MANCHESTER, N.H. - Notre Dame backed into the NCAA tournament on a two-game losing streak, a disappointed group of mostly underclassmen that was one more loss away from the end of the season.
Irish come of age, advance to St. Paul
The Associated Press
March 28, 2011 at 4:45AM
The Fighting Irish weren't ready for that. Now they're two victories away from a national championship.
Notre Dame advanced to the Frozen Four for the second time in school history with a 2-1 victory over New Hampshire on Sunday night in the Northeast Regional final.
"We recognized that we didn't want our season to end. I think this weekend was a great example of how we've turned it around," said Billy Maday, whose goal with 5 seconds left in the second period gave the Irish a 2-0 lead and deflated a pro-New Hampshire crowd.
Stephen Johns also scored for the Irish, and Mike Johnson made 37 saves.
Notre Dame (25-13-5) advanced to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2008. The Irish, who have 12 freshman on the roster, will play Minnesota Duluth at 4 p.m. April 7 in St. Paul.
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Niko Medved could be the next Gophers men’s basketball coach after making his third NCAA tournament in four seasons with Colorado State.
