This week: Notre Dame College men's soccer travels to Urbana University for a 6:30 p.m. start on October 3. Mueller Field will be the site of a matchup between West Liberty University and NDC that will begin at 1 p.m. on October 6.

Records: NDC has a record of 5-2 and 5-1 in conference play. Urbana enters the matchup with a 3-3-1 record and 3-2 in the MEC. West Liberty goes into the weekend with a record of 1-6-1 (1-5-1 MEC).

Coaches Corner: Carl Nolan is in his fourth season at the helm of the NDC men's soccer program. He currently holds a record of 40-17-4, overall, and a 32-10-2 record in the MEC. Nick Roberts is now in his 12th season at Urbana and he led the Blue Knights to an 8-7-3 (7-4-3 MEC) record in 2018. Sean Regan is in his first season at West Liberty.

Rankings: None of these teams appeared in the United Soccer Coaches poll.

Series History: Notre Dame holds an all-time record of 14-6-1 against Urbana since these teams first played in 2001. NDC is 3-0 against West Liberty, which includes a 3-0 win earlier this season.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame enters this week tied atop the Mountain East Conference, as both the Falcons and the University of Charleston have 15 points. They were able to defeat two conference opponents last week, beating Wheeling (2-0) and Frostburg State (2-1). Goalkeeper Daniele De Angelis was named MEC Defensive Player of the Week after allowing just one goal in two games last week and saving six shots. He has allowed just two goals in the last four contests. De Angelis is now tied for the program lead in career wins with 38. This season, he is second in the MEC in shutouts (3) and first in goals against average (1.00). Varis Singh Khera and Niklas Ringdahl Bohlin both have three goals on the season while Khera already has two game-winning goals. Nicholas Felician has a goal and two assists. Notre Dame's offense has done a really nice job of pressuring their opponents as is evident from their amount of corner kicks. They are 10th in the nation and first in the MEC with 7.43 per game. They also lead the conference in shots per game with an average of 15.29. Notre Dame still puts up two goals per game, on average, which is third highest in the conference. The defense is limiting opponents to one goal per game and just seven shots.

Noting the Blue Knights: Urbana started with a tough schedule and struggled a bit to get going. They tied with Mercyhurst University, lost to Gannon University in double-overtime and lost to West Virginia Wesleyan College. Since that opening conference loss to WVWC, the Blue Knights have won three of their last four contests, with the one loss coming to Charleston. In their three wins this season, UU is outscoring their opponents 14-3. Urbana is tied at the top of the conference in scoring, with 2.57 goals per contest, which is also 22nd in NCAA Division II. They have scored 18 goals already this season. The Blue Knights like to get out in front early, outscoring opponents 11-4 in the first half, but they have allowed a total of eight goals in the second stanza. Jasminko Dizdarevic already has six goals, which ranks 11th in the country, including a four goal performance in a 7-1 win over West Liberty. Jake Wischmeier has also helped the offense with four goals. Dizdarevic and Luke Nicholls each have three assists, and they lead the MEC. Jakob Henriksen has allowed 13 goals, but has saved 35 shots, which is first in the conference.

Noting the Hilltoppers: West Liberty got their first win of the season, last night, against Wheeling University. In the win, the Hilltoppers scored as many goals (2) as they had all season going into the game. Bernardo Vilchis put West Liberty on the board and a few minutes later, Josh Yeaman scored the game-winner. Yeaman now has two goals on the season, which leads the team. Although WLU had been shutout in their first four matchups, the program began to play better last week. On September 24, they lost 1-0 to Barton College, which was their closest defeat of the year, and last Sunday, the Hilltoppers played to a 1-1 draw against West Virginia Wesleyan. The Hilltoppers are still trying to figure out their first half troubles, as the team has been outscored 15-2 in the opening half.