Irish defeated in Ann Arbor to end regular season

Notre Dame fails to score a single goal in two consecutive games, dashing hopes of securing home ice advantage for the quarterfinals.

Last season, Notre Dame’s hockey team faced Michigan in the last weekend of February, requiring a series of unlikely events to secure home ice for the Big Ten quarterfinals. Against the odds, they managed to achieve this with a four-point haul against the Wolverines and assistance from a surprising upset by Wisconsin over Penn State.

This past weekend in Ann Arbor, Notre Dame had a straightforward path to securing postseason hockey at home in South Bend: secure five points against Michigan to guarantee home ice or earn three points and rely on a Minnesota sweep against Michigan at the start of March. However, Notre Dame failed to secure any points, ensuring they would hit the road for the Big Ten quarterfinals in two weeks, most likely returning to Michigan. However, if Michigan earns more than three points at Minnesota the following weekend, Notre Dame’s postseason will commence in Minneapolis.

Notre Dame’s defeat at Yost Ice Arena on Friday night marked the end of a more than five-year unbeaten streak at the venue, with the Wolverines dominating with a 4-0 victory. Despite Notre Dame’s initial dominance in the face-off circle, winning 25 of 37 draws in the first two periods, Michigan capitalized on offensive opportunities, with Dylan Duke scoring early in the game and later during a power play. Michigan’s special teams continued to shine, adding two more goals, while their goaltender Jake Barczewski kept Notre Dame off the scoresheet.

In the regular season finale, Notre Dame started strongly with a power play goal from Danny Nelson, but Michigan responded with two equalizers before finally pulling ahead late in the third period with a redirected shot that slipped past Notre Dame’s goaltender.

Now, with a record of 15-17-2 overall and 9-13-2 in the Big Ten, Notre Dame awaits their opponent in the Big Ten quarterfinals, holding the fifth seed in the conference. They will have a bye week while waiting to see if they will face Minnesota or Michigan, with whom they have respective records of 2-2-0 and 1-3-0.