This Week: Notre Dame College men's soccer is the seven seed in Super Region 1 and will travel to the University of Charleston, which is the host institution of the first two rounds of the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Falcons are preparing to play the ten seed Queens (N.Y.) College in the First Round, on Nov. 16, at noon.

NCAA D2 Tournament: In Super Region 1's side of the bracket, the first-round matchups include eight seed, Bloomsburg, going against the nine seed, Southern New Hampshire. The winner of that match will play Franklin Pierce, the top seed, on Nov. 18.
 
The other first round matchup involves the Falcons and Queens, with the winner advancing to play the two seed, Charleston, on Nov. 18.
 
Post, the four seed, will play West Chester, the five seed, while the three seed, Millersville, will battle the six seed, Gannon. Both of those matchups will take place on Nov. 18, as well.

For the full bracket, click here.
 
Records: NDC currently has a record of 11-3-4. This is the team's second consecutive double-digit win season. Queens enters the week with an 11-7-2 mark, winning just eight games in the regular season before taking three straight on the way to their conference tournament title.

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 90-35-15. Frank Vertullo is now in his sixth season on the sideline at Queens. He has a record of 56-39-10.

Rankings: Neither team is receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches (USC) NCAA Division II top 25 poll. In the latest NCAA Division II Regional Rankings, NDC is No. 7 and Queens is No. 10.

Series History: NDC and Queens have never played each other. Both teams will be playing in the national tournament for second consecutive year. In 2022, Queens was the seven seed and lost to Adelphi in the first round, while NDC was the eight seed and defeated The College of Saint Rose.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame had the fewest regular season losses (2) since 2013. The Falcons were the two seed in the Mountain East Conference Tournament, and received a bye in the first round. They fell to Davis & Elkins in the Semifinal Round, by a score of 3-2 in overtime. Ailton Fagner Silva and Carlos Almeida both had an assist and goal in the game.
 
The Falcons were second in the MEC, with 43 goals scored and ranked second with 36 assists. The Falcons average 2.39 goals per game, while allowing just 1.1 on average. Mirai Sato is third in the MEC with nine goals scored. Sato also has three game-winning goals and 19 points. Evans Armah (7 assists), Ailton Silva (6) and Jared Rimmer (5) are all in the top eight in the conference in assists. Goalkeeper Danilo Abayo Wilson was second in the MEC with seven shutouts and finished the season with 46 saves.
 
Across Division II, NDC ranks 13th in shots on goal per game (7.8), 17th in corner kicks per game (6.2), 18th in total goals (43), 19th in points (122), 20th in total assists (36), 20th in goals per game (2.39) and 21st in goal differential (plus-23). Wilson is 16th in the country in goalkeeper minutes played (1,621) and 17th in shutouts.
 
In the conference's yearly awards, Mirai Sato, Evans Armah, Connor O'Reilly and Juan Pineda each took a spot on the All-MEC First Team. Danilo Abayo Wilson was named to the Second Team, while Carlos Almeida, Ailton Fagner Silva, Callum Cleary and Jared Rimmer took Honorable Mention. Will Couch was named to the All-Freshman Team.

Noting the Knights: As the three seed in the East Coast Conference Tournament, Queens defeated the College of Staten Island (2-1), Mercy (4-3) and the University of the District of Columbia (1-0). Tommy Gunn had an impressive tournament. Against Mercy, both teams scored three goals in the second half and Gunn scored the game-winner in the 89th minute. In a scoreless game against UDC, Gunn scored in the 78th minute to win the championship for QC.
 
As a team, Queens led the ECC with 53 goals and 49 assists. The Knights led everyone else in the conference by 13 goals and 16 assists. QC is averaging 2.65 goals per game, while allowing an average of 1.6. Harry Cooke (9 goals), Leo Pinto (6) and Tommy Gunn (6) are all in the top eight in the conference in goals. Adolfo Martinez Paquet leads the league with 13 assists, while Cooke (6) and Jose Mendez (6) are both in the top five. Tommy Gunn now leads the ECC with four game-winning goals. Four goalkeepers have started at least one game for the Knights, with Juan Cruz Ladino starting nine of the contests.
 
QC ranks fourth in Division II with 49 assists, fifth with 155 points, sixth in shots on goal per game, with 8.6, seventh in total goals, with 53, and seventh in assists per game, with 2.5. Adolfo Martinez Paquet ranks second in D2 with 13 assists. Tommy Gunn's four game-winners rank 17th in the country.

In the East Coast Conference, Adolfo Martinez Paquet and Jose Mendez were named All-Conference First Team. Harry Cooke, Leo Pinto and Kevin Johnson were named to the Second Team.