Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Match 8 Preview: Kalamazoo

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Irish continue their homestand with a non-conference matchup against Kalamazoo at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at Alumni Stadium. The match will be streamed on ACCNX via WatchESPN.

NOTRE DAME vs. KALAMAZOO
Location: South Bend, Indiana | Alumni Stadium
Live Stream: ACCNX
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDMenSoccer
Game Notes: vs. Kalamazoo

THE KALAMAZOO SERIES

• The Irish and Hornets will meet on the pitch for the third time on Tuesday evening.

• The Irish and Kalamazoo have each won once in the all-time series.

• Notre Dame won the initial matchup in South Bend by a score of 11-1 in 1979 before Kalamazoo recorded a 1-0 win in Kalamazoo a year later.

THE LAST TIME OUT

• The Irish suffered a hard-fough 1-0 defeat at the hands of North Carolina on Saturday evening inside Alumni Stadium.

• The game’s lone goal came from a penalty decision in the 30th minute.

• ND outshot the Tar Heels 10-6, including a margin of 9-2 in the final 45 minutes of play. In the 89th minute the Irish struck the bar but were unable to produce the equalizer.

BAFFOUR’S BUZZER BEATER

• Notre Dame escaped Charlottesville with a thrilling 2-1 road win over Virginia in ACC play on Friday, Sept. 16.

• KK Baffour provided the heroics, scoring the match winner with 3.1 seconds left after Matthew Roou played him through on goal just before crossing the midfield line.

• Baffour’s goal was the first of his collegiate career.

• Notre Dame has now won three of the last four matchups against Virginia and the last 11 matches have been decided by a goal or ended in a draw.

YOUTH MOVEMENT

• Of the 15 Notre Dame players that have recorded starts this season, eight have been either freshmen or sophomores.

• Seven Irish players made their collegiate debuts this season.

• Of the 19 players that have seen the pitch, 11 are either sophomores or freshmen.

#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.