Notre Dame must have followed the "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me," mantra going into Friday night's Big East Tournament semifinal match versus Marquette.

The first time out, the Fighting Irish were out-hustled, out-passed and out-intensified by a spirited Marquette team that kicked them square in the face to walk away with a 4-1 victory on Sept. 30 at Valley Fields.

The stage was set in similar fashion with the same cast of characters. Marquette hosted the Fighting Irish on a Friday night. The stands at Valley Fields were packed, and the buzz around the field was palpable.

The Golden Eagles even came out with the same energy as they had done in its first game, while Notre Dame ho-hummed through pre-game drills and introductions as they had done. Everything looked eerily similar to the previous meeting; the only difference was the tally at game's end.

This time it was the hare that got its revenge on the tortoise.

The game started off in similar fashion with Marquette's bench crowding the sidelines while the Notre Dame players could not be bothered with the Milwaukee weather, they sat under the canopy on their sidelines. Energy was high, both teams came out with an aggressive attitude. Notre Dame scored first and proceeded to score the second and third goals of the game.

There was no answer from Marquette, no Alison Loughrin to summon from the bench for instant offense this time. In a very physical game, Notre Dame put the cleat on the other foot and took it to the Golden Eagles this time and eventually beat Connecticut on Sunday to win the Big East Tournament.

Notre Dame has the ego and talent to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. They play with a "we know we are better than you" mindset and have parlayed it into a glistening record and probably an extended post-season.

Teams need to stop Notre Dame from the get-go. If you give up the first goal, all hope is not forgotten, as was the case in the first Marquette game, but teams better come out and force an aggressive attack against them when they are down one. There is no reason to sit back on defense and wait for Notre Dame to make a mistake because that won't happen. You have to force the issue. They are used to playing the role of the hunter; let them be the ones with the bulls-eye on their back.

Otherwise, the ego express will keep adding fuel to the fire and different numbers to the scoreboard.