Oct. 23, 2007
#7 Notre Dame at Pittsburgh
Wednesday, Oct. 24 • 7:00 p.m. (ET)
Founders Field • Pittsburgh, Pa.
#7 Notre Dame at Providence
Sunday, Oct. 28 • 2:00 p.m. (ET)
Glay Field • Providence, R.I.
TV: Cox Sports Television
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Notre Dame hits the road for two BIG EAST showdowns this week. The seventh-ranked Fighting Irish will face Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 7:00 p.m. (ET) before traveling to Providence for a match on Sunday, Oct. 28 at 2:00 p.m. (ET). Notre Dame then wraps up the regular season with a visit to conference rival Georgetown on Saturday, Nov. 3. This will mark a crucial stretch for the Irish as they are currently in first place in the BIG EAST Blue Division, one point ahead of Connecticut.
ABOUT THE IRISH: Notre Dame (9-3-3, 6-0-2) split a pair of games last week … the Irish dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 12 Indiana on Wednesday (Oct. 17) … senior forward Joseph Lapira scored both Fighting Irish goals in the loss to the Hoosiers … that marked his second straight two-goal match, with both coming against ranked teams … he also netted two tallies in a 3-3 tie with No. 1 Connecticut on Oct. 13 … Lapira currently leads the Irish with six goals and 16 points … Lapira’s 38 career tallies rank him in a tie for fifth on Notre Dame’s all-time goals list … Notre Dame captured a 2-0 win over Seton Hall on Sunday (Oct. 21) to snap a season-long three-game winless streak … the first Irish score came on an own goal and then senior Alex Yoshinaga tallied a goal off a Matt Besler throw-in to put the game away … the Irish are unbeaten through their first eight BIG EAST games for the first time since joining the league in 1995 … in this week’s polls Notre Dame is sixth according to Soccer Times, seventh in the NSCAA and College Soccer News rankings along with being 11th in the Soccer America poll … the Irish have six starters and 14 letterwinners back from last season’s squad that went 15-6-2 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals for the first time in program history … head coach Bobby Clark is in his seventh season with the Irish … he has an overall record of 89-36-18 (.685) at Notre Dame.
DOWN TO THE WIRE: Notre Dame leads Connecticut by one point (20-19) in the BIG EAST Blue Division … the Fighting Irish have three conference games remaining, while the Huskies have two … Notre Dame has Pittsburgh, Providence and Georgetown left on the docket in league play … all of those matches are on the road … Connecticut will face Marquette at home and travel to Seton Hall to round out its conference ledger.
IRISH LEADERS: Senior forward Joseph Lapira leads the team in goals (6) and points (16) … his four assists tie him for the team lead along with junior defender Jack Traynor … senior goalkeeper Chris Cahill has an 8-2-3 record with a 0.81 goals-against average and a .823 save percentage to go along with five shutouts.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS PITTSBURGH: Notre Dame and Pittsburgh will square off for the 12th time on Wednesday … the Fighting Irish own a 5-3-3 advantage in the series, including a 3-1 victory last season at Notre Dame … Joseph Lapira netted two goals in the win, while Matt Belser also added a score for the Irish … the Irish have won the last four meetings overall in the series … prior to that, the Panthers had won two straight … four of the matches have gone to overtime, with three of the those ending in ties and the other was a Pittsburgh victory … Notre Dame is 2-1-2 all time at Pittsburgh … the first meeting occurred during the 1995 season, Notre Dame’s first in the BIG EAST Conference, and the Panthers came away with a 3-0 win at home … the scoring edge in the series belongs to the Irish, 18-12.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS: Pittsburgh (2-11-2, 0-7-1) is currently in eighth place in the BIG EAST Blue Division … the Panthers are coming off a 2-0 setback to Providence on Sunday (Oct. 21) … Pittsburgh is averaging 0.88 goals per game, while allowing 2.00 scores a game … the Panthers are 2-7-1 at home this season … E.J. McCormick leads the team in scoring with seven points on three goals and one assist … Matt Baker and Matt Langton are both second with identical stat lines of two goals and one assist for five points … Pittsburgh went 5-11-2 last season with a league mark of 4-5-1 … the Panthers returned six starters and 11 letterwinners from that squad … head coach Joe Luxbacher is in his 24th season at Pittsburgh.
