This weekend provides Notre Dame sports fans with a number of wonderful options. The football team plays its last home game of the year against BYU, and the men's basketball team plays an exhibition game on Friday.
Don't forget, however, when making your weekend sports plan, to come out and watch the No. 2 seeded women's soccer team as they open the NCAA Tournament at home against Loyola of Chicago.
One of the big benefits to earning a top seed in the NCAA Tournament is home-field advantage throughout the first four rounds of the tournament.
Yet, for the Irish to be able to completely enjoy that advantage, they need to have the support of the Notre Dame community.
With the thousands of people that flood the area on home football weekends, and a game time conveniently coming near the end of the pep rally, Friday night's game is the perfect opportunity to begin supporting the soccer team in their efforts to bring home an NCAA Title to Notre Dame.
Further reason to come out and support the Irish is that the teams coming to Notre Dame are certain to bring fans with them, considering that the games are only a few hours from the other respective schools.
For example, Loyola is sponsoring a free bus ride to South Bend for Loyola students so that they can cheer on their team.
It would be a pretty sorry statement if the visiting team could match the number of fans of the No. 2 team in the country.
The Irish have amassed a record of 19-2-1 and are the only team in the nation with four players that have scored at least 10 goals in seniors Amy Warner and Amanda Guertin, junior Mary Boland and sophomore Katie Thorlakson.
The Irish sport two Hermann Trophy Finalists, reserved for the top fifteen players in the country, with Warner and classmate Melissa Tancredi receiving that honor.
Tancredi, Boland and Warner all were first team All-Big East selections, providing the Irish with a lot of firepower for a possible NCAA Tournament run.
So don't pass up the chance to cheer on the No. 2 women's soccer team as they take on Loyola on Friday at 7 p.m. at Alumni Field.
If the Irish win, they will also be in action on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
The time is now for the Irish to start their postseason run, and for you to be there to see it all happen.
