Team Celebration vs. Virginia Tech

#5 Notre Dame Hosts #12 Clemson In ACC First Round Matchup

The Irish finish the regular season at Pitt at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27 in an ACC matchup. The match will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra via the WatchESPN app.

No. 5 NOTRE DAME VS. No. 12 CLEMSON
Location: Notre Dame, Ind. | Alumni Stadium
Live Stream: ACC Network Extra
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDMenSoccer
Game Notes: vs. Clemson

THE IRISH IN THE ACC TOURNEY
• Notre Dame will host an early round ACC Championship match for the sixth straight season when it welcomes Clemson to Alumni Stadium on Wednesday.
• The Irish are 5-1 in ACC tournament home matchups since joining the conference in 2013, outscoring opponents by an aggregate 13-3 goal count.
• Notre Dame is attempting to reach the semifinal round or beyond in the ACC Championship for the fifth time in six seasons as a conference member in 2018.
• The Irish have made three ACC tournament semifinal appearances in 2013, 2014 and 2017 and hosted the championship final in 2015 at Alumni Stadium.
• Notre Dame has hosted at least one home conference tournament match in 17 of the past 18 seasons.
• The Irish have notched a 11-3-3 (.735) record in prior home conference tournament matches, outscoring opponents a combined 25-9 in those contests.

THE CLEMSON SERIES
• The Irish and Tigers will meet on the pitch for the eighth time on Wednesday evening.
• The Irish lead the all-time series against Clemson, holding a record of 4-2-1.
• Notre Dame and Clemson have played at Notre Dame just one other time, as the Irish posted a 1-0 win in the meeting on Sept. 12, 2015.
• The Irish have won four of the last five matchups in the series.
• Notre Dame has held the Tigers to one or no goals in six of the seven prior matchups.
• The most recent fixture in the series came last season at Clemson on Oct. 6, resulting in a 2-1 victory for the Irish.

UELAND IN FORM DOWN THE STRETCH
• Senior forward Thomas Ueland is playing his best soccer of the season entering the postseason.
• Ueland is tied for the team lead in goals for the season with six.
• Four of the senior’s six goals have come in the last four matches.
• Ueland’s latest goal came in the regular-season finale at Pitt, as the senior scored the only goal of the match in the 85th minute to give the Irish the 1-0 victory.

QUICK OUT OF THE GATE
• The Irish have been excellent in the first 45 minutes of matches this season, as the team has not trailed in any of its 16 matches at the halftime break.
• Notre Dame has outscored the opposition by a combined mark of 10-2 in the first halves of matches.
• The Irish have kept a clean sheet in the first half in 15 of 16 matches in 2018, with the only blemish coming at Duke in a match that was level at 2-2 at the break.

THE SKIPPER DOES IT ALL
• Senior center back Patrick Berneski has had an impressive senior season after earning the captain armband prior to the 2018 campaign.
• Berneski has scored in six of 16 matches this season, tying for the team lead with six goals.
• The senior’s six goals are the most scored this season by any ACC defender in 2018.

SET-PIECE SCORING
• Thirteen of the 27 Irish goals scored this season have come from set pieces.
• Patrick Berneski has done the bulk of the damage, scoring six set-piece goals, five of which were headers.
• Another notable set-piece goal came from a sublime Felicien Dumas free kick that proved to be the game winner against Syracuse.
• Senior Sean MacLeod is 2-for-2 in scoring from the spot this season for the Irish.
• Dumas has supplied the assist in five of the set-piece goals in 2018.

MACLEOD MAKES HIS MARK
• Senior forward Sean MacLeod has been in form over the last few weeks, scoring the first four goals in his collegiate career this season, all coming in the last seven matches.
• MacLeod netted his first score in the 3-0 win over Northwestern and then scored from the spot in overtime to defeat then No. 6 Louisville.
• In Notre Dame’s match at Michigan, the senior scored from the spot in what proved to be the match winner in the 68th minute.
• The senior is third on the team in goals (4) and points (10) this season.