This Week: Notre Dame College women's lacrosse is coming off a Mountain East Conference Championship last spring. On March 3, the Falcons play their home opener against Lake Erie College, at 3 p.m. They have a quick turnaround as they head to Tiffin University for a 2 p.m. start on March 6.

Records: Last season, Notre Dame tied a program record with 12 wins, holding a 12-3 record. They also broke a program record for most Mountain East Conference victories, finishing with a 9-1 record. They qualified for the MEC Tournament for the first time in program history after winning the regular season title. NDC then defeated Charleston and Frostburg State to win the tournament title. Last season, Tiffin put together a record of 6-9. They are 0-1 this season after a 20-1 loss to No. 1 Lindenwood. Lake Erie was scheduled to start their season at home against Alderson Broaddus on Feb. 26, but that game was postponed.

Coaches Corner: Ben Morhac is in his third season at the helm of the Notre Dame program. He has a record of 14-6 with a 9-1 mark in the MEC. Meaghan Smith is the head coach at Lake Erie. Erica Brown is now in her 10th season as head coach at Tiffin and has a coaching record of 84-68.

Rankings: None of these teams were ranked in the preseason Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) top 25 poll. In the final 2021 regional rankings, Notre Dame was sixth in the Midwest Region.
 
Series History: Notre Dame is 0-5 against Lake Erie, as the two teams first played each other in 2013. The Falcons are 6-1 against Tiffin all-time, including a 14-12 victory over the Dragons to start the 2021 season.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame returns many of their players from last season who made significant contributions. While Amanda Paino (47 goals, seven assists, 54 points, 35 draw controls) is now on the sideline as a graduate assistant, the Falcons bring back eight of their 11 All-MEC members from last season. MEC Coach of the Year Ben Morhac looks to some familiar faces on the offensive side. Ebony Reddick was second on the team with 34 goals and 42 points. She was also second on the team with 17 caused turnovers and 58 draw controls. Charlotte Vari, who was named MEC Tournament MVP, had 31 goals, 10 assists and 41 points as a freshman. In just nine games, Kendal Johnson was fourth on the team with 23 goals, fifth on the team with 33 points and tied for second with 10 assists. Alicyn Loberg had 16 goals and led the team with 71 draw controls, along with 15 caused turnovers. Megan Dano scored 13 goals and led the team with 22 assists. On the defensive side, Nia Griffith was tied for second on the squad with 17 caused turnovers. Goalkeeper Mackenzie Levine returns after she saved 155 shots and held opponents to single-digit goals in seven games in 2021.

Noting the Storm: Lake Erie will be taking the field for a regular season contest the first time since May 2, 2019 when they lost to Tiffin in the GMAC Semifinals.
 
Noting the Dragons: Tiffin went up against the top team in NCAA Division II when they faced Lindenwood on Feb. 27. Lindenwood scored nine goals in the first quarter and put all 20 of their goals on the scoreboard before Tiffin scored. Gabby Wilson scored Tiffin's only goal with 41 seconds remaining in the game. She led the Dragons with four shots, while Angela Lulejian took two shots.