A TOUGH STRETCH: In the six straight matches prior to the Seton Hall contest on Oct. 21, Notre Dame had faced a team that was either ranked at the time of the meeting or is currently ranked … the Fighting Irish went 3-2-1 during that stretch … the Irish defeated Louisville 2-1 on Sept. 30 … the Cardinals are currently ranked 21st … Notre Dame collected back-to-back shutout wins over then-No. 16 Michigan (Oct. 3), 3-0, and then-No. 13 West Virginia (Oct. 6), 1-0, … the Irish fell to now-No. 18 Michigan State (Oct. 10), 1-0, before tying then-No. 1 Connecticut (Oct. 13), 3-3, … then-No. 12 Indiana topped Notre Dame (Oct. 17), 3-2.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS PROVIDENCE: Notre Dame and Providence will tangle for the 13th time on Sunday … the Fighting Irish hold a 10-2-0 lead in the series, including a 3-0 victory last season at Notre Dame … Joseph Lapira, Michael Thomas and Kurt Martin all scored goals in that contest … Notre Dame has won the last six meetings between the two schools … the last Friar win was a 3-1 decision in 2000 at Providence … the Irish are 4-2-0 all time at Providence … Notre Dame topped the Friars, 2-1 in double-overtime, in the last meeting at Providence … the first encounter in the series came during the 1995 season, which was Notre Dame’s inaugural campaign in the BIG EAST Conference … the Irish prevailed 1-0 at home … the Fighting Irish have out scored the Friars 26-7 in the series.
SCOUTING THE FRIARS: Providence carries an 8-5-1 record, including a 4-3-1 BIG EAST mark, into its match against Seton Hall on Wednesday (Oct. 24) … the Friars have a 5-1-1 record at home this season … Ryan Maduro has a team-high 14 points on five goals and four assists … he shares the team lead in goals with Jonathan Medcalf … Timothy Murray has started all 14 games in goal … Murray has a 0.97 goals-against average and a .759 save percentage … he is the reigning BIG EAST goalkeeper of the week … forward Alex Redding is the reigning rookie of the week in the conference … Providence posted a 13-7-0 record last season, including a 7-4-0 BIG EAST mark, and fell to Hofstra, 2-0, in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament … Providence returned eight starters and 11 letterwinners from that squad … head coach Chaka Daley is in his eighth season at Providence.
NOTRE DAME IN BIG EAST PLAY: Notre Dame owns an overall record of 75-48-14 (.599) in BIG EAST regular-season play since joining the conference in 1995 … the Irish have posted six straight winning seasons within the conference, including last season’s 8-3-0 record … it marked the second time that the Irish posted at least eight BIG EAST victories … Notre Dame won its only regular-season BIG EAST title in 2004 with an 8-1-1 record … the Fighting Irish captured BIG EAST Tournament crowns in 1996 and 2003.
NEXT UP: Notre Dame will wrap up its 2007 regular-season slate with a match at Georgetown on Saturday, Nov. 3 … that match is scheduled to begin at 12 noon (ET).
LAST TIME OUT: Notre Dame topped Seton Hall 2-0 in BIG EAST action on Sunday, Oct. 21 at a sunny and windy Alumni Field … the Irish used an own goal and a score from Alex Yoshinaga to capture the victory in the final regular-season home match of the season … Notre Dame moved into first place in the BIG EAST Blue Division with the win … the first good chance for the Irish on the afternoon came with just over 28 minutes left in the first half as Joseph Lapira sent a blast in from the right side that was just high of the goal … two minutes later, Yoshinaga booted a free kick into the box that hit Seton Hall midfielder Austin Nyquist and went into the back of the net to give the Irish a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute … Seton Hall nearly notched the equalizer with 1:29 remaining in the opening half as an Eliseo Giusfredi shot was deflected over the crossbar by Irish goalkeeper Chris Cahill … Notre Dame led 1-0 at halftime … Notre Dame capitalized off of another set piece in the 57th minute when junior defender Matt Besler sent a throw-in on frame that Yoshinaga put a foot on for his second goal of the season … the Irish held a 20-12 edge in shots over the Pirates, including a 13-6 advantage in the second half … Notre Dame also had seven corner kicks to Seton Hall’s five … Cahill improved his record to 8-2-3 this season by registering his fifth shutout … he made one save on the afternoon, while his counterpart Paul McHenry made five stops.
NO STREAKS: Following last week’s 3-2 loss against No. 12 Indiana, Notre Dame defeated Seton Hall, 2-0, on Sunday to up its streak of not losing consecutive matches … the 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 followed up this season’s first loss, a 3-0 setback against Maryland, with a 3-0 win over Rhode Island … the Irish then responded after a 1-0 loss to Michigan State with a 3-3 draw against No. 1 Connecticut.
