Nov. 14, 2007
#11 Notre Dame vs. #19 DePaul
BIG EAST Championship • Semifinal
Friday, Nov. 16 • 5:00 p.m. (ET)
Morrone Stadium • Storrs, Conn.
TV: CSTV
Complete Release in PDF Format
No. 11 Notre Dame will face No. 19 DePaul in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship in Storrs, Conn. on Friday, Nov. 16 at 5:00 p.m. (ET). This marks the fifth trip to the BIG EAST semifinal round for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame is looking for its third BIG EAST Championship crown and the first since 2003. The winner of Friday’s match will advance to the conference championship game against either Connecticut or Louisville on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 12 noon (ET).
HOW TO FOLLOW: College Sports Television (CSTV) will air both BIG EAST Championship semifinal games … the Notre Dame-DePaul match can also be seen live on und.com on a pay-per-view basis … Sunday’s championship game can be seen live on Cox Sports Television (New England); Fox Sports Net, New York; Comcast SportsNet Chicago; Time Warner Cable, Wisconsin and Cox Sports Television (LA, TX, FLA) … the game will be shown delayed on College Sports Television (CSTV) (November 18, 2:00 p.m.); Comcast SportsNet, Philadelphia (November 18, 2:00 p.m.); Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) (November 18, 7:30 p.m.); WVFX Fox 46, West Virginia (November 18, 10:00 p.m.) and Catch 47 (Tampa) (November 19, 1:00 p.m.) … you can also follow the games via live stats at http://www.bigeast.org/liveStats/liveStats.dbml … BIG EAST.org also has all of the up-to-date information concerning the conference championship on its men’s soccer `Championship Central’ page.
ABOUT THE IRISH: Notre Dame (11-3-5, 7-0-4) is coming off a 1-0 victory over St. John’s in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Championship on Nov. 11 … freshman Josh Thiermann scored his first goal of the season to give the Irish the victory and advance them to the semifinals of the conference tournament for the fifth time in program history and the first time since 2003 … the Fighting Irish finished as the only undefeated team in BIG EAST regular-season play during the 2007 campaign … that marked the first time in program history that Notre Dame has ever compiled an undefeated BIG EAST season … senior goalkeeper Chris Cahill did not have to make a save against St. John’s to earn his eighth shutout of the season … Cahill has 28 career shutouts … the Notre Dame defense has produced 10 shutouts this season … that signifies the fifth-straight season in which the Fighting Irish have posted at least that many shutouts … senior forward Joseph Lapira leads the Irish with 20 points and a career-high eight assists … Lapira and Ryan Miller share the team lead in goals with six apiece … Notre Dame is averaging 1.49 goals per game, while allowing 0.79 … in this week’s polls, Notre Dame is eighth according to Soccer Times, 11th in the NSCAA/adidas rankings and 12th in both the Soccer America and College Soccer News polls … the Irish returned six starters and 14 letterwinners back from last season’s squad that went 15-6-2 (8-3-0 BE) 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 a record of 91-36-20 (.687) at Notre Dame and an overall record of 244-99-45 (.687) during his 21 seasons in college soccer.
IRISH IN THE BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP: This is Notre Dame’s 11th trip to the BIG EAST Championship … the Irish own a 10-7-2 mark overall in the league playoffs, including a win over St. John’s in the quarterfinals of this year’s tournament … last season, Notre Dame defeated DePaul, 2-0, in the first round before falling at Rutgers, 2-1, in double-overtime during the quarterfinals … Notre Dame has won the BIG EAST Championship on two occasions, in 1996 and 2003 … Notre Dame is 5-1-2 at home all-time in the conference tournament, 1-4-0 in true road games and 4-2-0 at neutral sites … see all Notre Dame BIG EAST Championship results on page 5 of this note packet.
SEMIFINAL HISTORY: Notre Dame is making the program’s fifth trek to the semifinal round of the BIG EAST Championship … the Irish own a 2-2-0 record in the BIG EAST semis … Notre Dame’s last semifinal appearance occurred in 2003, when the Irish defeated Providence 1-0 in Storrs, Conn.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS DePAUL: Friday will mark the 19th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and DePaul … the Irish own a 17-1-0 mark against the Blue Demons … this will be the first meeting between the two schools this season … Notre Dame won both encounters last season … the Fighting Irish captured a 3-0 victory during the 2006 regular season and then knocked off the Blue Demons, 2-0, in the first round of the BIG EAST Championship … DePaul’s only victory in the series was a 1-0 decision during the 1996 campaign … the first meeting took place in 1980, a 5-0 Notre Dame triumph … the Fighting Irish have out scored the Blue Demons 89-4 in the series.
