O'Leary UC 1

#11/12 Irish Continue B1G Play at Home vs. Spartans

WHO: #11/12 Notre Dame (13-8-2, 6-6-1-1 B1G) vs. Michigan State (9-12-3, 5-7-2-2 B1G)
WHEN: Friday, January 25 – 7:30 p.m. ET | Saturday, January 26 – 7 p.m. ET
WHERE: Compton Family Ice Arena
WATCH: Friday – NBC Sports Chicago+, NBC Sports Philly+ & SNY | Saturday – NBC Sports Chicago+ & SNY
LISTEN: Friday Radio Broadcast | Saturday Radio Broadcast
TICKETS: Click here

THE SERIES VS. MICHIGAN STATE

  • Former CCHA rivals, the Irish and Spartans have met 119 times in program history, dating back to their first meeting in 1926, which was played at the University Rink in East Lansing, Michigan (Notre Dame won the first game, 3-1).
  • All-time, the Spartans lead the series 63-45-11 but the Irish hold the edge at home, 26-23-7.
  • Their first meetings as a varsity sport was in the 1970-71 season when the Spartans came to town to split the weekend series. Michigan State took the first game 10-5, before the Irish bounced back for a 4-3 victory the second night.
  • Since the turn of the century, the Irish hold the narrow advantage as Notre Dame is 19-18-6 against Michigan State since 2000.
  • Of those 42 games, seven have gone to overtime and 14 have been decided by a single goal.
  • Dating back to the 2012-13 season, Notre Dame holds a 8-2-0 advantage in the series . over the last 10 games.
  • Irish head coach Jeff Jackson is 28-16-8 all-time against his alma mater Michigan State (including his time at Lake Superior State).
  • Earlier this season, the Irish swept the Spartans at the Munn Ice Arena, taking game one by the score of 3-1 and then winning game two 2-1 (Nov. 16-17)
  • In game one, Cale Morris stopped 27 of the 28 shots he faced while Joe Wegwerth and Cam Burke scored for the Irish before Graham (Slaggert’s empty netter sealed the win was his first career goal).
  • Cam Burke’s game winner was also his first career goal.
  • In game two, Colin Theisen and Cal Burke each scored and Cale Morris posted 28 saves.
  • The Irish also held the Spartans to a 0-for-4 mark on the power play en route to the victory.
  • Cal Burke has two goals and an assist in five games against the Spartans, while Cam Morrison has two goals and an assist in four games against MSU.
  • Overall, Cale Morris is 5-1-0 against Michigan State with an impressive .946 save percentage and a 1.67 goals-against average.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

  • 309 – In his 14th season, head coach Jeff Jackson now has 309 career wins at Notre Dame (309-185-56), breaking Lefty Smith’s longtime record of 307 wins behind the Irish bench.
  • 50 – Notre Dame is in the midst of its 50th season of varsity hockey at the University.
  • 41 – Over the last two seasons to date, the Fighting Irish have racked up 41 wins, which ranks tied for third in the NCAA with Ohio State and trails only Minnesota State (48) and St. Cloud State (42).
  • 19 – Former Fighting Irish goaltender Cal Petersen, who led Notre Dame to the 2017 Frozen Four, made his NHL debut for Los Angeles on Nov. 13, becoming the 19th player to reach the NHL after skating for Jeff Jackson at Notre Dame.
  • 10 – On Jan. 4, former Notre Dame All-American Erik Condra made his season debut for the Dallas Stars, becoming the 10th former Irish player to appear in the NHL this season.
  • 8.0 – At 8.0 penalty minutes per game, the Irish are the third-least penalized team in the country behind only Dartmouth (7.8) and Princeton (6.1).
  • 7 – With the 2018 Big Ten tournament and regular season-titles, Notre Dame has now won seven conference championships in program history, each under Jeff Jackson (three regular-season).
  • 2 – Against Mercyhurst on Oct. 12, junior Cal Burke notched a third period hat trick – the second of his career. He became the first Irish player since Anders Lee with multiple career hat tricks.

OTHER TIDBITS

  • The Fighting Irish and Spartans close out their season series this weekend at the Compton Family Ice Arena.
  • Notre Dame is coming off a five-point weekend against Wisconsin, including a 6-4 win at the Kohl Center (Jan. 19) and a 2-2 overtime tie (and double overtime win) at the United Center (Jan. 20).
  • Michigan State has won three in a row, including a sweep of Minnesota last weekend at the Munn Ice Arena (Jan. 19-20).
  • The Irish enter the weekend third in the Big Ten Standings (6-6-1-1 // 20 points), while the Spartans are fourth (5-7-2-2 // 19 points).
  • Last weekend, freshman forward Michael Graham scored four goals and added an assist and was named the Big Ten First Star of the Week and the NCAA Second Star of the Week.