SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- Second ranked (NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Top 25) Notre Dame hosts 21st ranked Houghton (N.Y.), in the American Mideast Conference Final. The Blue and White are set to play in their fourth consecutive tournament final, looking for their third consecutive championship, Saturday Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. ET.

Live audio will be provided for the AMC tournament final against Houghton on NotreDameFalcons.com from Korb Field, pregame show and Men's Soccer Coaches Corner to start approximately 30 minutes prior to the 7 p.m. kickoff, live stats will also be available on NotreDameFalcons.com.

Notre Dame remains one of only four undefeated teams in the country, along with No. 1 Rio Grande, No. 3 Hastings (Neb.), and No. 6 Main-Fort Kent. No. 2, Notre Dame is 18-0-0, outscoring their opponents 76-7, ranking third in the NAIA with 4.22 goals scored per game and sixth in the NAIA with .39 goals against per game. NDC comes in to the AMC Tournament as the No. 1 seed behind an 8-0-0 conference record, Houghton (N.Y.) brings in a 7-1-0 AMC record as the No. 2 seed.

A LOOK AT HOUGHTON - The Highlanders defeated Mount Vernon (Ohio) 2-1 in their AMC Conference Semifinal, 2-1, on Nov. 6. HC scored two goals in the final seven minutes including the match winner in the final minute, for their come from behind win. The Highlanders have won their last seven matches dating back to Oct. 2. Houghton finished second in the AMC with a 7-1-0 record, 13-5-0 overall. The Highlanders only loss in the AMC came at Korb Field, Sept. 29, at the hands of Notre Dame 1-0. Houghton's Aaron Martin, a senior midfielder from Houghton, N.Y. earned First Team All-AMC while playing in 18 matches; he ranks first in the team in goals (6), and points (12).

THE HOUGHTON SERIES - The Falcons and Highlanders are meeting for the 12th time. Notre Dame holds a 8-3-0 advantage including a 1-0 win at Korb Field, Sept. 29, 2010. Houghton last beat the Blue and White Oct. 28, 2006, 1-0 at Korb Field. 

DOZEN DOUGHNUTS – The stingy Falcon defense has kept opponents at bay all season, blanking a record 12 opponents, their 0.39 goals against per game ranks sixth best in the NAIA. The Blue and White opened the season with a record seven consecutive clean sheets and finished the regular season on a steak of three. Only three AMC teams were able to crack the strong unit that featured four players on the All-AMC First, Second and Honorable Mention Teams.

OVERTIME – The Falcons have played two overtime matches with a 2-0-0 record; the Highlanders have played 1 overtime match with a 1-0-0 record this season.

OH SO CLOSE – Notre Dame is 5-0-0 in one goal games while Houghton is 6-4-0 in 2010.

HEAD MAN - #Michael “Mac” McBride# took charge of NDC's Men's Soccer in 2001 when the program was instituted. Under McBride, the Falcon squad was successful right out of the gate, going 8-10 in their inaugural season and earning an outright division championship in their second season (2002). Since then the Blue and White have tacked on four more division championships (2004-07), two conference titles (2008, 2010) and has earned three National Championship appearances (2005, 2008 and 2009).

McBride's Falcon teams have earned five AMC-North Division Championships (three outright, two shared) and two AMC Championship (2008 and 2010). The England native has been honored by the league six times - as AMC-North Coach of the Year in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007 and as AMC Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2010. Under McBride, NDC Men's Soccer has an 135-52-14 record through the 2010 regular season; their .706 winning percentage is the highest among Notre Dame's 23 athletic programs. Joining McBride this season are Associate Head Coach, #Carl Nolan# (seventh season), Assistant Coach, #David Eyth# (seventh season), Second Team Head Coach, #Marko Raduka# (fifth season), Graduate Assistant, #Jake Mahaffey# (second season), and Athletic Trainer, #Jay Garfield# (tenth season).

KORB FIELD - Falcon men's soccer is tough to beat on Korb Field's state-of-the-art AstroPlay surface. Since the program's inception in 2001, the Falcons are 63-15-2 (.807) and 4-1-0 against Houghton at the friendly confines of Korb Field. 



NOTES FROM THE NEST....

ALWAYS SUNNY IN NOVEMBER: The Falcons hold a 14-7-0 record in November matches including 8-0-0 over the last three season.

ONE MORE: The Blue and White (18-0-0) are one game away from the record for wins in a season with the 2008 squad who went 19-2-1.

PERFECTION: Notre Dame finished the regular season with their first perfect record in program history, 17-0-0.

RECORD BREAKERS: The Falcons dominated opponents while rewriting the record books, with school best's in, wins to open a season (18), winning streak (18), and consecutive shouts (7) and shutouts in a season (12), most wins in regular season (17), fewest regular season goals allowed (6) and their first perfect regular season 17-0-0.

STREAKING FALCONS: Notre Dame is tied for the fourth longest active streak of being consecutively ranked in the NAIA Top 25 with 30 consecutive weeks. The NAIA has 220 schools that sponsor men's soccer. Soccer is the largest single division sport for men in the NAIA. Only Men's Basketball has more schools. 261 schools sponsor basketball split between Division I (116) and Division II (145).

FAST FORWARD: #Luke Holmes# tied Jeremy Kephart's record 64 career goals, Nov. 8 against Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.) in the Falcons 6-1 AMC Semifinal victory.

I'LL GIVE YOU THAT: #Tom Mellor#, a sophomore from Shaw, England stands as the All-Time assist leader with 25 assists in 39 matches.

STRONG BACK: #Jacob Child#, a senior defender from Surry, England will play in his 80th career match, four off the all-time record held by Chris Logan.

KEEP ON KEEPING ON: #Alex Klein#, a junior from Frankfurt, Germany has stood tall in between the pipes making 49 saves on 56 shots on target (.875) while logging 1,515 minutes of action he has earned 9 shutouts for a record 20 career shutouts. All-time the Frankfurt native is 23-1-0 with only 10 goals against in 31 appearances.




HISTORY LESSONS....

The last time the Blue and White played on Nov. 13 the Falcons defeated Houghton 1-0, Nov. 13, 2009 to advance to their third consecutive AMC Tournament Final; NDC would go onto win their second consecutive AMC Tournament, 2-1, Nov. 14, 2009 defeating Mount Vernon. McBride holds a 14-7-0 record in November matches including 8-0-0 over the last three seasons.

NDC kicked off their first campaign Sept. 4, 2001 with a 2-5 loss to Tiffin. The Falcons marked their tenth year anniversary on Sept. 4, 2010 with a 6-0 win over Iowa Wesleyan at the Calumet College of St. Joseph Crimson Wave Invitational; the win would mark the schools 121st victory.

Coach McBride coached his 200th match on Saturday Oct. 23, 2010. The Blue and White defeated Roberts Wesleyan 1-0 in OT on NDC's homecoming. McBride's record since the program's inception in 2001 is 135-52-14 (.706 pct.)

Jeremy Kephart scored the first NDC goal on Sept. 4, 2001 in a 2-5 loss to Tiffin. Kephart holds the All-Time Goals Scored Record with 64 tallies. The Falcons last goal of the 2010 regular season was an overtime winner by #Thomas Owens#, his first collegiate goal on Oct. 30, 2010 in a 1-0 win over Point Park (Pa.).