This week: Notre Dame College men's soccer starts the Mountain East Conference tournament with a road game against the number one seed in the tournament and No. 1 team in NCAA Division II University of Charleston on November 1. That same day, the other semifinal game will be Urbana University going against West Virginia Wesleyan College. The winner of the two games will play for the MEC crown in the final game of the tournament on November 5.

Records: The Falcons currently hold a record of 11-6 overall and 8-4 in the Mountain East Conference and the Golden Eagles are 16-0-1, 11-0-1 MEC. The Blue Knights are currently 10-6 and 8-4 MEC while the Bobcats are 10-5-3, 8-3-1 MEC.

Coaches Corner: Carl Nolan is in his second season as head coach of Notre Dame. His current coaching record stands at 21-11-2, 16-6-2 MEC. Dan Stratford just wrapped up his first regular season as head coach of Charleston. Gavin Donaldson is in his 27th season as a head coach and has a record of 329-172-52 at WVWC. Nick Roberts has been with Urbana for 10 seasons and in 2016, the Blue Knights have gone 24-11-1, 17-7 MEC over the past two seasons.

Rankings: UC still has the top spot in NCAA Division II. The Golden Eagles were also ranked first in the Atlantic Region while NDC was ranked fifth in the regional rankings, which was released on October 25.

Series History: NDC is 3-10-1 against Charleston since 2012 and is 7-2-1 against West Virginia Wesleyan since 2013. In a series that began in 2001, Notre Dame is 12-6-1 against Urbana.

Noting the Falcons: The Falcons are the fourth seed in the MEC tournament with 24 points. Notre Dame lost their final regular season conference game to Urbana University on October 25 by a score of 2-0. After both teams went scoreless in the first half, Antoine Ravera scored in the 63rd minute with assists by Matt Wheeler and Jacob Wischmeier.  Wischmeier had the second goal in the 84th minute with an assist by Ravera. The loss ended the Falcons winning streak of five games and snapped the four consecutive shutouts that the team had put together. The Falcons took nine shots and five shots on goal. NDC lost to Northern Michigan University 2-0 on October 28. Sveinn Karlsson (29') and Sam Popp (40') had the goals for the Wildcats. Leonardo Paiva led the Mountain East Conference in game winning goals with five and is second in goals per game with 0.75. Paiva is also third in the conference in points per game with 1.80. Goalkeeper Daniele De Angelis is third in the conference with just 16 goals against. The Falcons had six players named to the All-MEC teams, which were announced on Tuesday.

Noting the Golden Eagles: Charleston earned the first seed in the MEC tournament with 34 points. The Golden Eagles beat the Falcons 3-0 on September 20 and October 5. Last week, for the first time all season UC had a game end in something other than a win. They tied with West Virginia Wesleyan as neither team could score in 110 minutes of action on October 25. Charleston took 15 shots and the Bobcats took 12 shots, including five in the two overtime periods. In their regular season finale, the Golden Eagles beat up on Shepherd 7-0 on October 28. David Achaerandio (9'), Patrick Guier (32' and 32') and Freddie Tracy (41') all scored in the first half. Cristhian Quintero (87'), Max Dandy (89') and Ettore Ballestracci (89') scored in the second half. Charleston out-shot Shepherd 18-1. UC had eight players named to the All-MEC teams. On top of that, they have the MEC Offensive Player of the Year (Will Roberts), Defensive Player of the Year (Thomas Vancaeyezeele) and Freshman of the Year (Kieran Bywater). Will Roberts was second in the conference in points per game, third in goals per game and third in assists per game.

Noting the Bobcats: WVWC finished the regular season with the second seed in the MEC tournament with 25 points. Against NDC this season, the Bobcats won the first game 1-0 on September 10 but then lost the second game by a score of 1-0 on October 22. They were the only conference team not to lose twice to Charleston this season. They were also second in goals scored in conference games with 46 and goals per game with 2.56. The defense had nine shutouts this season. Juwon Akintunde was first in the MEC in points per game with 1.89 and goals per game with 0.94. Goalkeeper Alessandro Armenia was named Defensive Player of the Week for the final week of the regular season. Head coach Gavin Donaldson was named MEC Coach of the Year and seven players were named to the All-MEC teams.

Noting the Blue Knights: UU earned the third seed in the MEC tournament with 24 points and won the tiebreaker over NDC. Against Notre Dame this season, the Blue Knights lost 1-0 on September 27 and then beat the Falcons 2-0 on October 25. Urbana is tied for third in the MEC with 29 goals against conference opponents and third in points with 83. Antoine Ravera led the team with seven goals and 16 points. The Blue Knights had seven players named to the All-MEC teams. Jacob Wischeimer was named MEC Offensive Player of the Week for last week's performances.