After defeating Dartmouth 19-7 last weekend, Notre Dame improved its rankings and moved into the No. 5 spot in the nation and the No. 3 spot in the GWLL.
The Irish currently sit behind Quinnipac (6-0) and Bellarmine (6-1) in the conference.
Notre Dame travels to Colorado Springs, Colo., to face Air Force on Saturday. The Falcons are in last place in the GWLL with a 1-4 record, I the Irish defeated the Falcons 16-4 last season.
"Air Force has struggled a bit so far this season, but when you watch them play they are very athletic that plays very hard," Irish coach Kevin Corrigan said. "They will present a challenge for us."
On Tuesday, the Irish host No. 14 Drexel. Notre Dame defeated Drexel 16-5 last season, but this year the Dragons hold a 6-1 record, with their only loss coming from a close game with No. 3 Virginia.
"They are a very good team. They played Virginia to a very good game and kept them tied until very late in the game," Corrigan said. "Since then they haven't loss. They are good team playing with tremendous confidence right now."
On Saturday, the Irish downed Dartmouth by 12 goals. Senior attack Alex Wharton led the team against the Big Green, scoring a career-high six points with two goals and four assists. He also was named the Great Western Lacrosse player of the week, and he has seven goals and 12 assists on the season. Wharton is the third Irish player to receive this honor on the season, joining senior goaltender Joey Kemp and junior attack Ryan Hoff, who were both awarded the honor in February.
The Irish quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead and held the Big Green scoreless throughout the first quarter. Corrigan attributes the win to effective first quarter offense.
"We did something we've done this year a few times," he said. "We had long periods of shutting them out which really puts a lot of stress on a team. For the third time this year we held them scoreless in the first quarter, which helps get off to a good start. We also stayed consistent execution offensively as well."
Saturday's game vs. the Falcons kicks off at 2 p.m. The Irish will face Drexel on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the Moose Krause Stadium.
