Sept. 13, 2000

NOTRE DAME, IND. — The Notre Dame men’s soccer team will look to rebound from its two-game losing streak when the Irish (1-2-1, 0-1-0) travel to Syracuse, N.Y. to meet the Syracuse Orangemen on Saturday, September 16 at 1:00 p.m. in their only action this week. Notre Dame lost its home opener to Bradley on Sat., Sept. 6 and also dropped a road game at Boston College, 2-0, in its BIG EAST opener.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Notre Dame dropped a 3-1 decision to 21st-ranked Bradley in the home opener, which marked just the fourth loss in a home opener in 24 seasons. The Irish dominated the contest and owned a 26-7 shot advantage. The Irish defense held the visiting Braves to just one shot in the second half. Bradley, however, capitalized by scoring three goals on just seven shots. The Braves led 2-0 at the break with both scores coming from Gavin Glinton. Glinton netted his first goal 3:07 into the contest and then added his second score at the 36:44 mark. Notre Dame, which took 16 shots in the second half, scored its only goal on a penalty kick by Griffin Howard (San Diego, Calif.) It marked the second goal scored by Howard on a penalty kick this season. Bradley added the insurance goal, its third and final score, at the 76:05 mark. Braves goalkeeper Adam Gross made nine stops, while Irish goalkeeper Greg Tait (Fayettteville, N.Y.) came up with three saves. Boston College: Notre Dame’s three-game win streak against Boston College was stopped as the Irish dropped a 2-0 decision in the BIG EAST opener for both teams. Freshman Kenny Adams and sophomore Casey Schmidt each had a goal for Eagles in the contest. Both teams attempted 14 shots with Tait coming up with five saves.

HEAD COACH CHRIS APPLE: Chris Apple is in his first season as head coach of the Irish. He earned his first victory at Notre Dame in the team’s 2-0 season-opening win over New Mexico in the first round of the UNLV Fila/Snickers Rebel Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. Apple was named head coach on March 3, 2000 after spending four seasons as an assistant on the Notre Dame sidelines. This is the second head-coaching stint for the 30-year-old Apple whose first experience as a head coach was at North Carolina Wesleyan from 1994-95. In two seasons at the school, he compiled a 12-20-1 record. His overall coaching ledger currently stands at 13-22-2. He is the second-youngest coach in the BIG EAST, four years older than Chaka Daley of Providence, another first-year coach in the league who is 26 years old.

SERIES RECORD VS. UPCOMING OPPONENT: Syracuse: This will be the seventh meeting between the two schools. The Irish have won two straight and four of the last five meetings between the two teams. Notre Dame is 2-0 against the Orangemen on the road since joining the BIG EAST with a 1-0 win in 1996 and 3-1 victory in 1998. The Irish beat Syracuse 2-0 last season at Alumni Field.

IRISH RETURN HOME: Following the Syracuse game, the Irish return home for five consecutive home games, beginning with a matchup against Cleveland State on Tue., Sept. 19 and ending with another non-conference contest versus Northwestern on Tue., Oct. 3. In between those two games, the Irish have three BIG EAST games scheduled against Seton Hall (Sept. 22), Connecticut (Sept. 24) and Pittsburgh (Sept. 29).

HOWARD SCORES ON PENALTY KICKS: Senior Griffin Howard’s two goals this season have both been scored off of penalty kicks. The first came against New Mexico in Notre Dame’s 2-0 season-opening victory, which also marked the first goal of his career. He had his second goal off of a penalty kick in Notre Dame’s 3-1 loss to Bradley in the home opener. Howard, a midfielder, entered the 2000 campaign having played in just seven games in his three previous seasons. He missed the entire 1998 campaign with an injury and only played in two contests during the 1999 season.

PRESCOD SCORES IN COLLEGIATE DEBUT: Freshman Devon Prescod (Marietta, Ga.), who came off the bench in Notre Dame’s first two games, scored the first goal of his Irish career against New Mexico. Prescod provided the insurance score in the victory off an assist from Dustin Pridmore (Dallas, Texas) with 10:06 remaining in the contest.

IRISH IN HOME OPENERS: Notre Dame’s 3-1 loss to Bradley in the home opener was just the fifth time the lost its first home game of the year in 24 seasons since the inaugural 1977 campaign. Prior to the loss to the Braves, the Irish had not lost a home opener since the ’97 season when they dropped a 4-0 decision to Indiana. Notre Dame was 8-0 in season openers before the 1985 campaign when it lost to Wisconsin-Milwaukee 3-2 in overtime. The Irish suffered their next loss in a home opener in 1991 when they dropped a 1-0 overtime decision to Loyola (Ill.). Two years following that loss, Notre Dame was defeated by Butler 4-2 in the home opener in 1993.

