NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame opens the 2021 season with an intrastate rivalry as it welcomes No. 2 Indiana to Alumni Stadium to start the season. The match is slated to start at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Aug. 27 and will air on ACCNX.
NOTRE DAME vs. No. 2 INDIANA
Location: Notre Dame, Indiana | Alumni Stadium
Live Stream: ACCNX
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDMenSoccer
Game Notes: vs. Indiana
THE INDIANA SERIES
• Notre Dame and Indiana will face each other on Friday evening for the 43rd time in series history.
• The two sides meet nearly ever season but did not play during the 2020-21 campaign due to adjusted schedules for COVID-19.
• The Irish are 10-29-3 against the Hoosiers in the all-time series.
• Despite trailing in the series, the Irish have found recent success against the Hoosiers, recording a mark of 5-5-2 in the last 12 meetings dating back to the 2010 season.
• The Irish battled the Hoosiers to a standstill in Bloomington in the most recent matchup, recording a 1-1 draw on Sept. 17, 2019.
• Ben Giacobello scored his first career goal in the 2019 matchup to help the Irish earn the draw.
OWNING THE OPENERS
• Notre Dame has historically gotten off to a good start to its seasons, posting a record of 27-9-8 in its season openers.
• The Irish are unbeaten in their last 10 openers to a season, going 6-0-4.
• Notre Dame has outscored the opposition by a combined score of 15-5 over that stretch.
• Notre Dame has been even better in home openers, recording a mark of 32-8-4.
• The Irish are unbeaten under Chad Riley in both home openers and season openers, posting a record of 2-0-1 in each.
• Last season the Irish won the season-opener at Alumni Stadium, defeating a quality Kentucky side by a score of 1-0. Daniel Russo scored the winner for the Irish in his first collegiate game.
LYNN LEADS THE LINE
• Forward Jack Lynn enters this senior campaign as the talisman for the Fighting Irish after an impressive first three years at the program.
• Lynn was Notre Dame’s representative on the ACC Preseason Watch List.
• Lynn paces all active Irish players in career goals with 21 over his three years at Notre Dame.
• In the final match of the 2020 fall regular season, Lynn recorded the first hat trick of his career, scoring three times in the first half in the 4-1 win over Louisville.
• The forward enjoyed a breakout 2019 campaign, scoring a career-high 10 goals to lead the Irish attack.
• Lynn has led the Irish in goals and points in each of the last two seasons.
2021 CAPTAINS
• Mohamed Omar and Philip Quinton will share the skipper role for the Fighting Irish for the 2021 season.
• Omar has been a staple as a central defensive midfielder over the past three seasons. His 2020-21 campaign was cut short due to an injury that sidelined him for almost all of the spring.
• Omar has racked up 46 appearances for the Irish over the past three seasons, scoring two goals and adding two assists in his career.
• Quinton has been a mainstay in Notre Dame’s defense over the past three seasons at the center back position.
• The 6-foot-6 defender has anchored the Irish back line the last two seasons. Quinton has also managed to record two assists in his collegiate career.
#5 RANKED FRESHMAN CLASS IN THE COUNTRY
• The Irish welcome a nine-man freshman class to South Bend which was ranked as the No. 5 class in the country by TopDrawerSoccer.
• The class features four players ranked in IMG’s top 200 rankings.
• The nine players come from a combined six states and one foreign country (England).
• Mateo Acosta (D), Bryce Boneau (M), Liam Egan (GK), Kyle Genenbacher (D), Eno Nto (F), Josh Ramsey (D), Matthew Roou (F), Michael Rossi (F) and Cleveland Sellers IV (D) make up the class.
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