LAPIRA NOTCHES ANOTHER TWO: Joseph Lapira has netted two goals in two of the past three matches for the Irish … he scored twice in a 3-3 tie with No. 1 Connecticut on Oct. 13 and followed that up with another two tallies in a 3-2 setback against No. 12 Indiana on Oct. 17 … last season, Lapira registered seven multiple-goal games … he has 10 career multiple-goal games, including a team-high two this season.
INSTATE SCORING: Senior forward Joseph Lapira has scored six goals combined in the last two meetings with Indiana … he notched two scores in a 3-2 loss to the Hoosiers this season … Lapira tallied four goals, including the game winner, in a 5-4 overtime victory against Indiana last season … that was his launching pad en route to winning the 2006 M.A.C. Hermann Trophy.
WEEKLY HONORS: Joseph Lapira was named to the BIG EAST Weekly honor roll on Monday, Oct. 22 for his two-goal performance against No. 12 Indiana … that marked the second time this season that Lapira has received that honor.
FACING #1, AGAIN: The 3-3 draw with Connecticut on Oct. 13 marked the second time this season that Notre Dame had squared off with a team ranked No. 1 at the time of the meeting … Notre Dame topped then-No. 1 UCLA, 2-1, in overtime during the season opener on Aug. 31 … the Fighting Irish are 1-5-1 when facing a top-ranked team since the 1990 season.
SPREADING THE WEALTH: A total of 10 different Irish players have notched a goal this season … senior Joseph Lapira leads the way with six tallies, while fellow senior Ryan Miller has five … seniors Kurt Martin and Alex Yoshinaga along with sophomore Dave Donohue and freshman Jeb Brovsky are tied for third with two goals apiece, while four other players have scored once … a total of 13 players have tallied at least one point … Lapira has a team-best 16 points … Lapira and junior defender Jack Traynor both have a team-high four assists.
SHOOTING STARS: Notre Dame has out shot its opponents 262-185 this season … the Irish own a 127-68 advantage in shots during the first half and a 123-111 edge in the second period … Notre Dame has a 12-6 shot lead in overtime periods.
CORNERING THE MARKET: The Fighting Irish have an 89-54 advantage in corner kicks over their opponents, including a decisive 40-18 margin in first-half play … Notre Dame owns a 43-36 edge in the second half, while the Irish have out cornered the opposition 6-0 in overtime.
BLANKING THE COMPETITION: Notre Dame has posted seven shutouts this season … Irish goalkeepers Chris Cahill and Andrew Quinn both saw action in a 3-0 win over Rhode Island … Quinn picked up the shutout against Marquette (1-0), while Cahill and the Irish defense held Rutgers (2-0) and Villanova (1-0) without a goal … Cahill notched a shutout against No. 16 Michigan in a 3-0 victory by making a season-high seven saves … he followed that with another blanking in a 1-0 win over No. 13 West Virginia … Cahill picked up his fifth shutout of the season in a 2-0 triumph of Seton Hall.
SHOCKING SHUTOUTS: While the Irish defense has posted seven shutouts this season, the Notre Dame offense has been held without a goal just twice in the past 29 matches … Notre Dame’s 3-0 loss to then-No. 7 Maryland on Sept. 2 marked the first time the Fighting Irish had been shut out since Sept. 20, 2006, a span of 15 games … that match was a 0-0 tie with Northern Illinois at home … that also signified the last time the Irish have been held scoreless at home, a current streak of 16 games … Notre Dame’s only other scoreless game this season was a 1-0 setback at Michigan State on Oct. 10 … the Irish have gone 18 regular-season BIG EAST matches without being shut out.
ROOKIE IMPACT: The Irish have had a significant impact from its 2007 freshman class … Jeb Brovsky is tied for third on the team with two goals and is tied for fourth in points with five … Matt Armstrong has started every game in the midfield and has notched one assist … Armstrong has filled the shoes of two-time first-team All-American Greg Dalby, who had a stellar four-year career with the Irish … Josh Thiermann and Steven Perry have combined to play in 15 games and have been valuable sparks off the bench.
