Joseph Lapira tallied two goals and one assist in a 4-1 victory over Georgetown last season.

Ninth-Ranked Irish To Wrap Up Regular Season At Georgetown on Saturday

Nov. 1, 2007

#9 Notre Dame at Georgetown
Saturday, Nov. 3 • 12:00 p.m. (ET)
North Kehoe Field • Washington, D.C.

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Notre Dame will wrap up its 2007 regular-season schedule with a trip to Georgetown on Saturday, Nov. 3. The BIG EAST showdown is slated for 12 noon (ET) at North Kehoe Field in Washington, D.C. The ninth-ranked Fighting Irish are in first place in the league’s Blue Division, two points ahead of Connecticut (24-22). Notre Dame is the only undefeated team in BIG EAST play this season and the Irish have already clinched a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

HOW TO FOLLOW: Live stats of the Notre Dame-Georgetown match will be available through Gametracker on und.com, the official web site of all 26 varsity athletic programs at the University … simply go to the men’s soccer page and click on `Schedule’ at the top of the page and find the Georgetown match and click on `Gametracker’ to follow the game for free.

ABOUT THE IRISH: Notre Dame (10-3-4, 7-0-3) collected a win and a tie in BIG EAST play last week to remain the only team undefeated in league play this season … the Fighting Irish have already clinched a first-round bye in the BIG EAST Tournament … a win over Georgetown would clinch the BIG EAST Blue Division title for the Irish … Notre Dame captured a 3-0 win at Pittsburgh on Wednesday (Oct. 24) … sophomore midfielder Justin Morrow scored a career-high two goals against the Panthers … fellow sophomore Michael Thomas added his first goal of the season, while senior Joseph Lapira dished out two assists … Lapira totaled two more assists in a 2-2 tie at Providence on Sunday (Oct. 28) … junior defender Matt Besler netted the first goal of the match against the Friars … that was his second goal of the season … Ryan Miller gave the Irish a 2-1 lead with his sixth goal of the season, which is a career-best total and it ties him with Lapira for the team lead … Lapira leads the Irish with 20 points and eight assists, which are a career-high total … Notre Dame is averaging 1.62 goals per game, while allowing 0.89 … in this week’s polls Notre Dame is seventh according to Soccer Times, ninth in the NSCAA poll, 10th in the College Soccer News rankings along with being 12th in the Soccer America poll … the Irish have six starters and 14 letterwinners back from last season’s squad that went 15-6-2 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals for the first time in program history … head coach Bobby Clark is in his seventh season with the Irish … he has an overall record of 90-36-19 (.686) at Notre Dame.

ON THE LINE: Notre Dame is in pursuit of its second regular-season BIG EAST title and the first since the conference split into two divisions when it expanded to 16 teams in 2005 … the Irish captured its only regular-season BIG EAST championship in 2004 … the Fighting Irish have two BIG EAST tournament titles (1996 & 2003) … Notre Dame is also looking to secure its eighth BIG EAST win of the season … that would match the program record for BIG EAST wins in a single season … the Irish totaled eight BIG EAST victories in 2004 (8-1-1) and 2006 (8-3-0) … Notre Dame is looking to register its first undefeated BIG EAST campaign.

DOWN TO THE WIRE: Notre Dame leads Connecticut by two points (24-22) in the BIG EAST Blue Division … both the Fighting Irish and Huskies have one conference game remaining … Notre Dame plays at Georgetown on Saturday, while Connecticut travels to Seton Hall on the same day.

IRISH LEADERS: Senior forward Joseph Lapira leads the team in points (20) and assists (8) … Lapira is tied with Ryan Miller for the team lead in goals (6) … goalkeeper Chris Cahill has a 9-2-4 record with a 0.83 goals-against average and a .817 save percentage to go along with six shutouts.

