The competition ratchets up several notches for Drake this week as the Bulldogs travel to Notre Dame, Ind., to compete in the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament against Notre Dame and No. 18 Indiana.  Drake opens tournament action against the Fighting Irish on Friday (Sept. 10) at 6:30 p.m. before tangling with the Hoosiers in a 10:30 a.m. tilt on Sunday (Sept. 12).  

SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH
Notre Dame (0-1-1) posted a 0-1-1 mark last weekend at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington, Ind.  The Fighting Irish dropped a 1-0 decision to No. 5 UCLA last Friday (Sept. 3) before earning a 0-0 double-overtime tie with California on Sunday (Sept. 5).  Junior  Brendan King paces Notre Dame with a team-high 10 shots.  Junior goalkeeper Will Walsh owns a 0.45 goals against average, while recording nine saves for the Fighting Irish.

SCOUTING THE HOOSIERS
Indiana (1-1) turned in a 1-1 mark at its own adidas/IU Credit Union last weekend.  The Hoosiers dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to California in their season opener last Friday (Sept. 3) before blasting No. 5 UCLA on Sunday (Sept. 5), 5-1.  Junior Will Bruin has been nearly unstoppable for Indiana, having registered a team-high four goals, including three against the Bruins.  Sophomore goalkeeper Luis Soffner owns a 1.37 goals against average for the Hoosiers, while making three saves.

SERIES HISTORY
Drake is facing both Notre Dame and Indiana for the second time in school history.  Notre Dame posted a 2-0 home win over Drake on Sept. 4, 1987, while Indiana garnered an identical 2-0 home triumph on Oct. 2, 1994.

THE COACHES
Notre Dame: Bobby Clark is in his 10th campaign leading the Fighting Irish and maintains a 117-54-27 record (.659) and in his 24th season as a head coach owns a 270-117-52 ledger (.674).

Indiana: Todd Yeagley is in his first campaign directing the Hoosier program, registering a 1-1 record (.500) and in two season overall maintains an 8-10-2 mark (.450).

Drake: In his 13th season on the Drake sidelines as head coach is Sean Holmes, who owns a 104-103-24 mark (.502), including 182-129-26 (.579), overall in his 18th year as a head coach.

DRAKE HEAD COACH SEAN HOLMES
Sean Holmes was named head coach at Drake in 1998 with the program coming off its most successful season in school history in 2009.

During Holmes' 13-year tenure, the Bulldogs have posted a 104-103-24 record, building a legacy of excellence on Drake's campus and in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Drake posted a school-record 16-7-2 mark in 2009, capped off by winning its first ever Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship while advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

Drake earned its highest ranking in school history, being rated No. 8 in the final 2009 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Top-25 National Poll.  The Bulldogs also rated eighth in the final 2009 NCAA RPI tabulation.

The Bulldogs posted 2009 NCAA Tournament victories past Western Illinois (2-1), No. 13 ranked Ohio State (1-0, overtime) and Boston College (6-4) before falling at nationally ranked North Carolina (2-1).

Garrett Webb was a semi-finalist for the 2009 Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy which is the highest individual honor in college soccer.  He also became the second Drake player to earn All-America status with his selection to the NSCAA and College Soccer News second and third team All-America squads, respectively.

A national-best three Bulldogs were named to the 2009 CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America teams led by senior Brian Wurst, who became the initial first team Academic All-American honoree in school history.  Joining him on the second and third teams, respectively, were junior Matt Kuhn and senior Calvin Clark.  Drake's three selections marked the most of any school in the country in the university division (Division I), besting Akron and South Carolina, who garnered two selections each.

Drake's progress also has been noticed at the next level with three players being drafted by Major League Soccer in the last few years. Matt Nickell was selected by the DC United in 2004, while Corey Farabi and Chris Hamburger were both drafted by the Kansas City Wizards in 2005.

Holmes came to Drake after serving as the top assistant at Evansville from 1995-98. During his tenure at Evansville, the Aces compiled a 47-30-6 record, winning the 1996 MVC championship. The team, which he helped build, garnered an NCAA Tournament berth and a top 20 ranking.

Holmes, 43, was born in Switzerland and grew up in Ottawa, Ontario. An all-Ontario sweeper at Carleton University from 1983-87, Holmes was a 1983 Lisgar Collegiate Graduate and a CIAU Men's Soccer Finalist in 1984. Holmes also won the Jack Vogen Award as the school's outstanding senior student-athlete in 1987. He played professionally for the Ottawa Pioneers of the Canadian Soccer League in 1987, and began his coaching career with the University of Kansas soccer club in 1988.

