Michigan
27-7-1, 18-6-1
Notre Dame
9-23-5, 5-18-2
Michigan Scores Early, Rolls to Victory Over Notre Dame to Open Postseason
3/11/2026 10:53:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Forward Jayden Perron opened the scoring before adding a power-play goal later.
» Michael Hage racked up four assists, including three primary helpers, to drive the offense.
» Michigan improves to 11-0 as the Big Ten's No. 2 seed and 4-0 vs. Notre Dame in the conference tourney.
» The Wolverines extended their run of dominance over the Irish and have now won 13 of the last 14.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A relentless offensive attack propelled the top-ranked, second-seeded University of Michigan ice hockey team past seventh-seeded Notre Dame 6-1 on Wednesday night (March 11) at Yost Ice Arena in Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal action to open postseason play.
With the win, the Wolverines advance to Saturday's semifinal contest at Yost against Penn State.
Wednesday's matchup was also the 175th all-time meeting between the longtime foes, and the victory bumps Michigan's lead in the series to 98-71-6. The Wolverines have been dominant of late, winning 13 of the past 14 meetings with the Fighting Irish dating back to December 2023.
Entering single-elimination play for the first time since his experience at the World Junior Championship, freshman goaltender Jack Ivankovic started between the pipes for U-M, making 23 saves on 24 shots from a pesky UND squad that tried to sting the Wolverines with well-timed counterattacks amidst otherwise conservative play. The netminder turned in over 55 minutes of shutout hockey before a deflection off his own defender's stick spoiled the shutout.
Notre Dame (9-23-5) came out with intensity with the season on the line, but ultimately failed to generate enough offense to stay competitive as time wore on.
Michigan (27-7-1) opened the scoring at 11:52 when Jayden Perron glided over the blue line on the left flank before stickhandling into space near the dot and releasing a shot to earn a first-period lead. His linemate, Michael Hage, picked up his first assist of the evening by feeding Perron a pass in stride while senior defenseman Luca Fantilli locked up the secondary for retrieving the puck behind the U-M net and moving it up the ice to Hage at the half wall.
The Wolverines earned the first power play of the night at 17:30 but failed to capitalize. They carried a 1-0 lead into the dressing room after 20 minutes, in addition to a 10-7 edge in shots on goal.
U-M continued to carry the play after coming out for the second period and doubled its lead in short order when Josh Eernisse banged a shot in off the side of the goaltender from a spot along the goal line at 4:53. The low-angle tally was assisted by his linemates Garrett Schifsky and Kienan Draper.
Ivankovic bore the brunt of back-to-back collisions after the two-goal lead had been established. The first incident resulted in a major penalty and game misconduct for an Irish skater who picked up infractions for charging the goaltender. In response, U-M was tagged with a minor penalty for roughing after the whistle. While the teams were still skating 4-on-4, a second fracas erupted when Ivankovic was sent tumbling for a second time.
Michigan's power-play unit returned to the ice at 13:38 after Notre Dame was whistled for slashing behind the play. Late in the advantage, the group successfully cycled the puck around the zone before Hage began to operate from the left wing. The sophomore put a shot on goal to take advantage of netfront traffic, and Perron chipped a loose puck over the goalie to make it 3-0 at 15:14. T.J. Hughes collected the secondary assist for his 170th career point.
The Wolverines headed into the second intermission with a 3-0 lead and a 22-14 advantage in shots on goal. Both teams had 20 faceoff wins through 40 minutes.
At 9:41 of the final frame, Hage was sent tumbling to the ice in the neutral zone after taking a hit directly to his head. An official review determined it was worthy of a major penalty and game misconduct, and U-M geared up for an extended opportunity.
With just seconds remaining on the five-minute power-play chance, U-M's leading scorer, Will Horcoff, forced a low shot through the goaltender's wickets at 14:31 to make it a 4-0 game and cap off a barrage of chances for a hungry power-play unit. Hage and Malcolm Spence notched assists on Horcoff's 23rd goal of the campaign.
Ivankovic's clean sheet was spoiled at 15:49 when a Notre Dame shot from the half wall ramped off a Michigan defender's stick into the back of the net to bump the score to 4-1.
The Irish pulled their goalie in favor of an extra attacker with just under four minutes remaining. Not long after, senior blueliner Tyler Duke sank a 190-foot lob into the UND net to extend the Michigan lead to 5-1 with just 2:45 left. Fantilli and Hage secured the helpers on Duke's long-range marker.
With the Irish goalie back between the pipes to close out the action, Michigan remained unrelenting. Freshman Asher Barnett drove the puck deep into the zone before curling back out and waiting for options to develop. With traffic established, Barnett fired off a shot to get the puck into the scoring area. Muscutt seized upon the opportunity and drove the net to squeak a shot through the five-hole and increase Michigan's lead to 6-1. The late addition netted his second goal in just his 12th collegiate game while Aidan Park earned the secondary assist.
The final buzzer sounded on a 6-1 Michigan rout before the teams proceeded to center ice for ceremonial handshakes. The Wolverines also ended the night on the right side of disparities in both shots on goal (35-24) and faceoffs (36-33), while the team's penalty killers dismissed UND's lone chance.
With the win, Michigan improves to 11-0 all-time as the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament; U-M has never lost to Notre Dame in the league tourney, improving to 4-0 against the Irish.
On Saturday evening, the second-seeded Wolverines will host third-seeded Penn State at Yost for a Big Ten Tournament semifinal showdown with a spot in the conference championship game on the line. The contest is set to begin at 5 p.m., and it will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.
