NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame hockey blueliner Drew Bavaro closed out the regular season with the final Big Ten First Star of the Week honor following his performance at No. 4/4 Michigan last weekend. The junior from Lakewood Ranch, Florida, led the Irish with two goals and two assists as the hunt for home ice in the postseason tournament continued.
Bavaro played a key role in Friday night’s 3-3 shootout win over the Wolverines, tallying two assists and leading the team in points through game one. He followed up Friday’s play with the second multi-goal game of his Irish career, netting the opening goal partway through the third period to break the 0-0 stalemate. After the Wolverines tied it up late to force overtime in the 1-1 game, the two-way player got back on the ice for 3v3 play. In 90 seconds of overtime, the two teams combined for three shots on goal, all off the stick of Bavaro who gathered his own rebounds twice to finally bury the puck on his third attempt.
Along with his two goals and seven shots in Saturday night’s win, Bavaro played a key role on the defensive side of the puck as well. The blueliner jumped in front of four Wolverine shots over the course of regulation, leading the team in the category.
His two-goal weekend led all conference foes and was second nationally while his four points was tied for a conference-best.
With the game-winning goal Saturday night, and the team earning four-of-six conference points, Bavaro’s two goal and two assist weekend secured Notre Dame the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, and home ice in the quarterfinals.
Tickets for this weekend’s best-of-three series with MSU can be purchased here.