Printer-Friendly Format     E-mail this article     Senior captain Ryan Miller and the Irish will take to the pitch for the first time this season on Thursday against New Mexico.

 
Irish To Open Exhibition Play Against New Mexico In Ft. Wayne

No. 11 Notre Dame to face 10th-ranked Lobos as part of the National Soccer Festival on Thursday.

Aug. 20, 2007

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The 11th-ranked Notre Dame men's soccer team will open its 2007 season with an exhibition match against No. 10 New Mexico on Thursday, Aug. 23 in Fort Wayne, Ind. Game time is slated for 6:30 p.m. (ET). The match is part of the National Soccer Festival at the Fort Wayne Sport Club.

The Fighting Irish and Lobos have never met in a regular-season match, yet the teams played to a 1-1 tie during the 2005 preseason. New Mexico fell to Maryland, 1-0, in the NCAA title game later that season.

Notre Dame posted a 15-6-2 record last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals for the first time in program history. The Irish return a veteran and talented roster that features the 2006 M.A.C. Hermann Trophy winner Joseph Lapira (Lake Charles, La./Saint Louis Catholic). Lapira, who led the nation with 22 goals and 50 points in '06, is a preseason All-American and a candidate for the Hermann Trophy once again. Lapira was also named the 2006 BIG EAST offensive player of the year.

In all, the Irish welcome back six starters and 14 letterwinners from the 2006 squad. Three other all-BIG EAST members return for the Fighting Irish. Goalkeeper Chris Cahill (Louisville, Ky./DeSales), who returns to the Irish for a fifth season, was named to the third team, while junior defenders Matt Besler (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West) and Jack Traynor (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell North) earned second-team and honorable-mention honors, respectively. Cahill posted 11 shutouts last season and registered a final goals-against average of 0.77.

The National Soccer Festival will take place Aug. 23-25. It is tabbed as the premier college soccer preseason event and features 11 men's teams, including Indiana and Michigan State. The Fighting Irish women will face Virginia on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Three-day passes are $15.00 for adults and $10.00 for students, while a one day pass is $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for students. Log onto http://nationalsoccerfestival.fwunitedsoccer.com/ for more information.

Notre Dame will play its second and final exhibition game of the 2007 preseason on Monday, Aug. 27 against No. 20 Northwestern at Alumni Field at 7:00 p.m. (ET). All proceeds from the match against the Wildcats will benefit Grassroot Soccer, an international AIDS awareness and education organization that reaches youth in Africa through soccer clinics. Admission to the contest is $1. Further donations are welcome.

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.

--ND--