Sept. 2, 2010
Game Notes
#5 UCLA (0-0-0) vs. #18 NOTRE DAME (0-0-0)
Friday, Sept. 3 • 5:00 p.m. (ET)
adidas/IU Credit Union Classic
Bill Armstrong Stadium • Bloomington, Ind.
UCLA Leads Series 3-1-0
Gametracker on UND.com
CALIFORNIA (0-0-0) at #18 NOTRE DAME (0-0-0)
Sunday, Sept. 5 • 7:00 p.m. (ET)
adidas/IU Credit Union Classic
Alumni Stadium • Notre Dame, Ind.
Notre Dame Leads Series 1-0-0
Video Broadcast and Gametracker on UND.com
SETTING THE STAGE ...
The No. 18 Notre Dame men's soccer team will open the 2010 campaign against No. 5 UCLA on Friday, Sept. 3 at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington, Ind. The Fighting Irish and Bruins are slated for a 5:00 p.m. (ET) kickoff at Armstrong Stadium. A change to this year's format is that Notre Dame will return home to conclude the tournament as the Irish play host to California on Sunday, Sept. 5 at Alumni Stadium. The Irish and Golden Bears will square off at 7:00 p.m. (ET). Sunday will be `Pack the House' night at Alumni Stadium as the Irish open their home schedule in one of the finest collegiate soccer facilities in the country.
FOLLOW THE GAMES ...
Live stats for both matches will be available through Gametracker on UND.com ... go to the Notre Dame men's soccer page and click on `Schedule' and select the game to follow ... UND.com will have a live video broadcast of Sunday's match against California ... fans can also sign up for `Irish Alert' on UND.com to receive text message score updates ... updates and results can also be found on Twitter at UND_com.
ABOUT THE IRISH ...
Notre Dame went 3-0 in exhibition play ... the Irish defeated UIC 3-2 at Alumni Stadium and then took care of No. 10 Ohio State (2-0) and IPFW (3-0) at the National Soccer Festival in Ft. Wayne, Ind. ... last season, Notre Dame posted an 11-8-4 record ... the Irish were runners-up in the BIG EAST Blue Division with an 8-3 mark ... the Fighting Irish were finalists at the BIG EAST Championship ... Notre Dame defeated Green Bay 2-1 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling at Northwestern, 3-1, in the second round ... that marked Notre Dame's ninth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament ... the Irish return five starters and 12 letter winners from last season's squad ... junior central defender Aaron Maund was voted the BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year by the league's head coaches ...Maund was joined on the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team by his sophomore teammate Dillon Powers, a midfielder ... Maund and Powers also earned preseason All-America honors from Soccer America ... head coach Bobby Clark is in his 10th season with the Irish ... he has a 117-53-26 (.663) record during his Notre Dame tenure.
A MARQUEE EVENT ...
The adidas/IU Credit Union Classic annually showcases some of the nation's top teams ... this year's event features three teams ranked in the Soccer America preseason top-25 poll, UCLA (#11), Notre Dame (#18), Indiana (#21) ... this is the 28th year that Indiana has hosted the classic ... the eventual NCAA champion has played in the event nine times, with the Hoosiers capturing six of those titles.
IRISH HISTORY AT THE ADIDAS/IU CREDIT UNION CLASSIC ...
This weekend will mark the 11th trip (1989, 1992-93, 2003-10) to the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic for the Fighting Irish ... Notre Dame owns an 8-9-3 overall mark in the tournament ... the Irish are 7-4-3 over their past seven visits to the classic ... the Irish tied Wake Forest 1-1 in the first game of last year's event ... Notre Dame fell to St. John's, 2-0, on day two.
IRISH AGAINST THE BRUINS ...
Friday will be the fifth meeting all-time between Notre Dame and UCLA ... the Bruins lead the series 3-1 ... Notre Dame won the last encounter, a 2-1 overtime victory at the 2007 adidas/IU Credit Union Classic ... the two schools also met at the 1992 IU Classic and the Bruins came away with a 1-0 win ... UCLA captured victories over Notre Dame in Los Angeles in 1987 (3-2) and 1994 (4-0).
THE LAST TIME ...
Notre Dame defeated UCLA in the 2007 season opener at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic ... the Bruins were ranked No. 1 at the time of the match, while the Irish were ninth ... Alex Yoshinaga deposited the golden goal in the 94th minute to give the Irish the victory ... Joseph Lapira gave Notre Dame a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute and UCLA's Chance Myers knotted the match with 38 seconds left in regulation.
SCOUTING THE BRUINS ...
UCLA is coming of a 12-4-4 campaign in 2009 ... the sixth-seeded Bruins fell in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship at Wake Forest, 2-0 ... UCLA won the 2009 Pac-10 crown with a 5-1-4 league record ... four starters and 19 letter winners returned to the Bruins from the '09 squad ... head coach Jorge Salcedo is in his eighth season at the helm of the UCLA program ... Salcedo is 71-33-22 with the Bruins.
FOR STARTERS ...
Notre Dame is 21-9-3 all-time in season openers, including 6-2-1 in the Bobby Clark era ... last season, the Irish topped Michigan 5-0 in the season opener ... that was the sixth time the Irish scored at least five goals in a season opener ... it also marked the 12th time Notre Dame has shut out its opponent in a season lidlifter.