SERIES HISTORY VERSUS GEORETOWN: Notre Dame and Georgetown will be meeting for the 18th time on Saturday … the Fighting Irish own a 9-7-1 edge in the series … Notre Dame topped Georgetown, 4-1, last season at Alumni Field … Joseph Lapira tallied two goals and an assist in that match … the Irish are 2-4-0 all time at Georgetown … the Hoyas claimed a 1-0 victory over the Irish during the last encounter at Georgetown in 2005 … the first meeting between the two schools occurred in 1982, a 0-0 tie in Rochester, N.Y. … both teams have met every season since 1995, Notre Dame’s first in the BIG EAST Conference … Notre Dame holds a 31-24 scoring edge in the series.

SCOUTING THE HOYAS: Georgetown (7-10-0, 5-5-0) is coming off a 2-1 win at Seton Hall on Wednesday (Oct. 31) … the Hoyas are 4-1-0 in their last five matches … the only loss in that stretch was a 2-1 setback at Maryland … the Hoyas have won three straight BIG EAST contests … Georgetown is 3-3-0 at home this season … the Hoyas are averaging 0.81 goals per game, while allowing 1.04 … Chandler Diggs leads the team with nine points on three goals and three assists … Sean Bellomy and Corey Zeller also have three goals … Matthew Brutto and Joe Devine have split time in goal this season … Devine has started nine games and carries a 1.32 goals-against average with a .700 save percentage with one shutout … Brutto has earned a start in eight matches and has a 0.74 goals-against average with a .829 save percentage and three shutouts … the Hoyas returned eight starters and 14 letterwinners from a team that went 6-11-0 last season, including a 3-8-0 finish in the BIG EAST … head coach Brian Wiese is in his second season at Georgetown … Wiese was an assistant at Notre Dame under head coach Bobby Clark from 2001-05 … Wiese played for Clark at Dartmouth and also served as an assistant on Clark’s staff at Stanford prior to them coming to Notre Dame.

NOTRE DAME IN BIG EAST PLAY: Notre Dame owns an overall record of 76-48-15 (.601) in BIG EAST regular-season play since joining the conference in 1995 … the Irish have posted seven straight winning seasons within the conference, including this year … last season, the Irish went 8-3-0 in league play … that marked the second time that the Irish posted a program-record eight BIG EAST victories … Notre Dame won its only regular-season BIG EAST title in 2004 with an 8-1-1 record … the Fighting Irish captured BIG EAST Tournament crowns in 1996 and 2003.

NEXT UP: Notre Dame will host a BIG EAST tournament quarterfinal match on Sunday, Nov. 11 at 1:00 p.m. (ET) … the opponent is still to be determined.

IRISH THOUGHTS: Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark discusses Saturday’s match against Georgetown …

“This will be another tough game for us. Georgetown has won three straight BIG EAST games after having a sticky start to the season. They are coming along very well and have won four of their last five games. The only loss was a narrow one at Maryland. They’re hitting their stride at the right time.”

LAST TIME OUT: Notre Dame and Providence played to a 2-2 draw in BIG EAST at Glay Field on Sunday, Oct. 28 … scoring for the seventh-ranked Fighting Irish was Matt Besler and Ryan Miller … Notre Dame controlled the possession early in the contest … the Fighting Irish pressured with Joseph Lapira making runs into the 18-yard box … Notre Dame also attacked from the outside as a Michael Thomas blast on frame with 27:08 left in the half was stopped by Friar goalkeeper Timothy Murray … Providence had a good look with just under 24 minutes remaining in the opening stanza when an Alex Redding shot from close range was saved by Irish keeper Chris Cahill … the Irish cracked the scoring column in the 27th minute as Lapira sent a free kick in from the left side that was headed in by Besler his second goal of the season … the Friars nearly notched the equalizer when an Alex Bury shot from the top of the box was sent just wide to the right … Notre Dame responded later in the half and almost made it a two-goal advantage as Lapira connected with Jeb Brovsky and the freshman’s shot was saved by Murray … Providence kept pressuring late into the first half and it paid off as Nick Cianci scored off a feed from Jonathan Medcalf with under one minute left … the match was tied, 1-1, at halftime … Notre Dame regained the lead in the 65th minute as Miller scored his sixth goal of the season off a pass from Lapira … the assist marked Lapira’s fourth in the past two matches … an offensive surge from Providence late in the second half produced another equalizer for the Friars … a Matt Marcin goal off a pass from Toussaint McClure made it a 2-2 contest in the 83rd minute … the match would head into overtime knotted 2-2 … Bury nearly notched a golden goal with 10 seconds remaining in the second 10-minute overtime period, yet Cahill punched the ball over the net … Cahill made six saves on the day, while Murray had four stops … Providence held a 15-13 edge in shots and Notre Dame had a 7-5 advantage in corner kicks.

