SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 11 Irish return to Alumni Stadium for a marquee matchup against ACC foe No. 14 Duke on. The match will air on ACCNX. The first 100 students to attend the match will receive a free Notre Dame soccer scarf.
No. 11 NOTRE DAME vs. No. 14 Duke
Location: South Bend, Indiana | Alumni Stadium
TV: ACCNX
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDMenSoccer
Game Notes: vs. Duke
THE DUKE SERIES
• The Irish and Blue Devils will meet on the pitch for the 18th time on Saturday evening.
• The Irish lead the series with a mark of 10-5-2.
• Notre Dame and Duke met once last season with the Blue Devils winning by a score of 2-0 in Durham.
• The Irish are unbeaten against Duke when playing in South Bend, holding a record of 6-0-2. The two sides played to a 1-1 standstill in the most recent matchup at Alumni Stadium during the 2021 season.
LAST TIME OUT
• Notre Dame turned in an impressive performance in a 3-1 win over NC State on the road on Sunday to remain at the top of the ACC table with a record of 3-0-1.
• The three goals came from three different players, as Matthew Roou, Paddy Burns and Eno Nto each scored a goal.
• Goalkeeper Bryan Dowd made four saves to help seal the Fighting Irish victory.
TOP OF THE TABLE
• The Irish are off to its best start in ACC play in program history through four games, totaling 10 points with a record of 3-0-1 to lead the league.
• Notre Dame has scored 10 goals in its four matches, which are the most of any team.
• The Irish have a +5 goal differential through four ACC matches, which is the best in the conference, as the next closest team has a +2 differential.
• Notre Dame has scored three goals in three of four outings.
STRONG STARTS
• Notre Dame has made it a habit of jumping out to an early lead this season, as the Irish have scored the opening goal in six of 10 matches in 2023.
•All six opening goals have come in the first 25 minutes of play.
•The quickest goal to start a match came from Matthew Roou in the 4th minute in the win over Clemson.
• The Fighting Irish are unbeaten when scoring the opening goal over the last 26 occurrences, posting a record of 25-0-1 spanning back to the early stages of the 2021 season.
SET-PIECE SUCCESS
• ND has excelled on both ends of the field on set pieces during the 2023 season.
•The Irish defense has allowed just one goal off a set piece all season while in attack seven of the team’s 18 goals have come via a set piece.
• Notre Dame has scored off three free kicks, two corners and two penalty kicks.
DOWD DELIVERS
• Bryan Dowd is back for his senior season after being the team’s primary goalie for each of the last two seasons.
• The shot stopper has 51 career starts while appearing in 52 matches over his previous three seasons in South Bend.
• Dowd has amassed 138 career saves and has recorded 17 clean sheets over his time in South Bend, including four matches in the 2023 campaign.
•The senior produced his best performance of his career in the 0-0 draw at Akron, making a career-high 12 saves to keep the clean sheet intact.
• The 12 saves are the most by an ACC goalkeeper this season and the third most of any goalie at the DI level.
DOMINATING DEFENSE
• The Fighting Irish have allowed just seven goals through 10 matches during the 2023 campaign.
• The 0.7 goals against average ranks second in the ACC and 16th in the country.
• Notre Dame has given up just one or no goals in nine of 10 matches this season.
• After allowing a goal to No. 2 Indiana in the 28th minute in the season opener, the Irish went 376 minutes without allowing a score before giving up a score to Clemson in the 44th minute.
ROOU’S RUN OF FORM
• Junior Matthew Roou leads the Irish attack through 10 matches this season, producing 15 points off seven goals and an assist.
• Roou’s hat trick in the win over IUPUI was the first of his career and the first of the season for the Irish.
• The junior forward finished with seven points off three goals and an assist, becoming the first Notre Dame player to record seven or more points in a match since Dave Donohue also had seven points against Marquette on Sept. 11, 2008.
• Roou currently has 18 career goals to go along with eight career assists, totaling 44 career points for the forward.