March 6, 2011
Notre Dame, Ind. – It took until 10:50 p.m. on Sunday night to find out who their opponent would be for the second round of the CCHA playoffs but now the Fighting Irish know that they will be playing the Lake Superior State Lakers in the best-of-three second round series at the Joyce Center.
The series begins on Friday, March 11 with a 7:35 p.m. game. Game two on Saturday, March 12 is set for 7:05 p.m. and Sunday, March 13th’s game, if necessary, will begin at 7:05 p.m.
The Irish will face the Lakers due to Bowling Green, the 11th-seeded team upset 6th-seed Northern Michigan, 2-1, in double overtime on Sunday night in game three of their series in Marquette, Mich. The Falcons will sends them to Michigan next weekend for the second round while the Irish will host the Lakers, who swept Ohio State in two games.
Lake Superior finished the season in eighth place in the CCHA with a 10-13-5-3 record, good for 38 points in the standings. The Lakers were 12-15-9 on the regular season. They downed Ohio State, 4-0 and 3-2, in their first-round series.
Notre Dame and Lake Superior met twice this season in the opening week of CCHA play on Oct. 14-15 with the Irish taking a pair of 4-2 wins versus the Lakers.
Notre Dame goes into postseason play with a 21-10-5 overall record and was 18-7-3-2 in the CCHA, good for 59 points and finished second to Michigan as the Wolverines had 61 points. The Irish are currently ranked ninth in the nation in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll and 10th in the USCHO.com poll.
The remainder of the second round looks like this: No. 1 seed Michigan plays host to No. 11 Bowling Green. The Falcons defeated No. 6 Northern Michigan, two games to one, winning game three on Sunday night in double overtime, 2-1. No. 3 Miami plays host to No. 7 Alaska and No. 4 Western Michigan will play host to No. 5 Ferris State next weekend in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Tickets are available for the second round series at the Joyce Center between Notre Dame and Lake Superior State. For ticket information contact the Notre Dame ticket office at 574-631-7356 or purchase tickets online at und.com.