This Week: Notre Dame College men's soccer will host Wheeling University on Aug. 31, at 4 p.m. The Falcons will head to No. 2 ranked University of Charleston for a rematch of last season's Mountain East Conference semifinal matchup, on Sept. 4, at 4 p.m.

Records: Notre Dame is 1-1 (0-1 MEC) after starting the 2022 season last Thursday. Wheeling enters the week with a 0-1 record. They were 5-11-1 (4-10-1 MEC) last season. Charleston has gotten off to another fast start, winning their first two games, including one conference matchup. In 2021, UC went 19-2-3, overall, and 14-1-1 in the MEC. The Golden Eagles won the MEC Tournament title and finished runner-up to Cal State-L.A. for the NCAA Division II championship.

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 holds an overall coaching record of 64-28-9, while going 53-18-6 in MEC play. Brandon Regan takes over the Wheeling program this season, succeeding his father, Jim, who retired after leading the program for 40 years. Daniel Smee is in his third season as head coach at Charleston, and sixth on the staff. He holds a coaching record of 31-2-3 (23-1-1 MEC).

Rankings: Charleston was No. 2 in the United Soccer Coaches Division II preseason poll.

Series History: Notre Dame has gone 16-3-2 against Wheeling since 2005. NDC defeated Wheeling 7-0 in their only matchup last season and the Falcons have not lost to the Cardinals since 2018. Against UC, the Falcons have gone 3-19-3 since meeting in 2012. In three matchups last season between Charleston and NDC, two of the games were decided by two goals, or less.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame opened the season at home against Lock Haven, a team that made the NCAA Tournament last year. The Falcons came away with a 1-0 victory, as Antonio Bittencourt scored in the 78th minute and the defense held LHU to just five shots and one shot on target in the game. NDC already has a shutout in 2022, after not getting one until Sept. 22 in 2021. On Sunday afternoon, Notre Dame traveled to play No. 10 Davis & Elkins. In that game, NDC and D&E were even in shots taken through the first 20 minutes of the contest. The Senators scored first, in the 37th minute, and the Falcons went into halftime trailing by just one goal. But less than a minute into the second half, Davis & Elkins scored the second goal and would add on later to win, 4-0.

The Notre Dame offense is getting the ball down the field and creating opportunities as they have put up double-digit shot totals in both games and have taken six shots on goal in each match. Carlos Almeida leads the team with four shots.

Noting the Cardinals: Wheeling traveled to Cedarville University, last Saturday, to start their season. Cedarville, who qualified for the NCAA Division II Tournament last season, got on the board in the 20th minute. The Yellow Jackets took nine shots in the first stanza and held Wheeling to one. Although Cedarville scored one more goal in the 48th minute and won by a score of 2-0, Wheeling battled and put themselves in good spots in the final 45 minutes. WU took three more shots (8-5) than CU in the second half and Wheeling also had five corner kicks in the second period to Cedarville's one. Diego Buenano led the Cardinals with three shots.

Noting the Golden Eagles: Once again, Charleston was No. 1 in the MEC Preseason Poll, with 63 points and seven first-place votes. The Golden Eagles started the season on the road at Lincoln Memorial University, winning 1-0. In that contest, Paul Caliari scored in the 30th minute, off an assist by Joseph Gasper. LMU played the nationally ranked Golden Eagles well, holding UC to 10 shots and just one on target. Lincoln Memorial took seven shots, and three on goal. Last Sunday, Charleston hosted West Liberty and began MEC play with a 3-0 win. UC's offense out-shot WLU, 29-2, in the game and their defense did not allow the Hilltoppers to take a shot in the first 45 minutes of action. Charleston's Paul Caliari scored in the 35th minute, Sam Bethell found the net on a penalty kick in the 44th minute and Tristen Rose gave Charleston a 3-0 lead in the 89th minute.

Paul Caliari earned MEC Offensive Player of the Week after he scored in both games last week and each was a game-winner. Goalkeeper Marc Torrado was named MEC Defensive Player of the Week after being credited with two shutouts. He made three saves against Lincoln Memorial and one against West Liberty.