This Week: The Notre Dame College women's soccer team enters the Mountain East Conference Tournament, as the Falcons are the No. 2 seed in the MEC North Division. NDC will host the No. 3 seed from the South Division in West Virginia State University on Sunday Nov. 5 at 1 p.m.
 
MEC Tournament: All four Quarterfinal matchups are slated for Sunday Nov. 5, as Charleston hosts Fairmont State at 1 p.m. in the No. 1 South (S) vs. No. 4 North (N) matchup. No. 1N Frostburg State sees No. 4S Glenville State at 2 p.m., while No. 2S Concord squares off against No. 3N West Liberty at 1 p.m.
 
On Wednesday Nov. 8, the winner of the Notre Dame/West Virginia State matchup, will garner the winner of Charleston/Fairmont State in the Semifinal Round. On the other side, the winner of Frostburg State/Glenville State will face the winner of Concord/West Liberty in the other Semifinal.
 
Lastly, the Mountain East Conference Championship Game will commence on Sunday Nov. 12, featuring the winners of each Semifinal matchup. The game time to be determined.
 
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Records: NDC begins the week at 10-4-3 (9-4-1 MEC), totaling 28 points and finishing in second place in the MEC North Division. WV State holds a record of 10-5-3 (9-3-3 MEC), totaling 30 points and finishing in third place in the MEC South Division.
 
Coaches Corner: Mike Shiels headlines the Notre Dame women's soccer program in his 21^st season at the helm. Shiels carries a 204-130-37 career record, to go along with three MEC Tournament championships and four MEC Coach of the Year honors. Brandon Slewa is in his first season as head coach of West Virginia State.
 
Rankings: Notre Dame remains ranked No. 10 in the Atlantic Region according to the United Soccer Coaches (USC) week 9 poll, however neither team is ranked nationally.
 
Series History: NDC is 1-2 all-time when facing WV State, dating back to their first meeting in 2021, and including the Falcons 2-0 victory in Institute, W. Va. back on Oct. 15. Miriam Szijarto tallied both goals for Notre Dame on the day, while Jordan Pasalaqua recorded four saves en route to the clean sheet.
 
Noting the Falcons: Last week, Notre Dame rolled past Fairmont State on Wednesday 3-0, before dismantling Wheeling 4-1 on Sunday. Junior Miriam Szijarto registered a pair of multi-goal performances en route to being named the Mountain East Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season. The Falcons final regular season game against Salem was canceled due to inclement weather.
 
Szijarto highlights the Notre Dame College offense with the most goals scored by an NDC Falcon since 1996. Following her sixth multi-goal game of the year, the junior leads the Mountain East Conference and is tied third in NCAA DII with 17 goals scored. In addition, the Ravenna, Ohio native has 37 points on the year, third in NDC single season history, while being tops in the MEC and tied fourth in the nation. The Archbishop Hoban High School product has been clutch for the Falcons as she owns six game-winning goals this year, tied for the most in a single season in NDC program history with Lauren Acker from 2009. Moreover, six game-winning goals are first in the MEC currently tied for second in the entire country. Szijarto has scored four more goals and recorded six more points than any other player in the conference.
 
Five other Falcons post multiple goals on the year in Mia Maruna (4), Sophia Motolese (3), Louisa Follert (3), Ashley Rainho (3) and Savannah Singh (2). Rainho and Follert act as the team's top facilitators touting six and five assists, respectively, both top 10 provisions in the league. The duo is joined by (3), S. Motolese (3), Singh (2) and Drew Barr (2) as players with multiple dimes.
 
After recording 10 saves this past week, senior Jordan Pasalaqua is the NDC career leader in saves with 341, surpassing Kristy Kolschetzky (339) from 2010-13. In addition, the Madison High School product has played in 79 career games, tied with Alexis Manoa and Riley Doyle from 2014-17 for the most matches played in program history. Moreover, Pasalaqua is already the NDC career leader in wins (37) and minutes played (7,064), while being second in shutouts (27). Lastly, the senior is currently fifth in single season history with a career-high 84 saves this season.
 
This season, Pasalaqua ranks third in the MEC in save percentage (.840), fourth in saves (84), tied for fourth in shutouts (4), fifth in goals against average (.970) and sixth in saves per game (4.94). The senior has allowed 16 goals while making 84 saves on 196 shots faced.
 
As a team, Notre Dame averages 2.18 goals per game on 15.3 shots per game. The Falcons have scored 37 goals on 27 assists to go with 65 corner kicks. Amongst the MEC, NDC is tied third in goals allowed per game and fifth in goals scored per game.
 
Noting the Yellow Jackets: Last week, West Virginia State picked up a pair of shutout victories over WV Wesleyan (1-0) on Wednesday Oct. 25 and Davis & Elkins (5-0) on Sunday Oct. 29. This week, the Yellow Jackets closed out the regular season with a 1-1 draw against No. 6 Charleston on Wednesday Nov. 1.
 
Esther Dhiramo powers the WV State offense, with a team-high 12 goals and 25 points, both top five marks in the MEC. Ammy Mwasambu adds eight goals scored, tied for 10^th in the league, while Sandra Linares and Alba Closa dish out a team-best five assists a piece. Linares and Closa are tied for seventh in the MEC in assists, as they register six and four goals, respectively, the third and fourth scoring options for West Virginia State.
 
Between the pipes, goalkeeper Laura Galindo is second in the MEC in save percentage (.841), third in shutouts (5), fourth in goals against average (.966) and sixth in saves per game (4.93). Galindo has surrendered 14 goals on 184 shots faced, while grabbing 74 saves.
 
As a whole, West Virginia State averages 2.11 goals per game on 12.2 shots per game. The Yellow Jackets have scored 38 on 23 assists and 58 corner kicks. Amongst the MEC, WV State is tied third in goals allowed per game and tied sixth in goals scored per game.