Notre Dame Advances To Hockey National Championship Game
Heaven forbid there not be a comeback or late drama in a Notre Dame hockey game.
For the sixth straight contest, the No. 1-seeded Fighting Irish posted a one-goal victory (4-3), notably three straight come-from behind victories in the NCAA Tournament, this time on a goal by senior Jake Evans with 5.2 seconds remaining on an excellent centering pass from sophomore Cam Morrison, who was speeding down on a breakaway toward the left side of Evans.
Notre Dame (28-9-2) will play Minnesota-Duluth (24-16-3) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN for the national title, which would be the school's first in hockey. The Bulldogs defeated Ohio State, 2-1, in the earlier semifinal of the Frozen Four. Duluth returns to the championship game after losing 3-2 to Denver last year. It defeated Notre Dame in the 2011 Frozen Four en route to its most recent national title.
The Wolverines dominated the first period, including a 15-2 advantage in face-offs, while taking a 1-0 edge at the end of the first 20 minutes on a goal at 8:19 by Tony Calderone.
After Dexter Dancs tallied 17 seconds into the second period for a 2-0 Michigan cushion, Notre Dame fought back, first on junior Andrew Oglevie's power play goal at 2:41 on assists from seniors Evans and defenseman Jordan Gross.
Less than four minutes later at 6:20, Gross fed Evans, the nation’s Senior CLASS Award winner earlier this week, to knot the game at 2-2.
Notre Dame took its initial advantage at 1:35 in the third when sophomore Cal Burke notched his 14th goal of the season — tying Oglevie for the team high — off a fast break draw from the Michigan end of the ice. Oglevie fed junior Dylan Malmquist near the center stripe, and Malmquist from the left side found Burke, who shielded his body from the defender to push in the goal.
With 5:22 remaining Michigan tied it when Michael Pastujov tapped a loose puck in front of the Irish net for the goal.
The game winner bore a strong resemblance to the previous Irish score when Notre Dame ended up controlling a face-off on the Michigan end, leading Morrison to find Evans for his second goal.
Both Notre Dame’s Cale Morris and Michigan’s Hayden Lavigne recorded 25 saves, with Morris notching 10 in the third period.
Michigan was 0-of-3 on the power play while Notre Dame was 1-of-2.
Taking a cue from the Notre Dame women’s basketball program that recorded its second national title on Sunday, the Fighting Irish icers have displayed comparable resilience and dramatic late-game heroics.
It began with a 4-3 win versus Michigan State in the regular season finale. Then in playoff action:
• In the Big Ten semifinal versus Penn State March 10, junior forward Jack Jenkins scored with 30.5 seconds remaining in regulation for a 3-2 victory.
• A week later on St. Patrick’s Day in the Big Ten Championship, Morrison’s dramatic tally 9:23 into overtime won the conference title against No. 5 Ohio State.
• On March 23 against Michigan Tech in round one of NCAA Tournament action, Gross’ second goal of the game — this one at the 16:24 mark of overtime — advanced the Irish past the WCHA Champion, 4-3.
• The next day the heroics belonged to Malmquist when his game-winning goal came with 27 seconds remaining in regulation lifted Notre Dame to a 2-1 victory versus Providence to capture the East Regional.
Seven of Notre Dame’s last eight NCAA Tournament games have been decided by one goal.
The Irish are now a phenomenal 14-3 in one-goal games this season.
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