What does success look like this weekend for Notre Dame hockey?
The Irish have fallen winless in their last five contests and now face an uphill climb against the top-ranked Michigan State Spartans at home this weekend.
Michigan State (7-1-0, 2-0-0 Big Ten) has taken a buzzsaw to its competition to start the year. After a season-opening loss at home to New Hampshire, the Spartans have rattled off six straight wins, including sweeps of No. 13 Boston University (who were No. 1 at the time) and No. 5 Penn State. Their goaltender, junior Trey Augustine, just earned the Big Ten First Star of the Week and may be the best stopper in the country. Oh, and that’s not to mention that Michigan State has won the last six games they have played against Notre Dame, and 12 of the last 14.
The climb is steep.
Notre Dame (3-6-1, 0-4-0 Big Ten) showed signs of a reinvigorated lineup to begin the season, but after getting swept consecutive weekends to open conference play, things are beginning to feel a lot like last year. Will the Irish be out of the conference and national tournament chase by Christmas again? Notre Dame seems badly in need of a momentum-changing victory. But what does that look like in the face of the best team in the country?
“I don’t ever approach our guys [and say] we have to win,” Irish head coach Brock Sheahan said this week. “That’s what I think has been a problem for us in the past, we’re chasing these wins. You win as a result of how you’re playing. We need to play more consistent.”
The Irish have struggled to find that consistency at the start of this young season. Their troubles have shown of late in their inability to score goals. Notre Dame lit the lamp just once in its two losses at Minnesota last weekend, and the Irish have only scored twice in their last three games. The Irish only tested Gopher sophomore netminder Luca Di Pasquo with 19 shots in Friday’s shutout, and he made 33 saves on Saturday.
“We did not generate a ton [of offense] on Friday at Minnesota, we played probably our worst game of the season and they played really well,” Sheahan said. “We did generate a lot more on Saturday against Minnesota. So for me, and the message to our guys, it’s not about scoring, it’s about playing the right way and generating enough. And when we play to our capability, we generate, and the goals will come over time.”
“Regardless of how the first four games have gone in-conference, I think our group is learning that when we play to our style of play, when we play the right way, we are going to generate, we are going to give ourselves the opportunity to win,” Sheahan added. “It’s about us doing that all the time.”
“That to me is what we haven’t done all year. We haven’t put together consistent efforts in how we want to play, whether that’s with the puck or without the puck. And that comes with guys learning to buy into how we want to play.”
In that way, Notre Dame could learn a lesson from its opponent this weekend. Since hiring head coach Adam Nightingale away from the National Team Development Program four years ago, the Spartans have been a juggernaut. They’ve seen a drastic infusion of talent as a result of their success, but the Spartans’ current identity precedes that.
Their success can be traced back to 2022-23, Nightingale’s first season at the helm, when Michigan State – picked to finish last in the preseason Big Ten coaches poll – upset Notre Dame in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. They were one of the year’s biggest surprises in college hockey and they achieved that through mastering the consistency of their style. They’ve only gotten better since.
“They do a lot of what we’re trying to do,” Sheahan said. “They play to their brand consistently. They’re hard to play against, they play fast, they’re on top of you, they take away time and space, they have talent.”
Notre Dame and Michigan State have, in a way, traded fortunes since that first-round series. The Irish, who had made consecutive NCAA Tournaments entering that season, have not qualified for the national tournament since. The Spartans, on the other hand, have made consecutive appearances and won consecutive Big Ten Tournament titles.
There’s no doubt that Notre Dame would like to see fortunes change hands again this weekend. Putting one game in the win column would give the sense that has begun, at least in some small way. But results can be deceiving. Wins aren’t always be the indicator of impending progress.
So, what does success look like this weekend for Notre Dame hockey?
Consistency.
“That’s what we’re aiming to do – play to our style of hockey, every day, every shift, and we’re just not there yet. But I’m hopeful to see it this weekend,” Sheahan said.
