Stakes at an all-time high for Irish in final regular season series

By ANDREW McGUINNESS

Associate sports e ditor

In theory, the end of the season should provide the most dramatic moment of a team’s season. but that often is not the case. many teams are either too good or too bad to have much at stake for their season finale. As a result, the last weekend of the season can sometimes be more a glorified warmup in anticipation of a deep postseason run or merely just a playing out of the string.

notre dame hockey is not in either of these groups. They are one of those few special teams with a lot riding on their final regular season series, a daunting challenge in Ann Arbor against the no. 4 michigan Wolverines. A rivalry matchup with a top-five opponent in enemy territory would qualify as an exciting way to conclude a season no matter what. but there are massive implications for notre dame’s big Ten and ncAA Tournament hopes.

It is still possible for the Irish to host the first round of the big Ten Tournament. but they need at least four out of six possible points this weekend for that to happen. That would have been no problem for last year’s Irish team. A year ago, notre dame swept its regularseason series against michigan, which included its final two games. The Irish were forced to settle for a split in their first meeting against the Wolverines this season back in mid-november at home. The Irish were thrashed in the series opener 5-1 before clawing back from a 2-0 deficit in the series finale thanks to 31 saves from senior goaltender ryan bischel and an overtime winner from junior forward Grant silianoff.

This weekend could also double as a preview of the first round of the big Ten Tournament if michigan takes care of business and some other results across the conference break in specific ways. That is a matchup the Irish would like to avoid as much as possible. not only did the Wolverines eliminate the Irish in last year’s big Ten tournament, but they once again boast one of the country’s best rosters. michigan’s roster includes four first-round nhL draft picks, headlined by 2021 top-five selection Luke hughes. They are second in the conference in goal scoring. And the Irish are probably not equipped to take advantage of michigan’s achilles heel: their defense. There are a couple of factors that could change that, both this weekend and potentially beyond.

First, junior forward Landon slaggert is starting to come out of his nearly year-long shooting percentage funk. After scoring 13.9% of his shots in his first two collegiate seasons, slaggert converted on just two of his first 50 shots on goal this season, a staggeringly low shooting percentage of just four percent. It was always unlikely that the latter figure was indicative of slaggert’s true talent level after he spent two seasons as one of the team’s best forwards. sure enough, he has four goals on 11 shots in his last five games. That includes both goals in notre dame’s pivotal 2-1 over ohio state last Friday.

The other is whether notre dame’s power play can continue its late-season emergence. over their last six games, the Irish have scored on 26.9% of their power play opportunities. That number would be best in the big Ten over a full season. It is also well above notre dame’s full-season mark of 18.2%. It has been not just an effective unit as of late, but a timely one as well. most notably, graduate student defenseman nick Leivermann netted a crucial PPG in notre dame’s last game, a second-period equalizer that helped the Irish erase a 2-0 deficit against ohio state. Without that goal, notre dame’s emotional senior night shootout win may not have happened. michigan goaltender erik seven Wolverines have more points than notre dame’s leading scorer (graduate student forward chayse Primeau with 21).

Portillo has regressed a fair bit this season, with his save percentage dropping 18 points from last year. A confident slaggert and strong power-play performance would go a long way toward further diminishing his numbers. however, bischel and the Irish defense should expect to have their hands full this weekend. Three of the conference’s top six scorers play for michigan, including consensus 2023 no. 2 nhL draft pick Adam Fantilli.

Fantilli himself is more than doubling Primeau’s output, leading the entire country despite turning 18 two games into michigan’s season. he and hughes, tied for seventh in the country in assists, lead a Wolverines power play that is second in the conference at 23.1%. expect the Irish to try and turn this into a tight-checking, physical series as they did last month against Wisconsin. That is especially likely because losing in regulation would be damaging to notre dame’s ncAA Tournament hopes. Teams must be at least .500 in order to be eligible, a line the 14-14-4 Irish are dangerously straddling. The Irish have finished under .500 just three times in Jeff Jackson’s first 17 seasons and not once since 2014-15. They have struggled to build off of last year’s impressive 28-12 campaign and near Frozen Four miss. There is still a chance for that to change, but this weekend is the time to make it happen.

The series begins at 7 p.m. Friday night at michigan’s Yost Ice Arena. The regular season finale for both teams is saturday night at 8 p.m. both games are available on b1G+ and the notre dame radio network.

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con TI nued F rom PAGe 16 a turning point for an Irish defense that dug its heels in for the rest of the game, alternating between different schemes depending on personnel. The constant changes proved impossible for Georgia Tech to keep up with, as n otre d ame forced 16 turnovers and several bad shots.

In her postgame comments, Ivey remarked on her

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con TI nued F rom PAGe 16

Graduate student guards

m arcus h ammond, d ane Goodwin and Wertz connected on three straight three-pointers. h ammond converted a tough stepback jump shot to extend the n otre d ame run to 110. s uddenly, the Irish held a six-point lead. They would continue to play well in the closing minutes of the half and went into the break leading 27-19. It was the best outcome they could have hoped for after being held scoreless for over a quarter of the half.

