Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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12 SEPT. 11, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Bryan Dowd — Soccer The sophomore from Wil- low Springs, Ill., recorded the second clean sheet of his career, stopping five shots in Notre Dame's 2-0 win over Northern Illinois Aug. 30. Dowd made a save in the Irish's heartbreaking loss to No. 2 Indiana Aug. 27, too. The Hoosiers scored on the rebound of his save in the 88th minute to send the game to overtime and ultimately escaped from South Bend with a win. Sammi Fisher — Soccer The Simi Valley, Calif., prod- uct is making the most of her super senior season. She scored twice in Notre Dame's first four games, including a game-winning penalty kick in overtime on her birthday (Aug. 26) against Wisconsin. She also scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 Notre Dame victory at Marquette Aug. 29. Heading into September, Fisher had 18 goals in her career. The most she's previously scored in single season was six as a junior in 2019. Aubrey Hamilton — Volleyball T h e s o p h o m o re f ro m Hartland, Wis., helped No. 25 Notre Dame get off to a 2-1 start during the Golden Dome Invitational at Purcell Pavilion Aug. 27-28. Hamilton recorded a team-high 36 kills in the three matches, includ- ing 14 on a .375 hitting percentage in the Fight- ing Irish's victory over Loyola Chicago Aug. 28. Hamilton joined senior Charley Niego as the two Irish players to be named to the Golden Dome Invitational All-Tournament Team. Jack Lynn — Soccer The senior forward from St. Louis scored in a season opener for the second time in his career in Notre Dame's 3-2 overtime loss to No. 2 In- diana. His goal, the 22nd of his career, put the Irish ahead 1-0 in the 10th minute of the game. Last season, Lynn earned first-team All- ACC honors and also was a third-team Academic All-American. — Tyler Horka TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom CHARTING THE IRISH HOME WINNING STREAKS It's been more than 1,400 days since Notre Dame lost a home game. You've got to go back to Sept. 9, 2017, when the Fighting Irish hosted No. 15 Georgia to find a loss. Twenty-four games have been played at Notre Dame Stadium since then, and Notre Dame has won all 24 of them. That figure is good for the second-longest active home winning streak in the country behind Clemson (28). Notre Dame's streak has included wins against eight ranked opponents, the most re- cent of which being last year's double-over- time win over No. 1 Clemson. This week's game against Toledo does not provide the Irish with a chance to add a ninth-ranked victory to the streak, but those opportunities are likely com- ing. Cincinnati (No. 8), USC (No. 15) and North Carolina (No. 10) all began the season ranked in the top 15 of the Associated Press Top 25. Notre Dame will play that trio of teams in South Bend starting with Cincinnati on Oct. 2. This is already Notre Dame's longest home winning streak in the modern era. Every victory hereafter simply adds to the impressive total. Notre Dame hosts Purdue on Sept. 18 then Navy on Nov. 6 and Georgia Tech on Nov. 20 to round out this year's home slate. — Tyler Horka ✦ GIMME FIVE Brian Kelly is no stranger to the Mid-American Conference. His first Division I head coaching gig came at Central Michigan from 2004-06. Now in his 12th season at Notre Dame, Kelly is set to coach against a MAC opponent for the sixth time in his Irish tenure when Notre Dame welcomes Toledo to South Bend. Notre Dame has won all five previous matchups against MAC teams dating back to 2010, which marked the first ever meeting between the Irish and a MAC program. The Fighting Irish defeated Western Michigan 44-20 in 2010, blew out Massachusetts 62-27 in 2015, defeated Miami (Ohio) 52-17 in 2017, held off Ball State 24-16 in 2018 and blanked Bowling Green 52-0 in 2019. Notre Dame is currently slated to play four games against MAC teams in the next three years. The Irish will host Marshall on Sept. 10, 2022; Kelly gets to go against his former team in Central Michigan at Notre Dame Stadium on Sept. 16, 2023; and Northern Il- linois and Miami (Ohio) will make the trek to South Bend in 2024 on Sept. 7 and Sept. 21, respectively. The Mid-American is the only current college foot- ball conference Notre Dame has not lost to. Here's a look at the five conferences the Irish have the best all-time winning percentages against during the Kelly era: Conference Record Win % Mid-American 5-0 1.000 Mountain West 11-2 .846 ACC 63-23 .733 American Athletic 34-16 .680 Conference USA 2-1 .667 LONGEST ACTIVE HOME WINNING STREAKS Rk. School Consecutive Games 1. Clemson 28 2. Notre Dame 24 3. Ohio State 23 4. Cincinnati 20 5. Memphis 15 6. Oregon 12 7. Liberty 11 8. BYU 10 9. Army 10 10. Miami (Ohio) 9 Notre Dame's matchup with Toledo on Sept. 11 is its sixth game against a MAC school since Brian Kelly took over as head coach in 2010. The Fighting Irish have won each of the first five matchups. PHOTO COURTESY TOLEDO