"I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about it at all," sophomore midfielder Jake Bernhardt said Tuesday. "I was just taking an exam, and I was thinking about it. I would like to sit here and say, ‘Since Syracuse is gone, we’re going to definitely make it.’ But we’ve got Notre Dame this weekend, and they’re not going to be a pushover. We’ve got all of these other great teams that we’ve got to get past first. We just have to focus on Notre Dame this weekend."

Added sophomore midfielder Joe Cummings: "It’s definitely hard not to look past Notre Dame, but we’ve been keeping our focus on them and trying to get ready every day and get better every day. The knowledge that the team that has won it the last two years isn’t in it anymore makes it exciting. There’s going to be a new national champion, and we want to be that national champion. Congratulations to Army, but we’ve got to take care of our business with Notre Dame to be able to get to the Final Four."

If Bernhardt, Cummings and their teammates are having those thoughts, they’re certainly doing a good job of keeping them under wraps because coach Dave Cottle says he has not had to temper their enthusiasm about the possibilities that lie ahead.

"Not one time have we talked about it," Cottle said. "That’s the what-if? What if we play Cornell? What if we play Army? We’re not dealing with what-ifs. We’re playing with what-is. We’re going to focus on us and try to get better."