#3/5 Irish Cap Regular Season At Home Against Michigan State

Feb. 21, 2018

By Dan Colleran

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Notre Dame closes out its 2017-18 regular season this weekend, playing host to a two-game series with Michigan State at Compton Family Ice Arena.

The Irish swept a two-game set in East Lansing, Michigan in December, winning 3-1 and 2-0. In game one of the series, senior Jake Evans registered a goal and an assist as the Irish used a pair of second-period goals that came 62 second apart to rally from a 1-0 deficit. Game two saw Andrew Oglevie score 90 second into the game, while Cal Burke scored an empty-net goal with 14 second left, to give the Irish the 2-0 win. In between the pipes, Cale Morris made 23 saves for his fourth shutout of the season.

Notre Dame is 8-2-0 in its last 10 games versus Michigan State, dating back to the 2010-11 season. The Irish are looking to rebound coming off their only series sweep of the season, having lost to Michigan by scores of 4-2 and 1-0 in a home-and-home series a week ago. Joe Wegwerth and Bobby Nardella were the game one goal scorers for Notre Dame, while Morris had 36 saves in the game two goaltender duel.

Notre Dame has guaranteed itself the top seed in the Big Ten Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament and will host a semifinal game on Saturday, March 10.

During the second intermission of Friday’s game, Notre Dame will honor the 2007-08 team that advanced to the program’s first Frozen Four and played in the NCAA Championship game.

On Saturday, the Irish will hold a pre-game ceremony to honor their seven graduating seniors and two senior managers.

Evans A Senior CLASS Finalist

• Fighting Irish senior captain Jake Evans has been named one of 10 finalists for college hockey’s 2017-18 Senior CLASS Award® (Feb. 16).
• Evans joins Michigan’s Sam Piazza as the two finalists from the Big Ten.
• Evans was previously named one of 20 2017-18 Senior CLASS Award ® candidates on Nov. 1.
• To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Div. I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
• The 10 finalists will now be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote by media, coaches and fans.
• The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2018 NCAA Men’s Frozen Final Four® in April.

2017-18 Big Ten Champions

• With a 2-1 win over sixth-ranked Ohio State on Feb. 9, the Fighting Irish clinched first place in the Big Ten regular season standings and will have a first round bye in the Big Ten Tournament.
• The sixth championship in program history broke a streak of Minnesota winning each Big Ten Regular Season Championship since the league was formed (2013-14).

Irish Championship History

• By clinching the 2017-18 Big Ten regular season championship with a 2-1 win over Ohio State (Feb. 9), the Fighting Irish have now won six conference championships.
• All six championships have come under the guidance of head coach Jeff Jackson. CCHA Regular-Season Championships: 2006-07, 2008-09 CCHA Tournament Championships: 2006-07, 2008-09, 2012-13.
• This season’s championship marked the first in program history on home ice, as the Irish clinched the 2007 title with a 1-0 win at Alaska (Feb. 17) and then secured the 2009 title with a 1-0 win at Omaha (Feb. 21, 2009).

Playoff Picture

• The 2018 Big Ten Tournament will feature a three-weekend format with all games taking place on the campus at the higher-seeded team.
• The tournament will open March 2-4 with three best-of-three quarterfinal series, as the second-, third- and fourth-seeded teams will each host a series.
• Notre Dame will have a bye to the single-elimination semifinals, which are scheduled for Saturday, March 10.
• The highest-seeded team remaining after the semifinals will host a championship game on Saturday, March 17.
• Entering the final weekend of play, the only other spots that have been decided are No. 2 (Ohio State) and No. 7 (Michigan State).

— ND —

Dan Colleran, Director of Athletics Communications at the University of Notre Dame, has been a part of Fighting Irish Media since August 2015 and coordinates all media and publicity efforts surrounding the Notre Dame hockey and golf programs. A native of Walpole, Massachusetts, Colleran spent the previous three years working with the men’s hockey and soccer programs at Providence College. Colleran also spent two years as an Assistant Executive Director of Communications & Championships at the Ivy League and is a graduate of Providence College (’06 & ’08G).