Hockey Night in South Bend
NOTRE DAME, IN - The No. 6 University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish decided “Let’s Take This Outside” and welcomed their rivals, the University of Michigan. As the name of the contest suggests, this game was not played in the Compton Family Ice Arena, but rather under the lights of historic Notre Dame Stadium. A Notre Dame record 23,422 fans came were in attendance for Hockey Night in South Bend, which saw the Wolverines upset the No. 6 Fighting Irish by a score of 4-2.
“Overall, pleased with our team and some huge, huge points in the standings for us,” said Michigan head coach Mel Pearson. “It’s been a while since we won so while they played well, we played hard.” Pearson was correct in how big the win was for the Wolverines, as they now move into a first place tie in the Big Ten with Notre Dame.
The Irish and Wolverines split a two-game series in Ann Arbor earlier this season. Michigan took the first contest by a score of 2-1 while Notre Dame avenged the loss the next day and came away with a 6-2 victory.
A mild winter day in Indiana was a factor in causing puck drop to be delayed by an hour. The universities decided to push the game back in the interest of player safety. The official temperature at puck drop was 49 degrees.
Michigan was able to get out to a fast start against No. 6 Notre Dame. At the 4:42 mark in the first period, Michigan’s Joseph Cecconi scored his second goal of the season from beyond Michigan’s own blue line. Just sixteen seconds later, Michigan lit the lamp again with a goal from Will Lockwood, his sixth of the season. Nick Pastujov picked up his fifth and sixth assists of the season, contributing on both goals.
Later in the period, Michigan was able to extend their lead to three when Nolan Moyle beat Cale Morris and found the net. Dakota Raabe and Luke Martin picked up goals on Moyle’s second goal this season.
Notre Dame cut the Wolverines lead to two when Cam Morrison netted a power play goal at the 5:30 mark in the second period. Morrison netted his seventh goal of the season with the help of captain Andrew Peeke and Bobby Nardella.
Morris and Hayden Lavigne were able to keep the teams from finding the net to keep the score locked at 3-1 for the remainder of the second period and well into the third period.
Notre Dame went with an empty net to gain an extra attacker with just over four minutes to play in the third period. The gamble paid off as Alex Steeves beat Lavigne off of the assist from Jake Pivonka to cut the deficit to just one goal.
With 11.3 seconds remaining in regulation, Michigan recorded an empty net goal from Raabe to secure the victory. Lavigne finished the contest with 30 saves on the evening.
THREE STARS
1. Hayden Lavigne (Michigan) – 30 Saves, Win
2. Dakota Raabe (Michigan) – Goal (3), Assist (3)
3. Cam Morrison (Notre Dame) – Goal (7)
Looking Ahead
Notre Dame will remain in South Bend and will face the University of Minnesota in the Compton Family Ice Arena on January 11 and 12. Michigan will return to the Yost Ice Arena to take on Merrimack on January 8 before heading to Columbus to take on Ohio State on January 11 and 12.