SCOUTING THE BLUE DEMONS: DePaul (12-6-0, 7-4-0 BE) defeated Cincinnati, 1-0, in the quarterfinal round of the BIG EAST Championship on Saturday (Nov. 10) … the Blue Demons won the league’s Red Division crown with a 7-4-0 record … DePaul is ranked 19th in this week’s Soccer America poll … DePaul is averaging 0.96 goals per game, while surrendering 0.64 … Alex Mangan has team-high totals in goals (7) and points (15) … Julian Chille has a team-best six assists … Brian Visser has started 17 games in goal and carries an 11-6-0 record with a 0.69 goals-against average and a .818 save percentage … Visser has posted 10 shutouts, while the Blue Demons have a total of 11 shutouts … DePaul has been shut out on five occasions this season … last season, the Blue Demons went 5-12-2, including a 4-7-0 mark in the BIG EAST … head coach Craig Blazer is in his seventh season at DePaul.
NOTRE DAME IN STORRS: Notre Dame has compiled an all-time record of 4-7-0 in Storrs, Conn. … the Irish are 2-5-0 against Connecticut on its home turf, while Notre Dame has gone 2-2-0 in Storrs during the BIG EAST Championship … in the last visit to Storrs, the Fighting Irish defeated Connecticut 1-0 during the 2006 regular season … Notre Dame went 2-0-0 at Morrone Stadium during its run to the 2003 BIG EAST Championship title.
CONFERENCE CROWNS: Notre Dame will be aiming for its sixth conference tournament title this weekend … the Fighting Irish captured three Midwestern Collegiate Conference tournament championships (1988, 1993, 1994) … Notre Dame has won the BIG EAST Championship in 1996 and 2003.
IRISH LEADERS: Senior forward Joseph Lapira leads the team in points (20) and assists (8) … Lapira is tied with Ryan Miller for the team lead in goals (6) … goalkeeper Chris Cahill has a 10-2-5 record with a 0.72 goals-against average and a .822 save percentage to go along with eight shutouts.
NOTRE DAME IN BIG EAST PLAY: Notre Dame owns an overall record of 76-48-16 (.600) in BIG EAST regular-season play since joining the conference in 1995 … the Irish have posted seven straight winning seasons within the conference, including this year … last season, the Irish went 8-3-0 in league play … that marked the second time that the Irish posted a program-record 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: The winner of the Notre Dame/DePaul match will face the winner of the Connecticut/Louisville contest in the title game of the BIG EAST Championship on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 12 noon (ET).
IRISH THOUGHTS: Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark discusses the BIG EAST semifinals …
“DePaul is having a phenominal season. To win the Red Division has shown that they’ve had a great adjustment to the BIG EAST. With wins against UConn and at St. John’s this season says it all for how they’ve done this year. It’s going to be a real challenge for us.”
“It obviously shows the strength of our league when you have four completely different teams from last year (in the semifinals). It’s great to get to this point but we are just looking to take it one step at a time and hope to advance.”
LAST TIME OUT: Freshman Josh Thiermann scored his first goal of the season to send Notre Dame past St. John’s, 1-0, in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Championship on Sunday, Nov. 11 at Alumni Field … the Fighting Irish were in control throughout the match … an early strike from Michael Thomas off a Matt Besler throw-in nearly put the Irish on board in the first minute of play … later in the first half, Joseph Lapira had consecutive shots saved by St. John’s goalkeeper Jason Landers, who made six saves on the day … Notre Dame out shot St. John’s 7-1 in the first half and 15-2 for the entire match … the Irish also produced one more corner kick than the Red Storm (4-3) … the game was knotted, 0-0, at halftime … following a scoreless first half, the Irish came out attacking in the second period … Lapira almost found the back of the net with 32:10 remaining, yet his shot was deflected wide … Lapira and junior defender Jack Traynor led the Irish with five shots apiece … with just under 18 minutes left in regulation, Lapira sent a shot into the box that was miscleared by the St. John’s defense and Thiermann deposited the ball to give the Fighting Irish a 1-0 lead … the Notre Dame defense posted its 10th shutout of the season, while senior goalkeeper Chris Cahill notched his eighth shutout of the campaign without having to make a save.
TRAYNOR BACK: Starting left back Jack Traynor returned to the Fighting Irish lineup in the 1-0 win over St. John’s in the BIG EAST quarterfinals … Traynor had missed the previous four matches after getting injured in the second half of a 3-2 loss to Indiana on Oct. 17.
BLANKING THE COMPETITION: Notre Dame has posted 10 shutouts this season … that signifies the fifth-straight season in which the Fighting Irish have posted at least that many shutouts … senior Chris Cahill has eight shutouts to his credit, while junior Andrew Quinn has one … both Cahill and Quinn 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 in a 2-0 triumph of Seton Hall and then he and the Irish defense held Pittsburgh scoreless in a 3-0 victory … Cahill made two saves in a 0-0 draw at Georgetown … in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Championship, Cahill did not have to make a save in the 1-0 win over St. John’s.
