Notre Dame Vs. Minnesota Duluth National Title Preview: 10 To 1
After capturing the national title in fencing on March 25 and doing the same in women’s basketball April 1, Notre Dame’s hockey program tonight is looking to complete another version of the hat trick.
Head coach Jeff Jackson’s Fighting Irish (28-9-2) take on Minnesota Duluth (24-16-3) tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN in the national title showdown at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
Another hat trick they are attempting to complete is becoming the first college hockey team since Union in 2013-14 to win their regular season conference, postseason league tournament and NCAA Tournament in the same season.
On paper, this has all the makings of another pulsating one-goal outcome. Dating back to 2014, Minnesota Duluth has played a remarkable 10 straight games in NCAA Tournament action that was decided by one goal.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame — an outstanding 14-3 (.824) this season in one-goal decisions — has won each of its last five games by one score, all in postseason action, and most occurring in the 11thhour (or more). Overall, six of Notre Dame’s last seven NCAA Tournament games were decided by one goal (see more details later in this story).
In other words, this team has been Arike Ogunbowale-like with the closing dramatics.
“They call us the Cardiac Kids because we have a knack for making it interesting at the end of games,” Irish junior defenseman Dennis Gilbert, who is fourth nationally in blocked shots with 86, told Notre Dame media relations director John Heisler. “We jump around and say it’s all about a significant fan experience. It’s been a lot of fun. There’s a lot of confidence in our room. We know with our style of play, building from the back end out with our goaltending and defense, we’re not going to allow very many goals.”
Jackson said that much like a “grounder with eyes” in baseball, some “puck luck” also has been involved to augment the mental demeanor of his squad.
“I think back to the Michigan Tech game (in first round) where the puck almost rolled into our net right before we scored the game-winner in overtime,” Jackson said. “It's almost like it's meant to be. But you can't rely on that. We can't go into the game thinking we're going to score the goal at the last minute. I’d rather have won that game with a one-goal lead in the third and not have to go through that. But these kids have found a way to get it done …
“When we give up a lead or when we get behind, they're just very calm in how they handle it. In the locker room, on the bench, I hear them: ‘We got this. We got this. We're all right. We're all right.’ And their calmness has probably impacted me into being more calm. A lot of it has to do with their attitude and their maturity, having been through so many different scenarios since they've been here.”
Here are some other storylines for the national title showdown, from 10 to 1.
10 Years ago that Notre Dame appeared in its only other national title game in hockey, a 4-1 loss to Boston College, in Denver. To get there, the then third-year head coach Jackson’s Fighting Irish upset No. 1-ranked Michigan in overtime (5-4), similar to the dramatic one-goal win (4-3) this Thursday against the Wolverines on a Jake Evans goal with 5.2 seconds remaining.
9 In Notre Dame’s ninth NCAA Tournament (eight under Jackson), it is nine games above .500 (13-4-2) versus the entire 16-team 2018 NCAA Tournament field. Among the Frozen Four teams, Ohio State posted nine total wins, Michigan seven and Minnesota-Duluth five.
8 Over the past eight seasons, five of the Frozen Four winners were No. 1 seeds. Notre Dame is trying to make it six such national champions the past nine seasons. Meanwhile, UMD is attempting to join Yale in 2013 and Providence in 2015 as a "last team in" national champion.
7 Seasons ago when Notre Dame and Minnesota-Duluth last met in the NCAA Tournament — also in St. Paul. In a Frozen Four semifinal, the Bulldogs recorded a 4-3 victory en route to the national title two days later with a 3-2 win against Michigan, thereby capturing their first hockey national title. Minnesota-Duluth was the runner-up last year, losing 3-2 to Denver.
6 Consecutive games decided by one goal this season by Notre Dame, notably all five wins in tournament action. It began with a 4-3 loss versus Michigan State in the regular season finale. Then in playoff action:
• In the Big Ten semifinal March 10 versus Penn State (which advanced into the 16-team NCAA Tournament), 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, sophomore forward Cam Morrison’s dramatic tally 9:23 into overtime won the conference title against No. 5 Ohio State, which lost to Duluth in the first Frozen Four game this Thursday.
• On March 23 against Michigan Tech in round one of NCAA Tournament action, senior Jordan 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 junior forward Dylan 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.
• On Thursday in the Frozen Four, after falling behind 2-0 early in the second quarter, the Irish rallied to a 4-3 victory when Evans scored off a fast break centering pass from Morrison with 5.2 seconds remaining in the contest.
5 Notre Dame players on this year’s roster who hail from Minnesota, tying Illinois for the highest state representation. The group is led by senior All-Big Ten defenseman Gross, who has played in all 158 games in his collegiate career and leads all active defenseman nationally in scoring with 121 points (36 goals, 85 assists). The other four are seniors Bo Brauer and Tony Bretzman, junior Malmquist and freshman Matt Hellickson.
4 With a victory, Jackson would become the fourth coach in college hockey annals to win a national title at two different schools, having already done so at Lake Superior State in 1992 and 1994. The other three were Rick Comley (Northern Michigan and Michigan State), Jerry York (Boston College and Bowling Green) and Ned Harkness (RPI and Cornell). This is Jackson’s seventh Frozen Four, four with the Irish.
3 If Notre Dame wins today, it would be the school’s third national title in the past 14 days after winning it in fencing on March 25 and women’s basketball on April 1. The only other school year where the Irish won three national championships was 1943-44 — football in the fall, and then tennis and golf in the spring.
2 Major award winners on the Notre Dame roster. Evans, who tallied two goals and an assist on Thursday in the win versus Michigan, earned the prestigious Senior CLASS Award for his combined achievements in character, competition, classroom and community.
Meanwhile, sophomore goaltender Cale Morris on Friday won the Richter Award as the nation’s top net minder. The Larkspur, Colorado, native leads the nation in save percentage (.944) while playing 21 games against the country’s top 15 scoring offenses and facing more shots than any other goaltender in the country (1,238). His 1.94 goals against average ranks eighth in the country.
“I don’t know if there’s any player in the country that’s had as big an impact on their team as Cale Morris,” Jackson said.
1 Ranked No. 1 by USA Today, Notre Dame is seeking its first national title in hockey, 50 years after the program was formed to help christen the newly built Athletic & Convocation Center on campus that housed basketball in the south dome and hockey in the north.
The NCAA recognizes 31 other national titles by Notre Dame: 11 in football, 10 in fencing, three in women’s soccer, two in women’s basketball and men’s tennis, and one apiece in men’s soccer, men’s cross country and men’s golf.
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