ANOTHER 10: The win over Pittsburgh gave Notre Dame its 10th win of the season … the Fighting Irish have reached the double-digit victory plateau for seven straight seasons … the streak began during the first year of the Bobby Clark era in 2001.

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: Notre Dame’s three goals against Pittsburgh matched a season-high outburst for the Irish … Notre Dame has scored three times on four occasions this season … the three first-half tallies versus the Panthers marked the third time this season that Notre Dame has scored three goals in one half … the Fighting Irish scored three times in a 3-0 win over No. 16 Michigan on Oct. 3 … Notre Dame netted three second-half scores in a 3-3 tie with No. 1 Connecticut on Oct. 13.

NO STREAKS: Notre Dame has not lost back-to-back regular-season games since the beginning of the 2001 season when they fell to No. 5 Furman, 3-2, in double-overtime and then lost 4-0 to No. 16 Clemson … both of those matches occurred at the Umbro/Spinx Furman Invitational in Greenville, S.C. … Notre Dame followed up this season’s first loss, a 3-0 setback against Maryland, with a 3-0 win over Rhode Island … the Irish then responded after a 1-0 loss to Michigan State with a 3-3 draw against No. 1 Connecticut … following a 3-2 loss against No. 12 Indiana, Notre Dame defeated Seton Hall, 2-0, to up its streak of not losing consecutive matches.

LAPIRA ASSISTING IRISH: Joseph Lapira has totaled two assists in each of the past two games … the senior forward has a team-high eight assists this season, which are a career-high total.

WEEKLY HONORS: Joseph Lapira was named to the BIG EAST Weekly honor roll on Monday, Oct. 29 for his four-assist week … that marked the second straight week and the third time this season that Lapira has been named to the conference honor roll.

MILLER AND RELLAS EARN ACADEMIC HONORS: Ryan Miller and Cory Rellas have been selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V men’s soccer team … Miller, a fifth-year senior, graduated from the Mendoza College of Business in May of 2007 with a degree in accounting … he finished with a 3.409 cumulative grade-point average and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in accounting … Miller is tied for the team lead in goals with six, which are a career-high total … he also has a career-best 15 points this season … Rellas, a junior defender, carries a 3.634 cumulative GPA as a finance and history major … Rellas has started all 17 games this season and has been an integral part in the Irish posting eight shutouts … he also has scored one goal.

FACING #1, AGAIN: The 3-3 draw with Connecticut on Oct. 13 marked the second time this season that Notre Dame had squared off with a team ranked No. 1 at the time of the meeting … Notre Dame topped then-No. 1 UCLA, 2-1, in overtime during the season opener on Aug. 31 … the Fighting Irish are 1-5-1 when facing a top-ranked team since the 1990 season.

SPREADING THE WEALTH: Notre Dame’s last eight goals have come from six different players … a total of 11 different Irish players have notched a goal this season … seniors Joseph Lapira and Ryan Miller are tied for the team lead with six goals apiece … sophomore Justin Morrow is next in line with three tallies … Kurt Martin, Alex Yoshinaga, Matt Besler, Dave Donohue and Jeb Brovsky all have two goals, while three players have scored once … a total of 14 players have tallied at least one point … Lapira has a team-best 20 points, which includes a team-best eight assists.

