Michigan to Square Off with Notre Dame in Frozen Four

THIS WEEK
Thursday, April 5 -- vs. Notre Dame (St. Paul, Minn.), 8:30 p.m. CDT
Listen | Watch (TV: ESPN2)

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• Complete Game Notes

• How Lavigne's Play in Goal Has Been Key to Michigan Reaching the Frozen Four
• Photo Galleries: Wolverines' Frozen Four Morning Practice (April 5) | Wolverines at work and at play | Champions Reception
• Watch: Michigan Frozen Four Press Conference | Inside Michigan Hockey: Sam Piazza | U-M Coaching Staff Has Wealth of Frozen Four Experience

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 8 overall seed University of Michigan ice hockey team (22-14-3) is set to take on No. 2 overall seed Notre Dame (27-9-2) in the Frozen Four at the Xcel Energy Center on Thursday, April 5. The game will be aired nationally on ESPN2 and through WatchESPN, with puck drop scheduled for 8:30 p.m. CDT.

The No. 4 overall seed Ohio State will meet the No. 12 overall seed Minnesota-Duluth in the other semifinal game and will play at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The winners of the semifinals will meet on Saturday (April 7) at 6:30 p.m. CDT for the national championship.

Michigan is entering its 25th Frozen Four, which is tied for the most with Boston College, and its first since the 2010-11 season. The Maize and Blue have a 12-12 record all-time in the semifinals, which includes a Division I record nine national championships.

The Notre Dame Series
Michigan and Notre Dame meet for the fifth time this season, splitting the previous four matchups. They first played this year in January, where Notre Dame pulled off a home-and-home sweep of the Wolverines, winning both games by a score of 2-1. The Maize and Blue got revenge in February, beating the Fighting Irish on the road 4-2, before shutting them out 1-0 at home to even the season series. This will be the 139th total meeting between the two squads, with Michigan holding a 77-56-5 advantage in the series. The schools have met in the NCAA Tournament twice before – once in the 2016 First Round, where U-M was victorious 3-2 in overtime, and once in the 2008 Semifinal, where Notre Dame defeated Michigan in overtime 5-4 to advance to the national championship. The Fighting Irish are making their fourth Frozen Four appearance in just their tenth NCAA Tournament berth. They have advanced to the national championship only the one time they defeated Michigan, but lost the title to Boston College.

Scouting the Fighting Irish
Notre Dame is led by head coach Jeff Jackson, who is in his 13th season behind the bench for the Fighting Irish. Through his first 12 seasons, Jackson has turned the program into a powerhouse, with all nine of their ten NCAA Tournament appearances coming with Jackson behind the bench. Prior to Notre Dame, Jackson spent time as an assistant for the New York Islanders, the head coach of the Guelph Storm in the Ontario Hockey League, head coach of U.S. National Team Development Program and head coach at Lake Superior State, where he led the Lakers to three consecutive national championship games, winning two of them (1992 and 1994).

This season is Notre Dame's first in the Big Ten, having previously played in Hockey East, and against Michigan in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and Western Collegiate Hockey Association. It was a successful first season in the Big Ten for the Fighting Irish, as they won the regular season and tournament titles. Notre Dame comes into the Frozen Four after winning the East Regional, beating Michigan Tech in 3-2 in overtime and then Providence, 2-1.

Leading ND
Notre Dame is led by their senior captain Jake Evans, who has scored 42 points in 38 games for the Fighting Irish. The All-Big Ten First Team player leads the team in assists with 31 helpers on the year. Right behind Evans is junior forward Andrew Oglevie with 36 points. Oglevie is tied for the team lead in goals with 13 tallies this season. Senior defenseman Jordan Gross also received All-Big Ten First Team honors for Notre Dame this year, compiling 28 points (10g, 18a), leading the Irish defensemen in scoring.

Notre Dame is backstopped by the likely winner of the Mike Richter Award for best goaltender in the country – Cale Morris. Morris was named to the All-Big Ten First Team, Big Ten Player and Goaltender of the Year, a Mike Richter finalist, and a Hobey Baker finalist, all in his sophomore year in net. Morris led the country in save percentage, while facing the most shots in college hockey. His .945 save percentage goes along with his 1.91 goals against average, and his 26-7-1 record gives him the most wins out of any goaltender this year.

