Tweet

GAME NOTES

BLACKSBURG - The Virginia Tech men's soccer team will look to get a result against a third ranked opponent this season as they host No. 7 Notre Dame on Friday afternoon.

The Hokies are looking to bounce back after dropping a 2-1 decision at High Point on Tuesday night. In the game, Tech held a majority of the possession and outshot the Panthers 19-12 for the night including 9-3 in shots on goal. Tech got their goal from Merlin Baus as he converted a penalty kick after Ricardo John was fouled in the box.

With High Point's first goal, the Hokies shutout streak ended at 257:06 minutes of action and spanned two and a half games.

Offensively, the Hokies are ranked T-31st in the nation shots on goal per game at 6.50. They are also T-59th in total goals (19). Merlin Baus ranks T-31st in the country in points and assist per game at 1.30 and 0.45, respectively. He also has a team-high five goals and five assists. He has a team-high total of 15 points in 11 games. Ricardo John is T-11 in shots on goal per game at 2.00 and T-25th in the nation in shots per game as he leads the team with 42 shot attempts.

The Hokies currently are ranked 45 in the NCAA RPI Rankings. The ACC has 11 of 12 teams in the top 50 with the only exception being Pittsburgh at 75.

Opponent History...

The Hokies will be meeting Notre Dame for the sixth time in history, all as conference opponents. In 2013 and 2014 as members of the ACC and between 2001-03 as members of the Big East Conference. The teams last met in 2014 at Notre Dame as Tech dropped a 3-1 decision. Overall, the Irish have a 5-0 edge in the series that has been close with no game being decided by more than two goals.

About No. 7 Notre Dame...

The Fighting Irish are coming off a 3-2 OT victory at home against the Duke Blue Devils. Overally, the Irish are 1-0-2 in their last three games with draws to Michigan and North Carolina State. Notre Dame is coming off a season in which they went 6-1-1 in ACC play and were the regular-season champions.

Jon Gallagher leads the team in points and goals with 16 and 7, respectively. Evan Panken leads the team in assists with five and also has a goal. There are six players on the team with at least two goals and seven with at least two assists. Chris Hubbard has started all 13 games for the Fighting Irish making 46 saves and allowing 12 goals for a 0.87 goals against average and has helped the team post six shutouts on the year.

Offensively, Notre Dame is T-21st in scoring offense with 2.00 goals per game and 38th in goals against average allowing opponents to score just 0.86 goals per game. The team is T-10th in assists (26), T-12th in points (78), and T-16th in total goals scored (26).

The game will kickoff at 5:30 p.m. and can be seen on regional television on Fox Sports South or nationally on ESPN3.

For updates on Virginia Tech men's soccer, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_MSoccer