SHOOTING STARS: Notre Dame has out shot its opponents 290-203 this season … the Irish own a 140-77 advantage in shots during the first half and a 137-116 edge in the second period … Notre Dame has a 13-10 shot lead in overtime periods.

CORNERING THE MARKET: The Fighting Irish have an 105-61 advantage in corner kicks over their opponents, including a decisive 47-20 margin in first-half play … Notre Dame owns a 51-40 edge in the second half, while the Irish have out cornered the opposition 7-1 in overtime.

BLANKING THE COMPETITION: Notre Dame has posted eight shutouts this season … senior Chris Cahill has six shutouts to his credit, while junior Andrew Quinn has one … both Cahill and Quinn saw action in a 3-0 win over Rhode Island … Quinn picked up the shutout against Marquette (1-0), while Cahill and the Irish defense held Rutgers (2-0) and Villanova (1-0) without a goal … Cahill notched a shutout against No. 16 Michigan in a 3-0 victory by making a season-high seven saves … he followed that with another blanking in a 1-0 win over No. 13 West Virginia … Cahill picked up his fifth shutout of the season in a 2-0 triumph of Seton Hall and then he and the Irish defense held Pittsburgh scoreless in a 3-0 victory.

SHOCKING SHUTOUTS: While the Irish defense has posted eight shutouts this season, the Notre Dame offense has been held without a goal just twice in the past 31 matches … Notre Dame’s 3-0 loss to then-No. 7 Maryland on Sept. 2 marked the first time the Fighting Irish had been shut out since Sept. 20, 2006, a span of 15 games … that match was a 0-0 tie with Northern Illinois at home … that also signified the last time the Irish have been held scoreless at home, a current streak of 16 games … Notre Dame’s only other scoreless game this season was a 1-0 setback at Michigan State on Oct. 10 … the Irish have gone 20 regular-season BIG EAST matches without being shut out.

ROOKIE IMPACT: The Irish have had a significant impact from its 2007 freshman class … Jeb Brovsky has totaled five points on two goals and one assist … Matt Armstrong has started every game in the midfield and has notched one assist … Armstrong has filled the shoes of two-time first-team All-American Greg Dalby, who had a stellar four-year career with the Irish … Josh Thiermann and Steven Perry have combined to play in 18 games and have been valuable sparks off the bench.

TAKING DOWN A TOP-10: The victory over top-ranked UCLA on Aug. 31 gave Notre Dame a win over a top-10 team for the eighth straight season … Notre Dame took down three top-10 teams last season … the Irish topped both Creighton (4-1) and Indiana (5-4, OT) when those squads were ranked eighth nationally … Notre Dame bested No. 7 Maryland, 1-0, in double-overtime during the third round of the NCAA Tournament … that marked the first time the Irish beat three top-10 teams in a season since 2002.

HIGH MARKS: Notre Dame was ranked No. 2 in all four major polls (Soccer America, NSCAA, Soccer Times, College Soccer News) during the week of Sept. 24 … that marked the highest-ever ranking in program history.

PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF: Joseph Lapira opened the season with a three-point match in a 2-1 overtime win against No. 1 UCLA … he gave the Irish a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute and then assisted on Alex Yoshinaga’s golden goal in the 94th minute to give Notre Dame the victory … Lapira led all NCAA Division I men’s soccer players with 22 goals and 50 points last season.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Senior forward Joseph Lapira currently ranks in a tie for fifth place on Notre Dame’s all-time goals list … he has 38 tallies, which ties him with Tim Oates, who played from 1991-94 … Kevin Lovejoy (1978-80) is the program record-holder with 67 goals … Lapira’s 97 career points rank him in a tie, with Oates, for sixth in program history … Lapira is just three points away from 100, which would put him into the top five … Lovejoy has that mark as well with 153 points.