FRESHMEN OF INFLUENCE: Five of Notre Dame’s seven freshmen have played in all four contests this season. Three of those players Justin Detter (White Lake, Mich.), Greg Martin (Plano, Texas) and Chad Riley (Houston, Texas) have been in the starting lineup in all four contests.

THE GERMAN CONNECTION: Notre Dame’s two German imports defender Andreas Forstner (Gerlinden, Germany) and forward Erich Braun (Frankfurt, Germany) certainly played significant roles in their rookie seasons. Forstner, who started all 18 contests he played in for the Irish, was twice named to the Dean’s List and has a 3.549 grade point average following two semesters. Braun was one of six players to start all 20 games while garnering the BIG EAST’s rookie of the year award. Prior to Forstner and Braun, only two other Germans have played soccer at Notre Dame.

THE OLD AND THE NEW: Head Coach Chris Apple named Mike Avery and Nino Berticelli to his coaching staff in the spring. Avery, who spent the last three years as head men’s soccer coach at Cal State University San Bernardino, is no stranger to the South Bend/Michiana area. The 1990 Westmont College graduate was the head coach at Bethel College (in nearby Mishawaka, Ind.) from 1994-96 where his teams enjoyed tremendous success in compiling a 43-21-2 record. Berticelli is the oldest son of former Irish head coach Mike Berticelli. Nino was as goalkeeper on the Notre Dame soccer team and played for his father from 1996-98. He was a member of the ’96 BIG EAST squad which won the BIG EAST tournament title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.

BRAUN RETURNS: Erich Braun, Notre Dame’s leading scorer a year ago, missed the first three games of the season with a hamstring injury. The sophomore forward returned to the Irish lineup against Boston College and played the final 10 minutes of the contest.

CLOSE CALLS: Eight of Notre Dame’s 20 games in 1999 were decided by a single goal, with seven of those contests ending in a 1-0 decision. The Irish were 4-2 in games which ended with a 1-0 final score and ended up 4-4 in games decided by a single goal.

GOING OVERTIME: Notre Dame has averaged nearly five overtime contests per season since 1996. The Irish went to overtime five times in 1999 and were 0-2-3 in those matches, tying Pittsburgh and Seton Hall (1-1), and Valparaiso (2-2), while dropping decisions to Western Michigan (1-0) and Connecticut (2-1). During the 1998 campaign, the Irish were involved in six overtime contests, including a school-record five straight games.

HOME SWEET HOME: Notre Dame finished the ’99 season with a 7-3-0 mark at home posting a 5-1-2 record at Alumni Field in ’98. The Irish lost two one-goal decisions at home (to Western Michigan and Rutgers) and also suffered a 3-1 setback to Georgetown. Last season marked the 10th season for the Irish playing at Alumni Field. Notre Dame owns a 65-24-5 mark for a .718 winning percentage.

BRAUN ON PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM: Erich Braun, the 1999 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year, was tabbed for preseason all-conference honors. Also named to the list along with the sophomore forward were: Kevin Bacher (Syracuse, goalkeeper), Guy Abrahamson (Rutgers, midfielder), David Boutilier (Rutgers, defender), Jim Curtin (Villanova, defender), Chris Gbandi (Connecticut, defender), Kevin Jones (Providence, forward), Darin Lewis (Connecticut, midfielder/forward), Jeff Matteo (St. John’s, midfielder), Craig Patton (West Virginia, forward), Brent Rahlm (Connecticut, midfielder), Greg Strohmann (Seton Hall, forward).

TAIT, FORSTNER COP TOURNAMENT HONORS: Sophomore Greg Tait was named Most Valuable Player of the UNLV/Fila Snickers Rebel Classic as he posted two shutouts in the first starts of his career. He played 210 minutes and recorded nine saves in the two games. In addition, he was named BIG EAST goalkeeper of the week in the first week of the season. Against New Mexico, he had five stops. Defender Andreas Forstner, who also was instrumental in Notre Dame’s two shutouts, was selected the defensive player of the tournament.

FREE TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR BRADLEY GAME: Free tickets will be available for Notre Dame’s home against Cleveland State on Tue., Sept. 19 will be available at various locations in the South Bend area.

NSCAA/ADIDAS
(Week of Sept. 11)

SOCCER AMERICA
(Week of Sept. 11)