Holmes was head coach at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan., from 1989-93, compiling a 78-26-2 record, leading the 1991, 1992 and 1993 teams to NAIA District 10 championships. Holmes also served as director of the Olympic Development Program in Kansas for two years.

Holmes holds a USSF 'A' level coaching license and is a member of the Region II staff for the Olympic Development Program. He serves as a staff coach for the Iowa Soccer Association, and also served as age group coach for both the 1978 and 1984 Region II teams. He was an assistant coach at the 1994 U.S. Olympic Sports Festival in St. Louis, Mo.

DRAKE NO. 22 IN LATEST NSCAA NATIONAL POLL
Drake dropped eight notches from its No. 14 preseason ranking but held steady in the top-25 at No. 22 in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) national poll released on Sept. 7.  

BULLDOGS FOURTH IN NSCAA MIDWEST REGION POLL
Drake debuted at No. 4 in the initial regular season Midwest Region poll as released by the NSCAA on Sept. 7.  Tulsa is the regional leader, followed by SMU, Creighton, Drake, Oral Roberts, Kentucky, Evansville, UAB, Bradley and Marshall.

GOLDEN GOAL DOWNS DRAKE AT OAKLAND, 1-0
A goal by Johnny Dreshaj 59 seconds into overtime upended 14th-rated Drake last Sunday (Sept. 5) as Oakland registered a 1-0 triumph.

The two sides waged a back-and-forth affair through the initial 90 minutes of the match, with neither side being able to crack the scoring column before a corner kick set up Dreshaj's heroics.

The Golden Grizzlies owned a 21-6 advantage in shots in the affair, including 12-2 in the second half. 

Senior Kenan Malicevic (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Cedar Valley) led Drake with a team-high three shots, while Dreshaj notched a game-high five shots for the Golden Grizzlies.

Redshirt junior Jordan Kadlec (Hiawatha, Iowa/Cedar Rapids Kennedy) pulled in four saves for Drake.

BULLDOGS DOWN MICHIGAN IN SEASON OPENER, 1-0
The faces have changed but the results remained the same for 14th-rated Drake as senior Kenan Malicevic's goal in the 65th minute (64:20) broke open a scoreless affair propelling the Bulldogs to a 1-0 road victory over Michigan last Friday (Sept. 3) in their season opener.

Having graduated six senior starters from a squad that advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament a year ago with a school-record 16-7-2 mark, Drake began a new era in Bulldog soccer in similar fashion to last season recording their second consecutive 1-0 road triumph over a Big Ten school.  In the NCAA Tournament last season, Drake garnered an overtime goal from graduated senior Luke Gorczyca to down No. 14 Ohio State, 1-0.

Malicevic registered what proved to be the game-winner, knocking in a deflection into the upper right corner of the net to give Drake a 1-0 lead, one it didn't relinquish.  Credited with the assist on the play was junior Hunter Kennedy (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington).

Not to be underscored in the victory was the play of redshirt junior goalkeeper Jordan Kadlec, who faced 26 shots and pulled in a career-high nine saves to post his second career shutout.

The two sides battled to a scoreless draw at halftime, despite the Wolverines owning a 16-6 advantage in shots, 6-2 on goal.  Michigan finished the contest owning a 26-12 margin in shots.

The Wolverines had a goal by Justin Meram in the fifth minute (4:11) wiped off by an offsides call before seeing a shot by Fabio Pereira hit the crossbar at the 10:03 mark.

Juniors Thomas Ostrander (Fort Dodge, Iowa/St. Edmond Catholic) and Michael Thaden (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) paced the Drake attack in the initial 45 minutes with two shots apiece, while Michigan was led by six shots from Soony Saad.

The tilt featured a noticeable difference in the margin in fouls as Drake was called for 15 fouls, including two yellow cards, while Michigan was charged with only three fouls.

Ostrander, Thaden, Malicevic, senior Nick Foster (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) and redshirt junior Michael Noonan (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier) sparked the Bulldog attack with two shots apiece, while Saad recorded a game-high nine shots for Michigan.

