This week: Notre Dame College finishes its four-game home stand this week, hosting Urbana and West Liberty. On Wednesday, September 20, Urbana will come to South Euclid to play at 4 p.m. Then West Liberty visits on Sunday, September 24, for a 3 p.m. kickoff.
 
Records: The Falcons (5-0, 5-0 MEC) remain undefeated after scoring three goals in each of their games last week against Fairmont State and Concord. Urbana is 1-5, 1-4 MEC after falling to FSU and Shepherd. West Liberty also lost two games last week, moving its record to 2-3-1 after playing Concord and West Virginia Wesleyan.
 
Coaches Corner: Mike Shiels is in his 14th season as the head coach for the Falcons. During his time at NDC, Shiels has gone 146-91-16 with a 54-6-5 MEC record. Kevin Mounce is in his fourth season at the helm of the Urbana women's soccer program. Mounce is 12-40-5 with the Blue Knights. Barry Christmas has led the West Liberty team since its inception in 2011. In his seventh season, Christmas has an overall record of 25-53-16.
 
Rankings: No teams playing on campus this week received votes in the September 12 United Soccer Coaches Poll.
 
Series History: Notre Dame is 9-0 against Urbana since joining the Division II ranks in 2011. The Falcons have also never lost to the West Liberty with a 6-0-3 record against the conference foe.
 
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame earned conference recognition in back-to-back weeks with Lytia Hart earning MEC Offensive Player of the Week after Alexis Manoa earned the same honor the week prior. Hart had a one-goal, two-assist performance against Concord last week, leading the Falcons to a 3-1 victory. Janelle Bernal kept up her strong freshman campaign with one goal and one assist and now leads the team with seven points. NDC has kept passing limited for opponents so far in 2017, allowing just one assist on four goals scored against the team. The Falcons recorded their first shutout of the season last week against Fairmont State. It was also the first shutout of freshman Kyra McDowell's career. McDowell is 5-0 in her debut collegiate season.
 
Noting the Blue Knights: Urbana ranks in the bottom three in nearly all major statistical categories in the Mountain East. The Blue Knights are seventh (out of nine) in goals per game (0.50) and eighth in goals allowed per game (1.5). This matchup should be in NDC's favor as the Falcons are first in goals per game (2.60) and fourth in goals allowed per game (0.80). Urbana also ranks last in shots taken with 7 per game while Notre Dame ranks first in shots allowed at 8 per game. Urbana does rank first in saves (34) as a result of being last in shots on goal allowed (43). Alyssa Edwards is the main offensive threat for the Blue Knights, having taken 14 shots this season. Katherine Beech has done well as goalkeeper with 21 saves in three games.
 
Noting the Hilltoppers: West Liberty ranks near the middle in most categories amongst MEC teams, but is a solid defensive team. The Hilltoppers rank second in goals against per game (0.78) and shutouts (three). All six of WLU's games this season have ended with at least one team scoring no goals. They have been shutout four times and shutout other teams three times; their game against Shepherd ended in a 0-0 tie.
 
How May I Be of Assistance: Notre Dame currently leads the MEC with 11 assists as a team while Alexis Manoa (0.80) and Katarina Doncevic (0.60) lead the conference in assists per game. Manoa's four assists this season also ranks 10th in all of NCAA Division II.