After finishing up a five-match homestand with a win over Boston College on Sept. 28, No. 20 Notre Dame makes the short trek west to take on Northwestern. The contest is set to start at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Oct. 2. The match will be streamed live on BTN Plus via the BTN2GO app.
NOTRE DAME VS. BOSTON COLLEGE
Location: Evanston, Illinois
Live Stream: BTN Plus
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDMenSoccer
Game Notes: vs. Northwestern
THE NORTHWESTERN SERIES
• The Irish and Wildcats will meet on the pitch for the 25th time on Tuesday evening.
• The Irish have a commanding lead in the series at 14-5-5.
• Notre Dame is 4-4-3 against Wildcats when playing at Northwestern.
• The Irish won the most recent meeting in the series by a score of 2-1 on Oct. 3, 2017 at Alumni Stadium
• Six of the last eight matchups have went to overtime.
AHEAD OF THE GAME
• The Irish have played a combined 829 minutes and 26 seconds (13:49:26) over the first nine matches of the season and have trailed for a total of 100 seconds (1:40).
• Notre Dame has yet to allow a goal in the first half on any fixture this season and the winning goals in the losses to No. 2 Indiana and No. 3 UNC came in overtime.
• The only time the Irish trailed in regulation occurred when Michigan State scored in the 89th minute (88:20).
SET-PIECE SUCCESS
• Seven of the 15 Irish goals scored this season have come directly from set pieces.
• Patrick Berneski has done the bulk of the damage, scoring five headers off set pieces.
• The other set-piece goal came from a sublime Felicien Dumas free kick that proved to be the game winner against Syracuse.
• Dumas has supplied the assist in five of the set-piece goals.
THE SKIPPER DOES IT ALL
• Senior center back Patrick Berneski has gotten off to an impressive start in his senior season after earning the captain position prior to the season.
• Berneski has scored in five of nine matches this season, leading the team with five goals.
• The senior’s five goals are the most scored this season by any ACC defender.
HERE TO ASSIST
• Senior full back Felicien Dumas has been a weapon for the Irish this season in the attack, as the set-piece specialist has six assists and a goal in 2018.
• The defender ranks first in the ACC and ninth in the county for total assists with six.
• Dumas has assisted on four of Berneski’s five set-piece goals.
• The senior also scored one of the best goals of the season, striking a perfect free kick into the top right corner of the goal in what proved to be the game winner against Syracuse.
• Dumas was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week on following his performance at Syracuse.
BEST ATTACKING PERFORMANCE OF THE SEASON
• The Irish are coming off their highest scoring match of the season, defeating previously unbeaten #22 Xavier by a final score of 4-1.
• The four goals came in under 72 minutes of play, as the match was called early due to lightning.
• Notre Dame scored twice in the first half courtesy of goals from Aiden McFadden and Thomas Ueland. The Irish added two second-half goals from Jack Lynn and Patrick Berneski.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
• Of Notre Dame’s 15 goals scored, 11 have come in the second half this season.
• All three of Notre Dame’s goals in the ACC-opening win over Syracuse came in the final 45 minutes of play.
• Just as impressive, the Irish defense has not allowed a goal in the first half in any match this season, spanning 360 minutes.
THE CHAD RILEY ERA UNDERWAY
• Chad Riley was named the sixth head coach in program history on Jan. 4, 2018.
• Riley is a 2004 graduate of Notre Dame, where he was a standout on the soccer team under the previous head coach Bobby Clark.
• Riley was a three-time All-BIG EAST selection during his time with the Irish and was named the skipper of the squad in 2003.
• Prior to taking the reins of the Notre Dame program, Riley spent the last five seasons as the head coach of Dartmouth.
• Dartmouth won the Ivy League Championship in each of the last four seasons under Riley’s direction, earning four trips to the NCAA Championship.