Familiar faces and a familiar town will greet this year’s Ohio Valley Conference champion, Eastern women’s soccer team.

The Panthers may just be tired of going to Notre Dame considering three out of the last four years they have made the NCAA College Cup they have made the trip to South Bend.

“We were looking forward to going to some place new,” junior defender Lee Ann Langsfeld said. “I’m so tired of going there, I’ve been there about 800 times.”

Director of Athletics Richard McDuffie was proud of the team’s achievement but also wanted the team to have the opportunity to go to other places just so they could see new places while on the road.

“First of all, four (conference championships) in a row is rare for any sport, and any team,” McDuffie said. “But I do hope that they can get to go on a trip that is far enough away that they can fly, at least then they would be seeing a different portion of the country.”

No matter how many times the Panthers have been up to Notre Dame, their main focus is still just about soccer. Besides going to South Bend, Eastern will be matched up against the Fighting Irish for the second time out of their past four trips to the NCAA tournament.

Earlier this year the Panthers played the same Irish squad at Notre Dame, but lost the game 3-0. Eastern lost the game and struggled to provide much offense at all considering the Panthers managed to get off only two shots compared to Notre Dame’s 38.

But the fact that Eastern has seen the Fighting Irish before could be an advantage to the team because they know what to expect and how to improve against them.

“Because we played them before, you never know what will happen this time around,” senior midfielder Rachel Dorfman said. “It is crucial for us to believe in ourselves because then we can raise our level of play and compete against such a good team.”