Eastern has forgotten the statistics, the scoreboard and everything else that went along with its 3-0 loss to Notre Dame in only its second game of the season.

The team has already left all that behind it and moved on to focusing on how to beat the Fighting Irish this time around. The Panthers (13-5-2) get a second shot at the Irish at 6:30 p.m. today in the first round of the NCAA College Cup hosted by Notre Dame (19-1-1).

Knowing that the team, as a whole, has to believe in its cause was the first thing Eastern coach Steve Ballard stressed to his team.

“I think we feel very confident,” Ballard said. “We were talking just today about how we’ve got to believe. Everyone else can be a nay sayer if they want to.”

The Panthers know that the previous loss is something they should learn from but let go of as far as the result. Eastern hopes that now that it knows how the Irish like to play, it will be able to shutdown the high-powered team.

“That game is behind us; we know how great of a team they are,” Ballard said. “We know what they’ve got; we just have to prepare ourselves.”

Doing just that, the squad departed for South Bend yesterday around 6:30 a.m. to fit in its designated hour-long practice time.

“We just practiced for an hour or so,” Ballard said. “The purpose of it was to just get loosened up from the long bus ride and knock the ball around a little bit.

“We were also able to check out the field a little bit, but as far as what we did out there, there was nothing new whatsoever.”

Regardless of the ride, the opponent and the place, the Panthers now understand they have a wonderful opportunity in front of them.

“If we can come away with a win tomorrow, we are on the national view, big time, all of a sudden,” Ballard said. “We’re a good test for any team.

“All we need to do is take advantage of this great opportunity that we have.”