Oct. 16, 2001
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THE WEEK AHEAD – The Notre Dame men’s soccer team (6-4-0, 4-2-0) looks to improve on its current three-game win streak with two games this week. The Irish will travel to Bloomington, Ind., to face sixth-ranked Indiana Wed, Oct. 17 for a 7:00 p.m. match and then entetrains the Boston College Eagles on Sat., Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m.
RECAPPING THE WEEK – Notre Dame picked up two wins on the road as the Irish last week against West Virginia (3-0) and Virginia Tech (2-0). Sophomore forward Devon Prescod (Marietta, Ga.) had three goals and two assists in the two games, while junior forward Erich Braun (Frankfurt, Germany) had two goals and an assist. Freshman goalkeeper Chris Sawyer (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) picked up the first two complete-game shutouts of his career played all 180 minutes in the two games and registered eight saves (four in each contest). WEST VIRGINIA: Devon Prescod scored two goals and dished off an assist in leading the Irish to BIG EAST road win. The Irish tallied all three of their goals in the final 23:50 of the contest. Erich Braun had a goal and an assist, while sophomore Chad Riley (Houston, Texas) also had an assist. West Virginia outshot Notre Dame 17-8 in the game and owned a 6-2 advantage on corner kicks. Prescod tallied his first goal of the season (and second of his career), with 23:50 remaining in the contest off an assist from Riley. He scored his second goal off of a feed from Riley at the 76:29 mark, and then Braun finished off the scoring with his seventh goal of the season with 5:29 remaining in the game off an assist from Prescod, his second of the 2001 campaign. Notre Dame shotout West Virginia for the fifth time in the last six meetings between the two teams. Since the 1995 campaign when the two teams began competing in the BIG EAST, the Irish have outscored the Mountaineers 12-3 in seven meetings and hold a 5-2 advantage in the series. VIRGINIA TECH – Devon Prescod had a goal and an assist in leading the Irish to the shutout victory and their third straight win. He got Notre Dame on the scoreboard with a goal at the 34:59 mark off an assist from Filippo Chillemi (Roswell, Ga.). Virginia Tech outshot the Irish 7-3 in the second half, but could not find the goal. Erich Braun tallied his eighth goal of the season with just two seconds remaining in the contest off an assist from Prescod. Chris Sawyer recorded his second consecutive shutout as he made four stops on 11 Hokie shots.
SERIES RECORD VS. INDIANA – Notre Dame renews 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. 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. The lone tie in the tournament was 1-1 decision in Bloomington, Ind., the following year in 1988. Notre Dame has lost nine straight heading into the contest.
SERIES RECORD VS. BOSTON COLLEGE – This will be the eighth meeting between the two teams with the Irish holding a slim 4-3 advantage in the series. Notre Dame has won three of the last four meetings, but suffered a 2-0 setback in Chestnut Hill, Mass., last season. The series is tied 3-3 since the two teams began competing against each other as members of the BIG EAST Conference. The Irish recorded back-to-back shutouts (3-0 and 1-0) in 1998 and 1999.
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 159-67-25 record for a .683 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. Clark coached his 250th college game on Oct. 11 when the Irish traveled to West Virginia.
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 321-162-43 mark for a .651 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.
IRISH CLAIM THREE BIG EAST WEEKLY HONORS – Notre Dame made a near clean sweep of the BIG EAST honors this week as Devon Prescod, Griffin Howard (San Diego, Calif.) and Chris Sawyer (Highands Ranch, Colo.) were cited by the league for their accomplishments last week. Prescod earned the offensive player-of-the-week award, while Howard and Sawyer were selected as the co-defensive player-of-the-week and rookie-of-the-week, respectively.
