This Week: Notre Dame College men's soccer is coming off of a much-deserved off day last Sunday and is preparing for a road matchup against Wheeling University, on Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m., before coming home to face West Liberty University, on Oct. 22 at 3 p.m.
 
Records: NDC currently has a record of 9-2-2 (6-2-2 MEC), sitting in second place in the conference. Wheeling is 1-11-1 (0-9-1 MEC), still in search of its first MEC victory and home victory of the season. West Liberty has been hanging around in the top four of the conference, with an overall mark of 5-3-4, with a 4-3-2 conference record.
 
Coaches Corner: Carl Nolan is in his eighth season as head coach of the Notre Dame program and 19th as a member of the coaching staff. He has an overall coaching record of 88-34-13, while going 71-22-9 against MEC competition. Sean Regan is now in his fourth season on the sidelines with the Hilltoppers. His brother, Brandon Regan, is in year No. 2 at Wheeling.
 
Rankings: Notre Dame is receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches (USC) NCAA Division II top 25 poll. NDC is sitting at No. 4 in the USC's Atlantic Region poll.
 
Series History: NDC is 19-3-2 all-time against Wheeling, going 8-0-1 in the last nine meetings. Notre Dame has allowed three goals to the Cardinals since the beginning of the 2018 season. West Liberty started its men's soccer program in 2018. Since then, the Falcons have gone 10-0-1 against the Hilltoppers.

Noting the Falcons: Last week, Notre Dame played only one game, defeating Frostburg State, 1-0, but still swept the Mountain East Conference Player of the Week awards. Carlos Almeida took Offensive Player of the Week after scoring in the 81st minute to win the game, while Danilo Abayo Wilson was credited with his seventh shutout of the season and saved three shots for the Defensive Player of the Week award.
 
NDC has the most potent offense in the MEC this season, leading the conference with 33 goals scored, 27 assists, 93 points, eight shutouts and 85 corner kicks, entering this week. The Falcons' defense has only let up 11 goals, but rank fourth in the conference in that category.
 
Ailton Fagner Silva leads the conference in shots on goal per game (1.83) and shots taken (38). Mirai Sato is tied at the top of the conference with nine goals, while Evans Armah leads the league with seven assists. Sato is also at the top of the MEC with three game-winning goals and is second in total points (19). Armah is tied for fifth in the conference with 13 points. Danilo Abayo Wilson leads the MEC in shutouts (7) and is third in goals against average (.860).
 
In the national rankings, the Falcons are tied for sixth in Division II with eight shutouts, 10th with a plus-22 goal differential, 11th in goals, with 33, 12th in points, with 93, 15th in assists, with 27 and 16th in corner kicks per game, with 6.54. Individually, Wilson is third in the country with his seven shutouts. Evans Armah ranks 10th in total assists (7) and Mirai Sato is 20th in total goals (9). Sato is 16th in the county with three game-winners.
 
Noting the Cardinals: Wheeling picked up its first win of the season last Sunday, against Salem (2-1). In the victory, Jon-Michael Gordan and Salem Mwelwa scored the two WU goals within a three-minute span. The defense allowed one goal in the 33rd minute, but held up to secure the first win, despite being outshot, 16-12.
 
Wheeling has only scored eight goals this season, while allowing 43, ranking last in the MEC in both categories.
 
TJ Cherry and Johannes Haugerud have score two goals, each, this season to lead the team. Austin Aaron has started five games as the goalkeeper, while Carlos Molina has started eight. Wheeling is giving up an average of 3.31 goals per game this season.
 
Noting the Hilltoppers: West Liberty started the season strong with a 4-0 win over No. 12 ranked Davis & Elkins, and shot out to a 5-2-2 record though nine games. However, the Hilltoppers have not won a game since Oct. 1, going 0-1-2 since their 2-1 win against W.Va. Wesleyan. Last week, WLU lost to D&E, 1-0, and then played to a scoreless draw against Frostburg State. Goalkeeper Noah Underwood totaled seven saves over the two contests.
 
West Liberty is tied for second in the conference with 10 goals allowed and an average of 0.83 goals allowed per game. WLU also ranks second in save percentage, at .839. However, the offense has only scored 18 times.
 
Vitor Otsuka is tied for second in the conference with six assists on the season. He also has two goals and 10 points on the season. Mark Donnelly leads the team with four goals. Noah Underwood has the second lowest goals against average (.818), the third best save percentage (.845) and the third best saves per game average (4.45) in the conference.