Sept. 23, 2010
#12 ST. JOHN’S (5-1-0) at NOTRE DAME (2-2-2)
Saturday, Sept. 25 – Noon (ET)
Alumni Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
St. John’s Leads Series 11-3-5
Live Stats: Gametracker on UND.com
Live Audio: UND.com
In-Game Blog: UND.com
SETTING THE STAGE … The Fighting Irish will open BIG EAST play on Saturday, Sept. 25 when they welcome No. 12 St. John’s to Alumni Stadium. Kickoff against the Red Storm is slated for noon (ET). There is no admission to the match. The Fighting Irish are 2-2-2, while the Red Storm is 5-1-0.
FUTBOL BEFORE FOOTBALL … Fans coming to campus for Saturday’s Notre Dame-Stanford football game (3:30 p.m. ET) are encouraged to attend the Notre Dame-St. John’s soccer tilt at noon … no ticket or admission of any kind is needed to see the Fighting Irish take on the Red Storm.
HOW TO FOLLOW … Saturday’s match against St. John’s will feature a live audio broadcast on UND.com … live stats through Gametracker and a live blog also will be available on UND.com … fans can sign up for `Irish Alert’ on UND.com to receive text message score updates … updates and results can also be found on Twitter at UND_com.
IRISH AT A GLANCE … Notre Dame is 2-2-2 on the season … the Fighting Irish went 0-1-1 last weekend … the Irish played Michigan to a scoreless draw on Sept. 17 in Ann Arbor, Mich. … Notre Dame returned home and fell to Michigan State 2-0 on Sept. 19 … the Irish are averaging 1.17 goals per game, while allowing 0.67 per contest … senior forward Steven Perry has a team-best two goals … sophomore midfielder Dillon Powers leads the team in assists with two … junior goalkeeper Will Walsh has played every minute in goal and boasts a 0.62 goals-against average and a .875 save percentage to go along with three shutouts … head coach Bobby Clark is in his 10th season with the Irish … he has a 119-55-28 (.658) record during his Notre Dame tenure … this is Clark’s 24th season as a college head coach … he has a combined record of 272-118-53 (.674) during his career, which included stops at Dartmouth and Stanford.
THE ST. JOHN’S SERIES … Saturday will mark the 20th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and St. John’s … the Red Storm hold an 11-3-5 advantage in the series … the Irish lead the series, 2-1-3, in games played at Notre Dame … the two squads met twice last season … St. John’s topped the Irish 2-0 during the regular season at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington, Ind. … the Irish and Red Storm also met in the title game of the BIG EAST Championship … following a scoreless draw, St. John’s bested Notre Dame in a penalty kick shootout, 5-3, to take the league crown … Notre Dame’s last win in the series was a 1-0 triumph at home in the quarterfinals of the 2007 BIG EAST Championship … the first meeting in the series, a 6-0 St. John’s victory, occurred in 1995 in Jamaica, N.Y.
SCOUTING THE RED STORM … St. John’s will bring a 5-1-0 record into Saturday’s showdown against Notre Dame … the Red Storm has won its last four games … St. John’s has topped Fairleigh Dickinson (5-0), Boston University (2-1), Hartford (3-0) and Long Island University (5-0) during that stretch … the Red Storm opened the season with a 2-0 triumph of Virginia Tech before falling to Virginia, 5-0 … St. John’s is averaging 2.83 goals per game, while giving up 1.00 per contest … senior midfielder Tadeu Terra leads the team in goals (4) and assists (5) … redshirt freshman Rafael Diaz has started all six matches in goal and carries a 0.92 goals-against average and a .828 save percentage with two shutouts … St. John’s went 9-3-9 last season and fell to Boston College, 1-0, in the second round of the NCAA Championship … the Red Storm finished second in the BIG EAST Red Division with a 6-1-4 league mark … St. John’s won the 2009 BIG EAST Tournament … six starters and 11 letter winners returned from last season’s squad … head coach Dr. David Masur is in his 20th season at the helm of the Red Storm program … he has a 285-85-62 record at St. John’s.
THE LAST TIME … Notre Dame and St. John’s last met in the title game of the 2009 BIG EAST Championship in Morgantown, W. Va. … following a scoreless draw after 110 minutes of action, the Red Storm claimed the league title with a 5-3 penalty kick shootout victory over the Fighting Irish.
IRISH IN BIG EAST OPENERS … The Fighting Irish are 10-4-1 all-time in BIG EAST Conference openers … last season, Notre Dame topped DePaul 2-1 to open league play.
