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Notre Dame Men's Soccer Resumes BIG EAST Action At Alumni Field Against Georgetown

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THE WEEK AHEAD – Notre Dame is in action once this week as the Irish play host to BIG EAST foe Georgetown on Fri., Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m. Following its matchup with the Hoyas, the Irish will play their next three games on the road.

RECAPPING THE WEEK – Notre Dame went 1-1 in its two road games as the Irish registered a 3-2 win at Bradley and then suffered a tough 1-0 BIG EAST Conference loss at Seton Hall in overtime. The Irish received balanced scoring in the contest with Justin Ratcliffe (Miami, Fla.), Erich Braun (Frankfurt, Germany) and Andreas Forstner (Gerlinden, Germany) all tallied goals in the win over the Braves. Freshman goalkeeper Chris Sawyer (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) earned starts in both games (the first two of his career) and registered nine saves in the two games.

BRADLEY: Andreas Forstner scored his first goal of the year on a penalty kick with 2:47 remaining to lift the Irish to the victory. Notre Dame got on the scoreboard first in the eighth minute of the contest when Justin Ratcliffe deflected a Chad Riley (Houstin, Texas). Bradley tallied its first goal 50 seconds into the second half before Erich Braun responded with his fourth goal of the season at the 54:05 mark which came off assists from Kevin Goldthwaite (Sacramento, Calif.) and Justin Detter (White Lake, Mich.). The Braves tied the game at 60:17 mark before Forstner’s game-winning goal the penalty in the box at 87:13.

SETON HALL: Notre Dame suffered its second overtime loss of the season when Seton Hall’s Phil Swenda scored the game-winner from five yards out at the 96:45 mark. Chris Sawyer made seven saves in goals for the Irish who dropped their second straight to the Pirates.

SERIES RECORD VS. GEORGETOWN – The series is tied 4-4-1 as the Irish have dropped four straight to the Hoyas. Since beginning competition in the BIG EAST in 1995, Notre Dame is 3-4 against Georgetown. In their last two visits to Alumni Field, the Hoyas have come away with a 2-1 victory in ’97 and a 3-1 win in ’99.

MIKE BERTICELLI DEDICATION – A permanent monument honoring the late Mike Berticelli, former Notre Dame men’s soccer coach, will be dedicated at halftime of the Notre Dame-Georgetown men’s soccer match at 7:30 p.m. Members of the Berticelli family, including wife Cinda, and sons Nino (Notre Dame’99) and Anthony (Notre Dame ’01), will be in attendance at the game for the halftime ceremomy. Berticelli served as the head men’s soccer coach at Notre Dame for 10 seasons (1990-99) before his sudden death in January of 2000. During his tenure, Berticelli’s teams compiled a 104-80-19 (.559) record and made three NCAA tournament appearances in 1994, ’94 and ’96. He guided his squads to three conference tournament championships, including the title at the ’96 BIG EAST Championship. Berticelli led Notre Dame to its first and only NCAA tournament win in school history when his Irish squad defeated UNC Greesnsboro 1-0 in the first round. The dedication was originally scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 14 during the first annual Mike Berticelli Tournament, but that event was cancelled due to the national tragedy in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania on Sept. 11. A permanent rock honoring Berticelli’s legacy at the University has been placed at the entrance to Alumni Field with an inscription that reads:

“So much more than a winning record, Mike Berticelli established a high level of pride, commitment and integrity within the men’s soccer program at Notre Dame. For countless student-athletes, “Coach B” was the one true and fixed landmark upon which they always could rely. Similar to a large rock, firm and solid, durable and steady, Mike Berticelli was a man who did not necessarily point the way, but ratherserved as a point of reference for all who knew him.”

HEAD COACH BOBBY CLARK – Bobby Clark is in his first season at Notre Dame. He was named the fifth head coach in the history of the Notre Dame men’s soccer program on Jan. 19, 2001. In his 15th season as a collegiate coach, Clark was victorious in his debut on the Irish sidelines in Notre Dame’s 5-0 win over Villanova. Prior to coming to Notre Dame, he spent five seasons guiding the Stanford Cardinal to a 71-21-12 record and .740 winning percentage from 1996-2000. Clark also was the head coach at Dartmouth from 1985-1993 where he led the Big Green to an 82-42-13 mark (.646). Heading into this season, Clark ranked 15th among active Division I head men’s soccer coaches in terms of winning percentage. In 14-plus seasons, he owns a 156-67-25 record for a .679 winning percentage. Six of Clark’s teams have advanced to NCAA tournament play with his 1998 Stanford squad finishing as the NCAA runnerup that season. In between his coaching stints at Dartmouth and Stanford, he was head coach of the New Zealand National Team.

NOTRE DAME CELEBRATING 25TH SEASON OF VARSITY COMPETITION – The 2001 campaign marks the 25th season of varsity competition for the Notre Dame men’s soccer team. Since its inaugural campaign in 1977, Irish teams have compiled a 318-162-43 mark for a .649 winning percentage. Notre Dame has won 20-plus games on three occasions and 15 or more games 11 times. In the program’s history, only five teams have had a losing season.

