After a tough road trip, coming home might be the best thing for the Irish.

Battling through three straight away contests with losses in each, the men's soccer team has squared off against the likes of Big East rival Connecticut and nationally-ranked San Diego on its opponents' home turf.

Now the Irish, after falling to a 3-4-1 record, will enjoy the home-field advantage for six of their seven games, beginning tonight with a matchup against the Eastern Michigan Eagles

The Irish return to Alumni field with the hopes of ending a costly scoring drought that has left them with three shutout losses this season and two scoreless games in a row.

"We're playing well and have had many scoring chances, but we haven't been able to finish." head coach Mike Berticelli said.

"I attribute that to inexperience. I have a tremendous amount of confidence in our team and in our ability to get through this dry spell," he continued. "It's part of being a young team. We can't grow any faster. We just have to stay positive and maintain our confidence."

The effects of youth and inexperience on the front line has been heightened by the unexpected loss of the squad's leading scorer Shane Walton to the football program after the 1998 campaign.

"We don't have a true center-forward because we lost Shane. We didn't really have any time to recover and recruit for that position," Berticelli said. "That lack of speed eliminates one of the ways to score which is getting behind the defense."

Notre Dame has managed to score only five goals in eight games, an all-time low for any Irish men's soccer team.

"We need to relax and we'll get through it," Berticelli said. "It's difficult when you're not scoring — goals get harder to come by because there's so much pressure to score. When you're on a roll, the goals tend to come more easily in bunches."

Despite the losses, the Irish backfield has been a solid force. The Irish defense has held all of its opponents to just one goal until the final minutes of the game.

"Our defense has done very well," Berticelli said. "The scores in California are not indicative of the defense — they're more indicative of a change in strategy and pushing more people forward and taking risks in the hopes of scoring. That strategy worked against Connecticut when we scored with less than two minutes to tie the game and we tried to do it again in California but it didn't work."

The Irish need to start putting balls in the net if they plan to get back on track in the second half of the season. The Irish devoted much of their preseason practice to solidifying the defense, but have since shifted gears to focus on developing a more potent attack.

The Irish look to unleash that attack on Eastern Michigan tonight.

The Eagles, coming in with a 4-4-0 record, find their offense force in forward Max Sulla. Sulla, a powerhouse on attack, has tallied three of the team's eight goals and one assist on the season.

The Notre Dame defense will try to continue its solid play, giving the offense time to score and come away with a win that would even the Irish record.

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