Michigan
13-8-1, 7-5-0
Notre Dame
7-14-1, 2-11-1
Eight-Game Streak vs. Notre Dame Snapped With Loss in South Bend
1/11/2025 9:41:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» With Michigan's loss, its eight-game win streak within the rivalry with Notre Dame came to an end.
» William Whitelaw scored a power-play goal and led the game with 10 shots on goal.
» Michael Hage and Ethan Edwards each recorded a pair of assists in multi-point games.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Four goals were not enough for the ninth-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team on Saturday night (Jan. 11), as the Wolverines suffered a 7-4 loss at the hands of Notre Dame inside Compton Family Ice Arena to settle for a weekend split.
With the loss, U-M's eight-game win streak over Notre Dame -- the longest in the rivalry since Michigan won nine in a row between 1996-98 -- was snapped by the Irish.
Both teams went with a new goaltender following Michigan's 5-3 win on Friday night (Jan. 10). For the Wolverines (13-8-1, 7-5-0 Big Ten), freshman netminder Cameron Korpi who earned the nod as the team resumed its established rotation. He looked strong early on before surrendering a flurry in the second period, three in 32 seconds. Korpi was lifted after making 10 saves on 14 shots, replaced by graduate Logan Stein. He allowed two more on 14 shots before UND added an empty-net goal.
Michigan opened the scoring at 11:48 after Garrett Schifsky continued his pursuit in the offensive zone following a turnover. The sophomore forward reclaimed the puck for U-M by swatting it toward Michael Hage, who was guarding the blue line on the point. The freshman immediately sent a pass down low for Edwards to receive and redistribute back into the slot for Evan Werner to smash home.
The Wolverines received the first power play of the evening shortly thereafter when UND was penalized for high-sticking, but it was the Irish who quickly capitalized 13 seconds later to pot their first shorthanded goal of the season and tie the game. Following a disrupted pass, Notre Dame took a 2-1 lead with 2:35 left in the first after an odd-man rush caught a lone U-M defender in a compromising position against a trio of Irish.
After one period, Michigan trailed 2-1 despite owning a 15-10 lead in shots on goal as well as a dominant 14-6 advantage in the faceoff dot. For the third straight game, the Wolverines searched for a way to come back and win following a deficit.
Michigan was whistled for its first penalty of the night at 1:01 of the second frame when Jacob Truscott was banished for tripping. UND ripped two shots off the post while they had the advantage, but none found the back of the net before Truscott exited the box.
Notre Dame (7-14-1, 2-11-1 Big Ten) woke up in a big way, scoring a trio of goals in succession over a 32-second stretch to widen their lead to 5-1. Korpi was lifted following the fourth goal allowed, but Stein quickly surrendered a fifth to the Fighting Irish on the first shot that he faced at 6:09.
Following a post-whistle scrum at 7:55, U-M received a power play after UND had two skaters sent to the box, while Michigan had one. With Edwards quarterbacking the unit from the top of the zone, he received a pass from Jackson Hallum and continued working the puck over to the left circle, where William Whitelaw unleashed a one-time bomb that rang off the post before settling in the net to make it 5-2.
Thirty-two seconds later, Lapointe crashed the net and finished off a hard-nosed play to score for the Wolverines and make it a 5-3 contest. His fifth goal of the season came in transition, with assists going to forwards Josh Eernisse and Kienan Draper.
An action-packed five-goal period came to an end with Michigan still trailing 5-3. The Wolverines did maintain a 27-23 lead in shots on goal and a 21-17 edge in faceoffs.
Notre Dame reestablished a three-goal lead at 7:57 of the third period by netting its sixth goal of the contest.
The chaotic night continued when Michigan potted a power-play goal at 12:45 to bump the score back to 6-4. This time, it was T.J. Hughes who took advantage of a wild carom from behind the net to deposit the puck past a diving goaltender into a yawning cage. Will Horcoff earned the primary assist for sending the puck off the end wall and out the other side for Hughes to finish off. Hage recorded the secondary assist on the play for his team-leading 24th point. He currently leads all freshmen in points per game (1.26).
That was as close as the Wolverines got, though, as they were unable to register another goal with the goaltender pulled for an extra attacker. Finally, with less than one second left in regulation, an Irish forward scored an empty-net goal to ice the game at 7-4 and clinch a hat trick.
Despite the three-goal loss, Michigan ended the night with a vast 41-29 lead in shots on goal and an even 27-27 performance in the faceoff dot. In total, 10 Wolverines registered points.
Next weekend, Michigan and top-ranked Michigan State will face off for their first series of the 2024-25 regular season. The series will be played as a home-and-home on Friday (Jan. 17) at Yost Ice Arena and Saturday (Jan. 18) in East Lansing. The contest at Yost will be streamed live on B1G+ while the finale will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.
