Notre Dame Hockey Stuns No. 3 Minnesota with Major Upset
Shake down the thunder is exactly what the Notre Dame hockey team did this weekend in Minnesota, stunning the Golden Gophers in a three-game series to advance to the semifinals of the Big Ten hockey tournament.
Notre Dame finished the regular season in last place in the seven-team Big Ten conference and drew Minnesota, the nation’s third-ranked team in a best-of-three first round series.
Friday night saw Notre Dame battle it out in Minnesota, besting the Golden Gophers 3-2 to land outgoing head coach Jeff Jackson his 600th career victory. Alex Kumlin scored just 90 seconds into the game to get Notre Dame an early lead before Michael Mastrodomenico scored with 4:30 left in the opening frame to extend the lead. Brennan Ali’s third period goal stretched Notre Dame’s lead to 3-1 as Owen Say turned away 30 Minnesota shots in what wound up being a 3-2 Fighting Irish victory.
Saturday again saw Notre Dame open the scoring as Hunter Strand found the back of the net less than three minutes into the second period but the three-straight Minnesota goals that followed was too much to overcome. Minnesota took game two 4-2 to force Sunday night’s winner-take-all finale.
A look at the box score from Sunday shows a Notre Dame team that was severely outshot, but one that took advantage of its rushes and best opportunities. Jayden Davis got the scoring going late in the first period by potting the first goal for Notre Dame and despite being outshot 14-7 for the period, the Irish took a 1-0 lead to intermission.
Less than four minutes into the second frame Grant Silianoff took advantage took a Blake Biondi feed to move the lead to 2-0. Minnesota finally got on the board with a tally roughly eight minutes into the third period to cut the lead back to one, but Justin Janicke found Cole Knuble with just left than eight minutes to play in regulation to regain a two-goal advantage.
Minnesota put on an onslaught of shots in the final period, outshooting Notre Dame 15-4 for the frame, but Say turned away all but one.
Despite being outshot 39-21 for the night, Notre Dame won on the scoreboard 4-1 and now advances to the Big Ten semifinals next weekend where it will take on top-seeded Michigan State. Notre Dame has no chance of making the NCAA Tournament unless it can pull off two more upsets and win the conference tournament to earn an automatic bid.
Regardless of what happens next, truly a remarkable cap to Jeff Jackson’s career as Notre Dame’s head coach after his final season has went mostly opposite how anyone would have wished.
