July 25, 2001
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The Notre Dame men’s soccer team, under first-year head coach Bobby Clark, has been picked to finish sixth in the 2001 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll by a vote of the league’s 13 head coaches. Connecticut, the defending NCAA champion, has been chosen to capture the BIG EAST regular season title.
Junior foward Erich Braun (Frankfurt, Germany), the 1999 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year, is listed on the 12-member preseason all-conference team.
Notre Dame begins its seventh season of competition in the BIG EAST Conference. The Irish, who finished the 2000 campaign with an overall 7-8-2 mark and 4-7-0 league record, return eight starters and 19 letterwinners from last year’s squad. Notre Dame finished ninth a year ago in the final regular season standings and missed advancing to the eight-team league championship for just the second time since becoming a conference member in 1995.
Braun was the second-leading scorer in 2000, despite missing four games with injuries, as he netted four goals and dished off three assists. He led the Irish in scoring as a freshman with nine goals and six assists (24 points) and was the first Irish player to capture one of the BIG EAST’s major player-of-the-year awards when he was named the league’s rookie of the year in ’99. He finished third in the conference in scoring and ranked seventh in overall games in that category. In 11 conference matches, he tallied seven goals and dished off three assists for 17 points to the set the league’s rookie single-season scoring record.
Notre Dame opens up the 2001 campaign on Sat., Sept. 1 when the Irish play host to Villanova at 7:00 p.m.
2001 BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll
| 2000 Record | 2000 Finish | |||
| School | Points | BIG EAST | Overall | Regular Season |
| 1. Connecticut | (11) 143 | 8-1-2 | 20-3-2 | 1st |
| 2. St. John’s | 129 | 8-2-1 | 14-5-2 | 2nd |
| 3. Rutgers | (2) 123 | 5-5-1 | 10-9-1 | 6th (tied) |
| 4. Boston College | 99 | 7-3-1 | 12-7-1 | 3rd |
| 5. Seton Hall | 98 | 6-5-0 | 13-7-0 | 5th |
| 6. Notre Dame | 94 | 4-7-0 | 7-8-2 | 9th |
| 7. Georgetown | 89 | 5-5-1 | 9-8-1 | 6th (tied) |
| 8. Syracuse | 66 | 4-5-2 | 8-9-2 | 8th |
| 9. Pittsburgh | 54 | 7-4-0 | 13-5-0 | 4th |
| 10. West Virginia | 44 | 1-9-1 | 4-13-1 | 12th |
| 11. Providence | 32 | 3-7-1 | 4-13-1 | 10th |
| 12. Virginia Tech | 22 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 13. Villanova | 21 | 2-7-2 | 6-9-2 | 11th |
Preseason Awards
Offensive Player of the Year: Casey Schmidt (Boston College)
Defensive Player of the Year: Chris Gbandi (Connecticut)
Goalkeeper of the Year: *Byrheem Hancock (Connecticut)
Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Guy Abrahamson (Rutgers)* — MF
David Boutilier (Rutgers) — B
Erich Braun (Notre Dame) — F
Cesar Cuellar (Connecticut) – F
Chris Gbandi (Connecticut)* – MF
Bryheem Hancock (Connecticut)* — GK
Shalrie Joseph (St. John’s) — MF
Dennis Ludwig (Rutgers) — F
Jeff Matteo (St. John’s) — MF
Kenny Owens (Georgetown) — MF/B
Casey Schmidt (Boston College) — F
Greg Strohmann (Seton Hall) — F
*unanimous selection