IRISH AGAINST THE GOLDEN BEARS ...
Sunday will mark the second meeting all-time between Notre Dame and California on the pitch ... the Irish won the only other encounter, 2-1 in overtime, during the 2003 season in Bloomington, Ind. ... Devon Prescod scored both goals for Notre Dame ... he netted the equalizer in the 81st minute and the golden goal in the 102nd minute.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN BEARS ...
California will open the season on Friday at Indiana ... the Golden Bears posted a 9-8-1 record last season ... Cal went 3-6-1 in Pac-10 play to finish sixth in the league ... the Bears returned eight starters and 14 letter winners from last season's squad ... Hector Jimenez led the Pac-10 in assists (9) one season ago ... head coach Kevin Grimes is in his 11th season at the helm of the Cal program ... he boasts a 114-69-21 record at the school.
QUOTING CLARK ...
Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark shares his thoughts on the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic ...
"It's going to be a great weekend. We're playing, without question, two of the best teams coming out of the West Coast. It'll be a good challenge. I'm a great believer in finding out where you are early in the season. There's no use playing `so called' easier teams because you can set up an easy stumble that way. I think our guys are excited about both of these games and I think we'll be challenged. At the end of the weekend, I think we'll have a better idea of where we are."
UP NEXT ...
Notre Dame will play host to the ninth annual Hilton Garden Inn Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament at Alumni Stadium on Sept. 10 and 12 ... Indiana and Cal Poly will get things underway at 5:00 p.m. (ET) on Friday, Sept. 10 ... Notre Dame will face Drake at 7:30 p.m. ... Indiana and Drake will meet at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 12, while the Irish will face Cal Poly at 2:00 p.m. in the tournament's final match.
PRESEASON ACCOLADES ...
Aaron Maund (Jr./D) and Dillon Powers (So./M) were named Soccer America Preseason All-Americans ... Notre Dame was one of five schools with multiple representatives on the 25-man Soccer America Preseason All-America Team ... Akron had four players on the squad, while Virginia, North Carolina and Tulsa joined the Irish with two apiece.
MORE HONORS FOR MAUND AND POWERS ...
Fighting Irish junior Aaron Maund, a central defender, was named the 2010 BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in a vote by the league's head coaches ... Irish sophomore Dillon Powers, a midfielder, joined Maund on the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team.
IRISH PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN DIVISION ...
Notre Dame was picked to finish second in the BIG EAST Blue Division, while Connecticut was tabbed to win the division ... the Huskies received 12 first-place votes among the eight Blue Division squads, while the Irish garnered four ... St. John's was picked to win the Red Division ... the league's 16 head coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams.
BROVSKY A LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE ...
Forward Jeb Brovsky has been named one of 30 candidates for the 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in the men's soccer division ... to be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - classroom, character, community and competition ... the list of 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot ... ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select a candidate that best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
CAPTAIN KEEPER ...
Fifth-year senior goalkeeper Philip Tuttle is Notre Dame's lone captain for the 2010 campaign ... this is Tuttle's first season as a captain.
POWERS PACES TEAM USA ...
Sophomore Dillon Powers helped the United States Under-20 national team capture the Milk Cup Tournament in early August ... Powers was named the MVP of the Milk Cup, which is an international youth soccer tournament held annually in Northern Ireland ... the midfielder earned a start in two of the three matches as the U.S. posted a 3-0 record.
TWO ON FRESHMAN LIST ...
Two Notre Dame freshmen were named to the College Soccer News `100 Freshmen To Keep An Eye On' list for the 2010 season ... goalkeeper Adam LaPlaca and defender Andrew O'Malley were selected to the list and are part of a very talented eight-man freshman class for the Irish.
ROOKIE RANKINGS ...
Notre Dame's freshman class was ranked ninth according to College Soccer News ... Leon Brown (F), Kyle Craft (M), Adam LaPlaca (GK), Luke Mishu (D), Andrew O'Malley (D), Alex Priede (F), Harrison Shipp (M/F) and Patrick Wall (GK) make up the stellar class.
A GREAT NIGHT FOR GRASSROOT ...
Notre Dame held its annual exhibition game to benefit Grassroot Soccer on Aug. 23 against UIC ... over 2,000 fans packed into Alumni Stadium to watch the Irish defeat the Flames, 3-2 ... a grand total of $3,000 was raised for Grassroot Soccer, an international AIDS awareness and education organization that reaches youth in Africa through soccer clinics ... $1,000 worth of donations were received at the gate and during the match ... head coach Bobby Clark, whose son Tommy is the founder and CEO of the organization, and the Notre Dame men's soccer camp donated $2,000.
TOUGH SLATE ...
The Irish will face another challenging schedule this season ... Notre Dame has eight teams on its 2010 slate that are ranked in the NSCAA preseason top-25 poll ... UCLA (5), Northwestern (9), Drake (14), St. John's (17), Louisville (20t), Indiana (20t), Connecticut (22) and Michigan State (24) are the Irish opponents that appear in the poll ... the Irish are receiving votes in the poll.
PURCHASE YOUR IRISH SOCCER TICKETS ...
To purchase a season pass or single-game tickets, call the Notre Dame ticket office at (574) 631-7356, visit und.com/tickets or stop by the Notre Dame ticket office inside Purcell Pavilion ... tickets can also be purchased at Alumni Stadium on gamedays.
