May 14, 2012
STRONG SLATE
Irish will play seven NCAA tourny teams

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The three-time NCAA national champion Notre Dame women’s soccer team will play seven matches against NCAA Championship qualifiers, including home contests with North Carolina and Santa Clara all as part of a demanding 2012 Fighting Irish schedule that was released Monday.

The 20th annual Notre Dame adidas Invitational traditionally has been among the premier events on the national women’s college soccer schedule, and the 2012 edition should prove no different. Notre Dame and Santa Clara will meet at 7 p.m. (ET) Aug. 31 at Alumni Stadium in the nightcap of the tournament’s opening round, following a 5 p.m. (ET) twilight contest between North Carolina (an NCAA third-round participant last season) and Connecticut, also at Alumni Stadium. The four teams return to the Fighting Irish home ground on Sept. 2, with Santa Clara and Connecticut squaring off at 11 a.m. (ET), and Notre Dame battling North Carolina in the event finale at 1:30 p.m. (ET).

The Notre Dame adidas Invitational will be the first of two tournaments on the Fighting Irish docket this fall, with Notre Dame heading across the country the following weekend for the Portland Invitational. The Fighting Irish will take on the host Pilots (who advanced to the second round of last year’s NCAA Championship) at 7 p.m. PT (10 p.m. ET) on Sept. 7 at Merlo Field in Portland, before coming back to the UP campus at noon PT (3 p.m. ET) Sept. 9 to face Washington and close out the round-robin tournament.

Among the other 2012 schedule highlights for Notre Dame are non-conference home contests with Big 12 Conference member Baylor (1 p.m. ET, Aug. 12 - free exhibition at the Notre Dame Practice Field) and first-time opponent East Carolina (home opener at 1 p.m. ET on Aug. 26), along with the traditional exhibition match with 2011 NCAA Championship quarterfinalist Virginia in Maple City, Mich. (1 p.m. ET, Aug. 10 at Myles Kimmerly Park).

For the first time since 2005, the Fighting Irish will open with a pair of matches away from home, starting at 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET) on Aug. 17 at Wisconsin. It will be the third time in four years Notre Dame has faced the Badgers, with the Fighting Irish opening last season with a 2-0 victory over UW at Alumni Stadium. This year’s visit to Madison, Wis., will be Notre Dame’s first since Oct. 27, 1999, when the Fighting Irish posted a 9-2 victory late in Waldrum’s first season at Notre Dame.

One week later, the Fighting Irish head back on the road to face Tulsa in a 7:30 p.m. CT (8:30 p.m. ET) at the Hurricane Soccer Stadium in Tulsa, Okla.

The Fighting Irish will kick off BIG EAST Conference play at home on Sept. 14 against Louisville (4 p.m. ET), in a rematch of a pair of tough one-goal losses to the NCAA third-round qualifying Cardinals last season (the latter coming in the BIG EAST Championship semifinals). This year’s Louisville match opens a season-long four-match homestand for Notre Dame that includes visits by conference foes Cincinnati (1 p.m. ET, Sept. 16) and Pittsburgh (7:30 p.m. ET, Sept. 21), as well as a non-conference match with reigning Summit League Tournament champion (and NCAA Championship participant) Oakland at 1 p.m. (ET) on Sept. 23.

Notre Dame closes the regular season by playing five of its final seven matches on the road, starting with a weekend swing through New England to visit Providence (3 p.m. ET, Sept. 28) and Connecticut (noon ET, Sept. 30). The Fighting Irish return home briefly the following weekend for matchups with New Jersey conference rivals Seton Hall (7:30 p.m. ET, Oct. 5) and Rutgers (1 p.m. ET, Oct. 7), with the latter also serving as Senior Day for the Fighting Irish, as the program takes time to recognize the accomplishments of its departing veterans in a pre-match ceremony.

Notre Dame winds up the regular season with a mid-Atlantic road trip to Georgetown (3 p.m. ET, Oct. 12) and Villanova (noon ET, Oct. 14), before coming back to the Midwest for the regular season finale at 3 p.m. CT (4 p.m. ET) Oct. 19 at DePaul.

After the first two rounds of the BIG EAST tournament are played at campus sites on Oct. 25 & 28, the University of Connecticut will be the host site for the BIG EAST Championship semifinals and title match on Nov. 2 & 4 at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium in Storrs, Conn. The NCAA Championship kicks off Nov. 9 at campus sites around the country, while the month-long tournament culminates Nov. 30 & Dec. 2 with the NCAA Women’s College Cup in San Diego, Calif., at Torero Stadium on the campus of the University of San Diego.



AUGUST
10 Fri. vs. Virginia (exhibition) Maple City, Mich. 1 p.m.
12 Sun. BAYLOR (exhibition) Notre Dame, Ind. 1 p.m.
17 Fri. at Wisconsin Madison, Wis. 7 p.m. CT
24 Fri. at Tulsa Tulsa, Okla. 7:30 p.m. CT
26 Sun. EAST CAROLINA Notre Dame, Ind. 1 p.m.
Notre Dame adidas Invitational
31 Fri. North Carolina vs. Connecticut Notre Dame, Ind. 5 p.m.
SANTA CLARA Notre Dame, Ind. 7:30 p.m.
SEPTEMBER
Notre Dame adidas Invitational
2 Sun. Connecticut vs. Santa Clara Notre Dame, Ind. 11 a.m.
NORTH CAROLINA Notre Dame, Ind. 1:30 p.m.
Portland Invitational
7 Fri. at Portland Portland, Ore. 7 p.m. PT
9 Sun. vs. Washington Portland, Ore. Noon PT
14 Fri. LOUISVILLE* Notre Dame, Ind. 4 p.m.
16 Sun. CINCINNATI* Notre Dame, Ind. 1 p.m.
21 Fri. PITTSBURGH* Notre Dame, Ind. 7:30 p.m.
23 Sun. OAKLAND Notre Dame, Ind. 1 p.m.
28 Fri. at Providence* Providence, R.I. 3 p.m.
30 Sun. at Connecticut* Storrs, Conn. Noon
OCTOBER
5 Fri. SETON HALL* Notre Dame, Ind. 7:30 p.m.
7 Sun. RUTGERS* Notre Dame, Ind. 1 p.m.
12 Fri. at Georgetown* Washington, D.C. 3 p.m.
14 Sun. at Villanova* Villanova, Pa. Noon
19 Fri. at DePaul* Chicago, Ill. 3 p.m. CT
BIG EAST Championship
25 Thurs. BIG EAST First Round Campus Sites TBD
28 Sun. BIG EAST Quarterfinals Campus Sites TBD
NOVEMBER
2 Fri. BIG EAST Semifinals Storrs, Conn. TBD
4 Sun. BIG EAST Final Storrs, Conn. TBD
NCAA Championship
9-11 Fri.-Sun. NCAA First Round Campus Sites TBD
16/18 Fri./Sun. NCAA Second/Third Rounds Campus Sites TBD
23-25 Fri.-Sun. NCAA Quarterfinals Campus Sites TBD
30 Fri. NCAA College Cup Semifinals San Diego, Calif. TBD
(Torero Stadium – University of San Diego, host)
DECEMBER
2 Sun. NCAA College Cup Final San Diego, Calif. TBD
(Torero Stadium – University of San Diego, host)
* – indicates BIG EAST Conference match
All times Eastern unless noted // Dates and times subject to change
All home matches in BOLD CAPS to be played at Alumni Stadium (capacity 2,500), except Aug. 12 exhibition match vs. Baylor (to be played at ND Practice Field)