BRAUN OFF TO IMPRESSIVE START – Junior Erich Braun, who led Notre Dame in scoring as freshman and was second in the scoring column last season, is off to a quick start for the Irish with four goals and two assists (10 points). He has scored a goal in every game Notre Dame has socred in this season.

DETTER SECOND IN IRISH IN SCORING COLUMN – Justin Detter is second in the Irish scoring column with three goals and a team-leading three assist (nine points). He recorded the second multiple-goal game of his career in Notre Dame’s win over Cleveland State on Sept. 19 when he tallied two goals and an assist. The five points marked the most in a single game by the Irish sophomore. Detter’s first multiple-goal outing occurred in 2000 in Notre Dame’s 2-1 victory over Northwestern.

HOWARD, PRESCOD GARNER ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM HONORS – Griffin Howard (San Diego, Calif.) and Devon Prescod (Marietta, Ga.) were named to the all-tournament team at the Umbro/Spinx Furman Invitational. Prescod had the assist on Erich Braun’s goal which put the Irish up 1-0 in the contest.

TOUGH STRETCH – Notre Dame is the midst of a nine-game stretch in which the Irish play seven game on the road. Following the Georgetown game, the Irish will play three consecutive contests on the road as the Irish travel to West Virginia (Oct. 11), Virginia Tech (Oct. 14) and Indiana (Oct. 17) before returning home to face Boston College on Oct. 20.

STEADY LINEUP – Notre Dame’s starting lineup in 2001 has remained consistent with seven players – Justin Detter, Andreas Forstner, Greg Martin (Plano, Texas), Justin Ratcliffe, Kevin Richards (Warwick, Bermuda), Chad Riley and Matt Rosso (Churchville, Pa.).

IU RETURNS TO IRISH SCHEDULE – Notre Dame will renew its in-state rivalry with Indiana as the two squads face each other for the first time since the 1997 campaign when the Irish played host to the Hoosiers. This year’s contest will be played on Wed., Oct. 7 in Bloomington, Ind. The first meeting between the two schools was played in 1978, and the two met continuously (except for in 1990) through the 1997 campaign. Indiana leads the series 18-1-1. Notre Dame picked up its lone victory in the series in 1987 with a 4-3 overtime victory.

A GAME OF FIRSTS – Notre Dame’s win over Villanova proved to be a night of firsts for many associated with the team. First, head coach Bobby Clark got his first win with the Irish in his coaching debut. Three players – freshman Kevin Goldthwaite, sophomore Greg Martin (Sacramento, Calif.) and junior Justin Ratcliffe tallied their first collegiate goals. Martin had the first multiple-point game of his career as he also dished off his first career assist.

GETTING INTO THE ACTION – Of the six freshmen on the Irish roster, two rookies – Kevin Goldthwaite and Jack Stewart (Torrance, Calif.) have seen action in all seven games coming off the bench. Goldthwaite’s first collegiate game will be one to remember as his first goal in a Notre Dame uniform came off of his first-ever shot in a game. It also was the first goal scored by the Irish in 2001.

SAWYER STEPPIN’ OUT – Freshman goalkeeper Chris Sawyer has started the last two games in goal for the Irish and was impressive in making nine saves in the two games. In his first collegiate start, he had two saves in picking up the win against Bradley and then registered seven saves in the overtime loss at Seton Hall while playing the enire 96:45 of the contest.

GOOD BIG EAST START – Notre Dame continued its trend of success in BIG EAST openers with its 5-0 win over Villanova in what was the season and conference opener for the Irish this season. Overall, Notre Dame is 5-1-1 in league openers since becoming a conference member in 1995. The Irish dropped their league opener last season at Boston College (2-0) and tied Pittburgh (0-0) in 1997. Both of those games were on the road.

YOUNG GUNS – The 25-man Notre Dame roster is comprised of just four seniors and nine juniors with almost half of the squad made up of sophomores and freshmen. Bobby Clark inherited a program which returns eight starters and 19 letterwinners from last year’s squad.

SPREADING THE WEALTH – Notre Dame had three different goals scorers in its 3-2 win at Bradley. The 13 total goals that the Irish have scored this season have come from seven different goals scorers. Only three players – Erich Braun, Justin Detter and Justin Ratcliffe – have more than one goals each, while eight players have at least one assist.

TOUGH LUCK IN OVERTIME – Two of Notre Dame’s four losses have come on the roadand been decided in overtime. The Irish lost a 3-2 decision to Furman at the 108:59 mark and on Sept. 7, in addition to its 1-0 setback at Seton Hall 6:45 into the overtime period. Notre Dame played two overtime games last season and was 0-0-2 in those matchups.

HOME SWEET HOME – Although Notre Dame struggled somewhat at home last season (3-4), the Irish own a 71-28-7 mark for a .703 winning percentage at Alumni Field. Notre Dame finished the ’99 season with a 7-3-0 mark at home after posting a 5-1-2 record at Alumni Field in ’98. The Irish lost two one-goal decisions at home (to Western Michigan and Rutgers) and also suffered a 3-1 setback to Georgetown. The 2001 campaign marks the 11th season for the Irish playing at Alumni Field.