Where is ND hockey headed for Big Ten tourney?

SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame hockey coach Jeff Jackson knows what his team’s mode of transportation will be for the first round of next weekend’s Big Ten Postseason Tournament.

The 15-17-2 Irish, who completed their Big Ten regular season at 9-13-2 last weekend with 4-0 and 2-1 setbacks at Michigan, will be busing to Ann Arbor to play the Wolverines (17-13-3 overall, 10-11-2 Big Ten) in the best-of-three quarterfinal series against the coach Brandon Naurato’s No. 16 Wolverines.

Minnesota made sure the Irish would not be flying back to the Twin Cities next weekend when the No. 8 Golden Gophers clinched third place in the Big Ten standings with a 6-2 victory over visiting Michigan. Minnesota scored three unanswered goals in the second period to break the 2-2 deadlock after the first period.

Meanwhile, second-year coach Adam Nightingale’s No. 6 Michigan

State Spartans, who were fifth in the Big Ten a season ago, clinched the regularseason title by scoring three goals in the third period, two into the empty net, for a 5-2 victory at No. 4 Wisconsin. The victory by Michigan State also secured a first-round bye for the Spartans, who will begin their postseason by hosting one of two Big Ten Tournament semifinal games on Saturday, March 16.

The victory lifted the Spartans (228-3, 16-5-2 Big Ten) to 52 points in the standings with the second-place Badgers at 47 points, seven ahead of Minnesota. Fourth-place Michigan has 34 points. The top four teams plus sixthplace Penn State (24 points) and seventh-place Ohio State (15) are also fixed behind the Irish (31 points). The Nittany Lions scored a 5-2 victory over the Buckeyes Friday night in Columbus.

In addition to Notre Dame at Michigan, the other quarterfinal series have No. 7 Ohio State at No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 6 Penn State at No. 3 Minnesota.