage. The ’02 campaign will mark the 12th for Notre Dame at Alumni Field.
LEADER OF THE PACK – For the first time in the history of the BIG EAST Conference, six teams represented the league in the 2001 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship. The BIG EAST led all conferences with six selections. In addition to Notre Dame, Boston College, Connecticut, Rutgers, St. John’s and Seton Hall earned spots in the 48-team field.
BIG EAST FORMAT – With the addition of Virginia Tech at the start of the 2001 campaign, the BIG EAST created a change in its regular-season format with a 10-game conference format instituted. Notre Dame will not play West Virginia and Syracuse this season.
DIADORA CHALLENGE ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM – Notre Dame had four players named to the all-tournament team at the Diadora Challenge – Erich Braun, Greg Martin, Jack Stewart (Torrance, Calif.) and Luke Boughen (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.). In addition, Braun was selected as the tournament’s MVP as the Irish also won the tournament crown.
MIKE BERTICELLI CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM – Three Notre Dame players – Justin Ratcliffe (Miami, Fla.), Devon Prescod (Marietta, Ga.) and Kevin Goldthwaite – were named to the all-tournament team. Bradley had four players selected, including goalkeeper Chris Dunsheath who also earned MVP honors. Furman and Cornell each placed two players on the squad.
LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE – Notre Dame has had two games this season delayed by lightening – Creighton and Bradley. Against Creighton, there was a 30-minute lightening delay, while the Bradley contest was delayed 20 minutes in the 16th minute of the contest.
SCOTTISH CORNER KICKS – The Notre Dame men’s soccer team reported back to campus on July 21 to begin an intense 10 days of workouts in preparation for their 14-day trip to Scotland. The squad left for the native homeland of head coach Bobby Clark on Aug. 2 and returned back to Indiana on Aug. 16. The Irish made their headquarters on the University of Aberdeen and Edinburgh University campuses. Junior midfielder Greg Martin recorded the events of the trip in a diary which appeared on Notre Dame’s website (www.und.com) during the trip. Former Notre Dame men’s soccer player Thomas Crotty (1977-79) who contributed $50,000 – the entire amount needed for the cost of the trip. The Irish finished 4-0-1 while playing five games in 11 days.
Game #1 (August 4) – Notre Dame 6, Formatine United 1 Notre Dame opened its Scotland Tour with a 6-1 victory over Formatine United. Erich Braun scored two first-half goals, and Paul Rodriguez added another as the Irish built a 3-1 halftime advantage. Devon Prescod gave the Irish a 4-1 lead early into the second, while Rafael Garcia and Justin Ratcliffe also added scores. Chris Sawyer started and played the entire first half, while Greg Tait played the entire second half.
Game #2 (August 6) – Notre Dame 8, Banks of Dee 1 Notre Dame was impressive in its second game as the Irish registered an 8-1 win victory over the Banks of Dee. The Irish claimed a 3-0 halftime advantage on goals by Kevin Goldthwaite, Rafael Garcia and Erich Braun. Second-half scores from Chad Riley, Justin Ratcliffe and Devon Prescod pushed the Irish lead to 6-0. After the Banks of Dee scored its lone goal of the contest, Justin Detter and Prescod added the contest’s final two scores.
Game #3 (August 8) – Notre Dame 1, Ross County 0 Notre Dame improved to 3-0 with a 1-0 win in Dingwall over the Ross County under-21 squad. The game-winning Irish score came from Filippo Chillemi 10 minutes into the second half. The opposition nearly tied the game with three minutes remaining in the contest on a questionable call that resulted in a penalty kick, but Greg Tait’s save preserved the win.
Game #4 (August 12) – Notre Dame 2, Aberdeen FC Under-21 0 Notre Dame posted its most noteworthy victory of its two-week summer tour and improved to 4-0 with a 2-0 shutout over the Aberdeen under-21 squad. Erich Braun scored his fourth goal of the trip early in the second half with Filippo Chillemi adding the second goal midway through the half. Devon Prescod set up both goals in the game. Goalkeeper Chris Sawyer played the entire 90 minutes of the contest. The victory marked the first time in four games that one of Clark’s teams had produced a win over that squad. Previously, he had brought to Scotland two of his Dartmouth and one of his Stanford teams.
Game #5 (August 14) – Notre Dame 1, Dundee United 1 Playing its fifth game in 11 days, Notre Dame tied Dundee United 1-1 in its fifth and final game of its Scotland tour. Erich Braun netted the contest’s lone goal off an assist from Devon Prescod. Dundee United tallied the equalizer with three minutes left in the contest.