Irish Hockey Reaches 2011 Frozen Four

In front of a partisan crowd in Manchester, NH the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Hockey team defeated the New Hampshire Wildcats 2-1 to earn their second Frozen Four bid in four years. With five seconds remaining in the second period Billy Maday scored what would be the eventual game-winning goal.

Goalie Mike Johnson, a sophomore, was the real story of the day though as he turned away 37 of the Wildcats' 38 shots.

AP Photo / Josh Gibney

One day earlier Johnson made 32 saves on 35 shots to help the Irish earn a thrilling come from behind 4-3 OT victory against Merrimack College. Anders Lee led the way against the Warriors with two goals including the game-winner roughly five minutes into the overtime period.

Notre Dame will play Minnesota-Duluth (UMD) on Thursday, April 7 at 5pm EST in the Frozen Four in St. Paul, MN. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 and will also be available on ESPN3.com. Should the Irish defeat the UMD Bulldogs they would advance to the NCAA title game on Sunday, April 9 at 7pm EST against the winner of Michigan and North Dakota. The championship game will be televised on ESPN.

This marks only the second time in school history the Irish have advanced to the Frozen Four. In 2008 the Irish advanced to Denver for the Frozen Four where they defeated rival Michigan in an overtime thriller. Boston College defeated the Irish in the championship game.

Head coach Jeff Jackson enters his fifth Frozen Four in his coaching career. He won two national championships (1992 and 1994) while at Lake Superior State. In between the two titles Jackson's squad lost the 1993 title game to Maine.

If Jackson's title game history has any sense of repeating itself it could develop into Notre Dame's first hockey championship in school history.

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, though, the Irish must beat Minnesota-Duluth. From there, the Irish would take on the Wolverines of Michigan or Fighting Sioux of North Dakota, two schools that hold winning records against the Irish this season.

Irish Hockey Picking Up Steam As Regular Season Nears Its End

After splitting its previous three series against Alaska, Ohio State, and Miami (OH) the Fighting Irish earned a much needed weekend sweep for the first time since early January this past weekend.

Playing against CCHA bottom-feeder Bowling Green certainly helped matters, but the Falcons nearly fought their way to a tie on Friday night. Notre Dame prevailed on a late goal by standout freshman left wing Anders Lee. With 3:14 left in the game Lee lit the lamp inside a packed house at the Joyce Center to give the Irish a 2-1 lead and eventual final score. Lee added two more assists on Saturday as the Irish icers cruised to a 5-1 victory to complete the series sweep over the Falcons.

Thanks in part to his four points over the series Lee earned CCHA Rookie of the week honors for the third time this season. On the year his 19 goals and 18 assists put him at second in the nation and CCHA in points by a rookie. Additionally, with the game-winner on Friday night he now has five game-winning goals on the year, good for first place in the CCHA.

Speaking of first place in the CCHA, Notre Dame is now all alone atop its conference as a result of its weekend sweep and some help by Western Michigan who beat Miami (OH) in overtime Friday night to help give the Irish an edge over the Red Hawks.

For head coach Jeff Jackson, first place is somewhat insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

For me, it's more about how well you are playing going into the playoffs. It doesn't matter if you finish first or fifth, you're going to play a tough opponent in the second round.

Four regular season games remain for the Irish as they head to Big Rapids, MI this weekend to take on Ferris State before finishing up with a home and home series against Western Michigan.

A first round bye is already guaranteed in the CCHA playoffs but the Irish could go a long way toward earning a top seed with a pair of weekend sweeps in the coming weeks.

But, as Jackson alluded to it does not matter what place the Irish finish in during the regular season. There are more direct goals set for this team as Jackson and the Irish have their sights set on a CCHA championship and, more importantly, an elusive NCAA championship.