Notre Dame

I thought that we should get this ball rolling.

It was mentioned in the XC forum, but there was indeed a blackout at Merlo Field today. The men's games were both contested without the scoreboard running. Both were draws actually... The press box worked fine, but I am guessing off of backup power. Chiles was fine. I heard that if they don't get whatever it is fixed that the Notre Dame game might not be played if they don't have power for the lights.

RipCityPilot wrote:I thought that we should get this ball rolling.

It was mentioned in the XC forum, but there was indeed a blackout at Merlo Field today. The men's games were both contested without the scoreboard running. Both were draws actually... The press box worked fine, but I am guessing off of backup power. Chiles was fine. I heard that if they don't get whatever it is fixed that the Notre Dame game might not be played if they don't have power for the lights.

Actually the blackout mentioned in the XC forum was an apparent "news blackout" of yesterday’s X-C meet.....it was said in jest, and it had nothing to do with the electrical problem at Merlo.

Man, I love how rumors get started. Anyway, there should be no problem fixing the electrical problem (short term) at Merlo, it will take about 30 minutes.....so the Notre Dame game is NOT in jeopardy.

Without going into the technicalities, the system (maintained by PGE) is very old and should be replaced. When the circuit blew this morning it could have been fixed within “20-30 minutes,” but to do so would have meant turning off all the power (2 of 3 circuits were working), which would have meant no PA, or video camera operation.

The beer in the Pilot Club remained cold, the food was at a perfect temperature and the game went on just fine with a temporary clock in front of students section that we could see just fine.
So, don’t panic the Notre Dame game is ON!

You have a lot of faith in PGE my friend. Just saying what I was told by someone in charge there.

RipCityPilot wrote:You have a lot of faith in PGE my friend. Just saying what I was told by someone in charge there.

Ha hah, after Notre Dame's 1-0 loss at home today to UNC, maybe it was ND Coach Waldrum who told "someone in charge there" the "Notre Dame game might not be played"..."

As for being "your friend," I look forward to MY new friend buying me a beer.....soon!

Interesting fact about the UNC-ND match.

The Irish were held to 3 shots, none of which were on frame.

( UNC shot 18, eight of which were on frame. No idea how many of those were from distance.)

Again, I don't care too much for these, but I follow them... The latest rankings show that we have moved up a spot to No. 19: http://www.nscaa.com/rankings/1099/NCAADivisionI/women/National/Poll3?preview=5ebeb6065f64f2346dbb00ab789cf001

It is interesting to note: no Notre Dame whatsoever in this poll. Also, Pepperdine slid down a couple spots to No. 10.

Notre Dame is no surprise. They received no votes last week and lost to UNC, which is one slot above us .

Pepperdine lost to an unranked team, so they should drop.

OSU lost, and dropped out.

Not sure why UNC is ranked above us. In addition to their loss to us, they tied 2-2-1 Florida, beat an unranked team(ND) and beat Connecticut, also unranked.

Stanford is also a mystery. They are still ranked #4 after a tie with BC, who was ranked #7 going in to the game. Meanwhile, BC gets ranked one slot higher. One would expect movement both ways.

A mystery to me is that UW received 3 votes after shutting out an unranked and a ranked team, exactly the votes they received before the weekend, (they are now 5-0) yet LaSalle gets bumped but still receives 18 votes for getting shut out twice.

Not that I care about UW, but it seems strange.

As Geez pointed out, OSU lost to UC Irvine 1-0 in Corvallis. Were the Beavers just sky-high against UP, and now back to earth? Perhaps, but it also appeared our Pilots were flat after their win over UNC.

I've enjoyed reading the comments of those that attended the games in Seattle; none of the negatives I read during the off season!

In Friday's game, the Pilots will be trying to accomplish something unique. Anyone care to guess what it is?

I'm betting on the Geez to get this one first.

Get the Holy Cross Priests and Brothers to root against Notre Dame?

Get Notre Dame to show up at Merlo of their own free will?

Beat North Carolina and Notre Dame in the same season?

ejjqb wrote:Beat North Carolina and Notre Dame in the same season?

Yea, that was my first thought too, but as we'd NEVER beaten UNC before.........I just didn't know if that was the direction UPSF was going with his riddle.

In team news, I don't know if anyone's following the U20 Women's World Cup but Notre Dame will be without Cari Roccaro and Mandy Laddish as the US is in the Final on Saturday.

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:In Friday's game, the Pilots will be trying to accomplish something unique. Anyone care to guess what it is?

Hmm... Notre Dame has played here before, so it's not that.

Maybe host and beat two former national champions in one season?

Side note - UP is playing four former national champions this season. (UNC, Notre Dame, USC, Santa Clara.)

Considering there are only eight teams that have won NCAA championships ever (UP, Stanford, Florida, and George Mason being the others), it wouldn't surprise me if that is a record.

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:In Friday's game, the Pilots will be trying to accomplish something unique. Anyone care to guess what it is?

The only two times I can remember our beating Notre Dame has been in the 1998 and 2005 quarterfinals. So I'm going to guess "beat Notre Dame during the regular season".

Play Norte Dame without the annoying Leprechaun being present?

ejjqb wrote:Beat North Carolina and Notre Dame in the same season?

There's another team that accomplished that, but you're very, very close. "Burning hot," as we say in the hotter/colder game.

I didn't mean unique for the Pilots, by the way. I meant unique for any college women's soccer team.

Shut out both teams in the same season

But five shutouts in the first six games would also be a Pilot record.

Stonehouse wrote:

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:In Friday's game, the Pilots will be trying to accomplish something unique. Anyone care to guess what it is?

Hmm... Notre Dame has played here before, so it's not that.

In the D1 regular season?

Geezaldinho wrote:

Stonehouse wrote:

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:In Friday's game, the Pilots will be trying to accomplish something unique. Anyone care to guess what it is?

Hmm... Notre Dame has played here before, so it's not that.

In the D1 regular season?

Pretty sure they did when I was a student. Let me look that up...

You are right. The 2008 media guide shows that ND showed up in the early part of 1997 ( third game).

Other than that, no

Geezaldinho wrote:

Stonehouse wrote:

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:In Friday's game, the Pilots will be trying to accomplish something unique. Anyone care to guess what it is?

Hmm... Notre Dame has played here before, so it's not that.

In the D1 regular season?

I thought the Geez had it but then read the posts more carefully and, sorry, not yet.

Hint: How many teams have beaten both North Carolina and Notre Dame during one regular season? I.e., excluding NCAA Tournament games.

•Notre Dame is making its first visit to the Pacific Northwest since the 2005 season.

•The Fighting Irish are in the midst of a stretch of five consecutive matches against teams currently ranked in one or both major national polls.

Here's the link to the Notre Dame website and their take on Friday's game. Also on the page is a recap of the two school's last meeting on Nov 25, 2005 when the Pilots beat the Irish in the NCAA quarter final on the strength of Megan's two goals and an assist.
http://www.und.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/090612aaa.html

I see the Oregonian Sports page has no mention of tonight's game beyond the start time in their Events column.