This Week: No. 23 Notre Dame College begins the regular season at home, battling No. 4 ranked Lake Erie College. That matchup of two Northeast Ohio rivals will take place on Aug. 31, at 2 p.m. And then on Sept. 3, NDC travels to Ohio Dominican University for a 3 p.m. start.
 
Records: Last season, Notre Dame went 16-5-2, which included a 12-3-1 mark in Mountain East Conference play. The Falcons reached the MEC Championship game for the third time in the last four seasons and earned a bid into the NCAA Division II Playoffs. Lake Erie had a record of 12-8-5 (8-4-2 GMAC) in 2022. The Storm lost just three times from Sept. 24 to Dec. 1, qualified for the NCAA D2 Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Final Four, where they lost to the eventual champions, Franklin Pierce. Ohio Dominican went 3-11-3 (3-9-2 GMAC) last season.
 
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 currently has an overall coaching record of 79-32-11, while going 65-20-7 against MEC competition. Louie Rolko is now in his seventh season at LEC, while Willy Merrick enters year number 18 at Ohio Dominican.
 
Rankings: Notre Dame enters the season ranked 23rd in the latest United Soccer Coaches (USC) Division II top 25 poll, while Lake Erie sits at No. 4.
 
Series History: The Falcons are 5-1 all-time against Lake Erie, but have not played the Storm since 2012. NDC is 3-4 against ODU, but also have not played the Panthers since the 2012 campaign.
 
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame will look to carry momentum from last season's success. In 2022, NDC completed one of its most successful seasons. The Falcons won 16 games for the first time since 2011 and tallied 10 home wins for the first time since 2002. The Falcons won 12 of their final 13 regular season games and then advanced to the MEC Tournament game, after defeating West Liberty and took down No. 12 Davis & Elkins, in penalty kicks.
 
The Falcons not only earned a bid into the NCAA Tournament, but defeated The College of Saint Rose, 2-1, in overtime of the first round. That was the team's first win in the NCAA Tournament since 2012.

Connor O'Reilly returns after scoring 10 goals, including three game-winners last year, while playing 1,768 minutes. He took home All-MEC Second Team and First Team All-Atlantic Region honors in 2022. Ailton Fagner Silva posted five goals in just 11 games last season, after returning from an injury and midfielder Callum Cleary is back at NDC after playing 1,639 minutes, fifth most on the team.
 
The Falcons in 2022 scored an average of 2.61 goals per game, while holding opponents to just over one per game (1.9). NDC ranked fifth in NCAA Division II in total assists (52) and ranked sixth in both goals (60) and points (172). The defense tallied 11 shutouts.
 
Noting the Storm: Lake Erie made one of the most improbable runs through the NCAA Division II Playoffs last season. The team won nine games in the regular season and fell to Ashland, 1-0, in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinals. They earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament and then beat No. 9 Southern Nazarene (4-0) and No. 3 Maryville (1-0) and then advanced in penalty kicks over No. 1 Saginaw Valley and No. 5 Illinois-Springfield. In the Final Four, LEC fell to the eventual national champion Franklin Pierce.
 
Last season, Teddy Baker (18), Connor Mautino (17) and Tom Akinola (12) combined to score 47 goals. Baker also added 16 assists and was one of the top offensive players in the country. However, only Akinola returns to the Storm for this season. Starting goalkeeper Tomas Wroblewski will not return, so LEC will looking for someone to step up.
 
In 2022, Lake Erie ranked sixth in NCAA Division II in total goals, with 60, and ranked seventh in both total assists (48) and total points (168). The defense stepped up with seven shutouts. Throughout the final 16 games of the season, the Storm allowed more than one goal in just two of those contests.
 
Noting the Panthers: Ohio Dominican went in the opposite direction of NDC and Lake Erie. Last season, the team finished with a record of 3-11-3 and lost its final nine games. Three wins is the lowest in a season for ODU since the 2015 campaign, when the program had a 3-11-2 mark. The Panthers went 2-6-2 at home in 2022.
 
Ohio Dominican averaged just 1.06 goals per game last year, and let up an average of 2.71 goals. Khalif Hassan led the team with five goals, but will not return. Top goalkeeper Cory Pulles looks to regain his spot in goal after making 33 saves in 966 minutes on the pitch.