Live Audio | Live Stats | Game Notes

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio - Davenport will play their first ever game in the NAIA National Tournament against #2 ranked Notre Dame this Saturday. The Opening Round game is set for Saturday Nov. 20, at 2 p.m. ET. NDC comes in to the NAIA Tournament as the No. 4 seed while Davenport is unseeded.


Championship Website | Championship Bracket | Championship Qualifiers | Final RPI Ranking

The 30-team National Championship Opening Round will take place on 15 on-campus sites on Nov. 20. The winners of the National Championship Opening Round games, as well as Mobile (Ala.), will advance to the final site from Nov. 29 - Dec. 4 in Orange Beach, Ala. 

This year's 31 teams include 24 automatic qualifiers (conferences/independent/unaffiliated champions) and seven at-large berths, determined by the final official NAIA Men's Soccer Modified Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).

Live audio will be provided for the NAIA Opening Round on NotreDameFalcons.com from Korb Field, pregame show and Men's Soccer Coaches Corner to start approximately 30 minutes prior to the 2 p.m. kickoff, live stats will also be available on NotreDameFalcons.com. 


RANKED OPPONENTS - NDC has played three matches against teams in the NCAA-II and NAIA Top 25 with a 3-0-0 record. The Blue and White have outscored ranked opponents 16-3 this season. DU has played two contests against ranked opponents with a 0-2-0 mark. The Red and Black have been outscored by a combined 3-5 in such games.

COMMON OPPONENTS - The Falcons and Panthers share two common opponents, Mt. Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) and Madonna (Mich.). NDC defeated Madonna 3-2 breaking a seven game shutout streak, then defeated MVNU, 5-0, handing the Cougars their worst home loss since Sept. 16, 1996. DU first defeated MVNU 3-2, before shutting out Madonna 1-0.

OVERTIME - The Falcons have played two overtime matches with a 2-0-0 record; the Panthers have played four overtime match with a 2-2-0 record this season.

OH SO CLOSE – Notre Dame is 5-0-0 in one goal games while Davenport is 8-6-0 in 2010. 


A LOOK AT DAVENPORT - The Panthers (15-6-0) are making their first appearance in the NAIA National Tournament after defeating Concordia (Mich.) (3-13-1), 1-0, Cornerstone (Mich.) (8-8-2), 3-1, and Aquinas (Mich.) (14-4-0), 1-0, to win their second Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament in school history. Their last title came in 2005, the first year of the soccer program and DU fell in the Regional Tournament to Bethel.

The Red and Black secured their best season in program history, with best's in, wins (15), shutouts (10), and first regular season WHAC title. 

Davenport's Kevin O'Brien, a sophomore goalkeeper from Cork, Ireland, earned WHAC Defensive Player of the Year while starting in all 21 matches; he held opponents to .99 goals against per game, kept nine shutouts while recording 82 saves on 103 shots on target and a 15-6-0 record.

Geographic Roster:
England: (6) – Ryan Duffy-McGirr, Jai Maw, Jordan Richards, Michael Ricketts, Carl Winterbottom, David Wood
Ireland: (3) – Stuart Collins, O'Brien, Donal Lynch
Michigan: (8) – Alex Boehm, Chase Burgess, Joshua Christensen, Caleb Claybaugh, Ricco Mulero, Bryant Roos, Wes Trimpe, Richard Visser
Nepal: (1) – Benjamin Sunuwar
Scotland: (1) – John Girasoli
South Africa: (1) – Damian Goncalves
Trinidad & Tobago: (1) – Gerard John-Williams
Ontario: (1) – Jesse Asanin-Miroux


THE DAVENPORT SERIES - The Falcons and Panthers are meeting for the second time. Notre Dame holds a 1-0-0 advantage after defeating Davenport 6-0 at Korb Field, Aug. 25, 2009. Only nine players from that team returned to a Panther squad that claimed their first ever regular season conference crown. 


A LOOK AT NOTRE DAME - The Falcons are making their third consecutive NAIA National Tournament and fourth all-time, after defeating Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.) (8-9-0), 6-1 and No. 21 Houghton (N.Y.) (13-6-0), 5-2 to win their third consecutive American Mideast Conference Tournament.
 
Notre Dame remains one of only four undefeated teams in the country, along with No. 1 Rio Grande, No. 3 Hastings (Neb.), and No. 6 Main-Fort Kent. No. 2, Notre Dame is 19-0-0, outscoring their opponents 81-9, ranking third in the NAIA with 4.26 goals scored per game and eighth with .47 goals against per game. 

Tied for the fourth longest active streak of being consecutively ranked in the NAIA Top 25 with 31 consecutive weeks, the Falcons have dominated opponents while rewriting the record books, with school best's in, wins to open a season (19), winning streak (19), consecutive shouts (7) and shutouts in a season (12), most wins in regular season (17), fewest regular season goals allowed (6), first perfect regular season 17-0-0, and tied the 2008 team for the most wins in school history (19).
 
NDC Men's Soccer has a 137-52-14 record through the 2010 season; their .709 winning percentage is the highest among Notre Dame's 23 athletic programs. Falcon men's soccer is tougher to beat on Korb Field's state-of-the-art AstroPlay surface. Since the program's inception in 2001, the Falcons are 64-15-2 (.807), including a 6-0 win against the Panthers, Aug. 25, 2009 at the friendly confines of Korb Field. 

Luke Holmes, a junior midfielder from Oldham, England, earned his second consecutive AMC Player of the Year while playing 19 matches; he ranks first all-time in goals (65), and points (152). 

Tom Mellor, a sophomore midfielder from Shaw, England, earned his second consecutive First Team All-AMC while playing 19 matches; he ranks third in the NAIA in assists (17) and holds the NDC record with 28 in just 40 matches.

Geographic Roster: 
England (8): Jacob Child, Philip Cutler, Luke Holmes, Elliot Kelly, Ryan McGreevy, Tom Mellor, Thomas Owens, Dominic Waldron 
Ohio (7): Erik Beattie, Christian Earnest, Kyle Hayes, Steven Kane, Josip Samardzija, Jon Smola, Sam Vail
Germany (2): Alex Klein, Jan Skorupinski
Australia (1): Carlo Manna
Michigan (1): Scott Olinski
Ontario (1): Jacob Sheppard
Senegal (1): Mo Sougoufara
Texas (1): Nathan Nweaze
Wales (1): Daniel Knight
West Virginia (1): Cody Brown