Fichigan Mucked, 5-2

Congratulations to the 2009 CCHA Conference Champions, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish!

After trailing for the bulk of the game, Notre Dame bounced back and retaliated for a 5-2 victory over the Michigan Wolverines.

The Irish trailed 2-0 late in the 2nd period before Billy Maday redirected a shot from Kevin Deeth to cut the deficit in half. From there ND added 4 scores in the 3rd period with goals from Calle Ridderwall (2), Ben Ryan, and Christiaan Minella.

For the second straight game sophomore Ben Ryan notched the game-winning goal.

Go Irish, Wolverines Beaten!

Irish Face Wolverines in CCHA Title Game Tonight

Tonight at 7:35pm EST the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Hockey squad take on the Michigan Wolverines in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) Championship.

Last night the Irish beat the Northern Michigan Wildcats 2-1 to advance to tonight's title game against the Wolverines, who handled the Alaska Nanooks 3-1.

With 1:00 left in the game and the score tied 1-1, Notre Dame sophomore Ben Ryan scored off a rebound shot to propel (Irish head coach) Jeff Jackson's squad to the championship game.

The Irish and Wolverines played twice during the regular season with each squad winning on the opponent's home ice. Michigan took the first game 2-1 to end Notre Dame's 20-game unbeaten streak. One night later the Irish redeemed themselves with a 3-2 victory in Ann Arbor.

A win for the #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (30-5-3) against the #3 Michigan Wolverines (29-10-0) would likely mean the overall #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, while a loss would still earn the Irish a subsequent #1 seed with no guarantee for the overall #1.

Here's a flashback of the classic Frozen Four bout between these two rivals last year, which ended in dramatic fashion...

Go Irish, Beat Wolverines!