Michigan hockey sweeps Notre Dame, advances to Big Ten Tournament semifinal
On Saturday night at Yost Ice Arena, Michigan hockey completed a two-game sweep of Notre Dame to advance to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. The Wolverines fell behind for a brief moment, but much like Friday night's victory, they scored the game-winner early in the third period.
Rutger McGroarty did the honors on Friday night, and fellow sophomore Gavin Brindley followed suit on Saturday. With the win, Michigan will advance to its fourth consecutive conference tournament semifinal.
Notre Dame got on the board first with a goal from Drew Bavaro. Michigan quickly answered just four minutes later when T.J. Hughes scored a power-play goal, which was assisted by Seamus Casey and McGroarty.
With just nine seconds left in the first period, Hughes struck again, with McGroarty and Brindley on the assist.
Notre Dame's Landon Slaggert scored his second goal in as many nights to get the scoring started in the second period, and his teammate, Patrick Moynihan, beat Barczewski to give the Irish their first lead of the game.
Similar to Friday night, Notre Dame carried a lead into the back half of the second period, but again, similar to Friday night, Michigan evened things up.
Dylan Duke beat Irish goaltender Ryan Bischel after some great passing around the net between Duke, Josh Eernisse and Frank Nazar III.
Then, to begin the third period, Brindley scored on a great cross-ice pass from Tyler Duke.
Brindley's goal ended up being the game winner, and Michigan is off to the conference tournament semifinals. The opponent, however, is still to be determined.
Three of the four semifinal spots — No. 1 Michigan State (bye), No. 3 Minnesota and No. 4 Michigan — have been filled. As the conference's top seed, the Spartans will host the lowest-remaining seed in the winner-take-all semifinals.
With No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 7 Ohio State headed to a series-deciding Game 3, all matchups are still to be determined. If the Buckeyes win on Sunday night, Michigan will face the Golden Gophers. If Wisconsin holds off Ohio State and avoids the upset, Michigan will head northwest to take on rival Michigan State.
According to the PairWise college hockey rankings, Michigan came in at No. 10 prior to Saturday night's game. With Michigan's win, the Wolverines have likely locked up an NCAA Tournament berth.
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