Tribune Correspondent
Just when you thought Notre Dame goaltender Ryan Bischel couldn’t play any better, the senior left the No. 4 Michigan Wolverines and 5,800 fans shaking their heads in disbelief Friday night at the sold-out Red Berenson Rink in the Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound senior from Medina, Minn., made 32 saves in the game — 12 in the third period and four in the five-minute overtime as the 19th-ranked Irish and Wolverines skated to a 3-3 tie. The 23-year-old Bischel then stopped three of Michigan’s top gunslingers — right wing Mackie Samoskevich, center Adam Fantilli and left wing Rutger McGroarty — during the shootout after captain and graduate defenseman Nick Leivermann beat Michigan goalie Erik Portillo to start it.