BULLDOGS BITES

• Drake's 1-0 victory at Michigan marked the program's second consecutive 1-0 road shutout against a Big Ten Opponent. The Bulldogs garnered a 1-0 overtime victory at Ohio State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year and are 3-0-1 in their last four road games versus Big Ten opponents dating back to the 2007 campaign.
• The Bulldogs have won their last three season openers, all by virtue of a shutout.
• With his goal at Michigan, Kenan Malicevic is Drake's active leader in career goals with 11. Fellow senior Matt Kuhn owns 12 careers goals, but will be sidelined this season due to injury.
• After posting eight shutouts a season ago, the Bulldogs opened their 2010 campaign with a shutout, the second career one for goalkeeper Jordan Kadlec.
• Kadlec has gotten his campaign off to a fast start ranking first in the MVC in saves per game (7.00), second in save percentage (.929), second in shutouts (0.50) and third in goals against average (0.50).

DRAKE NO. 14 IN PRESEASON NSCAA NATIONAL POLL
Drake garnered the program's first-ever National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) preseason national top-25 ranking as the Bulldogs off a school-record 16-7-2 mark a season ago checked in at No. 14 when the poll was released on Aug. 10.

After advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament a year ago, the Bulldogs finished ranked No. 8 in the final NSCAA poll, the best finish in program history.  Drake is the lone Missouri Valley Conference representative in the top-25 and two of its 2010 opponents in Indiana and UC Irvine join the Bulldogs in the preseason tabulation at No. 20 and No. 25, respectively.

BULLDOGS NO. 16 IN TOPDRAWERSOCCER.COM PRESEASON TOURNAMENT 48 POLL
The Bulldogs added another national ranking to its arsenal on Aug. 23 as TopDrawerSoccer.com tabbed the Bulldogs No. 16 in its preseason Tournament 48 of the teams it projects to make the 2010 NCAA Tournament.

Drake is one of two Missouri Valley Conference representatives in the Tournament 48, joining Creighton, who checks in at No. 40.  Six of the Bulldogs' 2010 opponents are in the poll, led by No. 20 Indiana.  Also ranked are No. 24 Notre Dame, No. 31 Saint Louis, No. 35 Michigan, Creighton and No. 47 Western Illinois.

RAISING THE BAR
With the Bulldogs' 2-1 home victory over Bradley last season, the squad achieved double-figure wins in consecutive seasons for only the second time in school history and first since the 1987 and 1988 Drake teams won 11 and 10 games, respectively.

BULLDOGS PICKED FOURTH IN MVC RACE WITH KUHN GARNERING PRESEASON HONORS
The Missouri Valley Conference released its 2010 Preseason Men's Soccer Coaches' Poll on Aug. 17 and the nationally-ranked Drake program was tabbed to finish fourth, while placing Matt Kuhn (Raytown, Mo./Raytown South) on the preseason All-MVC squad.

The Bulldogs, who return five starters from a squad that posted a school-record 16-7-2 mark a year ago en route to reaching the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, garnered 41 points.

Pegged ahead of the Bulldogs are Creighton (49 points), Missouri State (52 points and two first-place votes) and Evansville, which was selected as the preseason favorite to win the league crown with 60 points and six first-place tallies. Rounding out the poll was Bradley (28 points), SIU Edwardsville (24 points), Eastern Illinois (20 points) and Central Arkansas (14 points).

Kuhn was among 11 players named by a vote of the eight MVC head men's soccer coaches to the All-MVC Preseason team.

Starting all 25 games for Drake as a junior, Kuhn tallied five goals and added seven assists en route to being named a second team All-MVC selection.

He was tabbed a first team All-MVC Scholar-Athlete team for the second consecutive campaign, while also capturing ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America second team laurels.

DRAKE TO HOST MEN'S SOCCER ALUMNI WEEKEND
Drake will hold its sixth annual alumni reunion in conjunction with the Bulldogs' clash against 2009 NCAA Tournament participant UC Irvine at the Cownie Soccer Complex on Oct. 2.

Drake head coach Sean Holmes and all the current Bulldogs look forward to welcoming back all of the proud alumni that have helped the growth and development of the Drake men's soccer tradition over the course of the program's 25 years.

Festivities get underway with an alumni intra-squad game at 2:00 p.m. and will be followed by a Bar-B-Q social at 4:00 p.m.

The highlight of the night will be the Bulldogs' 7:00 p.m. showdown against UC Irvine.

For more information or to RSVP for the event please contact Joe Burger in the Drake men's soccer office at (515) 271-4616 or at joe.burger@drake.edu.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs kick off their home campaign hosting UMKC in a 7:00 p.m. tilt on Sept. 15.  Drake then hosts Loyola (Chicago) in the second annual "Think Green" game on Sept. 18.  Match time versus the Ramblers is slated for 7:00 p.m.