Sept. 14, 2006
Friday, September 15
#12/18 Notre Dame vs. Louisville
Louisville, Ky. • 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 17
#12/18 Notre Dame vs. Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio • 3:00 p.m.
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Notre Dame hits the road for two BIG EAST matchups this weekend. The Irish will square off against Louisville on Friday at 7:00 p.m.and then will travel to Cincinnati for a Sunday showdown at 3:00 p.m. Notre Dame opened up conference play last weekend with a 2-0 loss to South Florida on Friday before rebounding with a 3-0 victory against DePaul on Sunday. The Fighting Irish carry a 3-2-1 record and are ranked 12th in the NSCAA poll and 18th in the Soccer America rankings.
ABOUT THE IRISH: Notre Dame opened the season with tournaments on consecutive weekends … the Irish placed third in the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament (Aug. 25 & 27) after dropping a 1-0 overtime decision to UAB and then defeating Creighton 4-1 … senior forward Justin McGeeney earned BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honors by collecting a career-high two goals against the Bluejays … Notre Dame then traveled to Bloomington, Ind. to take part in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic (Sept. 1 & 3) … the Fighting Irish opened with a scoreless draw against Saint Louis before downing No. 8 Indiana 5-4 in overtime to finish second … junior forward Joseph Lapira netted a career-high four goals against the Hoosiers … he was named the Classic’s Offensive MVP … Lapira was also named the National Player of the Week by Top Drawer Soccer and Soccer Times and was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week along with being named to the College Soccer News Team of the Week … his four tallies established an Indiana Classic record for goals in a single match … the five team goals were the most an Indiana squad had ever allowed … the Irish split their first two games in BIG EAST play … Notre Dame fell to South Florida 2-0 (Sept. 8), before taking down DePaul 3-0 (Sept. 10) … both matches were at home … Lapira leads the team in goals with five and points with 11 … McGeeney has three goals … goalkeepers Chris Cahill and Andrew Quinn have split time in goal, with each starting three games … Cahill, a senior, has a 2-1-0 mark, while the sophomore Quinn is 1-1-1 … the Irish were picked by the BIG EAST coaches to place second in the league’s Blue Division behind Connecticut … Bobby Clark is in his sixth season at the helm of the Fighting Irish program … he has guided Notre Dame to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including two trips to the round of 16 … the Irish made the tournament’s Sweet 16 last season.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS LOUISVILLE: Notre Dame has won all five previous encounters with Louisville … the Fighting Irish defeated the Cardinals 2-1 last season at Alumni Field … current junior Alex Yoshinaga and current senior Ian Etherington notched the Irish goals in last season’s match … that was the first meeting between the two schools since 1984 … Notre Dame is 2-0 at Louisville.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Louisville is 2-3-1 on the season and 1-1-0 in BIG EAST play … the Cardinals are coming off a 2-1 loss at No. 10 West Virginia on Sunday … Louisville opened league action with a 2-1 overtime victory at Pittsburgh last Friday … prior to that match, the Cardinals fell to No. 1 Maryland 2-1 in College Park, Md. … close contests have been the story for Louisville with each match being decided by a single goal, except for a 1-1 tie with Kentucky … the Cardinals fell in the season-opener to Memphis 4-3, before downing Marshall 2-1 … Louisville is 1-1-1 at home this season … junior midfielder David Guzman leads the team with 10 points coming on a team-high four goals and two assists … Guzman was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST team after garnering first-team conference honors last season … junior forward Frank Jonke has registered two goals and two assists … redshirt freshman David Simolike has played every minute in goal, posting a 1.71 goals-against average and a .667 save percentage … the Cardinals were tabbed by the league’s coaches to finish fifth in the Red Division of the BIG EAST … head coach Ken Lolla is in his first season at Louisville.
