Notre Dame Plays Host To 10th-Ranked St. John's Before Beginning Three-Game Road Swing

Oct. 11, 2000

NOTRE DAME, IND. — The Notre Dame men’s soccer team (4-6-1, 1-5-0) plays one game this week when the Irish entertain 10th-ranked St. John’s on Sat., Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m. on Alumni Field. This is the sixth home game for the Irish in their last seven outings. Following the matchup with the Red Storm, Notre Dame will play three consecutive road contests. The Irish are coming off a 1-1 week in which they snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Northwestern at home, 2-1, but lost 3-1 on the road at Providence.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW — Northwestern: Notre Dame survived a 40-minute power outage at Alumni Field and snapped a three-game losing streak as the Irish defeated visiting Northwestern 3-1 in a non-conference matchup. Freshman Justin Detter (White Lake, Mich.) scored both of Notre Dame’s goals to register the first multiple-goal game of his career and the first by an Irish player this season. Detter scored his first goal 13:37 into the contest when he headed in Matt Rosso’s (Churchill, Pa.) corner kick into the left side of the net. Jun Kim knotted the score less than four minutes later when he fired a shot from 20 yards out off of feed from Paul Elkins. The score remained 1-1 until the 47:40 mark of the contest when Detter drilled 15-yarder from outside the penalty box following passes from Filippo Chillemi (Roswell, Ga.) and Erich Braun (Frankfurt, Germany). Less than minute following the goal, the lights went out because of a power outage and the contest was suspended for 40 minutes. Providence: Two second-half goals by Providence lifted the Friars to a 3-1 victory over the Notre Dame men’s soccer team. Tom Blesson’s goal and two assists led the Friars. Freshman Kevin Richards (Warwick, Bermuda) scored Notre Dame’s lone goal in the first, his first collegiate score, which came off assists from Erich Braun and Chad Riley (Houston, Texas) tied the game at the 33:31 mark. Derek Cobbe provided the game-winner for Providence off an assist from Blesso in the 58th minute of the contest before Blesso netted an insurance goal off at 79:19.

HEAD COACH CHRIS APPLE — Chris Apple is in his first season as head coach of the Irish. He earned his first victory at Notre Dame in the team’s 2-0 season-opening win over New Mexico on Sept. 1 in the first round of the UNLV Fila/Snickers Rebel Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. Apple was named head coach on March 3, 2000 after spending four seasons as an assistant on the Notre Dame sidelines. This is the second head-coaching stint for the 30-year-old Apple whose first experience as a head coach was at North Carolina Wesleyan from 1994-95. In two seasons at the school, he compiled a 12-20-1 record. His overall coaching ledger currently stands at 16-26-2. He is the second-youngest coach in the BIG EAST, four years older than Chaka Daley of Providence, another first-year coach in the league who is 26 years old.

SERIES RECORD VS. UPCOMING OPPONENT — St. John’s: This will be the eighth meeting between the two teams with the Irish trailing the series 0-5-2. Both of the ties have occurred at Notre Dame — in 1996 (2-2) and 1998 (1-1).

DETTER RECORDS FIRST MULTIPLE-GOAL GAME — Freshman Justin Detter recorded the first multiple-goal game of his career, and the first by an Irish player this season, when he scored both of Notre Dame’s goals in the 2-1 win over Northwestern. It was the first multiple-goal game for an Irish player since Erich Braun and Dustin Pridmore (Dallas, Texas) scored two goals each in Notre Dame’s 4-0 victory over Providence on Oct., 8, 1999.

IS IT REALLY HOME SWEET HOME? — Notre Dame, which entered the 2000 campaign having won more than 72 percent of its contests at Alumni Field, is just 1-4 in its first five home games. The Irish have dropped three consecutive one-goal decisions to Seton Hall (1-0), Connecticut (1-0) and Pittsburgh (3-2).

BRAUN GETTING BACK IN THE SCORING GROOVE — Sophomore Erich Braun, who battled a hamstring injury at the start of the season and missed the first three games, has a goal and four assists on the season in the eight games he has played. Braun tallied his first goal of the season in the loss to Pittsburgh. His goal came at the 50:22 mark of the contest when he tied the game at 1-1. He has started the last sevem games for the Irish, having played in eight, and is the fourth leading scorer.

HOWARD LEADS IRISH WITH FOUR GOALS — Senior Griffin Howard (San Diego, Calif.) tallied his fourth goal of the season in Notre Dame’s loss to Pittsburgh on Sept. 29. Howard leads the Irish in scoring with four goals, three of those coming off penalty kicks.

IRISH ALMOST PERFECT IN PENALTY KICKS — Notre Dame is three-for-four in its penalty kick attempts. Erich Braun missed the first Irish penalty kick of the season against Northwestern last week. Prior to the game, senior Griffin Howard was a perfect three-for-three in penalty kicks. Howard’s first goal of the season came off of a penalty kick in the season opener against New Mexico at the UNLV Fila/Snickers Rebel Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. His second came in Notre Dame’s 3-1 loss to Bradley in the home opener. Howard, a midfielder, entered the 2000 campaign having played in just seven game in his three previous seasons. His missed the entire 1998 campaign with an injury and only played in two contests during the 1999 season.

FRESHMEN OF INFLUENCE — Freshman forward Chad Riley and midfield/defender Greg Martin (Plano, Texas) are the only two rookies who have started all nine games for the Irish. Both have been contributors as Riley ranks as the team’s third-leading scorer with a goal and team-leading four assists, while Detter is second in the scoring column with three goals.

ROAD WARRIORS — Following the St. John’s game, the Irish will be on the road for four of their remaining five regular-season contests. A three-game stretch awaits Notre Dame beginning with a match at Georgetown on Tue., Oct. 17 at 3:30 p.m. Following that contest, the Irish play at Villanova on Fri., Oct. 20 at 3:00 p.m. and Sun., Oct. 22 at 1:00 p.m.

HOME SWEET HOME — Although Notre Dame has struggled somewhat at home this season (2-4), the Irish own a 66-27-4 mark (.701) winning percentage. 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. Last season marked the 10th season for the Irish playing at Alumni Field.

NSCAA/ADIDAS
(Week of Oct. 9)

SOCCER AMERICA
(Week of Oct. 9)

2000 NSCAA GREAT LAKES REGION RANKINGS
(Week of Oct. 9)

Also Receiving Votes: Wright State, Michigan State, Kentucky