It's Great ... To Be ... A Michigan Wolverine!
Michigan has two sports in their respective semifinals, as Michigan Basketball made it to the Final Four of March Madness. Michigan is one of two schools to send both their hockey and men's basketball programs to the semifinals in the same year, being joined by in-state rival Michigan State. MSU accomplished the task twice (1999, 2001), while this year marks the fourth time for the Wolverines have done so (1964, '92, '93, 2018). Neither school has been able to win both national championships, with Michigan hockey winning the lone championship of those six years, in 1964.
*Due to NCAA violations, Michigan has vacated their 1992 and 1993 basketball Final Four appearances

Hey, We've Played Here Before!
U-M has played at the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul seven times since it opened in 2000, holding a 4-3 record in the home of the Minnesota Wild. The Wolverines lost in the Frozen Four to Minnesota in 2002 and didn't play in the barn again until the 2007 season kickoff Icebreaker Tournament, where they defeated Boston College and lost to Minnesota. The next time the Maize and Blue were in the building was for the 2011 Frozen Four, where they beat North Dakota and then lost a heart-breaker in overtime for the championship to Minnesota-Duluth. Then the Xcel Center was a host of the Big Ten Tournament for two years, where Michigan lost to Penn State in the first round in 2014 before beating them in the semifinals in 2016 and then beating Minnesota for its first Big Ten Championship.

Marvelous Mel
With Mel Pearson leading Michigan to the Frozen Four in his first year behind the bench, he becomes only the fifth bench boss in the last 20 years to accomplish that feat. Pearson joins Brad Berry of North Dakota (2016 champion), Rick Bennett of Union (2012 semifinalist), Dave Hakstol also of North Dakota (2005 runner-up) and Tim Whitehead of Maine (2002 runner-up).

How Sweep it is
The Wolverines have had six weekend sweeps in a season or the first time since the 2011-12 campaign. The sweep over the top-ranked Fighting Irish (Feb. 16, 18) was also the first time in program history U-M has swept the No. 1-ranked team in the polls. Previously, the highest ranked team Michigan swept was the No. 2-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, during the 2011-12 season.

Leaders and Best
Marody's 50 points and 34 assists lead all players in the Big Ten conference. Joining him atop the standings is Calderone, as his 24 goals are three better than second place in the Big Ten.

Terrific Ten
Ten Wolverines have set career highs for points this year. The players are Calderone, Marody, Lavigne, sophomore defenseman Luke Martin, senior defenseman Sam Piazza, sophomore forward Jake Slaker, senior forward Niko Porikos, junior defenseman Joseph Cecconi, senior Dexter Dancs, and sophomore forward Nick Pastujov. In addition, sophomore defenseman Griffin Luce has tied his point total from his freshman campaigns.

Tony Lights the Lamp
Calderone's 24 goals are the most by a U-M player in the first 39 games of a season since Kyle Connor's 35 goals in 38 games during the 2015-16 campaign. Calderone's four goals on March 2 are also the most since Connor scored four on March 18, 2016, against Penn State.

Marody in Good Company
Marody's 50 points are the most by a Wolverine through 39 games since Kyle Connor had 70 points in 38 games in 2015-2016.

Quinn-tessential Blue liner
Hughes' 29 points (5g, 24a) from the point are the most by a U-M freshman blue liner through 39 games since Jacob Trouba had 29 points in a 37 game season in 2012-13. His 24 assists are the most by a freshman defenseman in team history, while his 29 points puts him tied for third with Trouba in Michigan freshmen defensemen history.

Climbin' the Ranks
Marody ranks sixth nationally with 50 points on the season and tied for third with 34 assists. Calderone is tied for fifth nationally with 24 goals.

GOALLL!!!
Michigan ranks sixth in the nation in goals per game, averaging 3.35 goals over its 37 games. Calderone ranks eighth in the nation in goals per game at 0.62.

Home Sweet Home
The Wolverines scored 73 goals at home this season, putting them seventh in the country. An average of 3.84 goals per game at home puts the Maize and Blue sixth in the country in home goals per game.

The Finishing Touch
The Wolverines rank fourth in the nation in third-period goals, scoring 52 of them this season. Slaker's ten third-period tallies are also fourth most nationally.

Block It Out
Michigan has blocked the most shots in the country this year, sacrificing the body 600 times. It also ranks fourth nationally with an average of 15.38 blocked shots per game.

SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS
Michigan ranks tenth nationally with an average of 33.08 shots on goal per game and is 23rd in the nation with a +2.21 shots on goal margin per game.