Sept. 7, 2006
South Florida vs. #8/11 Notre Dame
Friday, Sept. 8 • 7:30 p.m.
Alumni Field • Notre Dame, Ind.
DePaul vs. #8/11 Notre Dame
Sunday, Sept. 10 • 1:00 p.m.
Alumni Field • Notre Dame, Ind.
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Notre Dame opens BIG EAST Conference play this weekend with two schools that joined the league last season. The Irish host South Florida on Friday (Sept. 8) at 7:30 p.m. and DePaul comes to Alumni Field on Sunday (Sept. 10) for a 1:00 p.m. showdown. Notre Dame did not face either the Bulls or the Blue Demons during the 2005 campaign. The Fighting Irish are off to a 2-1-1 start this season and coming off a second-place finish at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic with a win over Indiana (5-4 in overtime) and a draw against Saint Louis (0-0).
ABOUT THE IRISH: Notre Dame opened the season with tournaments on consecutive weekends … the Irish placed third in the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament after dropping a 1-0 overtime decision to UAB and then defeating Creighton 4-1 … senior forward Justin McGeeney earned BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honors by collecting a career-high two goals against the Bluejays … Notre Dame then traveled to Bloomington, Ind. to take part in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic … the Fighting Irish opened up with a scoreless draw against Saint Louis before downing No. 8 Indiana 5-4 in overtime to finish second … junior forward Joseph Lapira netted a career-high four goals against the Hoosiers … he was named the Classic’s Offensive MVP and his teammates Greg Dalby and Jack Traynor joined him on the all-tournament team … Lapira was also named the National Player of the Week by Soccer America, Soccer Times and Top Drawer Soccer and was tabbed the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week along with being named to the Col lege Soccer News Team of the Week … his four tallies established an Indiana Classic record for goals in a single match … the five team goals were the most an Indiana squad had ever allowed … Lapira leads the team in goals with five and points with 10.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS SOUTH FLORIDA: The Fighting Irish and Bulls have only met one time on the pitch as South Florida defeated Notre Dame 3-0 during the 1985 season in Tampa, Fla.
SCOUTING THE BULLS: South Florida carries a 2-2-0 mark into Friday evening’s game against the Fighting Irish … midfielder Hunter West leads the Bulls with two goals, while forward Jordan Seabrook and defender Joris Claessens each have a tally … Seabrook, midfielder Rodrigo Hidalgo and defender Yohance Marshall earned all-BIG EAST honors last season … they were all named to the 2006 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team … senior defender Kareem Smith is the reigning BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week … he anchored USF’s defense, helping the Bulls to a 1-1-0 record in the Duke/adidas Classic … Smith guided the USF defense to its second shutout with a 2-0 blanking of North Carolina State on Sept. 1 … he then led a backline which held No. 14/9 Duke to just one goal … Smith, who has played every minute of every match during his four seasons at South Florida, made his 61st consecutive start against Duke on Sept. 3 … the Bulls 10 starters and 18 letterwinners from a team that went 13-6-2 last season, including a 9-2-0 BIG EAST mark, which placed them first in the Red Division before dropping a 1-0 decision to Connecticut in the BIG EAST Tournament championship game … USF is predicted to win its division again this season … the Bulls made it to the second round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament before falling to Virginia in penalty kicks, 7-6, following a 4-4 draw.
A BIG (EAST) MATCHUP: South Florida was voted by the BIG EAST coaches to win the conference’s Red Division … Notre Dame was picked to place second in the Blue Division … the Bulls are the defending Red Division champion and they were the runner-up in the BIG EAST Tournament.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: The Notre Dame-South Florida contest will feature the reigning offensive and defensive players of the week from the BIG EAST … the Irish’s Joseph Lapira garnered the offensive award after posting four goals against Indiana and the Bulls’ Kareem Smith took home the defensive honors by helping USF blank North Carolina State and held No. 14/9 Duke to just a single tally.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS DEPAUL: This will be the 17th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and DePaul … the Irish own a 15-1-0 mark against the Blue Demons … the last encounter took place during the 1996 campaign, with DePaul claiming its only victory ever against the Irish, 1-0 … the first meeting took place in 1980, a 5-0 Notre Dame triumph … the Fighting Irish have outscored the Blue Demons 80-4 in the series and have won all 10 match-ups at home.