While the Irish came on strong at the end of the half, poor execution from n orth c arolina played a significant role in n otre d ame’s halftime advantage. The Tar h eels shot just 5-27 on field goals and 0-11 on threepoint attempts in the first half.

b eyond their dismal shooting effort, n orth c arolina head coach h ubert d avis said after the game that the team’s three keys to winning are defending, rebounding and taking care of the ball. The Tar h eels did not

ND soFtBAll willingness to cycle through personnel and defensive looks throughout a game.

“I’m a believer in adjusting your defense, trying to throw teams off with different defensive schemes,”

Ivey said. “I have a three-big lineup, that helps, we extended our zone, we picked up full court with our press.

I like adjusting, and throwing teams off. n ot staying in one [scheme] too long, I think that makes us hard to scout.” accomplish any of those goals in the first half but got back on track in the second. h owever, n orth c arolina would hold n otre d ame to just 32 points after halftime. The Irish shot 50% from the field in the half but made just four free throws and two three-pointers. After recording no assists and eight turnovers in the first half, the Tar h eels finished with eight assists and just one turnover in the second. They were also dominant on the glass after halftime, racking up 16 offensive rebounds and seemingly scoring second-chance points after every missed shot. n otre d ame saw their lead slip away less than four minutes into the half but would regain it several times, as the margin remained within one possession up until the final seconds. The Irish got a boost from freshman guard JJ s tarling, who tallied 10 points in the second half after being shutout in the opening 20 minutes.

“I thought he really responded well,” b rey said of s tarling’s play after a quiet first half. “I give him a lot of credit because he’s really hung in there. h e gave us a

Points in the paint were a major emphasis for the Irish. For just the third time this year, all five members of n otre d ame’s frontcourt rotation recorded at least 10 minutes. The Irish capitalized off of a strong outing from their frontcourt corps, outscoring the Yellow Jackets 44-18 down low.

Kylee Watson in particular enjoyed a solid performance, notching her first doubledouble of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds. The lift and got us going.” s tarling’s increased usage came after an injury to h ammond, who led the Irish in first-half scoring with nine points. b rey said after the game that h ammond sprained his toe and is expected to miss n otre d ame’s next game. s tarling made a tough layup to cut the deficit to just one at 59-58 with under a minute to play. n otre d ame was in dire need of a stop. They actually got two, but a pair of n orth c arolina offensive rebounds forced the Irish to foul in order to stop the clock. Four made free throws later, and n orth c arolina left s outh b end as 63-59 victors despite finishing the game 2-23 (8.7%) from beyond the outing marked yet another strong showing from the junior forward. s he has seemingly found a second gear since the return of graduate student center Lauren e bo from injury. arc. b rey spoke about how the Irish rebounding woes caused their defensive efforts to go unrewarded.

With less than four minutes to play, n otre d ame continued to stifle n orth c arolina defensively. b ut the Irish simply could not keep the Tar h eels off the glass. n orth c arolina’s Armando b acot, Pete n ance and Leaky b lack combined for 17 offensive rebounds in the game. And the Tar h eels scored crucial second-chance points on three consecutive possessions in the final minutes in large part because of their efforts.

Watson was one of five n otre d ame players to reach double figures on the scoresheet, as the Irish once again handled scoring by committee. n o player scored more than 13 total points, but eight recorded at least one basket.

“I thought we defended fabulously. They’re going to get to the backboard because they’re athletic as heck,” b rey said about n orth c arolina’s 23 offensive rebounds. “That’s hurt us at times, not only in this game. b eing able to get that key defensive rebound when four athletes on the other team are going to the backboard, we just haven’t been able to do it.” d espite the growing total of disappointing results, he praised his team’s ability to stay focused and continue to push heavily-favored opponents to the limit.

“This has been a hard year, but they come in and keep competing. I give our seniors credit that they’re coming in [with the mentality of], ‘We’re going to do this again,’” b rey said. “The old guys keep coming ready to go, and our young guys, I thought, really competed tonight.”

With just three games remaining in the regular season, n otre d ame will play at n otre d ame will now head back on the road to end its regular season. The team will travel to Louisville for a s unday matinee tipoff. The showdown with the c ardinals will be the second in two weeks. The Irish notched their first win over Louisville since 2019 on Thursday, Feb. 16 thanks to a buzzer-beater from sophomore guard o livia m iles.

Contact J.J. Post at jpost2@nd.edu

Wake Forest on s aturday. The Irish have a score to settle after the d eacons used a huge second half to roll past n otre d ame 81-64 when the teams met in s outh b end. Wake Forest was led in that game by d amari m onsanto, who made eight three-pointers and scored 28 points. b rey has clearly not forgotten that outburst, calling his performance in that game “unbelievable” and joking that he “still hasn’t missed” a shot. n otre d ame has come up short in crunch time in five straight games. b ut all it takes is one clutch moment to get a big win and gain momentum before the Acc Tournament. b rey has no doubt that the Irish will remain as confident and focused as ever against the d eacons.

“Let’s go to Winston- s alem and get in position again,” b rey said about his message to the team. “ m aybe I can help you better, and maybe we can get over the hump.” n otre d ame will play at Wake Forest on s aturday night. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. on Acc n etwork.

Contact Matthew Crow at mcrow@nd.edu