MiHockey

Wolverines beat Fighting Irish in “Let’s Take This Outside” game at Notre Dame Stadium

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MiHockey Staff
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By @MichaelCaples –

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – It took Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger until the fourth quarter of his last game to record a statistic inside Notre Dame Stadium.

Took the Wolverines hockey team considerably less.

Sparked by three goals in the first 9:54 of their “Let’s Take This Outside” game, the Wolverines held on for a 4-2 victory over the Fighting Irish outdoors at Notre Dame Stadium Saturday evening in front of 23,422 fans.

The contest marked the eighth outdoor game in University of Michigan school history; the Wolverines improved to 4-3-1 in said contests.

Joe Cecconi, Will Lockwood, Nolan Moyle and Dakota Raabe (empty-netter) scored for Michigan in the victory, while Hayden Lavigne made 30 saves for the win between the pipes.

Cecconi started the early scoring rush with a shot from his own blue line that changed direction and fooled Irish goaltender Cale Morris at the 4:42 mark of the first period.

Sixteen seconds later, Will Lockwood sent a shot from the slot through Morris to extend the lead to two.

Just inside the 10-minute mark, Nolan Moyle sent a wobbly puck over Morris’ left shoulder and off the crossbar into the Irish net for a 3-0 Michigan lead.

Shortly thereafter, Morris took the toque off the top of his goalie mask. The Wolverines finished the first period with a 16-11 shot advantage, but weren’t able to find a fourth goal…despite nearly scoring on another shot from center ice.

The Fighting Irish chipped away at the lead in the second period, as Cam Morrison scored a power-play goal to make it 3-1 at the 5:30 mark of the middle frame.

PHOTOS: Michigan wins outdoor edition of rivalry game with Notre Dame

Michigan out-shot Notre Dame 14-11 in the second period.

In the third, the score remained the same until Notre Dame pulled Morris with more than 4 minutes to go in regulation. At the 17:12 mark, Alex Steeves fired a quick shot off a face-off win by the Irish to make the game 3-2.

Raabe increased the lead and sealed the game for the Wolverines with an empty-netter shortly thereafter.

Stay tuned for more from Notre Dame Stadium…