SCOUTING THE BLUE DEMONS: DePaul enters its match against Marquette on Friday with a 1-2-2 record … the Blue Demons opened the season with a 2-0 loss to Valparaiso before defeating Loyola-Chicago 2-1 and playing UIC to a scoreless tie … last weekend, DePaul fell to Xavier, 2-1, and tied Marshall 0-0 … freshman forward Alex Mangan leads the team with two goals, while freshman midfielder/defender Patrick Hopkins has the other DePaul tally … senior defender/midfielder John Partyka leads the Blue Demons with two assists … DePaul returns seven starters and 16 letterwinners from a team that went 4-11-2 last season … the Blue Demons posted a 2-8-1 mark in their inaugural year in the BIG EAST Conference to place eighth in the Red Division … DePaul was selected by the league’s coaches to finish eighth in the division this season.
IRISH IN BIG EAST OPENERS: The Fighting Irish are 7-3-1 all-time in BIG EAST Conference openers … last season Notre Dame dropped a 2-1 decision at St. John’s to open league play … the Irish are 5-1-0 when opening the BIG EAST slate at home … the last time Notre Dame began league play at Alumni Field was with a 4-1 win over Georgetown in 2004.
IRISH THOUGHTS: Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark shares his thoughts on opening the 2006 BIG EAST slate …
On South Florida … “South Florida is a very talented team. They were one of the top teams in the BIG EAST last year and they return a lot of players to this year’s team. They have a strong Caribbean flavor to their team and they are very athletic and technical. It should be a very good game.”
On DePaul … “DePaul poses a slightly different problem to us than South Florida will. I don’t know too much about them since we didn’t play them last season, but every team in the BIG EAST is strong. It’s going to be a hard game. They were able to grind out a tie against UIC, who is nationally ranked. They are capable of causing us problems so it’s very important that we are ready to play.”
On opening the BIG EAST season … ” I feel the true measure of any team is how they do in their league. Our league is one of the strongest in the country. We have to be ready to play.”
NEXT UP: Notre Dame will hit the road for conference match-ups at Louisville and Cincinnati next weekend … the Irish and Cardinals will square off on Friday (Sept. 15) at 5:00 p.m., while the Irish and Bearcats hit the field on Sunday (Sept. 17) at 3:00 p.m.
RECAPPING SAINT LOUIS: Notre Dame played Saint Louis to a 0-0 double-overtime draw on Friday, Sept. 1 in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic at Bill Armstrong Stadium … Joseph Lapira led Notre Dame with four shots and sophomore Andrew Quinn made three saves on the night for the Irish … Saint Louis nearly cracked the scoring column in the 16th minute as the Billikens sent a corner kick into the box, which was headed off the hands of Quinn before hitting the crossbar and nearly landing in the goal before being cleared out of bounds by the Irish … Notre Dame’s best chance in the first half came with 20:30 remaining when Greg Dalby sent a pass to Ian Etherington, who put a shot on goal from 12 yards out, yet it was saved by Billiken goalkeeper Nick Billman … Billman made four saves on the night … the second half featured a couple good opportunities for both squads … Saint Louis’ Bobby Wilmering dished a pass to Dado Hamzagic, who sent the shot just wide right of the goal four minutes into the second stanza … Irish freshman Michael Thomas had a good look with 34:10 remaining but his shot was deflected by a Billiken defender over the crossbar … Ryan Miller sent a shot high off of the ensuing corner kick … Justin Morrow and Lapira nearly hooked up for the Irish in the 64th minute, yet Lapira chipped the ball over the net from close in … Notre Dame then survived a scare from Saint Louis with seven minutes remaining as a header from five yards out was saved by Quinn … Lapira had the best look for the Irish during the overtime periods as he sent a blast on goal off a rebound from a Kurt Martin shot, yet it was stopped by Billman … Notre Dame kept Saint Louis shot-less during both 10-minute overtime sessions.
