Notre Dame looks to rebound from its loss to Cornell last weekend when the No. 15 Irish (2-1) face No. 13 North Carolina (4-1) Saturday at 1 p.m. in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Last season, the Irish bested the Tar Heels 9-7 in South Bend. The all-time series between the teams is even at three wins apiece.
"This is another test to prove how good we are," Irish junior goaltender Joey Kemp said. "It is very important to bounce back from a loss."
Freshman attack Will Yeatman and junior midfielder Michael Podgajny lead the Irish with nine points each. Senior attack Brian Hubschmann has also been productive on offense, already netting seven goals to go along with one assist.
North Carolina played well in its first three games but the Tar Heels received a rude awakening when they lost 19-8 to No. 7 Navy. North Carolina got back on the right track, though, by beating Bellarmine Wednesday 10-6 for its fourth win of the season.
Now, for the Irish, it's a matter of following in their footsteps.
"It is never good to lose two games in a row in a short, 14-game season," Irish senior midfielder Lucius Polk said. "[Both teams] are both coming off recent big losses. We need a big start to these four games that we have in a 10-day span."
The Tar Heels have underclassmen leaders of their own in freshman attacker Gavin Petracca, sophomore midfielder Ben Hunt and sophomore goaltender Grant Zimmerman. Petracca leads North Carolina with 14 points, while Hunt and Petracca both top the squad with nine goals each.
Zimmerman has started all five games in goal with a .515 save percentage.
Notes
u North Carolina has already tied last season's victory total. It finished 4-10 in 2006 and failed to make the NCAA Tournament.
u Notre Dame is 1-1 away from home. North Carolina is undefeated at 3-0 in Chapel Hill.
