March 24, 2018
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By Michael Scholl
BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut — One-goal game? No big deal for the University of Notre Dame hockey team. For the fourth consecutive playoff game, the Irish scored late, with this victory sending the Fighting Irish to the Frozen Four for the second-consecutive season and fourth time in school history.
On Saturday in the NCAA East Regional Final, it was Dylan Malmquist scoring with 27 seconds remaining to give the Irish a 2-1 victory over former Hockey East rival, Providence College. The victory moves the Irish to 27-9-2 on the year, while the Friars finish the campaign at 24-12-4.
The Friars struck for an early goal, taking a lead at 2:02 of the first period when Kasper Bjorkqvist beat Cale Morris. It took almost two full periods for the Irish to finally equalize things as Andrew Ogelvie fired home a power-play goal at 18:09 of the second.
Things remained even through most of the third period, but it was the Irish finally breaking through with just 27 seconds left as Malmquist took a craft feed from Cal Burke behind the net and found the back of the net. The Irish had to win a couple of faceoffs, including one to the right of Cale Morris, to secure the victory after timeouts by both squads.
Hobey Baker finalist Cale Morris made 19 saves for the Irish to earn the victory, allowing just the one early goal. Providence’s Hayden Hawkey turned aside 23 shots in the effort. Notre Dame scored the game’s only power-play goal, going 1-for-4 on the man advantage. Providence failed to score on two power plays.
Morris and Jordan Gross were named to the NCAA’s All-East Regional team, while Gross was named the regional’s Most Outstanding Player. Morris made 55 saves in the two victories while Gross had two goals in the opening round win over Michigan Tech before assisting on Oglevie’s tying goal in the win over Providence.
NOTRE DAME GOAL DESCRIPTIONS
1-1 | Notre Dame put mounting pressure on the Friar net in the second and finally solved Hayden Hawkey. The opportunity came after PC’s Ryan Tait took a goaltender interference penalty to put the Irish on the power play. After controlling the puck, Gross took a shot from the left point, with a rebound going left circle to Jake Evans. Evans fired a shot, resulting in another rebound. Ogelvie collected the puck between the circles and turned, firing it past Hawkey’s glove for his 13th goal of the season.
2-1 | Cal Burke carried the puck into the Friar zone and dumped it off in the near corner for Oglevie, continuing behind the net. Ogelvie immediately passed it back to Burke behind the goal, who slid it to a crashing Malmquist. The junior from Edina, Minnesota slid it just between the near post and the skate of a sliding Hayden Hawkey for the win.
NOTES
- Ogelvie now has six points on three goals and three assists in six career NCAA tournament games.
- Cal Burke‘s primary assist on Dylan Malmquist‘s game winner came on his 21st birthday.
- Evans has six points, all assists, in six career NCAA postseason contests.
- Gross has five points on two goals and three assists in six NCAA playoff games.
- Jordan Gross skated in the 157th consecutive game of his Irish career (dating back to the first game of his freshman season).
- Jake Evans skated in his 129th consecutive game dating back to his freshman season (156th overall).
- Notre Dame improved to 9-5-2 all-time against the Friars, including a 4-0-1 mark in the last two seasons.
- The Irish are 38-28-0 in postseason play under Jeff Jackson, including a mark of 10-8 in the NCAA tournament.
- All-time, Notre Dame owns a 4-1 record in NCAA regional finals.
- Notre Dame is 6-2-2 when the game is tied entering the third period.
- In Notre Dame’s 10th NCAA appearance, the Irish were in the East Regional for the first time. Notre Dame has twice appeared in Northeast Regional, advancing to the Frozen Four on both occasions. The Irish have been placed in the Midwest five times and the West twice, advancing to one Frozen Four from the West.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame advances to the 2018 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four, to be held April 5-7 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Irish will face the champion of the Northeast Regional Final between Boston University and Michigan, which will be played at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 25. Notre Dame’s national semifinal game will then be played on April 5 at either 6 or 9:30 p.m.
— ND —
Michael Scholl has been a member of the Fighting Irish Media communications staff at his alma mater since August 2016. He serves as the secondary contact for the Irish football and hockey teams while coordinating communications efforts for the women’s tennis program. Scholl has previously worked in communications at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Providence College, Vanderbilt University and the University of Cincinnati. The South Bend, Indiana, native earned a degree in political science from the College of Arts and Letters in 2009.