NOTRE DAME vs. MINNESOTA
The Series: These teams are meeting for the first time in nearly 20 years ... the Gophers beat the Irish in the only previous series matchup, 1-0, on Sept. 13, 1989, at Moose Krause Field (ND began play at Alumni Field the following season).
Common Opponents: ND and Minnesota have faced four common opponents this season (Marquette, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State) ... the Irish went 5-0-0 vs. those teams, with a season-opening win over Michigan (7-0), a 3-1 win at Penn State, two wins over Marquette (3-1, 2-0/BIG EAST semifinal, at ND), and the NCAA second-round win over Michigan State (1-0) ... the Gophers were 2-3-0 vs. those teams, as they lost at Michigan State (0-2), won at Michigan (1-0), lost at Penn State (0-2), lost the BIg Ten title game at home vs. Penn State (1-2), and beat Marquette at home in the NCAA second round (2-1) ... in games vs. the common opponents, ND had a 16-2 scoring edge, 133-36 shot margin (avg. 27-7), a 54-14 shot-on-goal advantage (avg. 11-3) and a 35-7 edge in corner kicks (avg. 7-1.5) ... Minnesota was outscored 7-4 vs. these four teams, but the Gophers had the statistical advantage vs. the group in shots (81-51; avg. 16-10), shots on goal (27-24; avg. 5.5-5) and corner kicks (28-10; avg. 5.5-2).
NCAA Tournament History: Notre Dame is 46-13-1 (.775; second all-time) in NCAA Tournament play, qualifying in 16 seasons with two national titles, four runner-up finishes, nine total trips to the College Cup final weekend (semifinals), 11 quarterfinal appearances, and 13 trips to the round-of-16 (11-1 record, prior to Friday's game) ... Minnesota has advanced to the NCAAs six times (first since '99), going 5-5-0 ... this marks the first time the Gophers have advanced to the round-of-16 (the 1997-99 teams lost in the round-of-32) ... ND is 37-3-0 (.850) all-time when playing at home in the NCAAs, while Minnesota is 0-5-0 when playing an NCAA game on the opponent's field ... see team capsules below for more detailed NCAA results.
(note that some of the below links were not yet updated or not available online; will be updated when available)
NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (und.com; w-soccer page)
Roster | Results (23-0-0; includes game recaps/stats, etc.)
Key Regular-Season Games: won at North Carolina (1-0), beat Duke (3-1, @UNC), won at Penn State (3-1), beat Marquette (3-1), beat Rutgers (3-1)
Cumulative Stats Pages (HTML) | Game-By-Game Stats Pages (HTML)
Statistical Report (PDF)
Season Preview | Head Coach Bio (Randy Waldrum)
Media Guide (PDF) | Preseason Quick Facts (PDF)
Conference Site (BIG EAST; w-soccer page) | Conference Release (PDF, includes stat leaders)
Photo Galleries
Nov. 16 – vs. Michigan State (NCAA second round)
Nov. 6-9 – BIG EAST Tournament (from BIG EAST site)
Nov. 9 – vs. Connecticut (BIG EAST final)
Nov. 7 – vs. Marquette (BIG EAST semifinal)
Nov. 2 – vs. Cincinnati (BIG EAST quarterfinal)
Oct. 5 – vs. Marquette
Oct. 3 – vs. South Florida
Sept. 12 – vs. SMU
Sept. 5 – vs. North Carolina (from UNC site)
Archived Video (click on blue "Video View" tab)
Recent und.com Headlines (non-game related)
Nov. 17 – Bock/Weber Named Academic All-Americans
Nov. 10 – Dew Named National Player of the Week
Nov. 6 – BIG EAST Awards Banquet
Feature Stories/Q&A's
Oct. 20 – Brief feature on Kerri Hanks (by Graham Hays, ESPN.com)
Oct. 15 – Twenty questions with Kelsey Lysander (und.com)
Sept. 29 – Q&A with Erica Iantorno (journalgazette.com)
Sept. 25 – Feature story on Kelsey Lysander (by Deidre Krasula; ndsmcobserver.com)
Sept. 25 – Twenty questions with Michele Weissenhofer (und.com)
Sept. 10 – Feature story on Brittany Bock (by Deidre Krasula; ndsmcobserver.com)
June 24 – 11 Questions with Lauren Fowlkes (ussoccer.com)
Postseason Game Recaps/Stats
Nov. 16 – ND 1, Michigan State 0 (NCAA 2nd Round) Recap | HTML stats | PDF box
Nov. 14 – ND 5, Toledo 2 (NCAA 1st Round) Recap | HTML stats | PDF box
Nov. 9 – ND 1, Connecticut 0 OT (BIG EAST Final) Recap | HTML stats | PDF box
Nov. 7 – ND 2, Marquette 0 (BIG EAST Semifinal) Recap | HTML stats | PDF box
Nov. 2 – ND 5, Cincinnati 0 (BIG EAST Quarterfinal) Recap | HTML stats | PDF box
MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS (gophersports.com; w-soccer page)
Roster | Results (22-3-0; includes links to game recaps/stats, etc.)
Key Regular-Season Games: lost at Michigan State (0-2), beat Purdue (1-0/2 OT), beat Illinois (1-0), lost at Penn State (0-2)
Weekly Press Release (PDF; includes statistical report) (HTML version)
Cumulative Stats Page (HTML) | Head Coach Bio (Mikki Denney Wright)
Conference Site (Big Ten; w-soccer page) | Conference Release (PDF; includes stat leaders)
Photo Galleries
GopherPix.com (196 images, some included below)
Oct. 5 – vs. Indiana
Sept. 21 – vs. Boston University
Sept. 7 – vs. Creighton
Sept. 5 – vs. Ohio University
Aug. 22 – vs. Northern Iowa
Archived Video (click on website "Multimedia" tab)
Recent gophersports.com Headlines (non-game related)
Nov. 5 – BIG Ten Regular-Season Awards
Nov. 5 – Kallman Named Academic All-District
Oct. 23 – Seven Super Seniors
Postseason Game Recaps/Stats
Nov. 16 – MN 2, South Dakota St. 0 (NCAA 2nd Round) Recap | GT final stats | PDF box | MN quotes | SDS quotes
Nov. 14 – MN 2, Marquette 1 (NCAA 1st Round) Recap | PDF boxscore | Postgame quotes
Nov. 9 – Penn State 2, MN 1 (Big Ten Final) Recap | PDF boxscore
Nov. 7 – MN 1, Purdue 0 (Big Ten Semifinal) Recap | PDF boxscore
Nov. 6 – MN 3, Northwestern 1 (Big Ten Quarterfinal) Recap | PDF boxscore