SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame opens up the home portion of the ACC schedule with a showdown against No. 12 Louisville at Alumni Stadium at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 19. Admission to the match is free and it will be streamed on ACCNX.
NOTRE DAME vs. LOUISVILLE
Location: South Bend, Indiana | Alumni Stadium
Admission: FREE
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 27th time on Friday evening.
• Notre Dame leads Louisville in the all-time series at 14-10-2.
• The Irish have a record of 10-1-0 when playing Louisville in South Bend.
• Notre Dame won the most recent installment in the series, defeating the Cardinals by a score of 2-1 last season in Louisville.
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE
• Through five matches the Irish have allowed just three goals this season, one each against Michigan, Indiana and Omaha.
• Notre Dame posted back-to-back shutouts against IU Indy and No. 14 Oregon State.
• The Irish then opened ACC play with a clean sheet in the win over Pitt in Pittsburgh. Notre Dame allowed just two shots on target over the 90 minutes of play, frustrating the Panther’s attack.
• The Irish enter Friday’s matchup ranked third in the ACC in goals allowed and 16th in the country in the statistical category (0.5).
BK THE GK
• Blake Kelly has gotten off to a great start to his sophomore season in goal for the Irish, posting three clean sheets and allowing just three goals over four matches.
• The shot stopper ranks third in the ACC in saves per game with a mark of 4.0 per outing.
• The sophomore has posted an incredible save percentage of .870 through the first six matches of the year, ranking third in the ACC and 24th in the country.
• Kelly started 12 matches for the Irish in 2024 and became the first true freshman goalie to start the season opener in the last 30 years for the program.
SET-PIECE SUCCESS
• The Fighting Irish have already scored four goals off set pieces to start the 2025 season.
• Two of the goals have come from free kicks, as center backs Mitch Ferguson and Diego Ochoa found the back of the net against Oregon State and Michigan, respectively.
• The third and fourth goals came off a corner as a Nolan Spicer volley was redirected in from Luke Burton for the opening goal in the win over Pitt and Martin Von Thun headed in a Nolan Spicer corner.
BALANCED ATTACK
• Five players have scored the seven goals for the Irish this season, as Luke Burton and Wyatt Borso have each scored twice while defenders Diego Ochoa, Mitch Ferguson and Martin Vont Thun each found the back of the net once.
• Ten returning Irish players registered at least one point in their Notre Dame career, as the team returns 54 points from last year.
• Nine players that scored a goal during the 2024 campaign are back on this year’s team.
• Junior Jack Flanagan is the top returning goal scorer on the 2025 squad after firing in a career-high four goals during his sophomore campaign.
2025 CAPTAINS
• Mitch Ferguson and Wyatt Lewis will serve as the captains for this year’s Fighting Irish team and Blake Kelly will take on the role of assistant captain.
• Ferguson has appeared in 56 games over his Notre Dame career, scoring four goals and adding seven assists from the center back position.
• Lewis enters his third season with the Fighting Irish and has three goals and four assists as a holding midfielder.
• Kelly started 12 matches as a freshman in 2024, posting a record of 4-3-5 while recording 26 saves.
FRESH FACES
• The Irish welcome six freshman to the 2025 squad, totaling a 27-man roster.
• The six freshman are Karson Baquero (M), Luke Burton (F), Diego Green (M), Cole Kowalski (GK), Alex Rosin (D) and Ren Sylvester (F).
• Also joining the team are grad transfers Diego Ochoa (D) and Martin Von Thun (D). Ochoa joins the Irish from Boston College and Von Thun spent the last four seasons at Holy Cross (Ind.).
THE CHAD RILEY ERA
• McFarland Family Head Men’s Soccer Coach Chad Riley is in his eighth season in charge of the Notre Dame men’s soccer program in 2025.
• Riley became the first head coach in program history to lead the Fighting Irish to two College Cup appearances, coming during the 2021 and 2023 seasons.
• Notre Dame has captured both an ACC regular season and tournament title under his direction, both firsts in program history.