This Week: Notre Dame College men's soccer looks to get back in the win column as they play Alderson Broaddus University on Mueller Field, Sept. 29. The Falcons then travel to West Liberty University to play the Hilltoppers on Oct. 2, for the second time in two weeks.
Records: NDC holds a record of 3-2 (3-2 MEC) after going 1-1 last week. Alderson Broaddus has dropped two straight games and have a record of 2-5 (1-4 MEC) while West Liberty picked up a big win over West Virginia Wesleyan last weekend to improve to 3-4 (2-4 MEC).
Coaches Corner: Carl Nolan is in his sixth season as head coach of the Notre Dame program. He has a record of 57-24-7, and is 48-15-4 in MEC play. Scott Phipps is in his seventh season at Alderson Broaddus and Sean Regan enters his third season at the helm of West Liberty.
Rankings: None of these teams are ranked in the United Soccer Coaches top 25 poll.
Series History: Notre Dame played Alderson Broaddus for the first time last season and won 6-1. The Falcons are 6-0 against West Liberty since WLU started their men's program in 2018.
Noting the Falcons: Entering this week, the Falcons rank in the top-10 in NCAA Division II in several major category. NDC ranks first in goals per game (4.6), assists per game (4.4) and points per game (13.6). They are second in shots on goal per game (10.2), fourth in total points (68), fifth in total assists (22) and ninth in both shots per game (17.8) and total goals (23). Last Wednesday, Notre Dame put seven shots into the back of the net against Wheeling and the defense recorded their first shutout of the year in the 7-0 win. In that game,
Ned Dry scored three times with one assist for a total of seven points, which helped him earn his second consecutive MEC Offensive Player of the Week award. He now has seven goals and four assists on the season. Dry is now first in the country in points per game with 3.6, third in goals per game at 1.4, sixth in total points with 18 and seventh in total goals. Also in that game against Wheeling,
Lukas Hackaa finished with four assists which puts him into second place in NDC history for a single game and puts him in a tie for the top spot in Mountain East Conference history. Hackaa is second in Division II with 1.2 assists per game and third with six total assists. Frostburg State got past NDC on Sunday, in a close contest that ended in a 1-0 score.
Noting the Battlers: Alderson Broaddus played a tough conference opponent in Charleston, falling 5-0, and then lost 1-0 to a non-conference opponent in Shippensburg. AB was held without a shot in the first half against Charleston and ended the game with just three shots and no shots on target as UC scored two in the first half and three in the second. In the matchup with Shippensburg, AB out-shot the Raiders 15-8, but Shippensburg put the only goal on the board in the 51st minute. This season, Nathan Djona and Andreas Rossak lead the team with two goals. Joshua Gabriel and Tanner Kidwell only have one goal, but they have the two Battlers' game-winning scores. Six AB players have one assist.
Noting the Hilltoppers: On Sept. 15, West Liberty traveled to South Euclid to battle the Falcons and lost 6-2. The quick rematch will mark the final matchup of the regular season between these teams. Last week, West Liberty played one game, and made the most of it, defeating West Virginia Wesleyan 1-0. The Hilltoppers goal came off the foot of Bernardo Vilchis on a penalty kick in the 32nd minute. WLU took nine shots in the contest, while holding WVWC to seven. It caused a bit of a shakeup in the MEC standings as W.Va. Wesleyan had just one loss and had accumulated nine conference points entering the contest. Vilchis leads the team with three goals and Liam Toman has two on the season. Vitor Otsuka leads the Hilltoppers with two assists, while also scoring a goal.
