SOUTH BEND, Ind. — It was only fitting that Saturday night’s Big Ten tournament championship game would go to overtime.
After all, Notre Dame and Ohio State played three one-goal games during the regular season, all won by the Fighting Irish.
With the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament on the line, Cam Morrison stepped up and delivered his biggest goal of the season.
Morrison’s eighth goal of the season off assists from Jake Evans and Dennis Gilbert 9:23 into overtime gave Notre Dame a 3-2 win over Ohio State and sent the standing-room only crowd of 5,515 at the Compton Family Ice Arena into a frenzy.
“It was a big play at a big moment,” Fighting Irish coach Jeff Jackson said. “This team has shown resiliency all year long. We fought through and I give the kids a lot of credit. They deserve it. Our defense held their own. [Ohio State is] a really deep, offensive team. And they don’t give you much. It’s what we are going to see the rest of the way now.”
Morrison credited his teammates for setting him up.
“It was a great pass by Jake,” he said. “He found me going up the left wing and I saw an opportunity to shoot and luckily it went in.”
It was a tough loss for coach Steve Rohlik’s Buckeyes, who fought Notre Dame tooth and nail after the first period.
“Obviously, two very good hockey teams,” Rohlik said. “Once we got our legs I thought that we played a good hockey game. What can you say? It comes down to one shot in overtime.”
Sean Romeo finished with 35 saves and made spectacular saves throughout the third period, including several in the final two minutes when the Fighting Irish were knocking on the door.
“I thought both goalies played extremely well,” Rohlik said. “I thought [Romeo] came in and stepped up big in the last two shifts of the period and when he was called upon he made the saves. [Notre Dame’s Cale Morris] was really good, too.”
Tournament most outstanding player Morris made 41 saves.
“He’s a rock,” Jackson said. “You don’t win without great goaltending. He’s been that way for us all season long. The most important thing is that he is a humble kid. Confident internally and he is a real solid individual.”
The first period belonged to Notre Dame. Bo Brauer’s fifth goal of the season 4:09 into the first period off assists from Evans and Bobby Nardella opened the scoring.
The Fighting Irish (25-9-2) added a second goal at 14:30 on a Matt Hellickson power-play goal. Hellickson’s third goal of the season came off assists from Cal Burke and Andrew Peeke.
“They’re a good hockey team,” Jackson said. “We had a real good first period and they had a real good second.”
The adjustments made in the first intermission brought a totally different Buckeyes squad out the remainder of the game. They also had to adjust to the loss of Matthew Weis earlier in the week to a shoulder injury.
“We tried four new lines over the last few days and we had to try and find a connection there,” Rohlik said. “It was an adjustment that we had to get used to. We did some tweaking and tried to find a connection.”
Ohio State (24-9-5) found its connection and put heavy pressure on Notre Dame the rest of the night.
Brendon Kearney’s fifth goal of the season off assists from Matt Miller and Gordi Myer 6:21 into the second period cut the deficit in half. Then Miller scored his seventh goal of the season 1:07 into the third period off a Tanner Laczynski assist tied the game.
Romeo’s outstanding play in goal kept the Fighting Irish from winning in regulation. But the momentum of the final flurry carried over for Notre Dame into the extra period.
“I have been talking to them and they earned the opportunity to play this game in our building,” he said. “It was a tremendous environment. The crowd was great. And they earned the opportunity to play in this game. You work all season long to have the opportunity to get the bye. They earned that and the message was that you have to take advantage of it. And they did.”
The All-Big Ten tournament team included Morris, Morrison and Jordan Gross from Notre Dame. Mason Jobst, Matt Miller and Laczynski represented Ohio State.
