SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 6 Irish head travel to Winston-Salem for one of the highest anticipated matches of the regular season, as they will face No. 3 Wake Forest at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 20. The game will air on ACCN.
No. 6 NOTRE DAME vs. No. 3 WAKE FOREST
Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina | Spry Stadium
TV: ACCN
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDMenSoccer
Game Notes: vs. Wake Forest
THE WAKE FOREST SERIES
• The Irish and Demon Deacons will meet on the pitch for the 15th time in program history on Friday evening.
• Notre Dame trails in the all-time series with a record of 5-7-2, however, the Irish have won two of the last three meetings.
• The last time the two sides faced each other came in the 2021 NCAA Tournament Round of 16, as the Irish defeated the Demon Deacons by a score of 2-0 at Alumni Stadium.
• Matthew Roou and Mohammed Omar each scored in the win and Bryan Dowd recorded the clean sheet.
LAST TIME OUT
• Notre Dame turned in a complete performance in a 3-0 win at Michigan.
• The Irish recorded their eighth clean sheet of the year and fourth straight shutout.
• Eno Nto, KK Baffour and Matthew Roou each scored in the victory.
• The three-goal win over Michigan marked the larges Notre Dame win in the series since defeating the Wolverines 3-0 during the 2013 season.
DOWD DELIVERS
•Bryan Dowd has been masterful in goal this season for the Irish, making a claim as one of the top goalies in the country despite playing some of the best attacking units in the nation.
• The senior ranks second in the country in shutouts (7), third in save percentage (.863) and sixth in goals against average (.538).
• The shot stopper has 54 career starts while appearing in 55 matches over his previous three seasons in South Bend.
• Dowd has amassed 144 career saves and has recorded 20 clean sheets over his time in South Bend.
•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.
TOP OF THE TABLE
• The Irish are off to its best start in ACC play in program history through six games, totaling 16 points with a record of 5-0-1 to lead the league.
• Notre Dame has scored 12 goals in its six matches, which are the most of any league team.
• The Irish have a +7 goal differential through six ACC matches, which is the best in the conference.
• With the win over Virginia Tech and Virginia’s win over Pitt on Friday, Oct. 13, the Irish clinched a top-2 seed in the ACC Tournament and at least a share of the ACC Coastal division regular season title.
ROOU’S RUN OF FORM
• Junior Matthew Roou leads the Irish attack through 14 matches this season, producing 21 points off nine goals and three assists.
• The junior ranks second in the ACC in both goals per game (.69) and points per game (1.62).
• 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 20 career goals to go along with 10 career assists, totaling 50 career points for the forward.
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 10 of 14 matches in 2023.
• Nine of the 10 opening goals have come in the first 45 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 30 occurrences, posting a record of 29-0-1 spanning back to the early stages of the 2021 season.
FIGHT TO THE FINISH
• As good as the Irish have been at the beginning of matches, they have been even better in the final 45 minutes of play.
• Notre Dame has outscored its opponents by a combined score of 15-1 in second halves this season.
• The lone goal allowed came via a deflected own goal in the win over Virginia.
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 11 of the team’s 29 goals have come via a set piece.
• Notre Dame has scored off three free kicks, three corners, three penalty kicks and two from throw-ins.
DOMINATING DEFENSE
• The Fighting Irish have allowed just seven goals through 14 matches during the 2023 campaign.
• The 0.5 goals against average ranks first in the ACC and fourth in the country.
• With eight shutouts over 14 matches, the Irish are eighth in the country in shutout percentage with a mark 57.1.
• Notre Dame has given up just one or no goals in 13 of 14 matches this season.
• With three straight shutouts coming into Friday, Notre Dame hasn’t allowed a goal over the last 415:37 of play.