TAKING DOWN A TOP-10: The victory over top-ranked UCLA on Aug. 31 gave Notre Dame a win over a top-10 team for the eighth straight season … Notre Dame took down three top-10 teams last season … the Irish topped both Creighton (4-1) and Indiana (5-4, OT) when those squads were ranked eighth nationally … Notre Dame bested No. 7 Maryland, 1-0, in double-overtime during the third round of the NCAA Tournament … that marked the first time the Irish beat three top-10 teams in a season since 2002.
HIGH MARKS: Notre Dame was ranked No. 2 in all four major polls (Soccer America, NSCAA, Soccer Times, College Soccer News) during the week of Sept. 24 … that marked the highest-ever ranking in program history.
PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF: Joseph Lapira opened the season with a three-point match in a 2-1 overtime win against No. 1 UCLA … he gave the Irish a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute and then assisted on Alex Yoshinaga’s golden goal in the 94th minute to give Notre Dame the victory … Lapira led all NCAA Division I men’s soccer players with 22 goals and 50 points last season.
IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Senior forward Joseph Lapira currently ranks in a tie for fifth place on Notre Dame’s all-time goals list … he has 38 tallies, which ties him with Tim Oates, who played from 1991-94 … Kevin Lovejoy (1978-80) is the program record-holder with 67 goals … Lapira’s 93 career points rank him eighth in program history … he is just seven points away from cracking into the top five … Lovejoy has that mark as well with 153 points.
BIG EAST ACCOLADES: Joseph Lapira was named the preseason BIG EAST offensive player of the year and junior defender Matt Besler joined Lapira on the all-BIG EAST preseason team … Lapira was the 2006 BIG EAST offensive player of the year.
LAPIRA NAMED TO M.A.C. HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST: Joseph Lapira was named to the 2007 Missouri Athletic Club (M.A.C.) Hermann Trophy Watch List … the trophy is presented annually to the top men’s soccer player in the United States … Lapira won the award last season as he led all NCAA Division I men’s players with 22 goals and 50 points … he became the first Notre Dame men’s player to receive the award … a panel of coaches from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) compiled the 29-man M.A.C. Hermann Trophy Watch List … Lapira will try to become the first back-to-back recipient of the most prestigious award in college soccer since Virginia’s Claudio Reyna took home the Hermann Trophy in 1992 and 1993.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Joseph Lapira had an eventful summer of 2007 … in May, Lapira trained with the Ireland National Team while the squad was in the United States … Lapira earned his first cap in a match against Ecuador on May 23 in Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. … when he entered the match in the 86th minute, he became the first amateur to play for Ireland since 1964 … the game ended as a 1-1 draw … the Louisiana native was able to participate with the Ireland team since he has dual-citizenship because his mother is a native of the country … later in the summer, he went to Europe and trained with the Glasgow Rangers of the Scottish Premier League and with Derby County of the English Premier League.
NOTRE DAME PICKED SECOND IN BLUE DIVISION: Notre Dame was selected to finish second in the BIG EAST Blue Division for the 2007 season … the Irish garnered 102 points in voting by the league’s head coaches, while Connecticut received 105 points … Connecticut garnered 10 first-place votes in the Blue Division, while Notre Dame had four and West Virginia totaled three … St. John’s was tabbed to win the league’s Red Division followed by Rutgers and South Florida.
COLLEGE SOCCER NEWS WATCH LISTS: Joseph Lapira was selected to the College Soccer News Pre-Season All-America first team … the senior 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 2007 season … (M) Matt Armstrong and (F) Josh Thiermann were selected to the list and are 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 15th nationally by College Soccer News … (M) Matt Armstrong, (M) Jeb Brovsky, (D) Bilal Duckett, (M) Greg Klazura, (F) Andrew Luttrell, (F) Steven Perry and (F) Josh Thiermann make up the talented crop of Fighting Irish rookies.
IRISH ON THE SMALL SCREEN: Notre Dame will have four of its regular-season matches televised … the Fighting Irish played Rutgers on Fox Soccer Channel on Sept. 21 in Piscataway, N.J. … two Irish home games were also televised … Notre Dame and Michigan appeared on Comcast Local on Oct. 3 as did the Irish’s tilt against Indiana on Oct. 17 … a match at Providence on Sunday, Oct. 28 will be carried by Cox Sports Television.
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.
SIGN UP FOR IRISH ALERT TEXT MESSAGE SERVICE:Go to und.com to sign up for Irish ALERT, a text messaging service designed to give fans up-to-the-minute game updates for all 26 varsity sports at Notre Dame … men’s soccer fans can sign up to receive scores after each half of every game.