NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame hockey team returns home for the postseason, having clinched the final home ice spot with their 2-1 overtime victory at Michigan last weekend.
The fourth-seeded Irish closed out their regular season Big Ten schedule with 35 points in order to host the first round of playoffs. The best-of-three series against the Michigan State Spartans gets underway Friday, March 3 at 7 p.m.
The puck will drop on Saturday’s tilt at 4:30 p.m. before a 6 p.m. start the following night (if necessary). All games are set to air on FS2.
The Irish, at 15-14-5, look to seal their NCAA Tournament fate this weekend as they currently sit at No. 14 in the latest PairWise rankings.
QUICK HITS
- The Irish clinched home ice in the first round of the conference tournament following a pair of wins in extra time at No. 4/4 Michigan last weekend. After forcing overtime in game one against the Wolverines at Yost Ice Arena, Ryan Bischel turned aside all four shots faced in the overtime period to send the contest to a shootout. In a three-round shootout, Nick Leivermann scored first for the Irish while Bischel stopped all three Michigan shooters to secure the extra conference point.
- On Saturday, the Irish and Wolverines were locked in a 0-0 tie until partway through the third period when Drew Bavaro scored the opening goal, on the powerplay, 3:35 into the final period of regulation. Michigan would answer six minutes later as the Irish faced their third-consecutive overtime game.
- Bavaro registered all three shots on goal in the overtime session, picking up two of his own rebounds before burying the puck just 90 seconds into the period to secure the fourth seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
- Prior to their bye week, the Irish closed out their regular season home schedule with five of six league points against Ohio State. Behind two goals from Landon Slaggert Friday night, the Irish defeated the Buckeyes 2-1 to open up the weekend series.
- The Irish faced a 2-0 deficit halfway through Saturday night’s contest against OSU but a pair of seniors lit the lamp to knot things up and force overtime. Jack Adams and Nick Leivermann scored for the Irish in regulation while senior netminder Ryan Bischel made 45 saves in regulation to send the contest to an overtime frame. Bischel made five additional saves in overtime to finish the night with 50 official saves, his second 50+ save performance of the season and his career, before securing the extra…