STREAKIN’ ALONG – Notre Dame current three-game win streak is its longest since the 1999 campaign when the Irish won four straight. The Irish have beaten three straight BIG EAST teams – Georgetown, West Virigina and Virginia – for just the second time since becoming a conference member in 1995. The last time at Notre Dame team defeated three consecutive league opponents was in 1999 when that Irish squad posted wins over Syracuse (2-0), Providence (4-0) and Villanova (5-0)
ROAD WARRIORS FIND SUCCESS – Notre Dame has played four of its last five games games on the road and has found success playing away from the friendly confines of Alumni Field. In its last four-game road stretch, the Irish are 3-1, including two straight this past weekend. The last time a Notre Dame team won back-to-back road games was in 1996 when the Irish posted a 3-2 victory at Western Michigan and 1-0 win at Syracuse. Four of the Irish’s six remaining games are on the road.
CONSECUTIVE ROAD SHUTOUTS A RARITY – Notre Dame’s back-to-back road shutouts its last two outing were the first since the 1993 campaign. During the season, that Irish squad registered three straight shutouts on the road against Xavier (1-0), Ohio State (1-0) and Loyola-Chicago (7-0).
BRAUN ON A ROLL – Erich Braun continues to put up impressive numbers this season as he leads the team with eight goals and three assists (19 points). He is one goal shy of matching his career single-season high of nine goals and five points from his single-season career best of 24 points.
PRESCOD POWER – Sophomore Devon Prescod has had a presence in the Irish lineup this season as he has earned nine starts in the 10 games he has played. Entering the 2001 campaign, Prescod had one goal to his credit. This year, he stands third in the Irish scoring column with three goals and three assists (nine points). Prescod has been outstanding the past couple of games with three goals and two assists (eight points) in the last two outings. His two goals and one assist in the West Virginia game marked the first multiple-goal and multiple-point contest of his career.
DETTER SECOND IN IRISH IN SCORING COLUMN – Justin Detter is second in the Irish scoring column with four goals and three assists (11 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.
RILEY LEADS THE TEAM IN ASSISTS – Although he is still looking for his first goal of the season, sophomore Chad Riley leads the team in assists with four. As a freshman, he had three goals and a team-best six assists for 12 points, which led the team.
IRISH ROOKIE MAKING AN IMPRESSION – Rookie goalkeeper Chris Sawyer has been in starting lineup for each of the last five games and has allowed just four goals in 491:04 of action. He has a 0.73 goals against averaging and .875 save percentage. He is 4-1 in the five BIG EAST games he has played.
SCORING OFFENSE UP – Notre Dame struggled to score goals in 2000 with just 19 goals in 17 games. This season, the Irish have already exceeded their goal-scoring total with 21 goals on the first 10 games of the season.
FRESHMAN GETTING INTO THE ACT – Notre Dame’s freshman class is beginning to make its presence felt on the field. Three rookies – Chris Sawyer, Jack Stewart (Torrance, Calif.) and Kevin Goldthwaite (Sacramento, Calif.)- were all in the starting lineup in the Irish win over Virginia Tech (the most freshmen to start in a game this season). Sawyer has started five of the six games he has played in goal, while Stewart has been has gotten the starting nod in the last three contests. Stewart earned his first career start against the Hokies in the shutout win.
HOME SWEET HOME – Notre Dame is 3-1 at home this season at Alumni Field after finishing just 4-4 last year. The Irish own a 72-28-7 mark for a .706 winning percentage at Alumni Field. The 2001 campaign marks the 11th season for the Irish playing at Alumni Field.
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 (Plano, Texas) 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 have seen action in all 10 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.
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. Notre Dame’s four wins this season in the BIG EAST already matches its season total of a year ago.
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 returned eight starters and 19 letterwinners from last year’s squad.
TOUGH LUCK IN OVERTIME – Two of Notre Dame’s four losses have come on the road and been decided in overtime. The Irish lost a 3-2 decision to Furman at the 108:59 mark 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.
IRONMAN – Junior defender Andreas Forstner (Gerlinden, Germany) has missed just one start in the 45 games he has played in during his collegiate career. Forstner started 17 of the 18 games he played in during his rookie season and started all 17 contests in 2000. This season, he has been one of three players who has started all 10 games. Heading into its matchup with Indiana, the third-year Irish player has made 28 consecutive starts and has played in 45 of 47 career games.