Collegiate Sports

[BullNBear52]

As the Clock Ticks Down, the Notre Dame Men’s Hockey Team Calms Down
By PAT BORZIAPRIL 6, 2018

ST. PAUL — The tying goal was fluky, like so many can be in postseason college hockey — a rebound that appeared to carom off a Notre Dame defender to Michigan’s Michael Pastujov, who lifted it over the shoulder of Irish goaltender Cale Morris.

Five minutes and 22 seconds remained Thursday night in the N.C.A.A. tournament semifinal, but Morris did not fret. He trusted his Notre Dame teammates to bail him out with a dramatic late goal. And for the fifth consecutive time this postseason, the Fighting Irish did.

Jake Evans redirected a Cam Morrison pass with 5.2 seconds to play to put Notre Dame (28-9-2) in Saturday night’s final against Minnesota Duluth (24-16-3), the last at-large team to make the tournament field.

The pairing seemed appropriate. After all, it was Notre Dame’s overtime victory over Ohio State for the Big Ten tournament title that lifted Minnesota Duluth above Minnesota by .0001 of a point in the intricate PairWise formula for the final berth.

“Scott already told me he owes me a beer,” Notre Dame Coach Jeff Jackson said of Scott Sandelin, the Minnesota Duluth coach. “I guess it’s just coincidental that we’re going to compete for the national championship on Saturday.”

Notre Dame players joke that they are trying to give the 62-year-old Jackson a heart attack, but his stress is palpable. In its last five postseason victories, Notre Dame scored the winning goal in the final minute of regulation or in overtime.

“We’ve had crazy games the last month,” Morris said. “The last minute, we were confident. I don’t think there’s ever a panic in our minds. It’s just sticking to the process and trusting we’re going to get it done.”

It helps to have a goaltender as reliable as Morris, a sophomore who leads the nation in save percentage (.944), total saves (1,169) and victories (27) while posting the eighth-best goals-against average (1.94). All four Frozen Four participants relied on goaltenders in their first season as starters. Morris, who on Friday night won the Mike Richter Award as college hockey’s top goalie, is the most accomplished of the four — and perhaps the calmest.

Morris replaced Cal Petersen, a Richter Award finalist last season and the first goaltender ever named an Irish captain. Morris spent his freshman year learning from Petersen, who signed last July with the N.H.L.’s Los Angeles Kings and plays for Ontario in the American Hockey League.

“He taught me more off the ice than on the ice, the leadership role he had as captain,” Morris said of Petersen. “You could see him last year; he was as cool as it was back there, never got flustered or anything. I tried to tie it into my game. We’re both pretty easygoing off the ice, so it was not too difficult to learn from him.”

Jackson sees the similarity.

“The best attribute about Cale is he’s in control,” he said. “He’s very calm, doesn’t get rattled. When he gives up a goal, they have the confidence to know there isn’t going to be another one right away. He’s going to be able to stand in there and play the same way, even if he gives up a goal off a fluky bounce or whatever it may be.”

Named the Big Ten player and goaltender of the year, Morris added the Most Outstanding Player award in the Big Ten tournament, making 41 saves against the Buckeyes in the final. In the East Regional semifinals, Michigan Tech’s Jake Jackson beat Morris for the tying goal with about a minute left in regulation. But Morris allowed nothing more until Jordan Gross scored the winner late in the first overtime. In the regional final, Dylan Malmquist’s goal with 27 seconds to play upended Providence, 2-1, to send the Irish to the Frozen Four.

Notre Dame has won 31 N.C.A.A. team national championships, adding the last two since March 25 in fencing and women’s basketball. It has never won one in men’s hockey. Jackson would prefer a less stressful finish Saturday night, though his players promised nothing of the sort.

“He told us again he’s getting scar tissue or something on his heart,” forward Andrew Oglevie said after the semifinal victory. “But no, I’m not going to apologize.”

Evans added: “We keep winning. He can’t complain.”

Slap shots

In other national awards announced Friday, forward Adam Gaudette of Northeastern won the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in men’s college hockey, and goaltender Sidney Peters, of the Minnesota women’s team, won the Hockey Humanitarian Award for volunteerism and citizenship.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/06/sports/hockey/frozen-four-notre-dame.html?