Oct. 24, 2006
Wednesday, Oct. 25
DePaul at #8 Notre Dame
BIG EAST Championship – First Round
Notre Dame, Ind. • 7:00 p.m. (ET)
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Notre Dame (12-4-2, 8-3-0 BE) enters the 2006 BIG EAST Championship as the No. 3 seed out of the Blue Division. The Fighting Irish will host DePaul (5-11-2, 4-7-0 BE), the sixth seed from the Red Division, in the first round of the tournament on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. The winner advances to play Rutgers in the quarterfinals on Saturday (Oct. 28) in Piscataway, N.J. Notre Dame is ranked 8th in both the NSCAA/adidas and Soccer America rankings.
ABOUT THE IRISH: The Fighting Irish split a pair of BIG EAST road matches during the week … the Irish have won eight of their past nine games … Notre Dame fell to West Virginia 2-1 on Wednesday … sophomore midfielder Cory Rellas picked up his first career goal in the contest … the Irish rebounded with a 1-0 win over No. 14 Connecticut on Saturday (Oct. 21) … freshman Michael Thomas collected the lone goal on assists from Ryan Miller and Joseph Lapira … Thomas has netted all three of his season goals in the last four games … he is riding a four-game point streak and is fourth on the team with eight points on three goals and two assists … Lapira has 42 points on 19 goals and 4 assists … the shutout of the Huskies was the 10th of the season for the Irish … senior goalkeeper Chris Cahill has registered nine of those shutouts en route to posting a 10-3-1 record and a 0.71 goals-against average … the Irish are 12-4-2 on the season … Bobby Clark is in his sixth season at the helm of the Fighting Irish program … he has a 77-31-15 (.687) mark overall at Notre Dame and has guided the Irish to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including two trips to the round of 16 … the Irish made the tournament’s Sweet 16 last season.
IRISH IN THE BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP: This is Notre Dame’s 10th trip to the BIG EAST Championship … the Irish own an 8-6-2 mark overall in the league playoffs … the Irish tied Syracuse last season in the first round and advanced, 4-2, on penalty kicks … Notre Dame then fell at St. John’s, 1-0, in the quarterfinals … Notre Dame won the tournament in the school’s first trip in 1996 and again in 2003 … Notre Dame is 3-1-2 at home all-time in the conference tournament, 1-3-0 in true road games and 4-2-0 at neutral sites … Notre Dame’s last victory in the conference playoffs was in the championship game of the 2003 tournament, a 2-0 victory over St. John’s.
NOTRE DAME IN BIG EAST PLAY: Notre Dame owns an overall record of 69-48-12 (.581) all-time in BIG EAST regular-season play dating back to the 1995 campaign … the Irish have posted six straight winning seasons within the conference, including this season’s 8-3-0 mark … it marks the second time that the Irish have posted at least eight BIG EAST victories … Notre Dame won its first regular season BIG EAST title in 2004 with an 8-1-1 record … the Fighting Irish have captured BIG EAST Tournament crowns in 1996 and 2003.
AN EVEN DOZEN: Notre Dame has claimed at least 12 wins in all six seasons of the Bobby Clark era, including this year’s 12-4-2 mark.
LAPIRA LEADING THE WAY: Junior forward Joseph Lapira is registering one of the finest seasons in program history and one of the top campaigns in the nation this year … his 19 goals and 42 points are the most among NCAA Division I men’s soccer players … he has copped several national accolades this season … he was selected as the National Player of the Week by Soccer America, Soccer Times and Top Drawer Soccer on Sept. 4 along with being named to the College Soccer News Team of the Week … those honors came after a four-goal effort against No. 8 Indiana … Lapira was named College Soccer News National Player of the Week on Oct. 2 following a four-goal week … more honors came his way on Oct. 9, by being named the College Soccer News, Top Drawer Soccer and Soccer Times National Player of the Week after registering another four goals over two games … he has also been selected as the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week three times this season (9/4, 10/2 & 10/9) … he has registered seven multiple-goal games, including a stretch of five straight two-goal efforts, which was snapped against Michigan State on Oct. 11.
