SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 5 Irish wrap up the regular season with another ranked ACC matchup at Alumni Stadium at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 27 as they take on No. 20 Pitt. The game will air on ACCNX.
No. 5 NOTRE DAME vs. No. 20 PITT
Location: South Bend, Indiana | Alumni Stadium
TV: ACCNX
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDMenSoccer
Game Notes: vs. Pitt
THE PITT SERIES
• The Irish and Panthers will meet on the pitch for the 33rd time on Friday.
• Notre Dame holds a decisive lead in the all-time series with a record of 20-7-5.
• The Irish are 11-3-2 when playing Pitt in South Bend.
• The two sides played once last season, with the match ending in a 1-1 draw at Pitt.
• Daniel Russo scored the equalizer for Notre Dame in the 58th minute.
LAST TIME OUT
• Notre Dame wrapped up the ACC Coastal division title in a 1-1 draw at No. 3 Wake Forest last Friday.
• The Irish leveled the match in the 85th minute off a perfectly executed set piece as Ethan O’Brien’s delivery connected with Daniel Russo, who scored with a diving header.
DOWD DELIVERS
•Bryan Dowd has been masterful in goal this season for the Irish, making a claim as one of the top goalies in the country despite playing some of the best attacking units in the nation.
• The senior ranks fourth in the country in shutouts (7), fifth in save percentage (.860) and fifth in goals against average (.571).
• The shot stopper has 55 career starts while appearing in 56 matches over his previous three seasons in South Bend.
• Dowd has amassed 149 career saves and has recorded 20 clean sheets over his time in South Bend.
•The senior produced his best performance of his career in the 0-0 draw at Akron, making a career-high 12 saves to keep the clean sheet intact.
• The 12 saves are the most by an ACC goalkeeper this season and the third most of any goalie at the DI level.
TOP OF THE TABLE
• The Irish captured their second ACC Coastal Division title in program history after the draw against No. 3 Wake Forest. The program now has three ACC regular season titles, also winning in 2014 and 2013.
• Notre Dame is off to its best start in ACC play in program history through seven games, totaling 17 points with a record of 5-0-2 to lead the league.
• A win or draw against Pitt would give the Irish their first unbeaten season in ACC play in program history and its first undefeated regular-season conference record since going 7-0-4 in the Big East in 2011.
• Notre Dame has scored 13 goals in its seven matches, which are tied for the second most in the league.
• The Irish have a +7 goal differential through seven ACC matches, which ranks second in the conference.
ROOU’S RUN OF FORM
• Junior Matthew Roou leads the Irish attack through 15 matches this season, producing 21 points off nine goals and three assists.
• The junior ranks tied for second in the ACC in both points (21) and points per match (1.50) while ranking third in goals per match (0.64).
• Roou’s hat trick in the win over IUPUI was the first of his career and the first of the season for the Irish.
• The junior forward finished with seven points off three goals and an assist, becoming the first Notre Dame player to record seven or more points in a match since Dave Donohue also had seven points against Marquette on Sept. 11, 2008.
• Roou currently has 20 career goals to go along with 10 career assists, totaling 50 career points for the forward.
STRONG STARTS
• Notre Dame has made it a habit of jumping out to an early lead this season, as the Irish have scored the opening goal in 10 of 15 matches in 2023.
• Nine of the 10 opening goals have come in the first 45 minutes of play.
•The quickest goal to start a match came from Matthew Roou in the 4th minute in the win over Clemson.
• The Fighting Irish are unbeaten when scoring the opening goal over the last 30 occurrences, posting a record of 29-0-1 spanning back to the early stages of the 2021 season.
FIGHT TO THE FINISH
• As good as the Irish have been at the beginning of matches, they have been even better in the final 45 minutes of play.
• Notre Dame has outscored its opponents by a combined score of 16-2 in second halves this season.
• The first goal allowed came via a deflected own goal in the win over Virginia and the second came in a 1-1 draw on the road against No. 3 Wake Forest.
SET-PIECE SUCCESS
• ND has excelled on both ends of the field on set pieces during the 2023 season.
•The Irish defense has allowed just one goal off a set piece all season while in attack 12 of the team’s 30 goals have come via a set piece.
• Notre Dame has scored off four free kicks, three corners, three penalty kicks and two from throw-ins.
DOMINATING DEFENSE
• The Fighting Irish have allowed just eight goals through 15 matches during the 2023 campaign.
• The 0.533 goals against average ranks first in the ACC and second in the country.
• With eight shutouts over 15 matches, the Irish are eighth in the country in shutout percentage with a mark 53.3.
• Notre Dame has given up just one or no goals in 14 of 15 matches this season.