FAMILIAR FACE: Louisville assistant coach Mike Avery is in his first season with the Cardinals after spending the previous six campaigns at Notre Dame.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS CINCINNATI: The Irish are 1-2-0 all-time against Cincinnati … the Bearcats topped the Irish 2-1 last season at Alumni Field … current senior Ian Etherington scored the lone goal for the Irish in the match … Cincinnati won the first-ever matchup between the two schools, a 1-0 decision during the 1979 season at Notre Dame … the Fighting Irish responded with a 2-1 victory the following season at Cincinnati.
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS: Cincinnati has a 2-3-1 record, 0-2-0 in the BIG EAST, heading into its matchup with Marquette on Friday evening … the Bearcats dropped both games over the opening weekend of conference play … No. 10 West Virginia topped Cincinnati 2-0 and the Bearcats then lost in double-overtime to Pittsburgh, 2-1 … senior forward Omar Cummings leads the squad with five points, coming on two goals and one assist … Cummings was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team … he was a unanimous first-team all-BIG EAST selection last season … senior Mike Vessels has played every minute in goal, registering a 1.66 goals-against average and a .703 save percentage … Cincinnati has claimed wins over Xavier (2-1, OT) and Bradley (2-0), while dropping a 6-0 decision to nationally-ranked SMU and tying Florida International (0-0) … Hylton Dayes is in his sixth season as the coach of the Bearcats … Cincinnati was predicted to place third in the Red Division of the BIG EAST as voted on by the league’s coaches. IRISH IN BIG EAST OPENERS: The Fighting Irish are 7-4-1 all-time in BIG EAST Conference openers following the 2-0 loss to South Florida last Friday.
IRISH THOUGHTS: Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark discusses this weekend’s games versus Louisville and Cincinnati …
On the upcoming weekend … “We played both of these teams at home last season and now we’ll go on the road to play them at their place for the first time since they both joined the BIG EAST. We had very hard games against both of them last season. We had to comeback to beat Louisville and then we lost to Cincinnati. It’ll be a little harder this season but we’re gonna try to go down there and take both games. We haven’t put together a run yet this season and that is something we’re trying to do.”
On Louisville … “They are a very disciplined team. Ken Lolla is in his first season after coming from Akron and brings the same kind of discipline to Louisville that his teams had at Akron. Plus, Mike Avery is in his first season as an assistant there after being here. So he is very familiar with what we try to do. It’ll be a very tough game for us.”
On Cincinnati … “Cincinnati had a couple of big, athletic and strong strikers that we didn’t handle very well last season. We hope to do a better job on them this season. This will be a big game for our team.”
FRIDAY FUNK: Notre Dame has not scored a goal in any of its three Friday games so far this season … however, the Irish have combined to tally 12 goals in their three Sunday contests.
NEXT UP: Notre Dame returns to Alumni Field for a three-game homestand beginning with a non-conference match with Northern Illinois on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 7:00 p.m. … the Irish return to BIG EAST play with a showdown against Pittsburgh on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 7:00 p.m. and then a clash with Marquette on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 7:00 p.m.
RECAPPING SOUTH FLORIDA: Two late goals from South Florida was the difference in a 2-0 victory over Notre Dame on Friday, Sept. 8 at Alumni Field … junior forward Simon Schoendorf notched three points on the night with a goal and an assist and sophomore forward Jordan Seabrook tallied the other goal for the Bulls … the Fighting Irish appeared to be in control for much of the match as they out-shot the Bulls 17-9 and held a 10-2 advantage in corner kicks … Notre Dame had its best chance for a score in the 85th minute as three shots were fired on goal from inside the 18-yard box yet none were converted … the first attempt was a blast from Jack Traynor, which was saved by South Florida goalkeeper Dane Brenner … Joseph Lapira had his shot blocked and then Brenner sent a Justin McGeeney shot out of bounds … Brenner made six saves on the night, while Notre Dame’s Andrew Quinn stopped three shots … South Florida survived the scare from the Irish and cracked the scoreboard in the 86th minute when Schoendorf sent a long-ball to Seabrook and he scored on a breakaway … the Bulls converted on another scoring opportunity in the 89th minute as Schoendorf dribbled along the left side of the box and placed a shot into the low right corner of the net … Nate Norman had some of the best looks for the Irish, including a shot off the right post with just under 20 minutes remaining in the contest … Norman and Lapira led the Irish with four shots apiece.