BIG EAST ACCOLADES: Joseph Lapira was named the preseason BIG EAST offensive player of the year and junior defender Matt Besler joined Lapira on the all-BIG EAST preseason team … Lapira was the 2006 BIG EAST offensive player of the year.

LAPIRA NAMED TO M.A.C. HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST: Joseph Lapira was named to the 2007 Missouri Athletic Club (M.A.C.) Hermann Trophy Watch List … the trophy is presented annually to the top men’s soccer player in the United States … Lapira won the award last season as he led all NCAA Division I men’s players with 22 goals and 50 points … he became the first Notre Dame men’s player to receive the award … a panel of coaches from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) compiled the 29-man M.A.C. Hermann Trophy Watch List … Lapira will try to become the first back-to-back recipient of the most prestigious award in college soccer since Virginia’s Claudio Reyna took home the Hermann Trophy in 1992 and 1993.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Joseph Lapira had an eventful summer of 2007 … in May, Lapira trained with the Ireland National Team while the squad was in the United States … Lapira earned his first cap in a match against Ecuador on May 23 in Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. … when he entered the match in the 86th minute, he became the first amateur to play for Ireland since 1964 … the game ended as a 1-1 draw … the Louisiana native was able to participate with the Ireland team since he has dual-citizenship because his mother is a native of the country … later in the summer, he went to Europe and trained with the Glasgow Rangers of the Scottish Premier League and with Derby County of the English Premier League.

NOTRE DAME PICKED SECOND IN BLUE DIVISION: Notre Dame was selected to finish second in the BIG EAST Blue Division for the 2007 season … the Irish garnered 102 points in voting by the league’s head coaches, while Connecticut received 105 points … Connecticut garnered 10 first-place votes in the Blue Division, while Notre Dame had four and West Virginia totaled three … St. John’s was tabbed to win the league’s Red Division followed by Rutgers and South Florida.

COLLEGE SOCCER NEWS WATCH LISTS: Joseph Lapira was selected to the College Soccer News Pre-Season All-America first team … the senior was not the only Irish student-athlete honored by the publication, as two incoming freshmen were named to the `100 Freshmen to Watch’ list for the 2007 season … (M) Matt Armstrong and (F) Josh Thiermann were selected to the list and are part of a very talented seven-man freshman class for the Irish.

FRESHMAN CLASS NATIONALLY RANKED: Notre Dame’s seven-man freshman class was ranked 15th nationally by College Soccer News … (M) Matt Armstrong, (M) Jeb Brovsky, (D) Bilal Duckett, (M) Greg Klazura, (F) Andrew Luttrell, (F) Steven Perry and (F) Josh Thiermann make up the talented crop of Fighting Irish rookies.

IRISH ON THE SMALL SCREEN: Notre Dame had four of its regular-season matches televised … the Fighting Irish played Rutgers on Fox Soccer Channel on Sept. 21 in Piscataway, N.J. … two Irish home games were also televised … Notre Dame and Michigan appeared on Comcast Local on Oct. 3 as did the Irish’s tilt against Indiana on Oct. 17 … a match at Providence on Oct. 28 was carried by Cox Sports Television.

STAY UP-TO-DATE ON NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS: To stay updated on all 26 varsity sports at Notre Dame you can log on to the official Notre Dame athletics web site at und.com or you can call the official Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000 … to access men’s soccer information on the hotline all you need to do is dial 4 from the main menu and then dial 1.

SIGN UP FOR IRISH ALERT TEXT MESSAGE SERVICE: Go to und.com to sign up for Irish ALERT, a text messaging service designed to give fans up-to-the-minute game updates for all 26 varsity sports at Notre Dame … men’s soccer fans can sign up to receive scores after each half of every game.