No. 21 Notre Dame men’s soccer plays game four on its season-long seven-game homestand on Saturday, Sept. 27, as it welcomes the SMU Mustangs to Alumni Stadium at 7 p.m. The Irish enter the contest at 5-1-2, including four consecutive wins and a 2-0 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play. They have already secured wins over Pitt (ranked No. 13 at the time) and Louisville (ranked No. 12 at the time). Head coach Chad Riley’s squad has yet to allow a goal to an ACC opponent this season.
The Irish have flipped the script offensively since the beginning of the fall. The team enters the weekend with 11 goals across its past four games (2.75 per game), a stark uptick from its 0.5 goals per game through the first four contests. Center back Mitch Ferguson has been a threat on set pieces all season, leading the Irish with four goals and eight points. Two of his tallies have come on free kicks and two on corners. The senior is coming off his first career multiple-goal game, a hat trick in a 3-2 victory over Wright State on Tuesday. He became the first Irish center back with three goals in a game since Brandon Aubrey.
Senior forward Wyatt Borso, freshman forward Luke Burton and junior midfielder Nolan Spicer all have six points, adding excellent secondary scoring, especially in recent games. Sophomore assistant captain Blake Kelly has been a rock in goal with four clean sheets and just five goals against in eight starts. The Irish as a team have an .844 save percentage, well higher than their opponent’s .649 mark.
SMU enters the contest at 3-2-3, with a 0-0-2 ACC record. The Mustangs drew both No. 2 Clemson and North Carolina 1-1 in their last two weekend matchups, with both goals coming from forward Mukisa Emmanuel. The talented Ugandan has fit in seamlessly with the Mustangs after transferring over from East Florida State College last offseason. He will enter the contest leading all players from either team in goals (five), points (10), shots (19) and shots on goal (13).
Fellow forward Milton Lopez has three goals, two assists and 17 shots through eight games behind Emmanuel. The dynamic duo has helped SMU to a 108-66 lead in total shots over its opponents, and a 43-26 advantage in shots on goal. The Mustangs average 13.5 shots per match, which is top 60 in the NCAA (out of 210 programs).
Defensively, the Mustangs have not been consistently sharp. They have only one clean sheet all season, a 1-0 victory over Grand Canyon University on Sept. 4. Soren Russell picked up the shutout — the senior started the first six games, playing to just a .563 save percentage (seven goals against, nine saves). However, Martin Dominguez seems primed to start on Saturday, as he is responsible for both draws in conference play. He has conceded just two goals — one on a penalty kick — good for a .778 save percentage. Certainly, SMU’s strength is in its attack, although Dominguez’s brief run as the starting keeper has seemed to settle its back line.
The Mustangs are led by head coach Kevin Hudson, who has been at the helm since the start of the 2016 season. He previously served as an assistant with SMU and has been a part of three Elite Eight runs while on staff — 2010, 2019 and last season, 2024. He enters the contest with a winning percentage of .689 as head coach and is looking to lead his team to 10-plus wins for the fourth year in a row.
The highly anticipated match begins at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Alumni Stadium.
