This week: Notre Dame College will open the 2018 season with a home game against Edinboro on Thursday, August 30, before traveling to Gannon on Saturday, September 1. Thursday's game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. while Saturday will kick off at 7 p.m.
Records: The Falcons went 14-4-3 last season, ending the regular season on a three-game winning streak. Edinboro had a .500 record (7-7-3) in 2017 while Gannon finished with a .700 record (13-5-2).
Coaches Corner: Mike Shiels is in his 16th season as the head coach for the Falcons. During his time at NDC, Shiels has gone 155-95-19. Gary Kagiavas enters his 22nd season at the helm of the Edinboro program with a record of 206-160-34. Colin Petersen begins his 19th season with the Gannon soccer program and 17th as the women's soccer head coach in 2018. Petersen has a Gannon-record 141 career coaching victories.
Rankings: None of the teams received votes in the August 7 United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll.
Series History: NDC has yet to defeat Edinboro since leaving the NAIA in 2011. Edinboro currently leads the Falcons 3-0. Gannon and Notre Dame have not competed in this time.
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame lost 2017 MEC Offensive Player of the Year Alexis Manoa along with many other seniors, but the team still returns multiple players with experience, including senior captains
Norah Barnes and
Sarah Grossman who have started a combined 119 games. With Grossman leading the defense and Barnes controlling midfield, the Falcons also have an arsenal of senior forwards in
Katarina Doncevic,
Lytia Hart and
Brooke LeForce who together scored 21 points last season (seven goals, seven assists). Returning to that group of seniors is
Maranda Melton who sat out last season after three-straight All-MEC campaigns. Melton started 55 games in her first three seasons, playing over 1,400 minutes in each of those years.
Noting the Fighting Scots: Edinboro also lost one of its premier players in Ashley Mutkus, who score 16 goals last season. The Fighting Scotts do return their other top three scorers as Rebecca Mans and Danielle Chatten scored 18 and 17 points, respectively, in 2017. Holding Edinboro to two goals or less will be key in the season opener for NDC as the Fighting Scots were 1-6-3 when scoring in that range. In six of their seven wins, EU scored three or more goals, and only lost once when scoring more than three.
Noting the Golden Knights: While Notre Dame and Edinboro both lose their top scorers, Gannon returns their leading goal getter in junior Taylor Lewis. Lewis has racked up awards at the conference level (PSAC Freshman of the Year in 2016, ECAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2017) and the regional level (First Team All-Region in 2017) and will look to earn national recognition in her first year as an upperclassman. The Golden Knights success last season was consistently affected by Lewis as the team went 8-1-1 in games that Lewis scored a goal in. ILewis either scored or assisted in 10 of GU's 13 wins last year.
Success at home: The Falcons open their season at home for just the second time since joining the Division II ranks and if history is any indication, Notre Dame has a strong chance of starting the season 1-0. NDC has lost just four games in five season in the NCAA, and twice have gone undefeated. With a 9-0 record last season and the last home loss coming on September 25, 2016, the Falcons are on a 16-game streak at home without a loss.
Take Two: After one of the most outstanding freshman campaigns in NDC history
Kyra McDowell will return as goalkeeper for the Falcons. In 2017, she set the school's single-season record for most wins with 13 and led the Mountain East Conference with six shutouts. McDowell also ranked second in the MEC with a goals against average of 0.82. As the only goalie listed on the roster, McDowell will play another big role in the success of Notre Dame.