NOTRE DAME IN BIG EAST PLAY … Notre Dame owns an overall record of 91-53-17 (.618) in BIG EAST regular-season play since joining the conference in 1995 … the Irish have posted nine straight winning seasons within the conference, including last season’s 8-3-0 mark … the eight wins in BIG EAST play tied for the most ever for the Fighting Irish … Notre Dame also won eight BIG EAST matches in 2004 (8-1-1) and 2006 (8-3) … the Irish have three regular-season BIG EAST titles … Notre Dame won the championship outright in 2004 and 2008 (Blue Division) and shared the Blue Division trophy with Connecticut in 2007 … the Fighting Irish captured BIG EAST tournament crowns in 1996 and 2003.
QUOTING CLARK … Irish head coach Bobby Clark shares his thoughts on the St. John’s match and the BIG EAST…
“St. John’s is always one of the best teams in the league. We had a great game with them during the finals of last year’s BIG EAST tournament and they sent us out on penalty kicks. We’ve always had good games with them. They are an aggressive attacking team and Saturday will be a challenge.”
“The BIG EAST is always going to be good top to bottom. Anyone can beat anyone else on a given night and this year is no exception. There usually are some surprises during the season, but the teams in the top half are always very good.”
IRISH TRAVEL TO TOYOTA … The Fighting Irish will face Northwestern on Wednesday, Sept. 29 at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. … kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. (CT) … tickets are $10 over the phone (708-594-7200) and at the gate the night of the match … student tickets are $5 at the gate.
EARLY SEASON OFFENSE … The five goals scored in the 5-1 win over Cal Poly (Sept. 12) marked the fourth time in the past five seasons that Notre Dame has tallied five goals in one of its first four matches of the season … last year, the Irish bested Michigan 5-0 in the season opener … in 2008, Notre Dame topped USF 5-0 in the fourth game of the campaign … in the fourth contest of the 2006 season, the Fighting Irish bested Indiana 5-4 in overtime.
IRISH EXPLOSION … The five goals scored in the second half against Cal Poly on Sept. 12 were the most goals scored in a single period by the Fighting Irish since they netted five in the first half during a 5-0 win over Villanova on Oct. 23, 2002 … it marked the most goals scored in a second half since depositing seven in a 7-1 triumph of Western Michigan on Oct. 14, 1997.
CORNERING THE MARKET … Notre Dame has gained 31 more corner kicks (56-25) than its opponents this season … the Irish have had more corner kicks than their opponents in each match … Notre Dame’s high-water mark for corner kicks this season was 13 versus California.
SHOOTING DOWN THE COMPETITION … The Fighting Irish have out shot their competition 140-83 this season, including a 47-32 advantage in shots on goal.
THREE AMONG TOPDRAWER TOP 100 … Three Notre Dame players are ranked among the National Top 100 players according to TopDrawerSoccer.com … Dillon Powers (So./M) is ranked fourth, while Aaron Maund (Jr./D) is 32nd and Jeb Brovsky (Sr./F) is 90th … the rankings will be updated weekly.
PERRY PERFORMS AGAINST DRAKE … Senior forward Steven Perry netted a career-high two goals in the 2-0 win over Drake on Sept. 10 … Perry registered a game-high nine shots in the match … he was named to the TopDrawerSoccer College Team of the Week for his performance against the Bulldogs.
MAUND MAKING A DIFFERENCE … Junior central defender Aaron Maund has played every minute on the pitch so far this season … he has helped the Irish produce a 0.67 goals-against average and limit opponents to 5.3 shots on goal per game … Maund put the Irish on the board in the 51st minute in the 5-1 win over Cal Poly (Sept. 12) … the junior was named to the BIG EAST weekly honor roll on Sept. 13 for his efforts in helping the Irish to the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament title.
A DAY OF FIRSTS FOR THE IRISH … Notre Dame used five different goal scorers in the 5-1 win over Cal Poly on Sept. 12 … it marked the first career goal for three Fighting Irish players, Greg Klazura (Sr./D), Dillon Powers (So./M) and Grant Van De Casteele (So./D).
CLEAN SHEETS … Junior goalkeeper Will Walsh has posted three shutouts this season … Walsh nearly registered three straight clean sheets, yet Cal Poly scored with six seconds left in the 5-1 Irish victory on Sept. 12 … that goal snapped a scoreless streak of 357 minutes for Walsh, who had not seen game action prior to this season.
