3/17/18 - Notre Dame Hockey wins Big Ten Tournament

In its first year in the Big Ten Conference, Notre Dame Hockey swept both the regular season and conference tournament titles. Notre Dame hosted Penn State University in the semifinal game, and Ohio State in the finals at the Compton Family Ice Arena. The Irish now head to the NCAA Tournament as a #1 seed, with their first game against #4 Michigan Tech in the Bridgeport Regional.

From Dan Colleran, ND Athletics:

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- In a heavyweight battle between top-five teams with the Big Ten Championship on the line, No. 3 Notre Dame delivered the knockout punch via Cam Morrison's overtime game-winner to defeat No. 4 Ohio State, 3-2.

The Irish, looking to add the tournament trophy to their case after winning the league's regular-season title in the program's first year in the Big Ten, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on goals from Bo Brauer and Matt Hellickson. The Buckeyes chipped away, scoring the second period's only goal before Matt Miller tied it just 67 seconds into the third.

The goaltenders, Notre Dame's Cale Morris and Ohio State's Sean Romeo, were largely responsible for sending the game into an extra session. Romeo held off several Notre Dame scoring chances late in the third while totaling 35 saves and Morris made 41 saves to earn tournament MVP honors. It gives Morris a sweep of B1G awards as he captured the conference Player of the Year and Goaltender of the year earlier in the week.

In a battle of the top-two penalty kills in the country, the teams combined for just three power play opportunities and Hellickson's first-period goal made the Irish go 1-for-2 on the man-up, while Ohio State did not score on its only power play.

Notre Dame captured its seventh conference title. The two league championships this season join two CCHA regular-season titles and three banners for the CCHA tournament.