This Week: Notre Dame College men's soccer prepares for a week filled with tests. On Oct. 5, the Falcons welcome No. 1 ranked Davis & Elkins College to South Euclid. And on Oct. 9, NDC will host No. 9 University of Charleston. Both matches are scheduled to begin at noon.
 
Records: In a battle of the top three teams in the conference, Notre Dame enters the week with a record of 9-2-1 (7-2-1 MEC), sitting in third place. D&E is currently undefeated, at 9-0 with an 8-0 MEC record. The Senators are at the top of the conference. Charleston is in second place, with a record of 9-1 (8-1 MEC).

Coaches Corner: Carl Nolan is in his seventh season as head coach of the Notre Dame program and 19th as a member of the coaching staff. He currently has an overall coaching record of 72-29-10, while going 61-19-7 against MEC competition. Dean Johnson is now in his third season at the helm of Davis & Elkins, with a record of 34-3-3 (28-1-2). Daniel Smee is also in his third season as head coach at Charleston, but has been on the coaching staff for six seasons. He holds a coaching record of 38-3-3, while going 30-2-1 in MEC competition.
 
Rankings: Davis & Elkins is the top team in the United Soccer Coaches (USC) Division II National poll, while UC is ranked No. 9. NDC is receiving votes for the first time this season. According to the USC Atlantic Region poll, Davis & Elkins is first, Charleston is third and NDC is up to No. 4.
 
Series History: Notre Dame has an all-time record of 3-20-3 against Charleston, falling 2-0 in the first meeting of this season, on Sept. 4. Against Davis & Elkins, NDC has had success, going 5-2-1 against the Senators since 2013. Earlier this season, D&E won the matchup against NDC, 4-0.
 
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame has won seven games in a row, the program's longest win streak since 2018. The Falcons have already matched their win total from 2021, and they have not lost a game since Sept. 4. Last week, the Falcons defeated Seton Hill University, 3-1, and West Virginia Wesleyan College, 1-0. Connor O'Reilly had the opening goal for the Falcons in both games. In the matchup with Seton Hill, Simao Coehlo had the game winner, putting NDC ahead 2-1 in the 24th minute, off an assist by Callum Cleary.

This season, NDC ranks in the top 10, nationally, with 8.3 shots on goal per game (5th), 6.8 corner kicks per game (6th), 29 total goals (9th) and 81 total points (9th). Individually, Simao Coelho ranks eighth in Division II with three game-winning goals and Taylor Dyson is 15th in shots on goal per game, with two.

In the MEC, Taylor Dyson ranks tied for third with six goals, tied for fourth with four assists and tied for top spot in points, with 16. Simoa Coelho and Connor O'Reilly are not far behind with five goals, each, this season.

In NDC's three wins all-time against Charleston, the Falcons scored three goals in all of those games, including a five-goal output in 2016.
 
Noting the Senators: This season, D&E has allowed just two goals through nine games. Last week, the Senators rolled past two MEC competitors, defeating Wheeling, 9-1, and Alderson Broaddus, 11-0, both at home. Wheeling scored first, in the 6th minute, but then Davis & Elkins scored nine unanswered goals. At halftime, the Senators led 2-1, but put seven goals on the board in the second half and took 22 shots in the final 45 minutes. On Sunday, the Senators took the opposite approach and scored eight of their 11 goals in the first half.

Davis & Elkins has shown why they are the top team in the country through the Division II statistical rankings. The Senators lead the country in total goals (45), total points (128), total assists (38), shots on goal per game (11.11), goals per game (5), points per game (14.2), goal differential (plus-43) and assists per game (4.2). Goalkeeper Beltran Fernandez has been a wall in front of goal, with the fourth lowest goal against average (.254) in D2, the fifth best save percentage (89.5), along with six shutouts.

The Senators swept the most recent MEC Player of the Week honors, as Christhian Bosquez took the offensive honors and Alex Estrada-Avila was named top player on the defensive side. Bosquez scored four goals in two contests this past week for the Senators. Estrada-Avila was a part of the Davis & Elkins defensive unit that allowed just seven total shots and one goal in two matches last week. He tallied two goals and an assist in wins over Alderson Broaddus and Wheeling.

Christhian Bosquez leads the team this season, and is second in the conference, with seven goals. D&E also has two players tied for the top spot in the MEC in assists, as Soshi Fujioka and David Jara each have five.
 
Noting the Golden Eagles: Charleston's only loss this season came on Sept. 7, at the hands of Davis & Elkins. Since then, the Golden Eagles have won six straight games. Since allowing two goals in the loss to D&E, UC has not allowed more than one goal to any other team. Last week, Charleston defeated Concord 3-0, and the UC defense held the Mountain Lions to just six shots. In that game, Giorgos Diakos scored twice and Eduardo Iranzo had one goal. In a 6-1 win over West Liberty, the Hilltoppers scored first before Charleston put up six consecutive goals. WLU took just three shots, while Eduardo Barros led UC with two goals.

In NCAA Division II ranks, the Golden Eagles are third in points per game (8.6), third in scoring offense (3 goals per game), sixth in assists per game (2.6), sixth in goal differential (plus-24) and sixth in total assists (26), seventh in total goals (30), seventh in total points (86) and seventh in shots per game (17.8).

This season, Eduardo Barros is tied for third in the conference, with six goals scored, and Felipe Mercado is tied for fourth, with four assists. Barros is also fifth in points, with 13. Goalkeeper Marc Torrado is behind D&E's Beltran Fernandez in goal against average (60-percent), save percentage (82.4) and shutouts (5).