This Week: Notre Dame College men's soccer plays their first non-conference contest of the season when they travel to Seton Hill University for a 4 p.m. start on Oct. 20. Then they come back home to Mueller Field for a 12 p.m. start on Oct. 24 against Frostburg State University.

Records: NDC holds a 5-3-2 MEC record after grabbing one point in a draw against No. 4 Davis & Elkins College and falling to No. 6 University of Charleston last week. Seton Hill has a record of 7-4-1 after going 1-1 last week. And after losing three games in a row, Frostburg State defeated Concord and Wheeling last week. They come into this week with a record of 6-5-1 (6-5 MEC).

Coaches Corner: Carl Nolan is in his sixth season as head coach of the Notre Dame program. He has a record of 59-25-9, and is 50-16-6 in MEC play. Dan McCarty is entering his 18th season as head coach at Seton Hill and has over 130 career wins. Keith Byrnes enters his 20th season on the sideline for Frostburg and has a record of 180-151-36.

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

Series History: Notre Dame has gone 4-1-1 against Seton Hill University since their first meeting in 2003. The two teams have not faced each other since 2007. The Falcons are 3-1 against the Bobcats, since Frostburg State joined the MEC in 2019.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame battled with Davis & Elkins, the No. 4 ranked team in NCAA Division II. NDC took a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute and held that lead throughout the first half. The Senators scored twice in the span of 12 minutes (53', 65'), but NDC's Antonio Bittencourt found the back of the net, following a deflection in the box, in the 87th minute to tie the match at 2. Last Sunday, the Falcons scored first on No. 6 Charleston, but the Golden Eagles came back to win 4-1. Ailton Fagner Silva assisted on one goal on Wednesday and scored NDC's only goal in the Charleston contest.

Silva now has seven goals on the season and ranks eighth in Division II in points per game with 2.22 and 11th with 0.67 assists per game. Teammate Ned Dry ranks sixth in D2 in goals per game (1) and points per game (2.4). Dry is now 12th in the country with 10 total goals and 24 points. Lukas Hackaa ranks fifth in D2 with 0.8 assists per game and is eight with eight total assists.

As a team, the Falcons are still first in Division II in scoring offense, with 3.5 goals per game, and points per game, with 10.3 per game. They are second in assists per game (3.3), seventh in total assists (33), eighth in goals (35) and eighth in points (103).

Noting the Griffins: Seton Hill went 1-1 last week and allowed goals in back-to-back games for just the third time this season. They are allowing 0.81 goals per game, which is 21st best in the country and have five shutouts. At home last week, the Griffins took a 1-0 first half lead on Gannon, but allowed a goal in the second half and one more in double-overtime. That marked the third game all season that SHU allowed two goals in a game, and the first in which they allowed two goals and lost. Seton Hill defeated Slippery Rock later in the week.

Goalkeeper Bobby White is 15th in Division II with an average save percentage of 82-percent. Twelve different players have scored at least one of SHU's 21 goals this season. Archie Lock, Fletcher Amos, Anthony Planko and Elias Vangen all have three goals.

Noting the FSU Bobcats: Frostburg State has already equaled its win total from 2019 by grabbing win number six last Sunday against Wheeling. The Bobcats have only scored 13 goals this season, which is second lowest in the MEC, but have allowed just 11, which is third best in the conference, and also have recorded six shutouts. FSU was able to get past Notre Dame, 1-0, on Sept. 26.

Zach Harpel leads the team with three goals, but nine different players have scored at least one goal. Goalkeeper Joel Assal has a save percentage of 81.4-percent, which leads the Mountain East Conference, with five shutouts. Assal was named MEC Defensive Player of the Week, for his performance last week, after recording five saves, including four in a shutout of Wheeling.