Sept. 17, 2003
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#13 Notre Dame vs. #19 Indiana
Thursday, Sept. 18, 2003 * 7:00 p.m. * Alumni Field
Fighting Irish and Hoosiers renew their spirited rivalry Thursday evening:
The University of Notre Dame men’s soccer team (2-1-2), ranked as high as 13th in the nation, plays host to in-state rival #18 Indiana (2-2-2) at Alumni Field on Thursday, Sept. 18, at 7:00 p.m.
The all-time series, which has been dominated by Indiana to a 19-2-1 clip, has pushed to a new level over the last two seasons. In Bobby Clark’s first season, Notre Dame claimed its first victory over the Hoosiers in 11 attempts, winning 1-0 in Bloomington. Indiana achieved a measure of revenge last season, eliminating the Irish from the NCAA Championship with a 1-0 victory in the second round.
Indiana will be making its second trip to South Bend, Ind., in the last seven days. The Hoosiers competed in last weekend’s Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament, dropping a 1-0 overtime loss to Akron and defeating Fresno State 3-1.
The last time…
Notre Dame and Indiana met was in the 2002 NCAA Championship. The fourth-ranked Hoosiers defeated the 20th-rated Irish 1-0 to move on to the third round of the tournament. Indiana scored the game-winning goal 6:03 into the second half. An additional challenge was given to the Irish team when Justin Radcliffe was issued a red card, forcing Notre Dame to play a man down for the final 27 minutes.
Home sweet home:
Notre Dame continues its seven-match home stand during the month of September on Thursday evening. In fact, Notre Dame will play all of its games during September at Alumni Field. The last time the Irish played host to all of its games during September was in 1978 – the second season of varsity soccer. Notre Dame defeated Florissant Valley, Tri-State, IPFW, St. Joseph’s, Valparaiso, Michigan, Indiana Tech, Albion and Purdue to start the season 9-0.
So far, Notre Dame is 1-1-1 on its home stand, losing to St. John’s, tying Akron and defeating Fresno State.
National rankings update:
Notre Dame moved to 13th in the Soccer America national rankings, after tying Akron and defeating Fresno State last weekend. The Irish remained at 18th in the NSCAA/adidas rankings, while College Soccer News puts Notre Dame at 14th and Soccer Times lists the Irish at 16th.
Notre Dame also moved up one spot in the NSCAA/adidas Great Lakes regional rankings. Akron moved to first after their victory over Indiana last weekend and the Hooisers fell two spots to third.
Challenging schedule continues evolving into one of the toughest schedules in the nation:
No one can accuse the Irish team of ducking the competition this season. The BIG EAST Conference is recognized as one of the toughest in the nation, but even with a challenging conference schedule set for the 2003 season, Notre Dame has faced a number of highly-ranked non-conference opponents.
The exhibition season alone saw Notre Dame face Saint Louis (ranked as high as third in the nation currently) and Michigan. The regular season began with a 0-0 tie with #20 Alabama-Birmingham (currently 14th in the nation) and a 2-1 overtime victory over #11 California.
Notre Dame then suffered its first loss of the season to St. John’s, which has moved as high as sixth in the current national rankings. Last weekend, the Irish defeated Fresno State 2-1, then took on an unranked Akron team. Notre Dame and Akron fought to a 0-0 scoreless tie, but the Zips, by virtue of their win over Indiana, jumped to 10th in the Sept. 15 NSCAA poll and first in the Great Lakes Region.
Several ranked teams lay ahead for Notre Dame as well. On Thursday, Notre Dame will meet #19 Indiana. #10 Connecticut and #23 Rutgers lie ahead on the 2003 schedule, along with regionally-ranked Michigan State.
Highly-aggressive offense yet to pay huge dividends:
After a challenging opening month schedule puts Notre Dame among the best in the country with a 2-1-2 record, the Irish could be in even better shape if the bounces would go in their favor.
Notre Dame has dominated its opponents on the offensive and defensive ends of the field this season. In five games, the Irish have unleashed 81 shots (16.2 per game) while holding their opponents to 50 shots (10.0 per game). Notre Dame’s aggressive offense is even better in the second half, getting off 41 shots compared to just 19 for its opponents in the second 45 minutes.
The Irish have forced their opponents to make 32 saves, while starting goal keeper Chris Sawyer has been asked to make just 12. Notre Dame also has dominated in the corner kick department, getting off 31 kicks compared to just 18 for their opponents.
Martin named captain of 2003 team, first three-time captain in team history:
Senior Greg Martin has been named captain of the 2003 Notre Dame men’s soccer team, while classmates Justin Detter, Devon Prescod, Kevin Richards and and Chad Riley will serve as assistant captains during the season. Martin will have the distinction of being the first-ever three-time captain in the program’s history.
