SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s soccer team remains on the road, opening ACC play at Louisville at Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 6. The match will air on ACCNX.
NOTRE DAME vs. LOUISVILLE
Location: Louisville, Kentucky | Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium
Live Stream: ACCNX
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDMenSoccer
Game Notes: vs. Louisville
THE LOUISVILLE SERIES
• The Irish and Cardinals will meet on the pitch for the 26th time on Friday evening.
• Notre Dame leads Louisville in the all-time series at 13-10-2.
• The Irish and Cardinals faced off in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals last season, resulting in a thrilling 4-3 decision that went to Louisville.
• The Cardinals jumped out to a 3-0 lead at Alumni Stadium before the Irish scored twice in four minutes to make it 3-2 with 20 minutes remaining. Notre Dame then leveled the score at 3-3 in the 88th minute before the visitors scored the winner a minute later to advance to the semifinals.
• The Irish outshot the Cardinals by a margin of 17-8 in the contest.
ROOU LEADS THE LINE
• Senior forward Matthew Roou picked up right where he left off, scoring the first goal of the season for Notre Dame in the opener against Akron.
• Roou converted a penalty drawn by Bryce Boneau in the 51st minute.
• The talisman now has 54 career points off 22 goals and 10 assists.
• Last season Roou was elite in attack, scoring 10 goals and registering three assists, marking his best year in an Irish jersey.
2023 SEASON REWIND
• Notre Dame had one of its most successful seasons in program history last year, finishing with an appearance in the College Cup Final.
• The Irish were dominant in the ACC, claiming the Coastal Division crown and earning the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament after going undefeated in regular season conference play with a record of 6-0-2.
• Notre Dame finished the season with a record of 13-3-6 but two of the draws resulted in the Irish advancing in the NCAA Tournament in shootouts.
• The Fighting Irish defeated Kentucky (2-0) in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament before moving past Western Michigan (0-0) and Indiana (1-1) to make the College Cup.
• Notre Dame then defeated Oregon State (1-0) in the semifinal before falling to Clemson (1-2) in the final.
BK THE GK
• Blake Kelly has already made an impact just two matches into his freshman season as the goalkeeper of the Fighting Irish.
• Kelly made eight saves in the draw at Indiana, the most of any ACC keeper this season.
• The goalie started the season opener, marking the first time a true freshman goalie has started an opener for the Irish in over 30 seasons.
2024 CAPTAIN
• Bryce Boneau will serve as the captain for this year’s Fighting Irish team.
• Boneau is a senior midfielder from Texas and was selected to the 2024 ACC Preseason Watch List.
• Boneau scored four goals and added seven assists last season as a center midfielder and has four goals and 11 assists in his Notre Dame career.
• Boneau was selected by Nashville SC in the third round of the 2024 MLS SuperDraft with the 75th overall pick.
BALANCED ATTACK
• Fourteen returning Irish players registered at least one point in their Notre Dame career, as the team returns 85 points from last year.
• Ten players that scored a goal during the 2023 campaign are back on this year’s team.
• Senior Matthew Roou is the top returning goal scorer on the 2024 squad after firing in a career-high 10 goals during his junior campaign.
• The three Notre Dame goals over the first two matches during the 2024 season have come from three different players (Roou, Flanagan, Genenbacher).
HERE TO ASSIST
• The Irish dished out 48 assists last season, ranking sixth in the country for total assists.
• The 48 assists were the most an Irish team has produced in a season since the turn of the century.
• KK Baffour and Bryce Boneau led the squad in assists with seven each. Both return to the 2024 roster for the Irish.
• Baffour and Boneau each logged an assist in the draw at Indiana.
FRESH FACES
• Notre Dame’s incoming freshman class is ranked No. 3 nationally by TopDrawerSoccer.
• The Irish welcome six freshman to the 2024 squad, totaling a 30-man roster.
• The six freshman are Jacob Bartlett (M), Stevie Dunphy (F), Brady Hilden (M), Blake Kelly (GK), Will Schroeder (M) and Ian Shaul (M).
• Also joining the team is goalkeeper Collin Travasos, who is a grad transfer. Travasos spent last season at UNC and prior to that completed his undergrad at Cal.
• Five of the six freshman have already logged minutes over the first two games of the season.