THOMAS COLLECTS BIG EAST HONORS, AGAIN: For the second consecutive week, Notre Dame freshman midfielder Michael Thomas was named the BIG EAST Conference Rookie of the Week … Thomas collected three points last week, including the lone goal in the Irish’s 1-0 victory over No. 14 Connecticut on Saturday (Oct. 21) … the freshman is fourth on the team with eight points on three goals and two assists … Thomas, who collected conference honors a week ago for notching scores in wins over Michigan State and Providence, picked up the assist on a Cory Rellas goal in a 2-1 setback at West Virginia on Wednesday (Oct. 18) … he upped his point streak to four games with the goal against the Huskies, on assists from Ryan Miller and Joseph Lapira … Thomas becomes the first Notre Dame player to garner the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week honor twice since Shane Walton did so three times in 1998.
IRISH EARNING BIG EAST ACCOLADES: For the season, Notre Dame has copped eight BIG EAST honors … junior forward Joseph Lapira has been named the Offensive Player of the Week on three occasions, while senior forward Justin McGeeney has also taken home that honor … senior Chris Cahill was named the Goalkeeper of the Week once and sophomore Matt Besler has been selected as the Defensive Player of the Week on one occasion … freshman Michael Thomas has collected Rookie of the Week honors from the league twice … the eight accolades matches the most in program history for a single season … the 2004 squad also garnered eight weekly honors from the BIG EAST.
NO STREAKS: The Fighting Irish have 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 has now completed five full regular seasons without consecutive losses.
STATISTICAL EDGE: Notre Dame owns a decided advantage in most statistical categories this season … the Fighting Irish have out scored its opposition 38-14, including a 21-7 edge in the second half … Notre Dame has out shot its opponents 308-191 and gained 48 more corner kicks (116-68).
IRISH IN THE BIG EAST: Notre Dame leads the BIG EAST with 38 goals and 105 points … West Virginia was second in both categories with 35 goals and 100 points … the Irish are also first in shots (308) and corner kicks (116) … defensively, the 10 team shutouts ranks Notre Dame first, while West Virginia and St. John’s are second with nine … the Mountaineers have the league’s best goals-against average with a 0.68 mark, while the Fighting Irish are second with a 0.75 average.
THE NATIONAL CHARTS: Joseph Lapira’s 19 goals and 42 points are the most among NCAA Division I men’s soccer players … Lapira is tied for second with 2.33 points per game … his four-goal, eight-point effort against Indiana ties him for second nationally for goals scored and points totaled in a single match this season … the Irish are also putting up impressive defensive numbers as senior goalkeeper Chris Cahill is 21st nationally with a 0.712 goals-against average, while the Irish rank 22nd as a team in that category (0.75).
LAPIRA MULTI-GOAL GAMES: Joseph Lapira has notched seven multiple-goal games this season, including a stretch of five straight two-goal games from Sept. 23-Oct. 7 … his season-high performance was a four-goal effort against No. 8 Indiana, while he has netted two against Louisville, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Seton Hall, Michigan and Georgetown.
IN THE IRISH RECORD BOOKS: Joseph Lapira’s 19 goals this season ranks third all-time on Notre Dame’s single-season list … Kevin Lovejoy’s totals of 29 goals in 1978 and 22 in 1979 rank first and second on the all-time list … Lapira’s 42 points are the fourth-highest single-season total in program history and the most since Richard Herdegen also tallied 42 in 1983 … the Irish’s all-time record for points in a season is 63 from Lovejoy in 1979 … Lapira is the first player in program history to win BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honors three times in the same season … he is also the only Irish player to win any award from the league four times in a career … Lapira was selected as the Offensive Player of the Week once as a freshman.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS DEPAUL: This will be the 18th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and DePaul … the Irish own a 16-1-0 mark against the Blue Demons … earlier this season, Notre Dame downed DePaul 3-0 at Alumni Field on Sept. 10 … DePaul’s only victory in the series was a 1-0 decision during the 1996 campaign … the first meeting took place in 1980, a 5-0 Notre Dame triumph … the Blue Demons are 0-11-0 all-time at Notre Dame … the Fighting Irish have out scored the Blue Demons 83-4 in the series and have won all 10 match-ups at home.
