Feb. 18, 2018
By Dan Colleran
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Tony Calderone’s second-period goal and solid goaltending from Hayden Lavigne proved to be the difference as No. 18 Michigan blanked No. 1 Notre Dame, 1-0, Sunday night at Yost Ice Arena (5,800).
The Wolverines (16-13-3, 11-10-3-2 B1G) took advantage of an Irish (22-8-2, 16-5-1-1 B1G) turnover inside their own zone. An Irish clearing attempt deflected directly in the path of Michigan’s Cooper Marody. Marody then dropped a pass to Calderon, who buried the game’s only goal at 19:21 of the second.
The goal was Calderone’s team-best 17th, while the assist was Marody’s 26th, also tops for the Wolverines.
Notre Dame had scoring chances throughout the night.
Jordan Gross had a great scoring opportunity just four minutes into the first period but his wrist shot from the top of the circle rang off the crossbar.
Cale Morris kept the game scoreless with a couple big stops, including a left pad save on a Marody tip in front. The sophomore goaltender ended up with 16 saves in the opening 20 minutes of play.
The Irish grabbed momentum of the match in the second period, outshooting the Wolverines 15-11 in the frame. Dylan Malmquist forced Lavigne into one if his best saves of the game midway through the period when, after being set up by Andrew Oglevie, he fired a shot headed for the top corner but it deflected off the handle of Lavigne’s stick.
Notre Dame mounted a furious attack over the game’s final three minutes. The Irish fired 17 attempts at the Wolverine net, but five went wide of the net, eight more were blocked by Michigan skaters and Lavigne saved four other opportunities, including three different chances in the final minute.
Morris certainly asserted himself well in the game with 36 saves. He’s now collected at least 35 saves in 19 different games and allowed one goal or less 15 times.
COACH JACKSON’S THOUGHTS
On the game …
“I thought we played better tonight and certainly had some chances. You have to give their goaltender credit, he played well this weekend. They don’t give you much and then when we got shots through he was there to make the saves. I did [change some lines] in the third and we were still getting chances, we just need to convert on some of those.”
NOTES
- Jordan Gross skated in the 151st consecutive game of his Irish career (dating back to the first game of his freshman season).
- Jake Evans skated in his 123rd consecutive game dating back to his freshman season and his 150th game overall.
- It was just the seventh time this season Notre Dame trailed after two periods and Notre Dame is now 1-6-0 when trailing entering the third.
- The Irish are 12-6-2 against ranked teams this season.
- Sunday’s game was the 138th meeting between Notre Dame and Michigan.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame will close out the regular season next weekend with home series against Michigan State. Friday’s game will begin at 7:35 p.m., while puck drop on Saturday is slated for 7:05 p.m. Saturday’s contest will also feature a pregame ceremony to honor Notre Dame’s seven seniors.
— 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).