TOUGH SLATE … The Irish have another challenging schedule this season … Notre Dame has six teams on its 2010 slate that are ranked in the latest NSCAA top-25 poll … Connecticut (6), Louisville (8), St. John’s (12), UCLA (13), California (14) and Michigan State (15) are the Irish opponents that appear in the poll.
PRESEASON ACCOLADES … Aaron Maund (Jr./D) and Dillon Powers (So./M) were named Soccer America Preseason All-Americans … Notre Dame was one of five schools with multiple representatives on the 25-man Soccer America Preseason All-America Team … Akron had four players on the squad, while Virginia, North Carolina and Tulsa joined the Irish with two apiece.
MORE HONORS FOR MAUND AND POWERS … Fighting Irish junior Aaron Maund, a central defender, was named the 2010 BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in a vote by the league’s head coaches … Irish sophomore Dillon Powers, a midfielder, joined Maund on the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team.
IRISH PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN DIVISION … Notre Dame was picked to finish second in the BIG EAST Blue Division, while Connecticut was tabbed to win the division … the Huskies received 12 first-place votes among the eight Blue Division squads, while the Irish garnered four … St. John’s was picked to win the Red Division … the league’s 16 head coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams.
BROVSKY A LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE … Forward Jeb Brovsky has been named one of 30 candidates for the 2010 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in the men’s soccer division … to be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – classroom, character, community and competition … the list of 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot … ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select a candidate that best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
CAPTAIN KEEPER … Fifth-year senior goalkeeper Philip Tuttle is Notre Dame’s lone captain for the 2010 campaign … this is Tuttle’s first season as a captain.
ALL OVER THE MAP … Notre Dame’s 29-man roster boasts student-athletes from 18 different states … the state represented the most on the Irish roster is Illinois, which is home to six Notre Dame players … Brendan King (Naperville), Greg Klazura (Rockford), Craig Krzyskowski (Western Springs), Bob Novak (Homer Glen), Danny O’Leary (Naperville) and Harrison Shipp (Lake Forest) all hail from the Prairie State … next in line is Texas, which has supplied the Irish with four players on this year’s squad.
POWERS PACES TEAM USA … Sophomore Dillon Powers helped the United States Under-20 national team capture the Milk Cup Tournament in early August … Powers was named the MVP of the Milk Cup, which is an international youth soccer tournament held annually in Northern Ireland … the midfielder earned a start in two of the three matches as the U.S. posted a 3-0 record.
TWO ROOKIES RANKED … Two Notre Dame freshmen were named to the College Soccer News `100 Freshmen To Keep An Eye On’ list for the 2010 season … goalkeeper Adam LaPlaca and defender Andrew O’Malley were selected to the list and are part of a very talented eight-man freshman class for the Irish.
ROOKIE RANKINGS … Notre Dame’s freshman class was ranked ninth according to College Soccer News … Leon Brown (F), Kyle Craft (M), Adam LaPlaca (GK), Luke Mishu (D), Andrew O’Malley (D), Alex Priede (F), Harrison Shipp (M/F) and Patrick Wall (GK) make up the stellar class.
A GREAT NIGHT FOR GRASSROOT … Notre Dame held its annual exhibition game to benefit Grassroot Soccer on Aug. 23 against UIC … over 2,000 fans packed into Alumni Stadium to watch the Irish defeat the Flames, 3-2 … a grand total of $3,000 was raised for Grassroot Soccer, an international AIDS awareness and education organization that reaches youth in Africa through soccer clinics … $1,000 worth of donations were received at the gate and during the match … head coach Bobby Clark, whose son Tommy is the founder and CEO of the organization, and the Notre Dame men’s soccer camp donated $2,000.
LOOKING BACK … Last season, Notre Dame posted an 11-8-4 record … the Irish were runners-up in the BIG EAST Blue Division with an 8-3 mark … the Fighting Irish were finalists at the BIG EAST Championship … Notre Dame defeated Green Bay 2-1 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling at Northwestern, 3-1, in the second round … that marked Notre Dame’s ninth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
PURCHASE YOUR IRISH SOCCER TICKETS … To purchase a season pass or single-game tickets, call the Notre Dame ticket office at (574) 631-7356, visit und.com/tickets or stop by the Notre Dame ticket office inside Purcell Pavilion … tickets can also be purchased at Alumni Stadium on gamedays.