SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Clemson Tigers will meet for the first time since the 2023 College Cup Final at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 27 at Alumni Stadium. The match will be broadcast on ESPNU.
No. 17 NOTRE DAME vs. No. 12 CLEMSON
Location: South Bend, Indiana | Alumni Stadium
TV: ESPNU
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDMenSoccer
Game Notes: vs. Clemson
THE CLEMSON SERIES
• The Irish and Tigers will meet on the pitch for the 16th time on Friday and for the third time in the last two seasons.
• Notre Dame holds a lead in the all-time series with a record of 7-6-2.
• The Irish and Tigers played twice last season, once in the regular season and once in the College Cup Final.
• After the Irish won the regular season matchup by a score of 3-2 at Alumni Stadium, the Tigers got the upper hand in the title game to come away with the 2-1 decision.
• In the regular season matchup, Eno Nto, Bryce Boneau and Daniel Russo each scored for the Irish in the win, with Russo providing the winner off an excellent free kick in the 50th minute.
• The Irish outshot the Tigers 15-9 in the title game, including a 5-3 edge for shots on target but Clemson came away with the 2-1 win.
ROOU LEADS THE LINE
• Senior forward Matthew Roou leads the Fighting Irish in scoring this season with seven goals on the year.
• Roou is in the best form of his career, scoring hat tricks in each of his last two outings, becoming the first Notre Dame men’s soccer player since Kevin Lovejoy in 1979 to record multiple hat tricks in a season.
• The senior is one of two players at the men’s DI level to register two hat tricks during the 2024 season, joining Massachusetts’ Alec Hughes.
• Roou scored a goal from the spot in the season opener against Akron.
• The talisman now has 66 career points off 28 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.
REGULAR SEASON DOMINANCE
• Dating back to a match on Oct. 18, 2022, Notre Dame has lost just twice in regular season matches entering Friday’s matchup.
• The Irish have a record of 17-2-8 over the 27-match span.
• During the impressive run, Notre Dame has recorded 10 clean sheets.
• Notre Dame is unbeaten in road games over the stretch with a record of 5-0-5.
2024 CAPTAIN
• Bryce Boneau is 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.
• The skipper is off to a fast start this season, recording a goal and and a team-high four assists from the midfield through seven matches.
• The senior has recorded a goal or assist in five of the last six games.
• Boneau scored four goals and added seven assists last season as a center midfielder and has four goals and 14 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
• Six different players scored the first six goals for the Irish this season (Roou, Flanagan, Genenbacher, Boneau, J. Bartlett, Spicer).
• 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.
HERE TO ASSIST
• Notre Dame ranks fourth in the ACC in assists per game, averaging 2.14 through seven matches.
• Bryce Boneau paces the Irish with four assists and KK Baffour and Sebastian Green have added three each.
• All three of Green’s assists came in the win over Chicago State, tying the junior for the national lead for most assists in a game at the men’s DI level.
• The Irish dished out 48 assists last season, ranking sixth in the country for total assists.
STRONG STARTS
• Notre Dame has made a habit of jumping out to an early lead this season, as the Irish have scored the opening goal in six of seven matches in 2024.
• Three of the six opening goals came within the first 20 minutes of play.
•The quickest goal to start a match came from Bryce Boneau in the seventh minute in the win over Louisville.
BK THE GK
• Blake Kelly has already made an impact in 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 freshman followed it up with his first career win in the ACC opener against Louisville, making four saves while allowing just one goal.
• 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.
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.