Notre Dame travels to Syracuse, New York, to open the ACC portion of the schedule with an away fixture against the Orange. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 7. The match will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra via the WatchESPN app.
NOTRE DAME VS. SYRACUSE
Location: Syracuse, New York | SU Soccer Stadium
Live Stream: ACC Network Extra
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDMenSoccer
Game Notes: vs. Syracuse
THE SYRACUSE SERIES
• Notre Dame and Syracuse will face each other on Friday evening for the 19th time in series history. The Irish are 13-3-2 against the Orange in the all-time series.
• Notre Dame has dropped just one decision over the last 14 meetings, posting a record of 11-1-2 in that span.
• The Irish won a 2-1 decision in the last meeting between the two sides on Sept. 23, 2016, at Alumni Stadium.
• Notre Dame is 7-0-1 in matches played at Syracuse.
AERIAL ATTACK
• Four of the six Irish goals scored this season have come by way of headers.
• Patrick Berneski has done the bulk of the damage, scoring three headers off set pieces.
• The other headed goal came from Ian Aschieris in open play in the victory over Dartmouth.
The CHAD RILEY ERA UNDERWAY
• Chad Riley was named the sixth head coach in program history on Jan. 4, 2018.
• Riley is a 2004 graduate of Notre Dame, where he was a standout on the soccer team under the previous head coach Bobby Clark.
• Riley was a three-time All-BIG EAST selection during his time with the Irish and was named the skipper of the squad in 2003.
• Prior to taking the reins of the Notre Dame program, Riley spent the last five seasons as the head coach of Dartmouth, posting a record of 51-26-14.
• Dartmouth won the Ivy League Championship in each of the last four seasons under Riley’s direction, earning four trips to the NCAA Championship.
THE SKIPPER DOES IT ALL
• Senior center back Patrick Berneski has gotten off to an impressive start in his senior season after earning the captain position prior to the season.
• Berneski has scored in each of the three matches this season, leading the team with three goals.
• The center back has also anchored a back line that has allowed just one goal through 290 minutes of play, and no goals in open play.
• After scoring two goals and helping the Irish to two clean-sheet victories, Berneski earned ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors as well as Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.
TOUGHEST SCHEDULE IN THE COUNTRY
• The Irish have never shied away from playing a challenging slate of opponents and the 2018 schedule looks to be no different.
• Notre Dame is set to face eight of the top 10 ranked teams in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll in No. 1 Wake Forest, No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Michigan State, No. 4 Indiana, No. 5 UNC, No. 7 Louisville, No. 8 NC State and No. 10 Virginia.
• The Irish have already defeated two ranked opponents, taking down then No. 18 UConn (3-0) and then No. 22 Dartmouth (2-0).