MOUNT VERNON, Ohio -- The No. 3 Notre Dame Falcons (11-0-0, 2-0-0 AMC) handed No. 25 Mount Vernon (6-5-0, 1-1 AMC) its worst home loss since Sept. 14, 1996, when the Cougars lost 5-0 to Houghton (N.Y.). The Falcons, the two-time defending AMC conference champion, posted a 5-0 win over MVNU.

The Falcons took to the road on Oct. 2 to face one of the most formidable defensive squads in the American Mideast Conference over the last 3 seasons. 25th-ranked, Mount Vernon Nazarene (6-5-0, 1-1-0 AMC) has held AMC opponents to a stifling .743 goals against average over the previous three seasons, ranking in the top five in the conference. Since 2001 MVNU has protected Cougar field with a 66-25-8 record.

Mount Vernon found itself trailing early when #Luke Holmes#, a junior from Oldham, England slipped a pass through to #Ryan McGreevy#, a freshman from Salford, England for his sixth goal of the season just 3:38 into the match.

Both team had other scoring chances through the first 45 minutes, but the score would remain 1-0 at the break. The Falcons held an 11-5 advantage in shots, a 6-2 lead in shots on goal and a dominating 7-2 lead in corner kicks in the first half.

The second half was a story that Falcons' fans have come to expect from the Blue and White in 2010, as Notre Dame found the back of the net four times on the way to posting a 5-0 victory.

#Steven Kane#, a senior from Jeromesville, Ohio scored his team leading 13th goal, on an assist from McGreevy at the 53:05 mark, then just over a minute later McGreevy picked up his second goal of the match from Mohamet Sougoufara at the 54:24 mark. McGreevy completed the hat trick at the 71:02 mark off an assist from #Tom Mellor#, a sophomore from Shaw, England for his team leading ninth assist. #Elliot Kelly# completed the scoring at the 88:01 mark when #Kyle Hayes#, a sophomore from Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

For the match, the Falcons held a 24-16 lead in total shots, an 11-6 edge in shots on target and a commanding 14-7 margin in corner kicks. MVNU senior goalkeeper Tyson Porter made four saves in goal for the Cougars while Alex Klein, a junior from Frankfurt, Germany came up big in the second 45 minutes for the Falcons, making four amazing saves to preserve their record tying ninth shutout of the season. For the match Klein made six saves, combined with Jan Skorupinski, a freshman from Vogt, Germany for the shutout.

Notre Dame return to the friendly confines of Korb Field continuing their defense of the AMC title on Saturday. The Falcons meet Malone (4-8-0, 1-2-0 AMC) in Lyndhurst, Ohio, on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 3 p.m. following the women's match at 1 p.m. The last three meeting between the two teams have been won by the Falcons by a combined 23-0. Saturday's match can be heard on NotreDameFalcons.com with Rudy Roediger and Stefan Perri covering the action. Live stats will also be available at http://www.sidearmstats.com/ndc/msoc/. 


NOTES FROM THE NEST….

Notre Dame has outscored their eleven opponents this season, 51-3, led by Steven Kane, a senior from Jeromesville, Ohio with 13 goals, Luke Holmes, a junior from Oldham England, with 12 goals and 7 assists, Tom Mellor a sophomore from Shaw, England with 9 assist and 3 goals, and Alex Klein a junior from Frankfurt, Germany with 7 shutouts and a goals against average of 0.30.

Holmes the 2009 AMC Offensive Player of the Year led the NAIA in scoring a year ago with 29 goals on his way to NAIA Second Team All-American.

The Falcons have bettered the 2008 NAIA Tournament squad's nine game winning streak, blew the 2009 NAIA Tournament squad's previous best of four wins to open a season, surpassed the previous best 3 straight shutouts previously held by the 2004 (twice), 2005 and 2007 squads. And now share the most shutouts in a season with the 2005 squad who made it to the programs first NAIA National Tournament.

The 2008 squad still holds the best record with 19-3-0 on their way to the best finish at the NAIA National Tournament when they tied for fifth.