SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 10 Irish cap off their six-match homestand to open the season with an 8 p.m. ET tilt against Michigan State at Alumni Stadium on Tuesday, Sept. 12. The match will air on ACCN.
No. 10 NOTRE DAME vs. MICHIGAN STATE
Location: South Bend, Indiana | Alumni Stadium
TV: ACCN
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDMenSoccer
Game Notes: vs. Michigan State
MICHIGAN STATE SERIES
• The Irish and Spartans will meet on the pitch for the 33rd time on Tuesday evening.
• Notre Dame leads Michigan State in the all-time series at 18-8-6
• Notre Dame defeated the Spartans in East Lansing in the most recent matchup, coming away with a 3-2 victory on .
• In last season’s meeting between the two sides Paddy Burns and Sebastian Green each scored a goal to go along with an MSU own goal. Bryce Boneau added a career-high two assists.
LAST TIME OUT
• Notre Dame opened ACC play with a thrilling 3-2 win over Clemson at Alumni Stadium to improve to 4-0-1 on the season.
• Eno Nto and Bryce Boneau each scored in the first half before the Tigers drew level at 2-2 right before the half.
• Daniel Russo provided the game winner in the 50th minute off a sublime free kick on the edge of the box.
• Notre Dame’s three goals are the most the Irish have ever scored in a match against Clemson, spanning 14 contests.
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 all five matches in 2023.
•All five opening goals have come in the first 25 minutes of play.
•The quickest goal to start a match came from Eno Nto in the 8th minute in the win over IUPUI.
•The Irish have not trailed at any point through five matches this season.
DOMINATING DEFENSE
• The Fighting Irish have allowed just three goals through five matches during the 2023 campaign.
• The 0.6 goals against average ranks tied for first in the ACC and 17th in the country.
• Since allowing a goal to No. 2 Indiana in the 28th minute in the season opener, the Irish went gone 376 minutes without allowing a score before giving up a score to Clemson in the 44th minute.
• Opponents have registered a combined 14 shots on target in 2023.
BALANCED ATTACK
• Six different players have scored in Notre Dame’s five matches to open the 2013 season.
• Matthew Roou paces the Irish with five goals.
• Eno Nto has added two goals while KK Baffour, Paddy Burns, Bryce Boneau and Daniel Russo have each added one.
ROOU’S RUN OF FORM
• Junior Matthew Roou leads the Irish attack through five matches this season, producing 11 points off five goals and an assist.
• All 11 points have come over the last four matches, all victories for the Fighting Irish.
• 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 16 career goals to go along with eight career assists, totaling 40 career points for the forward.
EXPERIENCE IN GOAL
• 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 46 career starts while appearing in 47 matches over his previous three seasons in South Bend.
• Dowd has amassed 111 career saves and has recorded 16 clean sheets over his time in South Bend, including three in the first five matches of the 2023 campaign.
•The senior made a huge save in the 88th minute of the win over Clemson to keep the 3-2 advantage intact.