Fighting Irish Do It Again: 60 Minutes Away from First National Championship

Notre Dame continues it magical ride with a 5-4 overtime win over favored Michigan. At 5:44 of overtime, Dan Venard’s shot was stopped by Hogan, but he left a big rebound for Calle Ridderwall, who beat the Michigan goaltender low-stick.

The fourth line and third set of “D” come through for the Irish, who will play Boston College on Saturday for all the marbles. This will be the first all-private school matchup in the championship since 1985, when RPI played Providence in Detroit. It will be the 10th all-private school matchup overall. This will also be the first all-Catholic school matchup in the NCAA hockey final, and Notre Dame’s first appearance in the national championship game.

By the Numbers:

Jeff Jackson is now 6-1 in the Frozen Four as a coach. Jackson has never lost a semifinal game at the Frozen Four.

“I’m just fortunate that we’ve had the opportunity,” said Jackson. “You try to get your team prepared to peak at the right time. I can’t say that happened this year, but we turned the corner and we’re back on the rise again, and there’s no easy way to bottle peaking. The biggest thing is getting your team to believe in something.”