Martin, a midfielder, was the first sophomore ever to be named a captain at Notre Dame when he served in that role during the 2001 campaign. He started all 21 games for the Irish in ’02 and scored a career-high six goals while dishing off one assist. Martin heads into his final campaign with career totals of seven goals and two assists (16 points). Last season, he was named to the all-tournament team at the Diadora Challenge and was selected as the BIG EAST’s Co-Offensive Player of the Week for the week of October 21. Martin netted a team-leading three game-winning goals a year ago and registered the first mulitple-goal game of his career with his two-goal performance in a 3-1 victory over Connecticut in October of ’02.
Detter was a second team all-BIG EAST selection following his junior year after earning first-team accolades in ’01. In addition, the Irish midfielder was a third-team pick to the adidas/NSCAA all-Great Lakes Region squad. The Irish midfielder was in the starting lineup for all 21 games and finished third on the scoring list with 19 points (6 goals and 7 assists). He has started 56 in the 57 games he has played during his career and has scored 14 goals and dished off 13 assists (41 points).
Prescod, a midfielder, battled injuries throughout last season, but still managed to play in all 21 contests. He scored three goals and dished off two assists in ’02 and was named to the all-tournament team at the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament. As a sophomore, Prescod started 18 of the 19 contests he played and finished second in the scoring column with six goals and six assists (18 points). He heads into his final season with 10 goals and eight assists (28 points).
Richards, a two-year starter at back, has been a mainstay in the Irish backfield since his freshman year. Last year, he anchored an Irish defense that registered six shutouts and posted a team 0.95 goals against average. Richards also dished off three assists in ’02 and was named co-BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career. He heads into the ’03 campaign having been in the starting lineup in 39 straight contests.
Riley has garnered third team all-BIG EAST honors each of the last two seasons and has ranked among the Irish’s leading scorers. He finished second in the Irish scoring column as a junior with four goals and a team-leading 12 assists (the most assists by aNotre Dame player since Randy Morris’ 12 in 1988). Riley ranks fourth all-time with 24 career assists and was 14th nationally in that category with a 0.57 assist average. He boasts career totals of eight goals and 24 assists (40 points).
“This is a great group of young men and is possibly the strongest group of seniors I have ever been fortunate enough to coach,” head coach Bobby Clark says. “They are all strong players with strong personalities and should provide the correct leadership for what we hope can be a very exciting year. I have always found that success is directly proportional to the leadership.
Class of 2007 earns top-five recruiting class status:
University of Notre Dame men’s soccer coach Bobby Clark has announced the signing of seven highly-regarded prep standouts to national letters of intent. Three of those players have been members of the U.S. national team program and are current members of the under-18 national squad. Joining the Irish program beginning in the fall of 2003 will be goalkeeper Chris Cahill (Louisville, Ky./St. Francis DeSales) central defender Greg Dalby (Poway, Calif./Poway), midfielder Ian Etherington (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral HS), forward Justin McGeeney (Ames, Iowa/Ames), midfielder Ryan Miller (Barrington, Ill./Barrington), forward Brian Murphy (Granger, Ind./St. Joseph’s) and forward/midfielder Nate Norman (Rochester, Mich./Rochester Adams).
“These seven players comprise a fabulous recruiting class for us,” Clark says. “All the individuals we identified early on in the recruiting process decided to come to Notre Dame. We were looking for players who would come in and give up depth as well as have an impact immediately. We’re very excited to have all of them join our program.
“I think we’ve been very successful with our recruiting efforts the past two seasons. This year’s class adds tremendous depth to our team and continues to move the program in the direction that we want to go.”
The group ended up ranked fifth in the country by Soccer America and third by College Soccer News.com.
Notre Dame leads the nation in student-athlete graduation rate:
The University of Notre Dame compiled the nation’s highest overall graduation rate for Division I-A student-athletes to take top honors in the 2003 USA Today/NCAA Academic Achievement Awards announced today.
Ninety-two percent of the Fighting Irish student-athletes who enrolled in 1996 earned a degree from the University, three percentage points higher than second-place Tulsa University. Duke and Wisconsin finished third at 88 percent, followed by Northwestern, 87; Boston College, 86; Stanford, 84; Western Michigan, 83; Michigan, 82; and Syracuse, Rice and Utah State, 81.
In addition to the overall rate, Academic Achievement Awards are presented to the institutions with the best student-athlete graduation rates in comparison to the overall student body and to those that show the most improvement from the previous year.
Now in their third year, the awards include a $20,000 prize for the top institutions in each category. They are based on federally compiled figures submitted by NCAA member institutions.
The NCAA bases graduation rates on the raw percentage of student-athletes who entered an institution and graduated within six years. Students who leave or transfer, regardless of academic standing, are considered non graduates. Notre Dame’s graduation rate for student-athletes who complete all four years of athletic eligibility is 99 percent.
Keep up with the Irish via the Notre Dame hotline:
The Notre Dame athletic department hotline has realigned its menu offerings for the 2003 fall sports season.
