The Week in Notre Dame Athletics: Irish Hockey Sweeps Michigan

Without further ado, we bring you the results of the last week's Irish match-ups.

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Hockey: The Irish (18-11-1, 14-7-1-1 and third in the CCHA) worked Michigan over last Friday and Saturday night, claiming two big wins at 7-4 and 6-4. Friday, with Mike Johnson starting at goaltender in place of Steven Summerhays, a long list of Irish players scored early and often on the hapless Wolverine goalie, including Anders Lee (2g), Bryan Rust (2g, 2a), David Gerths (2g), and Eric Johnson (1g - his first ever), plus three assists from Jeff Costello. Michigan weirdly scored twice short-handed and once on a power play. Things were tied up mid-way through the second period, but the Irish convincingly put Michigan away early in the third. Notre Dame outshot Michigan, 35-22.

Saturday, Summerhays started for the Irish at goalie in place of Johnson, and Wolverine goalie Rutledge (whose name had been derisively chanted with such frequency throughout Friday's and most of Saturday's game) was replaced in the second period by his back-up. The back-up, however, allowed goals on both of the first two shots on goal that he faced, within a minute and a half of the period's start, putting the Irish up 6-2 and putting the game away.

Goals for the Irish came from Anders Lee (1g, 2a), Jeff Costello (1g, 2a), Bryan Rust, Peter Schneider, Austin Wuthrich, and David Gerths - it felt like just about one for everybody on the team. Three of Michigan's goals came on power plays; Notre Dame struggled with their own, scoring on just one of five power plays. The Irish outshot the Wolverines, 33-25.

The Irish face Miami (Ohio) this Friday (7:35 p.m. EST, CBSSN) and Sunday (1:05 p.m. CST, Fox Sports Detroit). The Sunday game will be played outside at Soldier Field in Chicago, which should be spectacular, frigid fun for those who attend.

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Fencing: The no. 1 women's team (20-1) swept their opponents last weekend in the Duke Fencing Home Meet, earning wins over no. 5 Penn State, Duke, and North Carolina.

In the same meet, the no. 2 men's team (12-7) beat out Johns Hopkins but lost in close matches to no. 1 Penn State and no. 10 Duke.

This weekend, the Irish compete in the USFA National Junior Olympics in Baltimore.

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Track & Field: Four Irish track athletes headed to the GVSU Big Meet last weekend, where they sought to qualify for the Big East Championships; three of the four did, and Aijah Urssery qualified in both the 60m and 200m dash. The Irish compete in the Big East Championships this weekend in Ohio.

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Tennis: The no. 18 women's team (5-1) came back from a four-point deficit to claim a hard-fought 4-3 victory over Iowa last week. They face Purdue and Northwestern this weekend.

The no. 29 men's team (5-4) split their weekend matches with an impressive victory over no. 48 Michigan State, 6-1, and a close loss to no. 7 Kentucky, 4-3. This Saturday, they face no. 21 Michigan at home.

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Swimming and diving: The no. 19 women's team claimed a win over the Toledo Rockets, 176-123 in their final dual meet of the season. Irish victories came in 12 of 16 events.

Irish divers head to the Michigan First Chance Meet this Saturday. Both men's and women's swimming and diving teams will spend the next few weeks training for the Big East Championships at the end of the month.

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Softball: the Irish (2-2) split their pair of season-opening double-headers over the weekend. On Saturday, they fell to Wisconsin, 1-0, but bested Charlotte, 5-1, at the Fast Pitch Classic. Sunday, Notre Dame fell to Wisconsin in 11 innings, 6-5, then beat Presbyterian, 8-5.

The Irish face Washington, Cal Poly (whoop! alma mater!), San Diego State, and Oklahoma this weekend in beautiful San Diego.

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Basketball: the no. 2 women's team (23-1, 11-0) put down all three of their opponents last week, besting Villanova, 59-52, last Wednesday as Muffet McGraw earned her 700^th win as a head coach; 614 of her now-702 victories came as head coach for the Fighting Irish. Saturday, Notre Dame knocked out Seton Hall in a 69-49 victory, led by Ariel Braker. Then on Monday, they claimed victory over no. 10 Louisville, 93-64, behind Natalie Achonwa's 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting and 12 rebounds. The current senior class is the winningest in school history with 118 victories.

The Irish face Marquette on Sunday (2:30 p.m. EST, ESPN2).

The men's team (19-4, 7-3)? Well, they played Louisville, and you know what, they just about lost that game on Saturday and won it on Sunday, 104-101. It took three and a half hours and five overtimes, but they finally won it. Read CW's excellent write-up here and enjoy the real-time exasperation and thrill of Irish fans in our open thread from the game here.

If you haven't checked it out yet, take a look at this week's ICON video from FIDM capturing that classic, crazy game.

The Irish face DePaul tonight (7:00 p.m. EST, BEN), then Providence this weekend (Saturday, 12:00 p.m. EST, BEN) and Pittsburgh on Monday (7:00 p.m. EST, ESPN).

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Golf gets rolling again this weekend as the women head to the Mash Up Invitational in Tallahassee.

Lacrosse will pick up this weekend as the men face Duke in North Carolina and the women hit the west coast to face Stanford.

Baseball also starts up with matches in Florida against Florida Gulf Coast, Ohio State, and Mercer this weekend.

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We'll bring you updates again next week on all our Notre Dame Olympic sports. Go Irish.