The Week in Notre Dame Athletics: Basketball & Hockey Win

Irish athletics are winding down as Notre Dame heads towards finals week and Christmas break - there are just a few sports active over the next few weeks. Next week, we'll have our last installment of TWINDA until the new year.

Without further ado, we give you the results of the last week's Irish match-ups and look ahead at what's on the schedule this week.

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No. 20 Irish hockey (8-4-4, 5-1-2) swept UMass in their weekend series, winning 3-1 and then 5-1. In their Friday contest, the Irish went up 2-0 in the opening stanza off of goals from Steven Fogarty and Dawson Cook; Thomas DiPauli scored again for ND late in the middle period. UMass responded with one goal in the early third period, but was unable to rally. Cal Petersen made 27 saves for the Irish on 28 Minutemen shots; ND took 30 shots. There were very few penalties in the game, with ND committing just one per period and UMass getting called for two in the third.

Saturday, Notre Dame walked away with a 5-1 win behind goals from Steven Fogarty and Dylan Malmquist in the first period, Connor Hurley in the second, and Anders Bjork (2g) in the final. UMass's lone goal came early in the first period to even things up at 1-1. The Irish pulled ahead with a goal a little over a minute later and never looked back. Cal Petersen once again made 28 saves for ND and the Irish took 34 shots vs. UMass.

The Irish next play no. 2 Boston College in Chestnut Hill, MA, on Thursday evening (7:05 p.m. ET).

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Track & field began their outdoor season with 14 top finishes last Friday when they hosted the Blue & Gold Invitational. Those victories came against competitors from 7 universities in the women's mile, weight throw, 400m, 800m, 60m hurdles, and 4x400 relay, and in the men's pole vault, 400m, high jump, weight throw, 800m, 200m, and 4x400m relay.

The team reconvenes in mid-January at the Wisconsin Open.

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Men's basketball (5-2) fell out of the rankings, but they picked up a 84-79 win over Illinois last week on the road. Demetrius Jackson and Steve Vasturia led the team with 21 points each and Zach Auguste nabbed a double-double for ND. You can find our game recap here.

The Irish play Stony Brook this Tuesday night at home (9:00 p.m. ET). They then host Loyola Chicago on Sunday afternoon (2:00 p.m. ET).

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No. 3 Irish women's basketball (7-1) split a pair of great, competitive games this past week, first besting no. 10 Ohio State, 75-72, then falling on the road to no. 1 Connecticut, 91-81, all without star forward Brianna Turner (shoulder injury). The team was led by Madison Cable against the Buckeyes; Cable netted 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the contest.

Against UConn, freshman Marina Mabrey led the Irish with 23 points. ND was within 4 at the half after leading at times in the early part of the game, then fell way behind in a turnover-heavy third quarter and was unable to recover.

Notre Dame hosts DePaul this Wednesday evening (7:00 p.m. ET). Saturday, they face TCU on the road (12:00 p.m. ET).

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We'll bring you updates again next week on the whole range of Notre Dame sports. For now, go Irish. Beat everybody.