Notre Dame Prepares For Triple-Header Bonanza

The late Major League Baseball Hall-of-Fame player Ernie Banks was fond of saying “let’s play two” to make it a better day. For Notre Dame faithful, it’s “let’s play three” this Friday in three different sports.

Notre Dame and Syracuse are the only two schools in the country that have both their men’s and women’s basketball teams in the Sweet 16, and both Fighting Irish teams are in action tonight. Add men’s hockey, where the 16-team NCAA Tournament begins tonight, and now you have the lone school in the country with Sweet 16 representation in all three sports. If you want to take it a step further, they also are the lone school to be in all three and see its football program make it to a Big Six bowl this academic year. It is believed, albeit unconfirmed, that this is the first time in NCAA history that such a confluence of success has occurred in the respective sports.

Lest we forget, No. 2 men’s lacrosse plays at Ohio State on Saturday afternoon, while No. 4 women’s lacrosse hosts No. 6 Syracuse right around the same time. Again, Notre Dame is the lone school in the country with top-five rankings in both sports (although Maryland and Syracuse are close).

Finally, this weekend is the NCAA Championships in fencing at Brandeis University. Since 1990, when the men’s and women’s became combined, Notre Dame has won four national titles — the most recent in 2011 — and finished runner-up eight other times. After day one in a four-day competition that concludes Easter Sunday, the Irish trailed only defending national champion Columbia. Here is the summary of Friday’s events:

Men’s Hockey: 5:30 p.m. ET versus Michigan (ESPNU)

Head coach Jeff Jackson has created his own “Miracle On Ice” at Notre Dame when he led the once moribund operation to the Frozen Four in 2008 (advancing to the title game) and 2011, but the Fighting Irish have not won an NCAA Tournament game since that ’11 campaign. This is the third time in the last four years Notre Dame made the 16-team field.

The No. 5-ranked Wolverines (24-7-5) far and away lead the nation in goals scored per game at 4.89, with second-ranked St. Cloud State next at 4.28. The No. 13 Fighting Irish (19-10-7) are 15th in that category at 3.14. A pair of Irish sophomores, Anders Bjork and defenseman Jordan Gross, were named second-team Hockey East All-Stars, while freshman Bobby Nardella made the All-Rookie team and senior Sam Herr was honored as the league’s Best Defensive Forward. Senior Thomas DiPauli and sophomore goaltender Cal Petersen were on the honorable mention list.

Jackson has had a memorable history against the Wolverines. His 1994 national champions at Lake Superior State defeated No. 1 seed Michigan 5-4 in overtime to make it to the Frozen Four — and his 2008 Irish upset the Wolverines by that same 5-4 tally in overtime to advance to the title game. In their most recent meetings, Notre Dame was 5-0-0 versus Michigan during the 2012-13 season, highlighted by a win in the final CCHA championship game.

Men’s Basketball: 7:27 p.m. ET versus Wisconsin (TBS)

Head coach Mike Brey’s program is chasing history in its attempt to become the first Notre Dame men’s teams to produce six NCAA Tournament victories over a two-year period.

Last year, the Fighting Irish won three games to advance to the Elite Eight before losing 68-66 to unbeaten and No. 1 Kentucky.

This year, the East Region’s No. 6-seeded Irish (23-11) have won two more games and now confront No. 7 seed Wisconsin. The Badgers have been to each of the past two Final Fours, losing the title game last year to Duke (against who Notre Dame is 5-1 in its last six meetings since joining the ACC three years ago).

Two other Notre Dame teams advanced to consecutive Elite Eights. The first came in 1953 and 1954, but back then only two games needed to be won to get there.

Then in 1978, the Irish won three NCAA Tournament games for the first time ever to make its lone Final Four, and followed a year later with two more postseason wins before losing in the Elite Eight to Earvin “Magic” Johnson’s Michigan State national champions.

Consecutive three-win NCAA Tournaments have never happened in Notre Dame men’s basketball. Meanwhile, the only other team in its history to see five different players average double-figure scoring was 1976-77, the year before the Final Four appearance. This year it should replicate that feat with junior guard Demetrius Jackson (15.5), senior center Zach Auguste (14.3), junior forward V.J. Beachem (11.6), junior guard Steve Vasturia (11.6) and sophomore forward Bonzie Colson (11.4).

Women’s Basketball: 9 p.m. ET versus Stanford (ESPN)

The “official” time listed might be misleading. The Lexington Regional has host Kentucky playing Washington in the first game at 7 p.m. Consequently, the Notre Dame game is more likely to tip-off around 9:30 because second games generally begin a half hour after the first is concluded.

Regardless, head coach Muffet McGraw’s program is vying to advance to its sixth consecutive Final Four. The only other women’s program ever to achieve that feat is the current Connecticut dynasty. Meanwhile, the foe the Irish are trying to vanquish tonight, 26-7 and No. 13 Stanford, has been to six of the last eight Final Fours itself. Stanford is also the most recent team to defeat UConn (in November 2014).

Last year, these same two teams met in the Sweet 16 and Notre Dame won 81-60, led by point guard Lindsay Allen’s career-high 28 points (24 in the first half). The junior Allen is coming off her season-best 22-point output in Monday’s 87-70 second-round victory versus Indiana — yet she is the fifth-leading scorer overall on a balanced outfit that includes sophomore post and ACC Player of the year Brianna Turner (14.5), fifth-year senior guard Madison Cable (13.8), and the Instant Offense freshman backcourt tandem off the bench with guards Arike Ogunbowale (11.5) and Marina Mabrey (10.8).

Despite the unexpected loss of three major personnel pieces prior to and during the season, plus an injury that sidelined Turner for six games, the No. 2-ranked Irish are still an extraordinary 33-1. They are 106-1 overall the past three seasons against teams not named UConn.