This Week: Notre Dame College men's soccer won its first NCAA Division II Tournament game since 2012 and now will face the No. 1 team in the region and country. Franklin Pierce University, one of the hosts in Super Region One, will play the Falcons in the second round, on Nov. 12. The start time is scheduled for 6 p.m.
 
Records: Notre Dame currently has a record of 16-4-2. The Falcons were 12-3-1 in Mountain East Conference play. Franklin Pierce had a bye in the first round and enters tomorrow's game with a 20-0-1 overall record, while going 10-0-1 in the Northeast-10 Conference.
 
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 79-31-11. Ruben Resendes is in his fourth season at the helm of the Franklin Pierce program. While with FPU, he has a coaching record of 61-5-4.
 
Rankings: Both of these teams are ranked nationally and in the region. Notre Dame is No. 21 in Division II, according to the United Soccer Coaches (USC) Division II top 25 poll. In NCAA Division II Super Region One, NDC is the eight seed. Franklin Pierce held the No. 1 ranking in the USC poll and the Ravens are the top seed in Super Region One.
 
Series History: The Falcons have never played Franklin Pierce.
 
Noting the Falcons: The Notre Dame men's soccer program now has more wins in a season (16) than it has ever had in its NCAA Division II era. The last time NDC won over 15 games in a season was 2011. Thursday's win over Saint Rose was NDC's first win in a national tournament since 2012.
 
After the Falcons' last contest against the College of Saint Rose, in the first round, head coach Carl Nolan said it was unlike a game they had played all season. In the first half, Notre Dame was on the attack and took 10 shots against the Golden Knights, but none found their way in. In the second half, the teams traded penalty kicks, about 10 minutes apart, to tie the game at one. The Falcons were finally able to break through with a goal in the 93^rd minute when Ned Dry saw Jared Rimmer cutting toward the goal and got him the ball. Rimmer scored his first career goal in the 93^rd and it would turn out to be the game-winner. NDC outshot Saint Rose in the game, 20-14. NDC goalkeeper Pedro Alves had five saves.

Notre Dame had seven players recognized by the conference when the All-MEC teams were announced. Antonio Bittencourt, Simao Coelho and Taylor Dyson earned First Team Honors, while Coelho was also named to the All-Freshman team. Pedro Alves and Connor O'Reilly were both on the Second Team, while Ned Dry and Leonardo Palmieri took home honorable mention.
 
In the national Division II rankings, the Falcons rank fifth in goal differential (plus-39), fifth in assists (51), sixth in goals (58), sixth in points (167), sixth in points per game (7.6), seventh in goals per game (2.6), eighth in assists per game (2.3) and 10th in shots on goal per game (7.9).
 
Individually, Taylor Dyson is sixth in Division II with 13 assists and ranks 21st in the country with 12 goals. He is also sixth in total points, at 37, seventh in assists per game, with 0.6, and 15th in shots on goal per game, at 1.9. Simao Coelho is 10th in the country with four game-winning goals and Pedro Alves ranks eighth with eight shutouts.

Noting the Ravens: Franklin Pierce has appeared in every NCAA Division II Tournament since 2019. The past two seasons, they have been the top seed in the region. Last year, FPU defeated Post in the second round, but did not make it to the regional finals after being upset by four seed Millersville, in penalty kicks.
 
Franklin Pierce has been on an incredible run this season. Not only have the Ravens won 20 games without a loss on the year, but they have allowed just four goals all season and shutout an opponent 17 times. FPU's only result this season that was not a victory was a scoreless draw, on Sept. 20, against Le Moyne. They made up for that by defeating Le Moyne, 2-0, in the NE10 championship game, on Nov. 5. In that game, Braudilio Rodrigues had both of the goals. FPU outscored its opponents, 16-1, in the conference tournament to clinch the NE10 for the second consecutive season.
 
After the regular season, 14 players on the Franklin Pierce roster were named given All-Conference award. In addition to that, Braudilio Rodrigues took Player of the Year honors, Aitor Aguado was named Defensive Player of the Year, Kosta Maniatis took Goalkeeper of the Year and Ruben Resendes earned the Coach of the Year award.
 
In the national D2 rankings, Franklin Pierce is top three in nearly every category. On the defensive side, the Ravens lead the country by holding opponents to 0.2 goals per game and have a shutout percentage of .810. They also lead the country with 20.6 shots per game and a goal differential of plus-72. FPU is second with 76 goals, 65 assists, 217 points, 10.8 shots on goal per game and 10.3 points per game. The team ranks third in the country with 3.6 goals per game, 3.1 assists per game and 7.3 corner kicks per game.
 
Individually, Braudilio Rodrigues is first in Division II in points (55), points per game (2.6) and assists (17), while he ranks second in assists per game (0.8) and third in total goals (19). He ranks fourth in goals per game, at 0.9. Josas Cervera Anchel is also seventh in assists, with 12. Younes Addar is tied for 10^th with four game-winning goals. Kosta Maniatis is first in D2 with 12 shutouts and ranks seventh with a save percentage of .842.