RECAPPING INDIANA: Joseph Lapira put the capper on his four-goal day with a tally in the 98th minute to give the No. 18 Notre Dame a 5-4 overtime win against No. 8 Indiana on Sunday, Sept. 3 at Bill Armstrong Stadium during the final day of the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic … the match drew 5,613 fans, the third largest crowd in Indiana soccer history … a converted Indiana penalty kick by John Michael Hayden with 11.7 seconds remaining in regulation sent the game to overtime … the Hoosiers were given the penalty kick after Darren Yeagle was tripped up in the 18-yard box by Irish goalkeeper Chris Cahill, who was coming out to get the ball … Lapira ended the match as he took the ball and dribbled it around an Indiana defender before chipping it into the right side of the net … a back-and-forth first half featured five goals in a span of 14 minutes … Indiana put early pressure on the Irish, yet the Notre Dame back line kept the Hoosiers off the scoreboard w ith clears out of the box … Notre Dame’s offense was ignited midway through the first half by Lapira … he had a couple good chances then capitalized in the 30th minute as he took a ball that was sent to him and got in front of the pack of Indiana defenders and sent the shot from the right side from 18-yards out into the lower left corner of the net … the Hoosiers responded six minutes later as Kevin Robson blasted a shot from 18-yards out past a diving Cahill and into the left side of the net … fifteen seconds later, Notre Dame’s Ian Etherington gathered the ball in the box off of his chest, beat a Hoosier defender and deposited it into the back of the goal to put the Irish up 2-1 … Indiana then used back-to-back goals just 17 seconds apart to take a 3-2 lead in the 43rd minute … the first tally was a 25-yard blast from Brad Ring into the upper left corner off a past from Hayden … Yeagle went top shelf from inside the six-yard box for Indiana’s third g oal of the match … the scoring surge continued into the second half as the Fighting Irish scored less than three minutes into the second stanza … Ryan Miller sent a free kick into the box and Lapira headed it in for his second goal of the match … Lapira’s hat trick was completed in the 55th minute when he sent a shot into the upper right corner of the net.
A CLASSIC PERFORMANCE: Junior forward Joseph Lapira tallied a career-high four goals against No. 8 Indiana in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic on Sunday, Sept. 3 … the four scores established an Indiana Classic record and it was one shy of the Notre Dame record of five, achieved by Kevin Lovejoy in 1993 … by scoring three goals, Lapira became the first Irish player to register a hat trick since Devon Prescod did so versus Cleveland State in 2003.
LAPIRA HONORS: After notching four goals against Indiana on Sept. 3, Joseph Lapira was named the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic Offensive MVP and the BIG EAST Conference Offensive Player of the Week … the junior forward also garnered national recognition as he was named the National Player of the Week by Soccer America, Soccer Times and Top Drawer Soccer along with being selected to the College Soccer News Team of the Week.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Forward Joseph Lapira, midfielder Greg Dalby and defender Jack Traynor were all named to the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic All-Tournament Team … Lapira established a classic record with four goals against Indiana … his four goals also tied the mark for tallies in a single tournament … Traynor notched two assists against the Hoosiers … those were the first points of his Irish career … Dalby anchored the Notre Dame midfield by playing all 208 minutes.
AN IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY: Notre Dame’s five goal output against Indiana on Sept. 3 was the most goals scored by an Irish team since a 6-0 victory over Cleveland State in 2003 … the five tallies were the most ever against a ranked foe in program history … it marked the first time the Hoosiers had ever allowed five tallies in a single game … the nine combined goals were the most in a Notre Dame match since a 9-2 victory against Valparaiso in 1989.
