Notre Dame will hit the road this weekend, taking on Hofstra on Saturday and Villanova on Monday.
However, none of the players will miss out on an Easter family meal. With ten Irish players hailing from Long Island, a home game atmosphere is assured.
"So many of our players are from the area," Notre Dame coach Kevin Corrigan said. "A lot of them will be able to spend the Easter holiday with their families. It really works out well."
No. 9 Notre Dame will need every advantage possible when facing No. 13 Hofstra. The Pride lost to the Irish 19-11 last season but they are not being overlooked.
"I really don't expect to score as much as we did last year," Corrigan said. "Last year's game was a lot like our win [22-6] last week over Butler. It was just one of those days where everything went right for us."
Irish defenseman D.J. Driscoll agreed the Pride pose a stiff challenge.
"I really don't think we'll have an easy day against them this year," Driscoll said. "They return a lot of players, including one of the best defensemen in the nation in Brett Moyer. It should be really competitive. We'll have to be at the top of our game."
Moyer was named a pre-season first team All-American by Inside Lacrosse magazine. He leads the team with 24 ground balls and is a two-time all-Colonial Athletic Association player.
Moyer and junior attackman Chris Unterstein, the CAA player of the week, have led the Pride to two straight wins over opponents ranked in the nation's top 15.
Hofstra downed No. 15 North Carolina 12-8 last Wednesday and beat No. 11 Princeton 9-8 on Saturday. Unterstein had three goals and five assists in those victories.
The Hofstra match will be the fourth game the Irish have played against a top-25 opponent so far this season. The rigorous schedule forces the Irish to play at the top of their game every weekend to avoid defeat.
"To tell you the truth, we've had great practices this week," Corrigan said. "I thought the guys might come in with big heads because of the win over Butler last weekend. But they were very focused and practiced really well this week."
The game against Villanova will take place Monday at 1 p.m. in Villanova Stadium. The Wildcats have not played the Irish since 2000, when Notre Dame won 17-9 in South Bend. The teams have not played at Villanova since 1999, a game the Irish won 14-10.
