Notre Dame's hopes of a bid to the 16-team NCAA Tournament took another step forward with a 2-1 overtime victory versus Minnesota on Saturday night at a sold out Compton Family Ice Arena (4,882).
The victory not only"bubbled up" Notre Dame from 17th to 15th in the all-important PairWise Rankings but made them 5-0 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament. Freshman Michael Graham's power play goal 53 seconds into overtime was the clincher in the 2-1 triumph after first-period fireworks made the score 1-1 just six minutes into the contest.
The University of Notre Dame hockey team (21-13-3) needed just 53 seconds of overtime to secure its berth in the Big Ten Tournament Championship game, with a power-play goal by freshman Michael Grahamgiving the Irish a 2-1 win over Minnesota on Saturday night at a sold out Compton Family Ice Arena (4,882).
The Golden Gophers entered the one-game series as one of the nation's hottest teams, winning seven of their last eight games, including a sweep of Michigan last weekend in the quarterfinals and a road sweep of conference regular season champion Ohio State, the lone team from the Big Ten assured of an NCAA Tournament bid.
Who and when Notre Dame plays next week for the Big Ten title will be determined in today's other semifinal between the Buckeyes and Penn State. If the lower seeded Nittany Lions win, the Irish will host them next Saturday (March 23). If the Buckeyes advance, Notre Dame will play at Ohio State next Sunday (March 24).
"I knew we'd have to have patience to stay in this game — It'll be that way from here on out," Irish head coach Jeff Jackson said. " Patience just means good puck decisions and not trying to make high risk plays. That's challenging for a young team but we have lots of veterans who have been through this before and can hopefully pave the way."
Notre Dame opened the scoring just two minutes into the game when a deflection off Cam Morrison flitted past Minnesota goaltender Mat Robson. The Gophers answered at 5:44 on their first shot of the night when Sampo Ranta's shot evaded Irish netminder Cale Morris.
It remained scoreless from there and in the second and third periods before Graham's team-leading 12th goal of the season (and first game winner of his career) went past goaltender Mat Robson, who stopped 35 shots while Cale Morris had 25 for the Irish.
The Irish were 1-for-3 on the power play while Minnesota was 0-for-1.
The victory not only"bubbled up" Notre Dame from 17th to 15th in the all-important PairWise Rankings but made them 5-0 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament. Freshman Michael Graham's power play goal 53 seconds into overtime was the clincher in the 2-1 triumph after first-period fireworks made the score 1-1 just six minutes into the contest.
The University of Notre Dame hockey team (21-13-3) needed just 53 seconds of overtime to secure its berth in the Big Ten Tournament Championship game, with a power-play goal by freshman Michael Grahamgiving the Irish a 2-1 win over Minnesota on Saturday night at a sold out Compton Family Ice Arena (4,882).
The Golden Gophers entered the one-game series as one of the nation's hottest teams, winning seven of their last eight games, including a sweep of Michigan last weekend in the quarterfinals and a road sweep of conference regular season champion Ohio State, the lone team from the Big Ten assured of an NCAA Tournament bid.
Who and when Notre Dame plays next week for the Big Ten title will be determined in today's other semifinal between the Buckeyes and Penn State. If the lower seeded Nittany Lions win, the Irish will host them next Saturday (March 23). If the Buckeyes advance, Notre Dame will play at Ohio State next Sunday (March 24).
"I knew we'd have to have patience to stay in this game — It'll be that way from here on out," Irish head coach Jeff Jackson said. " Patience just means good puck decisions and not trying to make high risk plays. That's challenging for a young team but we have lots of veterans who have been through this before and can hopefully pave the way."
Notre Dame opened the scoring just two minutes into the game when a deflection off Cam Morrison flitted past Minnesota goaltender Mat Robson. The Gophers answered at 5:44 on their first shot of the night when Sampo Ranta's shot evaded Irish netminder Cale Morris.
It remained scoreless from there and in the second and third periods before Graham's team-leading 12th goal of the season (and first game winner of his career) went past goaltender Mat Robson, who stopped 35 shots while Cale Morris had 25 for the Irish.
The Irish were 1-for-3 on the power play while Minnesota was 0-for-1.
