For the first time since 2019, BGSU Hockey will play a home-and-home series against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the last non-conference series of the Falcon and Irish regular seasons.
Like BG’s other non-conference Big Ten opponent this season (Ohio State), Notre Dame used to be a conference foe, last playing as one in the 2013 Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) playoff second round. Notre Dame swept BG 1-0 in overtime and 4-3 to steal the quarterfinal, and was the last original CCHA opponent BGSU played.
The two teams have met just once since that last final conference matchup; in 2019, when the Falcons swept the Irish 5-2 both nights of the home-and-home. The only BG or ND coach or player that was on either squad to see that series is BG associate head coach Curtis Carr, hired just prior to the matchup in the 2019 offseason.
Notre Dame has finished no higher than third since 2019, and has posted a winning record only twice in the past six seasons. Like Bowling Green, they have not won the conference regular season or tournament, or advanced past the NCAA regionals in the last six years.
Head coach Dennis Williams and the Falcons took on Ohio State in the first series of 2026, a fellow Big Ten opponent to Notre Dame, yet certainly a winnable one. BG tied OSU in the Columbus-hosted first game and beat the Buckeyes in the second game.
The Irish are at least a comparable team to Bowling Green, also a bottom-two team in the conference standings. ND has won three fewer games than OSU, all in conference play, and sits at an unfortunate 1-13 record with 10 games to play.
Also, the Gold-Caps just won their first conference game of the season at home, against Ohio State. In a net-finding explosion, the Irish scored four goals in the second period and knocked the Buckeyes for a 6-1 win and a common win for ND and BG.
This broke a 10-game losing streak held from November 26 to their most recent game. Despite the 1-1 conference record, Notre Dame has a 4-3-1 non-conference record and has won against St. Lawrence, Robert Morris, and Merrimack.
All three of those teams have .500 or losing records, and all are about the bottom half of NCAA hockey according to NPI (NCAA Percentage Index). Notre Dame is in the bottom 10, No. 54 out of 63 teams.
The same system ranks BG No. 20 in the nation, the most difficult non-conference opponent for ND this season. Although the numbers would heavily favor Bowling Green in this instance, the series could be much more difficult than expected.
Although at the bottom of the Big Ten, Notre Dame is still an incredibly talented team. Eight ND players have been drafted by NHL teams, and six have played for the US National Team Development Program.
One of the draftees is RPI senior transfer, Sutter Muzzatti, the team’s leading scorer and one of the only two players with either 10+ goals and/or 20+ points. The other is junior transfer from Michigan, Evan Werner, scoring one less assist than his Muzzatti.
Linemates in the last few games, Muzzatti and Werner combined for three goals and seven points in the 6-1 win over Ohio State. Over the last five games, they have scored a combined 12 points and six of Notre Dame’s 16 goals.
Incidentally, the two have recorded 24 penalty minutes over the last five competitions, and Notre Dame, the third-highest penalty-taking team in the Big Ten, has 40 penalties for 151 minutes in their last five games. That is over two games worth of only penalty minutes.
Bowling Green is first in the CCHA in penalties and penalty minutes per game with the CCHA’s leading penalty server, junior defenseman Gustav Stjernberg (60 minutes in 15 games). Will penalties play a factor?
The Falcons are coming off a big series win over Bemidji State, taking all six CCHA points available. Much needed as they head into their most difficult conference stretch of the season against the other four top-five teams.
Even though they have just five wins this season, Notre Dame will be a tough non-conference test for the Falcons. Luckily, the series is set to be energy-filled, Notre Dame’s Compton Family Ice Arena averaging around 5200 fans and Bowling Green’s Slater Family Ice Arena selling out its 5000 seats for Saturday night.
Game one is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, and game two is set for 6:07 p.m. on Saturday. Both games will be broadcast 15 minutes prior to puck drop on WBGU 88.1 FM, also streaming on bgfalconmedia.com.
