West Liberty, W.Va. – For the second time in the first three games of the season, the West Liberty men's soccer team will face another nationally ranked opponent, welcoming the No. 15 Notre Dame Falcons to the West Family Athletic Complex on Sunday afternoon. The Hilltoppers and Falcons are slated for a 1 p.m. kickoff.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: West Liberty, W.Va. (West Family Athletic Complex)
• Kick-Off: 1 P.M.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Sunday's match with a record of 1-0-1 (1-0-1 MEC) on the season, following Wednesday's 2-2 draw against Concord in their home opener.
• The Hilltoppers' victory over the Senators in the season opener marked the first ever Top-25 victory in program history.
• West Liberty is the No. 8 team in the Atlantic Region of the United Soccer Coaches Regional Ranking. They entered the poll for the first time in program history last Tuesday and achieved their highest ever ranking.
• WLU has seen five different players score goals for them this season, led by Zachary Forehand who has found the back of the net twice. Vitor Otsuka, Tim Stickland, Mark Donnelly, and Federico Murrau have all scored one goal in the first two games of the season.
• Three different Hilltoppers have assisted on goals during the first two games of the year, led by Otsuka with two, while Stickland and Jan Goebel each have one.
• Otsuka (1 goal, 2 assists) and Forehand (2 goals) are tied for the team lead in points with four each. With all four points occurring in the season opening win, Otsuka was named the MEC Offensive Player of the Week last Monday.
• Forehand's two goals this season are tied for the fourth most in the conference this season, while Otsuka is tied for the league lead with two assists this season. They are both tied for first in the conference with an average of 2.00 points per game, followed by Stickland who's tied for sixth with a 1.50 points per game average.
• In goal, Noah Underwood has played all 180 minutes thus far this season. He has made ten saves for a .833 save percentage on 22 shots faced. He has notched one shutout this season in a win over No. 12 Davis & Elkins.
• Underwood's seven saves in his last outing against Concord is tied for the second most by an MEC goalkeeper in a game this season. He ranks second in the MEC with 5.00 saves per game.
• The Hilltoppers' 12 points (4 goals, 4 assists) in the season opener was the most by any Mountain East Conference team during the opening weekend and is still second most in the conference. WLU's four assists against D&E is tied for the most by an MEC school this season and their four goals against the Senators are tied for second most by an MEC school in a game this season.
• Through two matches, West Liberty has held the advantage in goals (6-2), assists (4-1), shots (29-22) and shots-on-goal (16-12), while they are even with their opponents with 13 corner kicks apiece.
• Sean Regan is in his fifth season as the head coach at West Liberty with a record of 17-41-6 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 78-159-18 during his time with the Bison and Hilltoppers.

NOTRE DAME STORYLINES

• Notre Dame enters Sunday's match with a record of 2-0-1 (0-0-1 MEC) on the season, following Wednesday's scoreless draw at Davis & Elkins. The Falcons defeated No. 4 Lake Erie, 3-0, in their season opener at home.
• NDC enters this weekend's match-up ranked as the No. 15 team nationally in the United Soccer Coaches Top -25 Poll. They are also ranked as the No. 2 team in the Atlantic Region.
• All six goals this season for Notre Dame have been scored by different players, as Ailton Fagner Silva, Evans Armah, Callum Cleary, David Kolar, Juan Pineda, and Mirai Sato have all found the back of the net once.
• Only two Falcons have collected assists on goals this season, Fagner Silva and Higor Xisto each have one.
• Fagner Silva is the team points leader for NDC, totaling three points off one goal and one assist. He leads the MEC with 2.33 shots-on-goal per game.
• In goal, Danilo Abayo Wilson has played all 270 minutes thus far this season. He has made ten saves for a .909 save percentage on 28 shots faced. He has notched an MEC best, two shutouts with games against No. 4 Lake Erie and against Davis & Elkins. He was named the MEC Defensive Player of the Week last Monday following the shutout of Lake Erie and a win over Ohio Dominican..
• Through three matches, Notre Dame has held the advantage in goals (6-1), assists (2-1), shots (37-28), shots-on-goal (18-11), and corner kicks (16-15) against their opponents.
• NDC was picked second in the 2023 MEC Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll, receiving one first place vote.
• Carl Nolan is in his eighth season as the head coach at Notre Dame and holds an 81-32-12 record during his time with the Falcons.

SERIES HISTORY

• Notre Dame holds the 8-0-1 advantage all time in the series since 2018.
• The lone draw in the series occurred in the first meeting of 2022, in a scoreless match at the West Family Athletic Complex on September 7. Notre Dame won the second regular season meeting on September 25 with a 5-0 shutout win and won the match-up in the MEC Tournament on September 1 with a score of 5-1 in South Euclid, Ohio.