Nov. 6, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame received the No. 12 seed for the upcoming NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship. The Fighting Irish will take on the winner of the University of Illinois-Chicago/Western Illinois match in the second round on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 7:00 p.m. at Alumni Field. This marks the sixth straight appearance for the Fighting Irish in the NCAA Tournament and the 10th trip overall in program history.
The Fighting Irish earned an NCAA Tournament seed for the third time in program history. Notre Dame was the No. 5 seed in both 2003 and 2004. There are 16 national seeds and all seeded teams receive a first-round bye.
Notre Dame finished the regular season with a 13-5-2 mark overall and an 8-4-0 record in BIG EAST play. The Irish are coming off a 2-1 double-overtime loss at Rutgers in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Championship on Saturday, Oct. 28.
Leading the way for the Irish is junior forward Joseph Lapira (Lake Charles, La./Saint Louis Catholic), who leads the nation in goals with 20 and points with 45. Lapira was named the BIG EAST Conference Offensive Player of the Year last week. Senior co-captain Greg Dalby (Poway, Calif./Poway) copped BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year honors, while senior goalkeeper Chris Cahill (Louisville, Ky./DeSales) and sophomore defenders Matt Besler (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West) and Jack Traynor (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell North) also received all-conference accolades.
Head coach Bobby Clark has led the Fighting Irish to an NCAA Tournament berth during all six of his seasons at Notre Dame. The Irish advanced to the Round of 16 for the second time under Clark last season. Notre Dame defeated Western Illinois, its possible second-round opponent this season, 2-0 in the first round and then knocked off the No. 3 seed Indiana, 2-0, in the second round. The Irish fell to Clemson, 1-0, in the third round.
Western Illinois carries a mark of 15-7-0, while UIC is 12-2-5. UIC and Western Illinois will square off on Friday, Nov. 10 at 7:00 p.m. (CT) in Chicago, Ill.
For the second straight year, the BIG EAST Conference has placed seven schools in the field of 48-teams in the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship. Since the 2001 season, the BIG EAST has averaged six teams per year in the NCAA Championship. The BIG EAST, along with Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), each put seven teams in this year’s tournament, the most of any other conference.
Duke garnered the NCAA Tournament’s top seed, while Wake Forest and SMU are the second and third seeds, respectively. The Irish faced a total of 10 teams that made this year’s field and they own a 4-4-2 mark against those squads. Notre Dame faced three other seeded teams, No. 6 West Virginia (2-1, L), No. 7 Indiana (W, 5-4, 2OT) and No. 11 Saint Louis (T, 0-0).
For more information on the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship, log on to NCAAsports.com. Stay up-to-date on the Fighting Irish men’s soccer team by logging on to und.com or by calling the Notre Dame Athletics Hotline at (574) 631-3000.