THE FIRST ENCOUNTER: (recap of Notre Dame’s 3-0 victory over DePaul on Sept. 10, 2006)
Justin McGeeney tallied a goal in the second minute and the Notre Dame kept attacking all afternoon in registering a 3-0 victory over DePaul in BIG EAST play at Alumni Field on Sunday, Sept. 10 … the Irish, who rebounded nicely from a 2-0 loss to South Florida on Friday night, out-shot the Blue Demons 26-4 … Greg Dalby scored his first goal of the season in the 66th minute, while the third tally was an own goal … Notre Dame did not waste much time in asserting its offensive force with an early barrage on net … the Irish capitalized as Joseph Lapira sent a cross to McGeeney and the senior forward sent it in for his third goal of the season … DePaul could not mount much of an attack as the Blue Demons were out-shot 12-2 in the first half … the Fighting Irish kept the pressure on the Blue Demons in the second half as Cory Rellas ripped a shot that was saved by DePaul goalkeeper Brian Visser in the opening minutes of the stanza … Nate Norman nearly connected with a shot off of a corner kick in the 50th minute … Notre Dame held a 9-3 advantage in corner kicks for the game … McGeeney almost registered his second goal of the game with just under 27 minutes remaining in the match, as he was one-on-one with Visser, yet the DePaul keeper made one of his nine saves on the day … two minutes later, Lapira sent a blast just high over the crossbar and the score remained 1-0 … the Irish did convert their second goal in the 66th minute as a corner kick was placed in front of the net and action ensued before Dalby put it in … Matt Besler picked up the assist on the play … the Irish’s third goal was tacked on in the 72nd minute … the tally was initially given to Irish freshman Michael Thomas, yet was later credited with going off the leg of a DePaul defener … the sequence began with an Ian Etherington cross into the box that Thomas put a foot on … Chris Cahill made two saves for the Irish in picking up his second win of the season.
SCOUTING THE BLUE DEMONS: DePaul will be making its first trip to the BIG EAST Championship in its second season in the league … the Blue Demons posted a 5-11-2 mark overall and a 4-7-0 record in the league … freshman forward Alex Mangan leads the team in points with 10 and goals with five … junior midfielder/forward Julian Chille is the only other DePaul player with more than one goal … Chille has two goals and two assists … senior defender/midfielder John Partyka leads the team in assists with three … sophomore Brian Visser has started 18 games in goal, posting a 5-10-2 record and a 1.31 goals-against average … Craig Blazer is in his sixth season as the head coach of the Blue Demons … DePaul went 4-11-2 one season ago (2-8-1 BE) and finished eighth in the BIG EAST Red Division.
SENIORS LEAVE MARK: Notre Dame honored its seniors prior to the Providence match on Oct. 14 … the seven student-athletes (Chris Cahill, Greg Dalby, Ian Etherington, Justin McGeeney, Ryan Miller, Nate Norman and Dale Rellas) have been a vital part of the Notre Dame program, helping the Irish to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including two berths into the Round of 16 … they also helped the Irish claim the program’s first-ever BIG EAST Tournament title in 2003, which was followed by a regular season championship in 2004. NEXT UP: The winner of the Notre Dame/DePaul match will travel to Piscataway, N.J. to take on the Rutgers this Saturday (Oct. 28) at 5:00 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Championship.
IRISH THOUGHTS: Head coach Bobby Clark discusses Notre Dame’s BIG EAST Tournament first round match-up against DePaul …
“DePaul is a very dangerous opponent. This is their first time in the BIG EAST Tournament so they’ll be excited. This will be their opportunity to do something so we have to be focused.”
“Our main goal is to focus on this game. We can’t look back at other games or ahead to other games, we just have to focus on this game. If we don’t do that then we’ll be in trouble, but if we only focus on this game then we should be fine.”
