Oct. 27, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The Notre Dame men’s soccer team (8-7-2, 4-4-1) looks to snap its three-game losing streak as the Irish host Georgetown on Friday, October 29 at 7:30 p.m. in the final regular season contest at Alumni Field.
WEEK IN REVIEW
West Virginia: Notre Dame dropped its second straight 1-0 decision as the Irish dropped their third straight on the road. West Virginia freshman Guido Cristofori scored the game’s only goal 12:19 into the contest with assists from Craig Patton and Chin Orih. The match was evenly contested as both teams fired 10 shots in the game. Irish goalkeeper Gerick Short (Mobile, Ala.) made four saves in the contest. Notre Dame had a chance to tie the match with 45 seconds to go in regulation, but Rafael Garcia’s (Palmdale, Calif.) shot hit the post.
St. John’s: Notre Dame suffered its third straight setback as the Irish dropped a 4-1 decision at St. John’s. Michael Taylor scored twice for the Red Storm and Carlo Acquista added three assists. Freshman Erich Braun (Frankfurt, Germany) was the lone Irish goal scorer in the contest. He put the Irish on the scoreboard with an unassisted goal at 79:16 after St. John’s had gone up 3-0 in the contest. The Red Storm, which beat the Irish for the fifth time in seven outings and lead the series 5-0-2, outshot Notre Dame 14-3 in the contest. The goal by Braun marked the first goal scored by the Irish against the Red Storm in a matchup in Jamaica, N.Y.
ROOKIE LEADS IRISH IN SCORING FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR
For the second straight year, the Irish are led in scoring by a freshman. Last year it was forward Shane Walton (now a member of the Notre Dame football team), and this season, it’s freshman forward Erich Braun. Braun leads the team in goals (nine), assists (five) and points (23). Prior to Notre Dame’s 1-0 loss against Rutgers on October 16, he had either a goal or an assist in five straight games, and has recorded points in six of the team’s last eight games.
BERTICELLI GETS 100TH CAREER WIN
With Notre Dame’s 5-2 victory over Eastern Michigan on September 29, head coach Mike Berticelli earned his 100th with the Irish. His current record at Notre Dame stands at 104-78-18. Just the third coach in the 22-year history of the program, Berticelli would become the second Notre Dame coach to garner 100 wins. Rich Hunter, the program’s first head coach from 1977-83, produced a 128-32-8 mark during his seven-year tenure. He coached his 200th game at Notre Dame against St. John’s on October 23.
HEAD COACH MIKE BERTICELLI
Notre Dame head coach Mike Berticelli is in his 10th season at Notre Dame and his 24th as a collegiate coach. He has led Notre Dame to three of the school’s four NCAA tournament appearances (1993, 1994 and 1996). In 1996, his Irish squad won the school’s first-ever NCAA tournament game when it defeated second-seeded UNC Greensboro in the first round.
Berticelli has a 104-78-18 (.615) mark at Notre Dame and is 291-133-41 (.670) overall. He coached his 450th career game against Boston College on September 4. In three of the last six seasons, his Notre Dame teams have won conference tournament titles. Under Berticelli, the Irish claimed the 1996 BIG EAST tournament crown in just its second year as a member of the league with consecutive wins over ranked opponents Connecticut and Rutgers. During the 1993 and 1994 campaigns, the Irish won back-to-back MCC tournament crowns and earned berths in the NCAA tournament. Prior to coming to Notre Dame, he spent six seasons (1984-89) at Old Dominion where his teams compiled a 76-27-16 record for a .706 winning percentage.
Berticelli coached for four years at UNC-Greensboro (1980-83) with his teams compiling a 70-9-5 record (.863) and winning two Division III national crowns in 1982 and 1983. His first head coaching stint was at Thomas College where he coached from (1976-79) with his teams posting a 41-19-2 mark during that four-year span. The Irish have won 10-plus games in six of his nine seasons at the Notre Dame helm.
IRISH STRUGGLING ON THE ROAD
Notre Dame opened up the 1999 campaign with a 1-0 victory on the road. Since that September 1 contest, however, the Irish are 0-4-2 in road games. Coach Mike Berticelli’s squad is 7-2-0 at home this season.
IRISH YIELD FOUR GOALS TO RED STORM
Heading into the St. John’s game, Notre Dame had given up just 15 goals in 16 games and had yielded no more than three goals in a game (vs. San Diego on September 24). The Irish have shutout seven opponents this season, and in four games this season, have given up just one goal.
SERIES RECORDS VS. UPCOMING OPPONENT
Georgetown: Notre Dame leads the series 4-2-1. This will be the fourth time the Hoyas have visited Alumni Field. The Irish are 2-1 in home games against Georgetown, the lone Hoya victory was a 2-1 overtime decision in 1997.
CLOSE CALLS
Eight of Notre Dame’s 17 games have been decided by a single goal, with seven of those games ending in a 1-0 decision. The Irish are 4-2 in games which have ended 1-0 this season and are 4-4 in games decided by a single goal.
