This Week: Notre Dame College men's soccer will begin the 2022 season on Mueller Field against Lock Haven University, on Aug. 25, at 4 p.m. The Falcons will face their first Mountain East Conference foe of the season when they travel to Davis & Elkins College, on Aug. 28, for a 5 p.m. first kick.

Records: Last season, Notre Dame held a 9-5-2 record, going 8-4-2 in MEC play. They also went 5-1-1 at home in 2021, continuing a streak of one loss, or fewer, in a season at home that stretches back to 2017. Lock Haven had a solid 2021 campaign, going 13-4-2, overall, and 10-1-1 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Although the Bald Eagles lost in the PSAC Semifinals, they did earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Division II Tournament. As the eight seed, LHU lost to nine seed Post in the First Round, 4-1. Davis & Elkins had an incredible season last year, finishing with a 18-1-3 (13-0-2 MEC) record, the most wins in a season since posting 17 victories in 2007. They lost in the MEC Finals to Charleston, but earned an at-large bid into the D2 Playoffs. The Senators defeated Wilmington in the national tournament by a score of 4-2 and tied Charleston in the next round, eventually losing to UC in penalty kicks.

Coaches Corner: Carl Nolan is in his seventh season as head coach of the Notre Dame program. He currently holds an overall coaching record of 63-27-9, while going 53-17-6 in MEC play. Patrick Long is in his sixth season at LHU, holding a record of 42-38-10 (27-25-5 PSAC). Dean Johnson enters his third season on the sideline at D&E. In his time there, the Senators have gone 25-3-3 and 20-1-2 in the MEC.

Rankings: D&E is ranked No. 10 in the preseason United Soccer Coaches Division II poll.

Series History: Notre Dame's only matchup with Lock Haven came in 2015, a 3-0 win. The Falcons first played Davis & Elkins in 2013 and have gone 5-1-1 against the Senators.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame looks to get off to a quick start, as they did last season. In the fall 2021 season, the Falcons won five of their first seven games and either won or tied seven of their first nine contests. NDC was the three seed in the MEC Tournament and ran into the two seed, and No. 5 ranked team in D2, Charleston. The Falcons fell in a close 1-0 contest, ending a streak of two consecutive seasons with a win in the conference tournament.

The team scored 54 goals last year, an average of nearly 3.4 per game, and totaled 44 assists, which ranks fifth in program history. The defense posted five shutouts.

Top goal scorers and All-Region members Ned Dry and Ailton Fagner Silva will both be back this season. Dry was fourth in the MEC with 11 goals and Silva scored nine times, which was fifth-best in the conference. Silva also ranked in the MEC's top ten with six assists and 24 points. Dry led the league in points with 26 (11 goals, four assists) and an average of 1.63 per game. Silva was named Freshman of the Year last season and was joined on the All-MEC Freshman team by Taylor Dyson, who had five assists. The spring 2021 Freshman of the Year and All-Region member Antonio Bittencourt will be back on the defensive side of the field and goalkeeper Pedro Alves saves 23 shots in the fall 2021 season and was credited with two shutouts.
 
Noting the Bald Eagles: Lock Haven averaged 2.32 goals per game (44 goals) last season, but allowed just 1.37. As a freshman, Samuel Hershey led the team with 13 goals and 35 points, with nine assists. He returns, but Backham Sibiski (seven goals, 12 assists) and Andrea DiSomma (seven goals, two assists) do not return. Top midfielder Colton Swanson is back and Aitor Ruiz de Eguilaz returns in goal for LHU after starting 17 games and recording three shutouts.

Last season, Lock Haven had their most wins since 2007 (13) and their first trip to the D2 Tournament since 2006.

The Bald Eagles were picked third in the Eastern Division according to the PSAC Coaches Poll. Millersville and West Chester were both picked ahead of LHU in the division. However, Lock Haven defeated Millersville once last season and then lost in overtime and defeated West Chester, twice.

Noting the Senators: Last season, Davis & Elkins' Daniel Cerezo earned MEC Offensive Player of the Year, Alex Estrada was the Defensive Player of the Year and Dean Johnson won Coach of the Year. The Senators had nine players on the All-MEC teams. Both Cerezo and Estrada return. Cerezo is a senior this season, after leading the MEC in shots on goal (35), goals (14) game-winning goals (7) and points (32).

Davis & Elkins won the regular season title in the fall 2021 season and ended Charleston's streak of seven consecutive seasons with the top seed in the conference tournament. The last team to take the top seed, that was not Charleston, was Notre Dame in 2013. Davis & Elkins lost to UC by a score of 4-1 in the MEC Championship game.

Despite earning the top seed in the tournament, D&E was picked second in the MEC Coaches Poll, behind Charleston, with two first-place votes.