RECAPPING CONNECTICUT: A Michael Thomas goal in the 65th minute is all the scoring the No. 6 Notre Dame men’s soccer team would need in defeating No. 14 Connecticut 1-0 in front of 3,831 fans at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 21 … the Irish pressured Connecticut in the opening minutes as senior Greg Dalby sent a shot on goal, which was scooped up by UConn goalkeeper Matt Sangeloty … in the 12th minute, Nate Norman’s shot on goal was deflected by Sangeloty and put out of bounds … Notre Dame held a 6-2 advantage in shots in the opening stanza and a 12-8 margin for the match … Notre Dame’s defense was tested early but held strong as center back Dale Rellas cleared a shot off the line in the ninth minute … the Huskies missed another chance as O’Brian White sent a shot high from the top of the 18-yard box with just over 10 minutes left in the half … Notre Dame forward Joseph Lapira placed a shot just wide right of the net from 25 yards out with 6:26 remaining in the period … that would be the best chance for either team before the first 45 minutes expired with the score knotted at 0-0 … the defensive battle would see its only goal with 25:29 left in the match as senior defender Ryan Miller sent the ball into the 18-yard box and Lapira flicked it to Thomas for the goal … that was his third goal of the season, with all of them coming in the last four games … Thomas, the reigning BIG EAST Rookie of the Week, has collected a point in four straight matches … Connecticut kept the pressure on late, yet senior goalkeeper Chris Cahill and the Notre Dame defense held tight to collect the team’s 10th shutout of the season … for Cahill, it was his ninth shutout of the season.
SNAPPING THE CONNECTICUT CURSE: Notre Dame’s 1-0 win at Connecticut on Saturday (Oct. 21) was just the second for the Fighting Irish in seven tries in Storrs, Conn. … the only other Irish victory occurred in 1986, the first-ever meeting between the two schools … Notre Dame had been 0-5-0 in its last five trips to Connecticut.
RECAPPING WEST VIRGINIA: An Andy Wright goal in the 56th minute would prove to be the difference as No. 4 West Virginia topped No. 6 Notre Dame 2-1 on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium … the loss snapped the Irish’s seven-game win streak and eight-game unbeaten streak … Notre Dame sophomore midfielder Cory Rellas notched the first goal of his career in the fourth minute as he took a pass from freshman Michael Thomas and deposited it into the back of the net to put the Irish up 1-0 early. the assist for Thomas was his second of the season … the Mountaineers responded in the 17th minute as Dan Stratford scored off a feed from Wright from 22 yards out to knot the game at one apiece … the tally was the first allowed by Irish goalkeeper Chris Cahill in three games, which covered a span of 257 minutes … the Irish out shot the Moutaineers 10-6 in the first half, yet could not notch another tally and the match was tied 1-1 at the break … for the game, Notre Dame held a 14-13 advantage in shots and a 5-3 edge in corner kicks … in the 56th minute, Wright would connect from 12 yards out off of touches from Jarrod Smith and Stratford to give West Virginia a 2-1 advantage … the Mountaineers would hold off the Irish the rest of the way to take the victory … not only did the Irish see their win streak come to a halt, junior forward Joseph Lapira had his seven-game goal streak snapped. A CLASSIC PERFORMANCE: Joseph Lapira tallied a career-high four goals against No. 8 Indiana in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic on Sunday, Sept. 3 … the four scores established an Indiana Classic record and it was one shy of the Notre Dame record of five, achieved by Kevin Lovejoy in 1993 … by scoring three goals, Lapira became the first Irish player to register a hat trick since Devon Prescod did so versus Cleveland State in 2003.
AN IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY: Notre Dame’s five goal output against Indiana on Sept. 3 was the most goals scored by an Irish team since a 6-0 victory over Cleveland State in 2003 … the five tallies were the most ever against a ranked foe in program history … it marked the first time the Hoosiers had ever allowed five tallies in a single game … the nine combined goals were the most in a Notre Dame match since a 9-2 victory against Valparaiso in 1989.
