This week: Notre Dame College starts the 2018 campaign with a trip to Clermont, Fla. After bad weather delayed their trip, the Falcons will play from March 5 until March 10. They currently have 11 games scheduled.

Record: Last season, the Falcons finished with a record of 23-30, overall, and 13-19 in the Mountain East Conference.

Coaches Corner: Amy Kyler is in her 12th season as head coach at NDC and holds a record of 268-241-1.

Rankings: Merrimack is 22nd in the latest NFCA Coaches Poll. None of the other teams are ranked.

Series History: The Falcons have never played Minnesota State-Moorhead, Upper Iowa, Bentley University or Barry University. Since the Falcons joined NCAA Division II in 2013, they are 1-0 against Wayne State, University of Pitt-Johnstown and Southern New Hampshire University. They hold a 2-1 record versus Felician College. The Falcons are 1-2 against Grand Valley State since 2014 and against Lewis University, NDC is 1-5. When taking on Merrimack College, the Falcons are 0-1.

Recent History in Florida: Over the last three seasons on the Florida trip, Notre Dame went 3-9 in 2015, 5-8 in 2016 and 8-5 in 2017 for a total of 16 wins and 22 losses. Last season, NDC upset No. 7 Grand Valley State University with a 5-4 win on March 5.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame remains almost entirely intact for 2018, after only graduating three seniors from last season. The Falcons have 14 freshmen on the roster as well as redshirt-freshman Shelby Clark. Emily Kusmits returns after doing a little bit of everything as a freshman in 2017. She had a batting average of .296 over 53 games and led the team with 25 runs scored, 55 hits, eight home runs and a slugging percentage of .500. As a pitcher, Kusmits had an earned run average of 2.25 and a record of 8-9 with four complete games.  She struck out 30 batters in 121.1 innings. Amy Hoover returns for her senior season after finishing the 2017 campaign leading the team in batting average (.300) along with playing and starting in all 53 games. She was second in runs scored (23) and fourth in hits (45). The Falcons also return Erin Calhoun who hit .299 with 16 RBI, Shelby Stephens who hit .299 with 16 doubles while also recording 15 walks and 18 RBI and Nicole Luciano who held a batting average of .275 with 46 hits, which included 11 doubles. On the mound, Taylor Olson is coming back after finishing with a record of 14-15 over 39 appearances and 35 starts in 2017. Olson had 20 complete games and six shutouts in 188 innings pitched along with 89 strike outs. Nicole Paolucci is back after she recorded 99 putouts last season without committing an error.