IRONMEN
Six Irish players, including three freshmen, have started all 17 games this season. Seniors Matt McNew (Arlington, Tex), a defender, and goalkeeper Gerick Short (Mobile, Ala.) have been in the starting lineup for every games as has junior defender Connor LaRose (Claremont, Calif.). Freshmen Erich Braun, Alan Lyskawa (Novi, Mich.) and Justin Ratcliffe (Miami, Fla.) have each been in the starting lineup for all 17 contests.
BRAUN, ARIS LEAD TEAM IN ASSISTS
Freshman Erich Braun and senior Andrew Aris (Auckland, New Zealand) lead the team with five assists each. Aris’ total equals the career best he had as a freshman and has 18 for his career.
LYSKAWA SECOND IN IRISH SCORING COLUMN
The Irish are led in scoring by two freshmen, Erich Braun and Alan Lyskawa. Braun leads the team and Lsykawa is second with two goals and four assists (eight points).
DOUBLING UP
Heading into the 1999 campaign, junior midfielder Dustin Pridmore (Dallas, Tex.) had just one goal and two assists to his credit in his first two seasons. This season, Pridmore is the team’s third-leading scorer with three goals and an assist (seven points).
IRISH NOTCH SEVEN SHUTOUTS
Notre Dame has shutout seven opponents this season The Irish began the campaign with two shutout wins over Northwestern on the road and Boston College at home. In early October, Coach Mike Berticelli’s squad notched three straight shutout wins, and four in five outings. Notre Dame’s three shutout victories were at home against Syracuse (2-0), IUPUI (1-0) and Providence (4-0).
A BIG EAST FEAST AGAINST WILDCATS
The five goals scored by Notre Dame against Villanova was the largest scoring output for the Irish in a BIG EAST game. The five-goal differential in the 5-0 win over the Wildcats was the biggest for the Irish in a conference game.
STINGY DEFENSE
As a team, the Irish have a 1.07 goals against average and have allowed 19 goals in 17 games. Prior to its 4-1 loss to St. John’s in its last game, Notre Dame had yielded just four goals in seven contests.
McNEW GETS HIS STARTS
Graduation took its toll on the Notre Dame backfield with the losses of defenders Phil Murphy and David Cutler, central midfielder Matt Johnson and goalkeeper Greg Velho. The only returning starter in the backfield was sweeper Matt McNew, a three-year starter and second-team all-BIG EAST selection in 1998. He has started 73 of the 76 games he has played in during his Irish career, nearly double that of any other returnee in ’99. Only two other players on this year’s roster have started more than 25 games
Andrew Aris (43) and Ryan Cox (36).
HOME SWEET HOME
Notre Dame finished 5-1-2 at home last season and is 7-2-0 in 1999 as the Irish have dropped two 1-0 decisions to Western Michigan and Rutgers. This marks the 10th year for the Irish playing at Alumni Field where Notre Dame owns a 65-22-7 mark overall for a 73.4 winning percentage.
SENIORS PLAY FINAL GAME AT ALUMNI FIELD
The Notre Dame-Georgetown game marks the final home for the Irish at Alumni Field and the final home outing for its seven seniors
Andrew Aris, Peter Bandera (South Bend, Ind.), Ryan Cox (Broadview Heights, Ohio), Matt De Dominicis (Simsbury, Conn.), Jason Jorski (Lutz, Fla.), Matt McNew and Gerick Short.
SETON HALL GAME RESCHEDULED FOR NOVEMBER 3
The Notre Dame-Seton Hall game which was cancelled due to inclement weather conditions in the Northeast on September 17 has been rescheduled for Wednesday, November 3 at 2:00 p.m. in South Orange, N.J.
NSCAA/ADIDAS
(Week of October 25)
LW 1. Duke 1 2. Indiana 3 3. UCLA 4 4. Wake Forest 6 5. Penn State 9 6. Southwest Missouri State 8 7. Furman 10 8. Cal State Fullerton 24 9. Maryland 710. Creighton 1411. Connecticut 1212. Saint Louis 313. Santa Clara 1114. Akron 1915. St. John's 1316. Old Dominion NR17. Southern Methodist 25 Brown 2319. Washington NR20. UMBC 22 21. North Carolina NR22. Rutgers 18 23. California 1724. Yale NR25. Portland RV
SOCCER AMERICA
(Week of October 25)
LW 1. Indiana 1 2. UCLA 2 3. Duke 7 4. Southwest Missouri State 5 5. Wake Forest 9 6. Furman 8 7. Penn State 11 8. Maryland 6 9. Creighton 1210. Saint Louis 311. Connecticut 1412. UMBC 1713. Southern Methodist 1814. Santa Clara 1615. Portland NR16. Washington NR17. Yale NR18. San Diego 419. California 1520. Old Dominion NR
1999 NSCAA GREAT LAKES REGION RANKINGS
(Week of Oct. 24)
Pts. 1. Indiana (13-2-0) 50 2. Akron (10-3-2) 45 3. Ohio State (10-5-0) 39 4. Western Kentucky (12-3-0) 34 5. Oakland (10-4-2) 27 6. Cincinnati (9-5-1) 25 7. Marquette (10-6-0) 22 8. Kentucky (9-5-1) 9 9. NOTRE DAME (8-7-2) 810. Michigan State (8-5-1) 7
Also receiving votes: UW-Milwaukee