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Notre Dame Men's Soccer Season Preview

The Fighting Irish men’s soccer team kicks off its 2021 campaign this weekend with the first match of 16 regular season contests.

Notre Dame opens the season with a rivalry matchup, as the Irish host the No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers at Alumni Stadium at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, August 27. The two sides renew the intrastate rivalry after COVID-19 forced the rivalry to take a one-year hiatus during the 2020-21 season.

The fixture against the Hoosiers is the first of six regular season matchups that feature opponents ranked in the top 25 of the preseason polls, including four games against teams currently in the top six of the rankings.

McFarland Family Head Men’s Soccer Coach Chad Riley is looking forward to seeing how his squad responds to such a tough schedule.

“Our schedule is a gauntlet, it is designed to challenge us and help us grow to our potential,” said Riley. “The guys love to compete against the best and they know it helps them reach their best.”

The Irish have two captains to lead the team in the upcoming season, as Philip Quinton and Mohamed Omar will wear the armband. Omar has been a staple as a central defensive midfielder over the past three seasons and Quinton has been a mainstay in Notre Dame’s defense.

Notre Dame figures to have a team filled with veterans and experience in 2021, as 12 players who logged significant minutes last season are back on the roster. 

“We are excited about this team,” said Riley. “We have excellent leadership from our captains and have a lot of great experience in the group. If we keep competing to get better in each training session and each game we will be in a great spot.”

The Irish return 73.7 percent of its scoring from the 2020-21 year, thanks in large part to senior Jack Lynn. The striker paced the Irish with eight goals in his junior season and has 21 over his three-year collegiate career, the most among all active Notre Dame players. Lynn earned All-ACC First Team status last season due to his prolific form in front of goal.

Two other players who are sure to be major factors in the Irish attack are graduate student Dawson McCartney and sophomore Daniel Russo. McCartney transferred into the program from Dartmouth before the spring semester and made an instant impact, scoring a goal and adding two assists in just six games. Russo scored the game-winning goal in the season-opening win over Kentucky and played in 13 matches in his first collegiate season.

A wealth of experience returns to the midfield. The aforementioned Omar, Michael Pellegrino, Ethan O’Brien, Matthew Radivojsa and Michael Lynch each made double-digit appearances in the Irish midfield a season ago.

Quinton leads the backline and is joined by left back Paddy Burns, center back Reese Mayer and converted midfielder Ben Giacobello at right back, all of whom logged major minutes during the 2020-21 season.

Sophomore Bryan Dowd looks to permanently take over the starting goalkeeper role after playing in four games his rookie season. Dowd made 11 saves while allowing four goals and recorded one clean sheet.

Seven other returning players will look to expand their roles in the upcoming season as well as the nine freshmen the Irish welcome for their rookie years.

The Notre Dame freshman class was ranked No. 5 nationally by TopDrawerSoccer.

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