RECAPPING DEPAUL: Justin McGeeney tallied a goal in the second minute and the Notre Dame kept attacking all afternoon in registering a 3-0 victory over DePaul in BIG EAST play at Alumni Field on Sunday, Sept. 10 … the Irish, who rebounded nicely from a 2-0 loss to South Florida on Friday night, out-shot the Blue Demons 26-4 … Greg Dalby scored his first goal of the season in the 66th minute, while the third tally was an own goal … Notre Dame did not waste much time in asserting its offensive force with an early barrage on net … the Irish capitalized as Joseph Lapira sent a cross to McGeeney and the senior forward sent it in for his third goal of the season … DePaul could not mount much of an attack as the Blue Demons were out-shot 12-2 in the first half … the Fighting Irish kept the pressure on the Blue Demons in the second half as Cory Rellas ripped a shot that was saved by DePaul goalkeeper Brian Visser in the opening minutes of the stanza … Nate Norman nearly connected with a shot off of a corner kick in the 50th minute … Notre Dame held a 9-3 advantage in corner kicks for the game … McGeeney almost registered his second goal of the game with just under 27 minutes remaining in the match, as he was one-on-one with Visser, yet the DePaul keeper made one of his nine saves on the day … two minutes later, Lapira sent a blast just high over the crossbar and the score remained 1-0 … the Irish did convert their second goal in the 66th minute as a corner kick was placed in front of the net and action ensued before Dalby put it in … Matt Besler picked up the assist on the play … the Irish’s third goal was tacked on in the 72nd minute … the tally was initially given to Irish freshman Michael Thomas, yet was later credited with going off the leg of a DePaul defener … the sequence began with an Ian Etherington cross into the box that Thomas put a foot on … Chris Cahill made two saves for the Irish in picking up his second win of the season.
A CLASSIC PERFORMANCE: Junior forward Joseph Lapira tallied a career-high four goals against No. 8 Indiana in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic on Sunday, Sept. 3 … the four scores established an Indiana Classic record and it was one shy of the Notre Dame record of five, achieved by Kevin Lovejoy in 1993 … by scoring three goals, Lapira became the first Irish player to register a hat trick since Devon Prescod did so versus Cleveland State in 2003.
LAPIRA HONORS: After notching four goals against Indiana on Sept. 3, Joseph Lapira was named the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic Offensive MVP and the BIG EAST Conference Offensive Player of the Week … the junior forward also garnered national recognition as he was named the Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week and was selected to the College Soccer News Team of the Week.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Forward Joseph Lapira, midfielder Greg Dalby and defender Jack Traynor were all named to the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic All-Tournament Team … Lapira established a classic record with four goals against Indiana … his four goals also tied the mark for tallies in a single tournament … Traynor notched two assists against the Hoosiers … those were the first points of his Irish career … Dalby anchored the Notre Dame midfield by playing all 208 minutes.
AN IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY: Notre Dame’s five goal output against Indiana on Sept. 3 was the most goals scored by an Irish team since a 6-0 victory over Cleveland State in 2003 … the five tallies were the most ever against a ranked foe in program history … it marked the first time the Hoosiers had ever allowed five tallies in a single game … the nine combined goals were the most in a Notre Dame match since a 9-2 victory against Valparaiso in 1989.