The hotline provides schedule and results information for varsity sports and serves as a supplement to the live coverage and game recaps already provided on the official athletic website at www.und.com.
Here’s how the hotline now is realigned (as of Aug. 28):
*Dial (574) 631-3000
*Select any of the following subgroups:
(1) Upcoming schedule and recent results of ALL varsity sports currently in action (select cells 3-9 for the most updated results for specific sports).
(2) Football schedules for the 2003, ’04, ’05, ’06 and ’07 seasons.
(3) Basketball information (then press 1 for men’s basketball and 2 for women’s basketball)
(4) Soccer information (then press 1 for men’s soccer and 2 for women’s soccer).
(5) Women’s volleyball (press 1) and men’s ice hockey (press 2) information.
(6) Men’s and women’s cross country information.
(7) Men’s and women’s swimming and diving information (then press 1 for men’s swimming and 2 for women’s swimming).
(8) Tennis information (then press 1 for men’s tennis and 2 for women’s tennis) and men’s and women’s fencing information (press 3).
(9) Women’s golf (press 1), men’s golf (press 2) and women’s rowing (press 3) information.
Other national polls:
There are several polls supported by various magazines and websites that rank the Irish. Here is a look at the Soccer Times and College Soccer News polls.
Soccer Times: 1. Maryland, 2. UCLA, 3. Saint Louis, 4. North Carolina, 5. SMU, 6. Wake Forest, 7. South Carolina, 8. St. John’s, t-9. Alabama-Birmingham, t-9. Old Dominion, 11. Connecticut, 12. UCSB, 13. Penn State, 14. Santa Clara, 15. Rutgers, 16. NOTRE DAME, 17. Akron, 18. Indiana, 19. Coastal Carolina, 20. Brown, 21. Flordia International, 22. CS-Northridge, 23. Clemson, 24. Tulsa, 25. Creighton.
College Soccer News: 1. Maryland, 2. UCLA, 3. Saint Louis, 4. Wake Forest, 5. SMU, 6. North Carolina, 7. St. John’s, 8. Penn State, 9. UAB, 10. UCSB, 11. Santa Clara, 12. Old Dominion, 13. South Carolina, 14. NOTRE DAME, 15. Connecticut, 16. Indiana, 17. Washington, 18. Clemson, 19. Akron, 20. Tulsa, 21. Rutgers, 22. Coastal Carolina, 23. Creighton, 24. Hartwick, 25. Florida International, 26. Dayton, 27. Oakland, 28. CS Northridge, 29. Stanford, 30. Michigan.
Notre Dame athletics without match this fall:
With last week’s release of the Division I preseason cross country polls, the University of Notre Dame is the only school in the country to have all six of its fall sports teams (football, volleyball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s cross country, women’s cross country) currently ranked in the Top 25 of their respective national polls. In addition, three of those teams (men’s soccer, women’s soccer, women’s cross country) are ranked in the Top 15 in the nation, making Notre Dame the only school to hold that distinction as well.
Only five schools (Notre Dame, Kansas State, USC, Florida and Nebraska) can claim to have both their football and volleyball teams ranked in the Top 20. When women’s soccer is added to the mix, the list drops to just two schools (Notre Dame and Florida). However, the Gators do not sponsor men’s soccer, which leaves Notre Dame as the only athletics program to pull off this feat.
Last time out – Notre Dame battles Akron to scoreless tie:
Notre Dame fought through mist, rain and sun for a 0-0 tie with Akron (3-1-1) in the final game of the 2003 Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament. Notre Dame claimed the tournament title, as both Akron and the Irish each finish the tournament 1-0-1, but Notre Dame outscored Akron two goals to one during the weekend.
The weather on Sunday afternoon started out as a light mist, transformed into a bright sunny day, then changed yet again into downpour throughout the first overtime. Notre Dame was by far the aggressor on offense for most of the game, getting off 19 shots compared to 13 for the Zips. Akron goalkeeper Justin Christafaris, who earned all-tournament honors, stopped seven shots – while Irish keeper Chris Sawyer made two saves for his second shut out of the season.
Notre Dame had four players on the all-tournament team, senior forward Justin Detter, senior defender Kevin Richards, junior defender Jack Stewart and senior midfielder Chad Riley.
Notre Dame was led on offense once again by an aggressive Justin Detter. He was able to get off five shots, including two on goal. Ian Etherington, Devon Prescod and Riley each had three shots for Notre Dame as well.
2003 Mike Berticelli All-Tournament Team:
After the completion of the 2003 Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament, the all-tournament team was selected by the participating coaches and various media members in attendance:
2003 Mike Berticelli/adidas All-Tournament Team
Notre Dame
Kevin Richards
Justin Detter
Chad Riley
Jack Stewart
Akron
Justin Christafaris
Mike Marich
Cameron Knowles
Fresno State
Eric Kronberg
Corey Sipos
Indiana
Drew Shinabarger
Ned Grabavoy