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#3 Irish Take On #2 Clarkson in NCAA Northeast Regional

WHO: #12 Notre Dame (22-13-3, 11-11-2-2 B1G) vs. #7/6 Clarkson (26-10-2, 13-7-2 ECAC)
WHEN: Friday, March 29 – 6:30 p.m. ET
WHERE: SNHU Arena, Manchester, N.H.
WATCH (TV): ESPNU
WATCH (STREAMING): ESPN App
LISTEN: 94.3 FM (South Bend) & UND.com
 
FOR STARTERS

  • For the fourth consecutive season and the 11th time in program history, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will be appearing in the NCAA Championship field.
  • Notre Dame won the 2019 Big Ten Tournament to earn an automatic bid and with the dramatic 3-2 win over Penn State, moved up to No. 12 in the Pairwise ratings to garner a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.
  • The Irish are the No. 3 seed in the Northeast Regional (Manchester, N.H.) and will play No. 2 seed Clarkson.
  • Notre Dame (Big Ten) and Clarkson (ECAC) are the only two conference tournament champions facing off in the first round of the 2019 NCAA tournament.
  • Notre Dame also is coming off back-to-back Frozen Four appearances, including a spot in last season’s title game that ultimately saw Minnesota Duluth post a 2-1 win.
  • The win over Penn State marked the 500th victory of head coach Jeff Jackson’s career.
  • Jackson has led the Irish to 10 of their 11 NCAA tournament appearances.
  • Notre Dame 43-29-0 all-time in the playoffs under 14th-year head coach Jeff Jackson, including a 32-20-0 mark in conference tournament playoff games (includes games in the CCHA, Hockey East and Big Ten) and 11-9-0 in NCAA Tournament games.
  • Now in 10 career playoff games, Cale Morris is 9-1-0 with a .953 save percentage and a 1.54 goals-against average.
  • The Irish are 16-0-1 this season when scoring at least three goals.
  • Notre Dame (22-13-3) has reached at least 20 wins on the year for a third consecutive season, marking the second time Notre Dame has recorded at least 20

IRISH NCAA TOURNEY TALK

  • Notre Dame is making the 11th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and the 10th under head coach Jeff Jackson.
  • Jackson has guided the Irish to 10 NCAA appearances in the last 14 seasons to go along with Frozen Four appearances in 2008, 2011, 2017 and 2018.
  • In 2008 and 2018, Notre Dame advanced to the national title game.
  • Notre Dame’s streak of four consecutive NCAA appearances marks a program-best run and is the nation’s fourth longest active streak, trailing only Denver (12), Providence (6) and Minnesota Duluth (5).
  • Cale Morris posted a 3-1-0 record to go along with a 2.12 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage in four NCAA tournament games last season.

MANCHESTER MAGIC

  • Notre Dame’s runs to the 2011 and 2017 Frozen Fours started at the NCAA Northeast Regional in Manchester, New Hampshire.
  • On their way to St. Paul in 2011, at what was then called the Verizon Wireless Arena, No. 3 seed Notre Dame overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat No. 2 seed Merrimack, 4-3, on an Anders Lee goal scored at 5:18 of overtime.
  • Then in the 2011 Northeast Regional Final, Notre Dame downed No. 4 seed New Hampshire, 2-1, to advance to the Frozen Four for the second time in program history.
  • Mike Johnson made 37 saves in the regional final, while Stephen Johns and Billy Maday scored for the Irish.
  • Johnson was named the 2011 Northeast Regional’s Most Valuable Player.
  • Then in 2017, No. 4 seed Notre Dame came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat top-seeded Minnesota, 3-2, in the first round of the NCAA Northeast Regional (SNHU Arena).
  • Anders Bjork scored a pair of goals, including the game winner at the 8:42 mark of the third period to help lead the Irish to the win.
  • Then in the 2017 Regional Final, the Irish posted a dramatic 3-2 overtime win against No. 2 seed UMass Lowell on Andrew Oglevie’s game winner at 2:44 of the extra period.
  • Cam Morrison scored Notre Dame’s other two goals in that victory.
  • Bjork was named the 2017 Northeast Regional’s Most Valuable Player.

BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP

  • Cam Morrison scored the game-wining goal in the Big Ten title game for the second consecutive season and Cale Morris finished with 46 saves en route to earning the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player honor for the second consecutive season as the Irish posted a 3-2 win over Penn State (March 23).
  • The win sent Notre Dame to the NCAA Tournament for a program-record fourth consecutive season.
  • Spencer Stastney scored his first career goal early in the first period to give the Irish a 1-0 lead and Cal Burke also netted a first period tally for the Irish.
  • It marked the eighth championship in program history, all under the guidance of head coach Jeff Jackson:
    • Regular-season: 2006-07 (CCHA), 2008-08 (CCHA), 2017-18 (B1G)
    • Tournament: 2007 (CCHA), 2009 (CCHA), 2013 (CCHA), 2018 (B1G), 2019 (B1G)
  • To reach the 2019 title game, Notre Dame swept Michigan State in the quarterfinals (March 8-9) and then defeated Minnesota in the semifinals with Michael Graham’s power-play goal 53 seconds into overtime proving to be the difference (March 16).
  • In the first three Big Ten tournament games, Mike O’Leary, Pierce Crawford and Michael Graham accounted for Notre Dame’s game-winning goals.
  • In the 2019 Big Ten Tournament, Cale Morris posted a 0.75 goals-against average and a .977 save percentage.
  • The Irish are now 6-0-0 on Big Ten Tournament games since joining the Big Ten.

–ND–