Patrick Berneski and Notre Dame to face Mexico U20s

Former Philadelphia Union Academy defender Patrick Berneski and his Notre Dame Fighting Irish will square off against the Mexico U20 team tonight at 7:30 p.m. in South Bend, Indiana.

The game, an annual tradition dating back to 2005, will be broadcast live on ESPN3.com at 7:30 p.m.

It will be the second time for Berneski facing a youth national team from Mexico. The Warrington, PA native appeared in Notre Dame's 2-1 win over the Mexico U17s last season at Alumni Stadium.

The 6-foot-3 center back made nine appearances and seven starts for the Irish in 2015 and scored his first collegiate goal against Maryland after not seeing the field his freshman season in 2014.

Berneski made 27 appearances, 26 starts and scored a pair of goals for the Union Academy U18 team in its inaugural season in the U.S. Development Academy in 2013-14.

Notre Dame has a 7-2-1 record against Mexico U17 and U20 squads since the series began in 2005.

Head coach Bobby Clark called the game a "fantastic rivalry" in a news release on the Notre Dame website.

"Everybody who follows soccer in Northern Indiana marks this game on their calendars because it’s always a really good game and an advert for soccer, and for our team it lets us see where we are," Clark said. "I don’t think we’ll play a better technical team on our schedule next season, so this is a team that is very high quality and lets you see where you are at that high level. This will be fun."

The Mexico U20s will also visit Indiana in a game on Sunday at 2 p.m. that is unfortunately not scheduled for broadcast. The Hoosiers feature a defender of their own with ties to the Union Academy in Billy McConnell.