Sammy Nelson gave Notre Dame exactly the kind of finish that turns a good night into a memorable one.
His second goal of the game came in overtime and lifted the Fighting Irish past No. 4 Michigan State, 3-2, in the series opener.
It was Notre Dame’s third straight win, and all three have come in Big Ten play. Two of those victories have needed overtime.
The Irish are now 5-6 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten.
For Nelson, it was a breakthrough performance. He scored twice for the first multi-goal game of his college career, and both of those goals were set up by his older brother Danny.
Pano Fimis added the other Notre Dame goal and kept rolling offensively, scoring for the second straight game and extending his point streak to four. He also handled business at the dot, winning 10 of 15 faceoffs to pace the Irish.
Freshman goalie Patrick Quinlan kept the door shut long enough for Notre Dame to cash in late. He stopped 33 shots and gave up two goals while earning his third win in as many games. The teams will finish the two-game set Friday night at 7 p.m.
On the basketball side, Notre Dame kept its perfect start intact with a 99-59 win over South Carolina State on Wednesday night. That pushes the Irish to 4-0 heading into next week’s Players Era 8 in Las Vegas.
Ethan Roberts owned the night inside Purcell Pavilion. The fifth-year guard scored 25 points in the first half alone, doing it on 9-of-10 shooting and 7-of-8 from three-point range. By halftime, he had already passed his previous career high for made threes in a game.
He kept firing after the break and finished by tying the program record for made three-pointers in a game with 10. Roberts set a new career best with 36 points, going 10-of-13 from deep and 13-of-17 overall. He also grabbed a season-high seven rebounds.
Notre Dame’s next basketball challenge comes fast and loud: No. 1 Florida next Tuesday.
Elsewhere around the program, the Notre Dame-focused documentary series Here Come The Irish is set to return in mid-December. The series continues to follow the football team closely, with a look at life on and off the field.
Marcus Freeman also spoke with the media on Zoom Thursday and praised a pair of young cornerbacks, Khary Adams and Ayden Pouncey, saying they “have improved tremendously.”
“I don’t want them to think development has to do with an outcome. Developing doesn’t have to do with who plays on Saturday.”
Thursday also brought sad news, as Olympic, golf and Notre Dame football broadcaster Dan Hicks died suddenly at 64. He is survived by his wife, Hannah Storm, and their three daughters.
Freeman also said Brauntae Johnson may be getting close to a return from injury. He suggested Johnson could be part of a group with Luke Talich and Joey O’Brien, with the possibility of getting all three safeties on the field together.
“You’ll figure it out when he gets back. You always make decisions that are best for your team. If that means finding a way to get all three safeties on the field when Tae is healthy, we’ll do that.”
In Other News...
Notre Dame Independence Suddenly Looks Smarter Than Ever
The College Football Playoffs move from 12 teams to 24 starting next year has already sent a ripple through the sport, and it has only sharpened the appeal of Notre Dames long-standing independence. As the Autonomy 4 conferences move to eliminate their championship games, the old arguments about needing a league title to secure a playoff spot suddenly look a lot different, especially for a program that has never depended on a conference structure to define its path.
Wake Forest coach Jake Dickert and Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz have both publicly raised questions about whether conferences still matter in the same way under the new format, and that kind of debate is exactly the sort of thing Notre Dame has been insulated from for years. With schools like Miami also weighing what these changes mean for conference affiliation and structure, the Irish find themselves in a familiar but newly relevant position: outside the system, yet perhaps better positioned than ever to benefit from it. [Read more 🡒]
Former Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman Is Headed For A Very Different Spotlight
Sam Hartmans football path has taken another unexpected turn, this time far from the practice field. The former Notre Dame quarterback, now on the Washington Commanders practice squad, has been announced as the new star of ABCs "The Bachelor" for its 30th season, adding a very different kind of attention to a player who was already familiar to Irish fans from his stops at Wake Forest and Notre Dame.
For Notre Dame followers, it is one more reminder that Hartmans post-college life is unfolding in unusual fashion. He is still attached to Washington as a practice squad quarterback, but his next major public role will come on television when the new season of "The Bachelor" premieres in March, putting him in a spotlight that has little to do with football and everything to do with prime-time exposure. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Defense Has A Chance To Take Over This Rivalry Game
Notre Dames defense walks into this matchup with some real momentum after a strong showing against Miami, and Chris Ashs group has a clear path to controlling the game if it can keep the pressure on Boston College. The Eagles have had trouble protecting the football and even more trouble keeping their quarterback upright, which gives the Irish a chance to turn a rivalry game into a field-position battle.
The matchups in the trenches should tell a lot of the story, starting with Boubacar Traore on Boston College right tackle Kristian Phillips and Tionne Gray inside against center DJ Williams. Notre Dame has been among the nations better teams at creating turnovers, and if that trend carries over, the Irish defense could spend the afternoon forcing Boston College to play from behind the chains and never really find a rhythm. [Read more 🡒]