TAKING DOWN A TOP-10: Notre Dame has downed two top-10 teams this season … the Irish topped No. 8 Creighton, 4-1, on Aug. 27 and then defeated No. 8 Indiana, 5-4, on Sept. 3 … the Irish have claimed a victory against a top-10 opponent in seven straight seasons … last season, the Irish took down No. 7 SMU (4-1) and No. 5 Indiana (2-0) … the victory against the Hoosiers came in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame is 12th is this week’s NSCAA and Soccer Times polls and 18th in the Soccer America and College Soccer News rankings … five of the Irish’s 2006 opponents appear in the latest Soccer America rankings, Michigan State (13), West Virginia (14), South Florida (17), Indiana (20) and UAB (23).
NOTRE DAME PICKED SECOND IN BLUE DIVISION: Notre Dame was selected to finish second in the BIG EAST’s Blue Division behind Connecticut, while South Florida was tabbed to be the league’s Red Division champion … the Irish collected five first-place votes compared to the Huskies’ 11 … Notre Dame was tabbed to finish second in the conference’s Blue Division last year and wound up placing in a tie for third with West Virginia … the Irish did garner the division’s No. 3 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament as a result of a tie-breaker.
DALBY AND ETHERINGTON NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST TEAM: Senior midfielders Greg Dalby and Ian Etherington were named to the 2006 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team as voted on by the league’s 16 head coaches … both Dalby and Etherington were first-team all-BIG EAST selections last season.
DALBY NAMED TO M.A.C. HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST: Greg Dalby was named to the 2006 Missouri Athletic Club (M.A.C.) Hermann Trophy Watch List … the trophy is presented annually to the top male and female Division I soccer player in the United States … the 25-man watch list was compiled by a panel of coaches from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
COLLEGE SOCCER NEWS WATCH LIST: Greg Dalby was selected to the College Soccer News Pre-Season All-America first team … the senior co-captain 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 2006 season … (M/F) Justin Morrow and (M/D) Michael Thomas were selected to the list and are all 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 16th nationally by College Soccer News … (M) John Baumgardner, (M) Dave Donohue, (M/F) Justin Morrow, (F) Tamba Samba, (D) John Schaefer, (M/D) Michael Thomas and (GK) Philip Tuttle make up the talented crop of Fighting Irish rookies.
NUMBER CHANGES: Seven members of the Fighting Irish team will be sporting new numbers for the 2006 season …
Name New Number Old NumberLuke Seibolt 1 24Kyle Dulworth 4 21Joseph Lapira 10 4Kurt Martin 11 8Bright Dike 14 18Nate Norman 19 20Alex Yoshinaga 20 19
NEW COACHES: The Fighting Irish are welcoming three new assistant coaches to the sidelines for the 2006 season … assistant coaches Jamie Clark and Chad Riley joined the program in March … Clark, the youngest son of head coach Bobby Clark, spent the last four seasons at New Mexico, where he helped guide the Lobos to the finals of the 2005 College Cup … Clark was a two-time All-American at Stanford, where he played from 1996-98 … Riley returns to Notre Dame, where he played from 2000-03 … he was a two-time all-BIG EAST performer at midfield … he was an assistant coach last season at St. John’s as the Red Storm compiled a record of 11-6-5 and made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament … Rick King is the Irish’s new volunteer assistant coach … King, a 1995 graduate of East Stroudsburg, also coaches the Indiana Invaders club soccer team.
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 … live audio is also available for certain home matches.
NOTRE DAME ANNOUNCES IRISH ALERT TEXT MESSAGE SERVICE: The University of Notre Dame athletic department, in cooperation with Notre Dame Sports Properties and Centennial Wireless has brought back Irish ALERT for the 2006 fall sports season … continuing Notre Dame’s commitment to its alumni and fans, Irish ALERT will be free of charge (check with your wireless provider for any additional fees that may be charged due to receiving text messages) … starting the weekend of Sept. 15 all of the fall sports will start sending text alerts to Irish fans across the country on their wireless communication devices … log onto und.com for more details and to sign up.