TAKING DOWN A TOP-10: Notre Dame has downed two top-10 teams this season … the Irish topped No. 8 Creighton, 4-1, on Aug. 27 and then defeated No. 8 Indiana, 5-4, on Sept. 3 … the Irish have claimed a victory against a top-10 opponent in seven straight seasons … last season, the Irish took down No. 7 SMU (4-1) and No. 5 Indiana (2-0) … the victory against the Hoosiers came in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame is eighth is this week’s NSCAA and Soccer Times polls and 11th in the Soccer America and College Soccer News rankings … Notre Dame is ranked higher than any school on its 2006 ledger in the NSCAA, Soccer America and Soccer Times polls … four of the Irish’s 2006 opponents appear in the latest Soccer America rankings, Indiana (13), UAB (17), Michigan State (20), West Virginia (23) and Saint Louis (24).
NOTRE DAME PICKED SECOND IN BLUE DIVISION: Notre Dame was selected to finish second in the BIG EAST’s Blue Division behind Connecticut, while South Florida was tabbed to be the league’s Red Division champion … the Irish collected five first-place votes compared to the Huskies’ 11 … Notre Dame was tabbed to finish second in the conference’s Blue Division last year and wound up placing in a tie for third with West Virginia … the Irish did garner the division’s No. 3 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament as a result of a tie-breaker.
DALBY AND ETHERINGTON NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST TEAM: Senior midfielders Greg Dalby and Ian Etherington were named to the 2006 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team as voted on by the league’s 16 head coaches … both Dalby and Etherington were first-team all-BIG EAST selections last season.
DALBY NAMED TO M.A.C. HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST: Greg Dalby was named to the 2006 Missouri Athletic Club (M.A.C.) Hermann Trophy Watch List … the trophy is presented annually to the top male and female Division I soccer player in the United States … the 25-man watch list was compiled by a panel of coaches from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
COLLEGE SOCCER NEWS WATCH LIST: Greg Dalby was selected to the College Soccer News Pre-Season All-America first team … the senior co-captain was not the only Irish student-athlete honored by the publication, as two incoming freshmen were named to the `100 Freshmen to Watch’ list for the 2006 season … (M/F) Justin Morrow and (M/D) Michael Thomas were selected to the list and are all part of a very talented seven-man freshman class for the Irish.
FRESHMAN CLASS NATIONALLY RANKED: Notre Dame’s seven-man freshman class was ranked 16th nationally by College Soccer News … (M) John Baumgardner, (M) Dave Donohue, (M/F) Justin Morrow, (F) Tamba Samba, (D) John Schaefer, (M/D) Michael Thomas and (GK) Philip Tuttle make up the talented crop of Fighting Irish rookies.
NUMBER CHANGES: Seven members of the Fighting Irish team will be sporting new numbers for the 2006 season …
Name New Number Old NumberLuke Seibolt 1 24Kyle Dulworth 4 21Joseph Lapira 10 4Kurt Martin 11 8Bright Dike 14 18Nate Norman 19 20Alex Yoshinaga 20 19
NEW COACHES: The Fighting Irish are welcoming three new assistant coaches to the sidelines for the 2006 season … assistant coaches Jamie Clark and Chad Riley joined the program in March … Clark, the youngest son of head coach Bobby Clark, spent the last four seasons at New Mexico, where he helped guide the Lobos to the finals of the 2005 College Cup … Clark was a two-time All-American at Stanford, where he played from 1996-98 … Riley returns to Notre Dame, where he played from 2000-03 … he was a two-time all-BIG EAST performer at midfield … he was an assistant coach last season at St. John’s as the Red Storm compiled a record of 11-6-5 and made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament … Rick King is the Irish’s new volunteer assistant coach … King, a 1995 graduate of East Stroudsburg, also coaches the Indiana Invaders club soccer team.
STAY UP-TO-DATE ON NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS: To stay updated on all 26 varsity sports at Notre Dame you can log on to the official Notre Dame athletics web site at und.com or you can call the official Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000 … to access men’s soccer information on the hotline all you need to do is dial 4 from the main menu and then dial 1.
FOLLOW ALL ND HOME GAMES ONLINE: All Notre Dame home games will feature livestats available through und.com, the official web site of all 26 varsity athletic programs at the University … simply go to the men’s soccer page and click on `Schedule’ at the top of the page and find the game that is being played that day and click on `Gametracker’ to follow the game for free … live audio is also available for certain home matches.