TAKING DOWN A TOP-10: Notre Dame has downed two top-10 teams this season … the Irish topped No. 8 Creighton, 4-1, on Aug. 27 and then defeated No. 8 Indiana, 5-4, on Sept. 3 … the Irish have claimed a victory against a top-10 opponent in seven straight seasons … last season, the Irish took down No. 7 SMU (4-1) and No. 5 Indiana (2-0) … the victory against the Hoosiers came in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame is 8th in this week’s NSCAA/adidas poll and 8th in the current Soccer America rankings … the Irish began the campaign rated 15th and 10th in those polls, respectively … this week the Fighting Irish are 8th according to Soccer Times and 10th in the College Soccer News poll … six of the Irish’s 2006 opponents appear in the latest Soccer America rankings: West Virginia (5), Indiana (7), Creighton (15), Cincinnati (18), Saint Louis (19) and Northern Illinois (25t) … Notre Dame is 2-2-2 against those teams this season.
NOTRE DAME PICKED SECOND IN BLUE DIVISION: Notre Dame was selected to finish second in the BIG EAST’s Blue Division behind Connecticut, while South Florida was tabbed to be the league’s Red Division champion … the Irish collected five first-place votes compared to the Huskies’ 11 … Notre Dame was tabbed to finish second in the conference’s Blue Division last year and wound up placing in a tie for third with West Virginia … the Irish did garner the division’s No. 3 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament as a result of a tie-breaker.
DALBY AND ETHERINGTON NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST TEAM: Senior midfielders Greg Dalby and Ian Etherington were named to the 2006 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team as voted on by the league’s 16 head coaches … both Dalby and Etherington were first-team all-BIG EAST selections last season.
DALBY NAMED TO M.A.C. HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST: Greg Dalby was named to the 2006 Missouri Athletic Club (M.A.C.) Hermann Trophy Watch List … the trophy is presented annually to the top male and female Division I soccer player in the United States … the 25-man watch list was compiled by a panel of coaches from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
COLLEGE SOCCER NEWS WATCH LIST: Greg Dalby was selected to the College Soccer News Pre-Season All-America first team … the senior co-captain 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 2006 season … (M/F) Justin Morrow and (M/D) Michael Thomas were selected to the list and are all 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 16th nationally by College Soccer News … (M) John Baumgardner, (M) Dave Donohue, (M/F) Justin Morrow, (F) Tamba Samba, (D) John Schaefer, (M/D) Michael Thomas and (GK) Philip Tuttle make up the talented crop of Fighting Irish rookies.
NUMBER CHANGES: Seven members of the Fighting Irish team will be sporting new numbers for the 2006 season …
Name New Number Old NumberLuke Seibolt 1 24Kyle Dulworth 4 21Joseph Lapira 10 4Kurt Martin 11 8Bright Dike 14 18Nate Norman 19 20Alex Yoshinaga 20 19
NEW COACHES: The Fighting Irish are welcoming three new assistant coaches to the sidelines for the 2006 season … assistant coaches Jamie Clark and Chad Riley joined the program in March … Clark, the youngest son of head coach Bobby Clark, spent the last four seasons at New Mexico, where he helped guide the Lobos to the finals of the 2005 College Cup … Clark was a two-time All-American at Stanford, where he played from 1996-98 … Riley returns to Notre Dame, where he played from 2000-03 … he was a two-time all-BIG EAST performer at midfield … he was an assistant coach last season at St. John’s as the Red Storm compiled a record of 11-6-5 and made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament … Rick King is the Irish’s new volunteer assistant coach … King, a 1995 graduate of East Stroudsburg, also coaches the Indiana Invaders club soccer team.
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.
FOLLOW ALL ND HOME GAMES ONLINE: All Notre Dame home games will feature livestats available through 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 game that is being played that day and click on `Gametracker’ to follow the game for free … live audio is also available for certain home matches.
SIGN UP FOR IRISH ALERT TEXT MESSAGE SERVICE: The University of Notre Dame athletic department, in cooperation with Notre Dame Sports Properties and Centennial Wireless has brought back Irish ALERT for the 2006 fall sports season … continuing Notre Dame’s commitment to its alumni and fans, Irish ALERT will be free of charge (check with your wireless provider for any additional fees that may be charged due to receiving text messages) … starting the weekend of Sept. 15 all of the fall sports will start sending text alerts to Irish fans across the country on their wireless communication devices … log onto und.com for more details and to sign up.