This Week: Notre Dame College men's soccer travels to Charleston, W.Va. to play the No. 12 ranked Golden Eagles, on Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. The Falcons will be back home on Oct. 8, for a 12 p.m. start against Davis & Elkins College.
 
Records: NDC currently has a record of 7-1-2 (4-1-2 MEC), accumulating 14 points on the year and sitting in second place in the MEC standings. Charleston enters the week with an 8-1 record, overall, and 6-1 in the MEC. Davis & Elkins is currently 3-2-2 (3-2-1 MEC). Charleston leads the conference with 18 points, while D&E is tied with West Virginia Wesleyan for the fourth spot with 10.
 
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 86-33-13, while going 69-21-9 against MEC competition. Daniel Smee is in his third year as head coach, and has been on the coaching staff since 2017. Meir Lewin is in his first season with Davis & Elkins.
 
Rankings: Charleston is ranked 7th in the latest United Soccer Coaches (USC) NCAA Division II top 25 and NDC is receiving votes. Charleston is No. 1 in the USC's Atlantic Region Poll, while NDC is sitting at No. 4.
 
Series History: NDC is 3-23-3 against Charleston, since 2012. NDC has not allowed more than two goals in a game against UC, since 2021. The Falcons have gone 6-2-3 versus D&E, since 2013. NDC has gone 1-1-3 over the last five matchups. NDC has already played these two teams once in 2023, tying with Davis & Elkins, 0-0, and falling to Charleston, 2-0.
 
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame is now all alone in second place after going 1-0-1 last week. The Falcons beat up on West Virginia Wesleyan, winning 6-2. After WVWC scored on a penalty kick, Mirai Sato tied the game at one, with a late first half goal for NDC. The Falcons then opened up for five goals in the final 45 minutes. Sato scored again in the second half, before Connor O'Reilly, Guilherme Wanderley, Ailton Fagner Silva and Will Couch all scored. In the second game of the week, Concord's goalkeeper Keenan Grant saved 12 shots to keep NDC off the scoreboard in a scoreless draw. NDC's Danilo Abayo Wilson had five saves in the game.
 
For the second consecutive week, NDC's Mirai Sato was given MEC Offensive Player of the Week after scoring two goals and adding to his team leading nine goals this year.
 
Notre Dame has scored 29 goals and totaled 22 assists, which both lead the MEC. On the other side of the field, they have only allowed five goals all season and have finished seven shutouts, which both lead the conference. In NCAA Division II rankings, NDC is fourth in total goals (29), fourth in goal differential (+24), fifth in shutout percentage (.700), sixth in total points (80) and ninth in total assists (22).
 
Ailton Silva is leader the MEC in shots (30) and shots on goal (18). Mirai Sato is at the top of the conference in goals (9) and Evans Armah is at the top in assists (5). The Falcons have five players with three, or more, assists. Sato has totaled 18 points, which is leading the conference. Wilson has allowed just five goals, has a save percentage of .844 and six shutouts. In national rankings, Sato is third in the country in game-winning goals (3), fifth in total goals and eighth in total points. Evans Armah is 11th in the country in total assists, with five, Danilo Abayo Wilson is first in the country in shutouts, with six, and eighth in goalie minutes.
 
Noting the Golden Eagles: Charleston had some close games last week, defeating West Liberty, 1-0, and Frostburg State, 2-1. Giorgos Diakos had the goal against WLU and Juan Hermoso and Eduardo Barros each scored against Frostburg State. Despite outshooting its opponents, 51-7, the Golden Eagles only scored three goals. Frostburg State's Joel Assal saved 12 shots against UC.
 
Charleston is second in the conference this season, with 22 goals and 14 assists. They have allowed six goals, which is second behind the NDC. In Division II, UC is sixth with 8.78 shots on goal per game and 12th with a plus-16 goal differential.
 
Joao Belmudes and Eduardo Barros both lead the team, and rank fourth in the conference, with four goals. Charleston's Marc Torrado has allowed just three goals this year, after playing just six games, and has a save percentage of .786.
 
Noting the Senators: Davis & Elkins tied with Salem, 1-1, and defeated Wheeling, 3-1, last week. Salem took just two shots, last Wednesday, however, the Tigers scored first and led D&E from the 49th minute until the 87th minute. With less than three minutes remaining, D&E's Allan Cuartas tied the game at one. The Senators found the net three times in the first half against Wheeling. Johan Magana had two goals, Dominique Castano added two assists and Cuartas scored a goal and had an assist in that game.
 
Shemar Daley leads the team with three goals this year. Dominique Castano and Modou Faye each have two assists. Grant Wiles has played six games in goal, making 20 saves.