SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- Notre Dame Men’s Soccer released its 2010 schedule on Wednesday. (
Schedule)
The Falcons’ 10th season will get underway on Aug. 27, when NDC begins play in the two-day Rio Grande Invitational in Rio Grande, Ohio. That match, against Spring Arbor (Mich.), will mark the first of 17 scheduled regular-season tilts for the Falcons, who went 16-4-2 a year ago (2009) and qualified for the NAIA National Championship Tournament for a second straight year. The Notre Dame Falcons are the two-time defending champions of the American Mideast Conference.
The Rio Grande tournament will be the first of three early-season tournaments for the Lads in Blue & White. Notre Dame will also travel to two day tournaments hosted by Calumet College of St. Joseph in Schererville, Ind. (Sept. 4-5), and by the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Ill. (Sept. 11-12). In between the Calumet and St. Francis tournaments, NDC will travel a mile up the road to play eastside neighbor John Carroll (Sept. 7).
The Falcons will play their home opener on Sept. 22, when they renew their series with NCAA Division II power Ashland, which is 17-8-7 over the last two seasons. A week later, on Sept. 29, NDC opens AMC play, with a Wednesday-night home match against Houghton (N.Y.).
The Falcons went 6-1-1 at home last season and are 18-3-2 at home since 2007. The Falcons In conference play, NDC posted a 6-1-2 record in 2010; the Falcons have a 49-5-4 mark in-circuit since 2002.
The Houghton match will be the first of eight conference affairs for Notre Dame, which went 6-1-2 in league play a year ago. Head Coach Michael “Mac” McBride sees this year’s AMC foes as a tough bunch:
“Making the AMC playoffs will be a tall order,” said McBride, who has been NDC’s head coach since the program’s inception in 2001. “We’ll give it our best shot, though. We have graduated a hefty number of very significant players from our program, but we will strive to remain competitive in 2010.”
McBride’s 2010 squad will be without the service of a significant chunk of defensive corps from a 2009 team that allowed just 22 goals in as many matches. Graduates off the 2009 roster include two keepers, a defender and three midfielders who logged significant playing time as part of McBride’s rotation.
“I’d say we are definite outsiders this year,” said McBride. “I hope having the mantle of underdog will help motivate our players when competing with the more favored teams in our league.”
The Falcons 2010 slate includes: two games in August, eight in September and seven in October … five matches at home, six on the road and six at neutral-site locations … nine non-conference matches and eight AMC tilts … eight games in the state of Ohio and nine outside the Buckeye State.
Since being launched in 2001, NDC Men’s Soccer has logged an impressive all-time record of 118-52-14. The program’s .641 winning percentage is the highest among Notre Dame’s 23 athletic teams. McBride has been on the sideline for each of those 118 wins; his teams have won five division titles and two conference crowns while producing 12 NAIA All-Americans, 11 NAIA Scholar-Athletes and 23 First Team All-AMC performers.