The Week in Notre Dame Athletics: Hockey Splits, Fencing Sweeps

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

_____

Irish hockey (11-14-3, 6-5-3) split their weekend matches against New Hampshire, first falling to their opponent on Friday night, 5-2, before winning, 5-3, on Saturday. The good news is that the Irish have turned around their power play game, now scoring on power plays in 7 consecutive games, including twice vs. UNH on Friday and once on Saturday.

In their opening match, ND dug themselves into a 4-0 hole, allowing UNH to score late in the 1^st period, then twice early in the 2^nd and again midway through the period. At the close of the 2^nd, both Mario Lucia and Vince Hinostroza netted power play goals for the Irish, making it 4-2, but the Irish were unable to overcome that deficit and UNH scored once more late in the 3^rd. The Irish barely trailed in shots, 27-26.

Saturday night, the Irish came out on top, earning a 5-3 finish off of goals from Steven Fogarty (2g), Austin Wuthrich, Ben Ostlie, and Tony Bretzman. Austin Wuthrich opened scoring for the Irish late in the 1^st period, followed by Fogarty early in the 2^nd on a power play. UNH scored shortly thereafter and then tied the game on their own power play mid-way through the middle stanza. Minutes later, Ostlie scored the 1^st of his ND career, making it 3-2; Bretzman scored his own career-first early in the 3^rd period, bringing it to 4-2. With just a few minutes remaining, UNH made it 4-3, then Fogarty snagged the empty net goal for the Irish. Chad Katunar was in goal for the Irish and made 28 saves on 30 shots after Cal Petersen was injured Friday night.

Notre Dame next plays Maine on the road this Friday (7:05 p.m. ET, WatchND, New England Sports). The teams play again on Saturday (7:05 p.m. ET, WatchND).

_____

Irish fencing swept their weekend matches at the Northwestern Duals, finishing 13-0. Seven of Notre Dame's opponents at the event were ranked. The women's squad is now 20-2 and the men are 13-6. For full results from the event, see UND.com's coverage here.

The team hosts the DeCicco Duals this Saturday and Sunday.

_____

No. 14 men's tennis earned a close 4-3 win over no. 30 Northwestern over the weekend. Their planned match with no. 8 Illinois was postponed until the end of February due to the massive amounts of snow that piled up in South Bend on Sunday and into Monday. The Irish next welcome Ball State and Wisconsin this Sunday.

The no. 19 women's squad fell to no. 15 Michigan this past week, 5-2. Next up for ND is a home match vs. Stanford this Friday evening. Sunday afternoon, they host Ohio State.

_____

Track & field travelled to the very competitive Razorback Invitational this past weekend - the no. 1, 3, 5, and 9-ranked D-I programs were included among the 11 other teams present. The strongest Irish finishes came in the 1^st-place women's mile, the 3^rd-place women's 60m hurdles, the 3^rd-place women's 4x400m relay team, and the 3^rd-place men's 400m. Notre Dame claimed another 20 top-10 finishes in the tournament. While the men's squad placed 11^th out of 12, the women came in 7^th overall.

This Friday afternoon and Saturday, the Irish host the Meyo Invitational.

_____

Both men's and women's swimming and diving hosted the Shamrock Invitational this past Friday and Saturday. The women's squad (6-9) notched 17 event victories and claimed the top overall finish over Iowa and Incarnate Word, breaking 5 pool records in the process (4 fell to Emma Reaney).

The men's team (5-6) came in 2^nd overall, falling to Iowa but besting Missouri State and Incarnate Word. They earned 2 event victories and broke 2 pool records of their own.

The squads both host Cleveland State this Saturday in a dual meet to finish the regular season.

_____

No. 4 women's basketball (21-2, 8-1 ACC) earned two strong wins over the past week. The Irish first bested Virginia Tech, 74-50. Freshman Kathryn Westbeld led Notre Dame with 17 points.

Sunday, Notre Dame dominated Wake Forest, 92-63, behind the strength of Jewell Loyd's 20 points and Lindsay Allen's 18.

This Thursday, the Irish welcome Virginia (7:00 p.m. ET, WatchND, ESPN3). They play Boston College in Chestnut Hill, MA, on Sunday (1:00 p.m. ET, WatchND).

_____

No. 8 men's basketball (20-3, 8-2 ACC) claimed a huge win over no. 4 Duke last week, 77-73, then fell unexpectedly to Pittsburgh on Saturday, 76-72.

Our analysis of the Duke win can be found here and of the loss to Pitt here.

The team next plays Boston College at home this Wednesday (7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN3, WatchND), then faces Duke on the road this Saturday (1:00 p.m. ET, WatchND, CBS). Next Tuesday, they play Clemson in SC (7:00 p.m. ET, WatchND, ESPN2).

_____

Men's lacrosse continued exhibition play at home this past Saturday against Air Force. The no. 2 team, reigning ACC champs, and national runners up face Georgetown on Valentine's Day (12:00 p.m. ET).

_____

Men's golf got back to it this past weekend at the Notre Dame Alumni Match in Orlando, FL. No word on how it went, but we'll let you know if there are any updates on how the team played. Up next for the Irish is the Jones Invitational in Los Angeles, CA, near the end of February.

_____

Softball begins play this Friday afternoon in Los Angeles, CA, vs. Utah and UCLA. Saturday, they play Northwestern State and Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton, CA. They'll take CSUF on again on Sunday morning.

We'll bring you updates again next week on how Notre Dame's Olympic sports are faring. For now, go Irish. Beat everybody.