2012 Season Outlook
Something to Prove
Irish determined to bounce back from disappointing 2011 campaign. Head coach Bobby Clark knows his Notre Dame men’s soccer squad will have no problem finding motivation for the 2012 campaign. Despite posting the program’s 11th straight winning season with a 9-5-4 mark in 2011, the Fighting Irish did not qualify for the NCAA tournament for the first time during Clark’s 11 seasons at Notre Dame. “It’ll be a very determined team that comes into the 2012 season,” states Clark. “Although there were many highs and many excellent performances with last year’s team, I feel the biggest disappointment is not making the tournament for the first time in 11 years. That was a huge disappointment. This will be a very determined team. That is something that’s very clear.” Notre Dame welcomes back several key components, especially in the midfield and attacking units, for what hopes to be a successful run in 2012. The Irish return 25 of their 27 goals scored from last season. Senior forward Ryan Finley is coming off a season in which he led Notre Dame in goals (7) and points (16), while midfielder Adam Mena, who is entering his fifth season, collected a team-best five assists.
Mena is among a deep and experienced midfield line. Irish co-captains Dillon Powers and Michael Rose both bring skill and veteran leadership to the unit. Powers, a two-time all-BIG EAST honoree, started every match last season and tallied one goal and four assists. Rose missed the first 10 games of the ’11 campaign with a knee injury, but still managed to produce two goals and one assist in eight appearances. Along with Finley, Notre Dame has three other experienced players in the attacking unit. Junior Harrison Shipp has played in every match during his first two seasons in an Irish uniform. He recorded five goals and two assists in 2011. Senior Danny O’Leary started all 18 matches last season and tallied three goals and one assist, while junior Leon Brown had 17 starts and recorded one goal and two assists. “There’s really good depth and a lot of experience in this group,” adds Clark. “When I’m talking about experience, it’s players who have been here a little while and they’ve experienced some highs and some lows. It’s great when you have players on your team who have tasted some highs because they want to get back there and this group will want to do that.”
last year. I think the seniors and the fifth-year seniors will really want to go out on a high note.” ATTACK Finley, a 2011 second team all-BIG EAST selection during his first season with the Irish after transferring from Duke, will occupy the high forward position with Shipp and Brown being the top two underneath forwards for the Irish. Clark also feels that both Shipp and Brown could move to the wide areas of the midfield if needed. O’Leary, who also can play in the midfield, will likely split time with Finley up top. Providing additional depth to the attack will be junior Alex Priede and sophomore Vince Cicciarelli. Priede has played in two career games, while Cicciarelli did not play during his rookie campaign and will miss a portion of the 2012 season due to a knee injury suffered in the spring. When able to compete, Cicciarelli provides a different dimension to the Irish attacking unit because of his size.
The Fighting Irish did lose three quarters of their starting backline to graduation, but senior Grant Van De Casteele returns to start in the central defense for the third straight season. Goalkeeper Will Walsh, a fifth-year senior, also is back after starting every match last season. Walsh notched a 0.83 goalsagainst average and a .795 save percentage in addition to posting five shutouts during the 2011 season. He has 25 career starts and a 12-7-6 record. “It’s really important that we reach our potential,” states Clark about the 2012 Irish squad. “This team has potential, but a lot of teams have potential. The challenge for this team is to realize their potential. The determination is something that has been born out of the disappointment from the 2011 season.
Michael Rose
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“There is good leadership in this group because there are a lot of seniors who definitely had their pride dented a little bit
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Adam Mena