FIT TO BE TIED: Notre Dame has played to five ties this season … that marks the most draws for a single season in the 31-year history of the Fighting Irish program … Notre Dame has had a total of six games go to overtime … the Irish defeated then-No. 1 UCLA, 2-1, with a golden goal in the 94th minute during the season opener on Aug. 31.
DOUBLE-DIGITS: The Fighting Irish have reached the double-digit victory plateau for the seventh straight season … the streak began during the first year of the Bobby Clark era in 2001 … the most wins under Clark was 16 in 2003 … Notre Dame posted 15 victories last season and 13 in 2004 … the Irish won 12 games three times during Clark’s tenure (2001, 2002, 2005).
SPREADING THE WEALTH: Notre Dame’s last nine goals have come from seven different players … a total of 12 different Irish players have notched a goal this season … seniors Joseph Lapira and Ryan Miller are tied for the team lead with six goals apiece … sophomore Justin Morrow is next in line with three tallies … Kurt Martin, Alex Yoshinaga, Matt Besler, Dave Donohue and Jeb Brovsky all have two goals, while four players have scored once … a total of 15 players have tallied at least one point … Lapira has a team-best 20 points, which includes a team-high eight assists.
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: Notre Dame’s three goals against Pittsburgh on Oct. 24 matched a season-high outburst for the Irish … Notre Dame has scored three times on four occasions this season … the three first-half tallies versus the Panthers marked the third time this season that Notre Dame has scored three goals in one half … the Fighting Irish scored three times in a 3-0 win over No. 16 Michigan on Oct. 3 … Notre Dame netted three second-half scores in a 3-3 tie with No. 1 Connecticut on Oct. 13.
MILLER AND RELLAS EARN ACADEMIC HONORS: Ryan Miller and Cory Rellas have been selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V men’s soccer team … Miller, a fifth-year senior, graduated from the Mendoza College of Business in May of 2007 with a degree in accounting … he finished with a 3.409 cumulative grade-point average and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in accounting … Miller is tied for the team lead in goals with six, which are a career-high total … he also has a career-best 15 points this season … Rellas, a junior defender, carries a 3.634 cumulative GPA as a finance and history major … Rellas has started all 19 games this season and has been an integral part in the Irish posting 10 shutouts … he also has scored one goal.
STARTING STREAK: Ryan Miller, a defender/midfielder, has started 84 straight matches for the Fighting Irish … his 84 consecutive games played is four off the program record established by Greg Dalby (2003-06) … as a freshman, Miller earned his first start during the second game of the season yet suffered an injury that kept him out the rest of the campaign … he started the first game of the following season in 2004 and has not left the starting lineup since … the fifth-year senior has posted career-high totals this season in goals (6) and assists (15).
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.
SHOOTING STARS: Notre Dame has out shot its opponents 321-214 this season … the Irish own a 158-78 advantage in shots during the first half and a 148-118 edge in the second period … Notre Dame has been out shot 18-15 in overtime periods.
CORNERING THE MARKET: The Fighting Irish have a 117-71 advantage in corner kicks over their opponents, including a decisive 56-25 margin in first-half play … Notre Dame owns a 54-42 edge in the second half, while the Irish have out cornered the opposition 7-4 in overtime.
SHOCKING SHUTOUTS: Notre Dame had its string of not being shut out in a BIG EAST regular-season game snapped in a 0-0 tie at Georgetown on Nov. 3 … the Irish had gone 20 matches in regular-season conference play without being held scoreless … overall, Notre Dame has only been shut out three times in the past 33 contests … the Georgetown match marked the only time in the past 33 games that Notre Dame played to a scoreless draw … the Irish are currently riding a 17-game streak without being shut out at home.
NO STREAKS: Notre Dame has 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 … following a 3-2 loss against No. 12 Indiana, Notre Dame defeated Seton Hall, 2-0.
ROOKIE IMPACT: The Irish have had a significant impact from its 2007 freshman class … Jeb Brovsky has totaled five points on two goals and one assist … 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 20 games and have been valuable sparks off the bench … Theirmann scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory over St. John’s in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Championship.
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 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 97 career points rank him in a tie, with Oates, for sixth in program history … Lapira is just three points away from 100, which would put him 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 had five of its regular-season matches televised … the Fighting Irish played Rutgers on Fox Soccer Channel on Sept. 21 in Piscataway, N.J. … Notre Dame played at Marquette on Time Warner Cable … 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 Oct. 28 was 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.
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.