Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Match 5 Preview: Virginia

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame remains on the road with a match at ACC foe Virginia at Klöckner Stadium at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 16. The match will be streamed on ACCNX via WatchESPN.

NOTRE DAME vs. VIRGINIA
Location: Charlottesville, Virginia | Klöckner Stadium
Live Stream: ACCNX
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDMenSoccer
Game Notes: at Virginia

THE VIRGINIA SERIES

• The Irish and Cavaliers will meet on the pitch for the 20th time on Friday.

• Notre Dame trails the Cavaliers in the series with a mark of 6-9-4.

• The Irish have won two of the last three matchups, splitting the series in 2020-21 and winning the lone match during the 2021 season.

• Each of the last 10 meetings between the two sides have either been decided by one goal or a draw.

• Four of the last six matchups have gone to overtime.

• The Irish won last season’s matchup by a final score of 2-1 at Alumni Stadium on Oct. 1, 2021.

NOTEWORTHY NUMBERS

• The Irish have outshot the opposition 60-53 over three matches, recording more attempts in three out of four contests.

• Notre Dame also has earned more corners, holding a 26-20 advantage over its opponents after three games.

• The Irish have posted six assists on their five goals.

YOUTH MOVEMENT

• Of the 14 Notre Dame players that have recorded starts this season, seven have been either freshmen or sophomores.

• Seven Irish players made their collegiate debuts this season.

• Of the 18 players that have seen the pitch, 11 are either sophomores or freshmen.

• Three of Notre Dame’s four goals and four of their six assists have come from freshmen or sophomores.

BALANCED ATTACK

• Fourteen returning Irish players registered at least one point last season, as the team returns 86 points from last year.

• Ten players scored a goal through during the 2021 campaign, with six scoring multiple goals.

• Sophomore Matthew Roou is the top returning goal scorer on the 2022 squad after firing in seven goals during his debut season.

#3 RANKED FRESHMAN CLASS IN THE COUNTRY

• The Irish welcome a seven-man freshman class to South Bend which was ranked as the No. 3 class in the country by TopDrawerSoccer.

• The class features four players ranked in IMG’s top 200 rankings, each ranking in the top 100.

• The seven players come from a combined five states and one foreign country (Ghana).

• Kelvin Baffour (M), Daniel Boateng (M), Wyatt Borso (F), Owen Cornell (GK), Mitchell Ferguson (D), Sebastian Green (M) and Nicholas Legendre (F) make up the class.

• Notre Dame also welcomes Mo Williams to the team, a grad transfer defender from Seton Hall.

2021 REWIND

• The Irish are coming off one of their most successful seasons in program history.

• The 2021 squad advanced to the College Cup for the second time in history and captured the program’s first ACC Tournament title.

• Notre Dame finished the season on an eight-game unbeaten streak, going 5-0-3 during that span, all coming in postseason play.

• The Irish allowed just two goals over the final eight matches of the year.

• Notre Dame defeated Duke in the ACC Tournament final to capture the crown. The Irish didn’t allow a single goal over four matches of ACC Tournament play.

• The season came to an end in the College Cup semifinals, as the Irish fell to Clemson in penalties (5-3) in Cary, N.C.