West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University men's soccer team will play their second of two straight road matches on Sunday afternoon when they visit (RV) Notre Dame. The Hilltoppers seek their first-ever win against the Falcons as the teams are set for a 3 p.m. kickoff at Mueller Field in South Euclid, Ohio.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: South Euclid, Ohio (Mueller Field)
• Kickoff: 3 P.M.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Sunday's match with a record of 5-4-4 (4-4-2 MEC) on the season and is currently tied for fifth in the Mountain East Conference standings with 14 points through ten matches.
• In their last game, WLU lost at Concord (1-0) on Wednesday afternoon.
• Mark Donnelly leads West Liberty with four goals on the year while Vitor Otsuka, Jan Goebel, Zachary Forehand, and Oskar Voges have each found the back of the net twice this season.
• Otsuka is one of six players on the team with an assist and has notched a team-high of six, which is tied for second most in the MEC. Goebel, Rhys Lewis, Tim Stickland, Shimon Ichimiya, and Jasper Newton each have one.
• Otsuka (2 goals, 6 assists) leads the team with ten points while Donnelly (4 goals) is second on the team with eight points.
• In goal, Noah Underwood has played 1,080 minutes thus far this season. He has made 52 saves for an .839 save percentage on 133 shots faced, while posting a 0.85 goals-against average. He has notched four shutouts this season, matching the WLU single-season record. Underwood ranks third in the MEC in goals-against average, save percentage, and total saves.
• Through 13 matches, West Liberty holds the advantage in goals (18-11), assists (11-7), shots (156-141), shots-on-goal (71-69), corner kicks (84-61), and saves (55-51).
• Sean Regan is in his fifth season as the head coach at West Liberty with a record of 21-45-9 with the Hilltoppers. Overall, he is in his 15th season as a head coach in collegiate men's soccer after spending ten previous seasons at nearby Bethany, he holds a career record of 82-163-21 during his time with the Bison and Hilltoppers.

NOTRE DAME STORYLINES

• Notre Dame enters Sunday's match with a record of 9-2-3 (6-2-3 MEC) on the season and is currently second in the Mountain East Conference standings with 21 points through 11 matches.
• In their last match, NDC saw a 2-game win streak snapped as they played to a 3-3 draw on the road at Wheeling on Wednesday evening.
• Mirai Sato leads the team and is second in the MEC with nine goals this season for the Falcons. Sato is also tied for the conference lead with three game-winning goals this season.
• Ailton Fagner Silva has added four goals while Evans Armah, Carlos Almeida, Guilherme Wanderley, and Juan Pineda have each found the back of the net three times in 2023.
• Armah has tallied a team-best and league leading seven assists, while Higor Xisto and Jared Rimmer are tied for fifth in the conference with four assists.
• Sato has recorded a team-best 19 points on the year and is second in the MEC with 19 points off nine goals and one assist. Evans is tied for seventh in the league with 13 points off three goals and seven assists.
• Danilo Abayo Wilson has appeared and started in all 14 matches for NDC, totaling 1,241 minutes in goal while making 36 saves with a 0.720 save percentage on 116 shots faced. He holds a 1.01 goals-against average to go along with an MEC-best seven shutouts and one combined shutout.
• Through 14 matches Notre Dame has held an advantage in goals (36-14), assists (27-6), shots (232-117), shots-on-goal (119-52), and corner kicks (89-46) while their opponents hold the edge in saves (81-37).
• Carl Nolan is in his eighth season as the head coach at Notre Dame, holding a career record of 88-34-14 during his time with the Falcons.

SERIES HISTORY

• Notre Dame holds a 9-0-1 lead in the all-time series.
• The Falcons defeated the Hilltoppers 1-0 in the first match-up of the season on September 10 at the West Family Athletic Complex.